UNB Engineering News

Jean Boudreau (BScCE’83) says that being “behind the scenes” of the regulation of the engineering industry in Canada is “eye-opening and hugely rewarding.” Boudreau is President-Elect for Engineers Canada and will take the helm in May of 2020.

 A Senior Transportation Engineer at GEMTEC Limited in Fredericton, Boudreau brings not only many years of industry experience but also board experience to her new assignment. She served with APEGNB for many years, having been elected to Council in 2009 and to President in 2012. She became the Engineers Canada Director for New Brunswick in 2017, has twice served on the board for the New Brunswick Research and Productivity Council and also served on the board for ACEC-NB.

Jean grew up with UNB in her backyard, so when she elected to study engineering after high school, UNB was a natural fit. “At the time I graduated it was a really tough job market,” she remembers. “I was a summer student at the Department of Transportation and was luckily able to get a full-time contract position. I started in planning and then expanded to construction, at a time when not many females were in the field. It gave me a great start and I learned a lot.”

She made the switch to consulting with FENCO and was eventually approached by GEMTEC, who were at the time looking to expand into more transportation design work. “It was a great fit for me and I’ve been there over 25 years now. They’re tremendously supportive of my time spent doing volunteer work.”

Jean explains that the role of Engineers Canada in ensuring the accreditation of university programs is an important one, and the process involves a lot of time and work. “I wasn’t aware of the effort that goes into accreditation, but it’s so important to do so that our engineers can be mobile across the country.”

She also says that bringing a Competency-Based Assessment (CBA) model to the 12 regulators across Canada is something she’s very committed to. “It’s really important to make it easier for competent international engineers to transfer their credentials and be able to work anywhere in Canada. This will be a big benefit for all provinces, including New Brunswick.”

Another important project she’s sinking her teeth into is making sure that the new governance model for the organization is implemented. “We’ve listened to all of our members and we want them to know they’ve been heard and we’re addressing their concerns.” She explains that “in such a huge and diverse country, each province and regulator has very different issues to deal with, and the way we support and govern must reflect that.”

Jean is quite excited and humbled at the prospect of leading a country of engineers and says that self-regulation is a privilege. “We want to ensure we’re doing it right.”

She becomes President of Engineers Canada on May 24^th, stepping in from the current President – another UNB engineering graduate – David Lynch, Professor Emeritus and former Dean at the University of Alberta.

As if a UNB’er and New Brunswicker at the helm of Engineers Canada isn’t enough, another is also taking the top spot at Geoscientists Canada this Spring.

Michael Parkhill (BSc’85) has spent his entire 35-year career as a Geoscientist with the Government of New Brunswick in the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development in Bathurst, after graduating from UNB with a degree in geology.

Geoscientists Canada was formed in 1996 and currently includes nine provincial and territorial regulatory bodies - APEGNB serves both engineers and geoscientists, as do six of the other provincial regulators - that represent the profession at a national and international level.

Parkhill is looking forward to taking on the responsibilities as President and says it’s even more fulfilling that it’s taking place during the 100^th anniversary of APEGNB and 25^th anniversary of Geoscientists Canada. “Geoscientists Canada and APEGNB have an important contribution to make to the people of New Brunswick”.

Michael has been a long-time volunteer with APEGNB and Geoscientists Canada and spends time volunteering in his community as well. “Giving back is the right thing to do.” He gives back to geology students as well, helping to train them and understand the field of geoscience. “Students get to see rocks and glacial deposits in the field, which provides them with knowledge they can’t obtain in the classroom,” he says.

Michael, just like Jean, is focused on developing tools to help international applicants become accredited in Canada. He’s also keen to work on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives to encourage more young students, including female students, to develop an interest in engineering and geoscience. “A key outcome that we are focused on is increasing newly licensed professionals – who are women - to be 30 percent by 2030. This is considered the tipping point for sustainable change”.

“Jean and I have the opportunity to work on some interesting things together and really make an impact. It’s going to be an exciting couple of years.”