Gcook at 18:12, 1 March 2023

2023-03-01T18:12:53Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:12, 1 March 2023
Line 9:		Line 9:
	In 1951, William D. Hurst wrote a letter of complaint to the Editor of the Civic Federation Bulletin, an American newsletter, about an article in an issue from earlier that year. Hurst, the APEM President, contended that the Bulletin had grossly misrepresented the purpose of the Association. Hurst noted that, after the First World War, many people began presenting themselves to the public as professional engineers without having the necessary qualifications. Hurst’s view was that:		In 1951, William D. Hurst wrote a letter of complaint to the Editor of the Civic Federation Bulletin, an American newsletter, about an article in an issue from earlier that year. Hurst, the APEM President, contended that the Bulletin had grossly misrepresented the purpose of the Association. Hurst noted that, after the First World War, many people began presenting themselves to the public as professional engineers without having the necessary qualifications. Hurst’s view was that:

	“In order to practice professional engineering a person must have subject himself to a very rigorous course of training extending over a period of 5 years (in most cases) at a recognized engineering university, college, or school, together with such period of practical experience as may be judged to be reasonable and proper. It is a well-known fact that a recognized course in engineering is one of the most difficult courses offered and the failures in such a course are very high indeed the number of people graduating is small compared to the number of people who originally enrolled in the course.”		“In order to practice professional engineering a person must have subject himself to a very rigorous course of training extending over a period of 5 years (in most cases) at a recognized engineering university, college, or school, together with such period of practical experience as may be judged to be reasonable and proper. It is a well-known fact that a recognized course in engineering is one of the most difficult courses offered and the failures in such a course are very high indeed the number of people graduating is small compared to the number of people who originally enrolled in the course.”

	The Engineering Profession Act of 1920 gave the Association the authority to govern and regulate the engineering profession in Manitoba, and eventually an updated version, The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act of 1998, would extend this responsibility to include the geoscientific community. The minutes of early Council meetings are replete with examples where those using the word “engineer” without being members of the Association were challenged vigorously and forced to remove the offending word from signage and company names or seek formal accreditation by substantiating their educational credentials.		The Engineering Profession Act of 1920 gave the Association the authority to govern and regulate the engineering profession in Manitoba, and eventually an updated version, The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act of 1998, would extend this responsibility to include the geoscientific community. The minutes of early Council meetings are replete with examples where those using the word “engineer” without being members of the Association were challenged vigorously and forced to remove the offending word from signage and company names or seek formal accreditation by substantiating their educational credentials.

Gcook: Created page with "===WHAT ARE WE?=== ====Engineer==== One who applies science and technology to the control of natural forces and materials for the benefit, convenience, welfare, and use of humanity. ====Geoscientist==== One who studies the origin, history, and structure of our planet and its natural systems to find and use Earth’s resources for the benefit of current and future generations.

This is the story of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. But that title begs a question...."

2023-03-01T18:10:05Z

Created page with "===WHAT ARE WE?=== ====Engineer==== One who applies science and technology to the control of natural forces and materials for the benefit, convenience, welfare, and use of humanity. ====Geoscientist==== One who studies the origin, history, and structure of our planet and its natural systems to find and use Earth’s resources for the benefit of current and future generations. <br><br> This is the story of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. But that title begs a question...."

New page

===WHAT ARE WE?===
====Engineer====
One who applies science and technology to the control of natural forces and materials for the benefit, convenience, welfare, and use of humanity.
====Geoscientist====
One who studies the origin, history, and structure of our planet and its natural systems to find and use Earth’s resources for the benefit of current and future generations.
<br><br>
This is the story of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. But that title begs a question. What is an engineer? What is a geoscientist? These are questions that have defied easy definition for the century that the Association has existed. Founded in 1920, by an Act of the Manitoba Legislature, and known then as the Association of Professional Engineers of Manitoba (APEM), the organization was created, to regulate the profession of engineering and, in so doing, protect the public from people deemed unqualified to produce good, safe work.

In 1951, William D. Hurst wrote a letter of complaint to the Editor of the Civic Federation Bulletin, an American newsletter, about an article in an issue from earlier that year. Hurst, the APEM President, contended that the Bulletin had grossly misrepresented the purpose of the Association. Hurst noted that, after the First World War, many people began presenting themselves to the public as professional engineers without having the necessary qualifications. Hurst’s view was that:

“In order to practice professional engineering a person must have subject himself to a very rigorous course of training extending over a period of 5 years (in most cases) at a recognized engineering university, college, or school, together with such period of practical experience as may be judged to be reasonable and proper. It is a well-known fact that a recognized course in engineering is one of the most difficult courses offered and the failures in such a course are very high indeed the number of people graduating is small compared to the number of people who originally enrolled in the course.”

The Engineering Profession Act of 1920 gave the Association the authority to govern and regulate the engineering profession in Manitoba, and eventually an updated version, The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act of 1998, would extend this responsibility to include the geoscientific community. The minutes of early Council meetings are replete with examples where those using the word “engineer” without being members of the Association were challenged vigorously and forced to remove the offending word from signage and company names or seek formal accreditation by substantiating their educational credentials.

Curiously, although the two Acts went to great lengths to define their relevance and included legal definitions of numerous terms used in them, they did not include formal definitions of the words “engineer” and “geoscientist.” Consequently, we anticipate that some readers will disagree with the definitions that we offer at the beginning of this Introduction. We submit that this disagreement reflects the complex diversity that exists within the community of engineers and geoscientists.

====THIS BOOK (virtual until a hard copy is published)====
The book that you hold is the culmination of dedicated work over the past several years by volunteer members of the Heritage Committee. Established in May 2007, this group’s main goal is to highlight and promote awareness of the rich and diverse history of engineering and geosciences in Manitoba. More details and other stories can be found in many sources including the Heritage Wiki site, the Manitoba Historical society website, and other references for those looking for greater insight that just could not be published in this compilation.

In determining what would go into this book, we focused on factual accounts of the main projects in engineering and geosciences that have contributed to the building of the province, hence the book’s title. We suspect that some readers will disagree with our choices. Our primary selection criteria were that projects were the first of their kind in Manitoba (for example, the first rail bridge across the Red River) or were significantly noteworthy (the Red River Floodway). Projects were selected to ensure a reasonable sampling of respective disciplines. And we tried to ensure that the projects were reasonably spread over the period covered by the book.

Where possible, we dug through the Association’s voluminous archives—including a database listing every member over the past 100 years—to weave in the highlights of the Association activities that bear on our profession and its development over the past century. We also prepared biographical sketches for some of the people who have made especially meritorious contributions to their respective areas of specialization.

Centennial Book Introduction - Revision history

Gcook at 18:12, 1 March 2023