Welcome to Engineers Nova Scotia's Engineering Conference Day!  We are so glad to see you again in person!  

The total cost for the full-day conference is $75/person. This cost includes breakfast, buffet lunch and several coffee breaks.

The cost of the conference day far exceeds the $75 fee.  Engineers Nova Scotia will cost share the remaining amount. 

There is no half-day registration option available.  

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

One link, for all Professional Development Sessions!

Engineers Nova Scotia is allowing registration for the full day of Livestream Professional Development Sessions.  

Livestream registrants will receive the link to attend virtual sessions 3 days prior to the event.  Session details will be forwarded to the email address that Engineers Nova Scotia has on file for you, please ensure that this information is accurate within your account profile.  

Presentation Title:   Alternative Management Strategies: Agile Principles and how to apply them across an organization.

Presentation summary: This talk will be focused on large scale management design, particularly in alternative environments where engineering is one of many departments.

During this talk, I will be drawing on my experience working with teams in Germany, Shanghai, Aberdeen, and Halifax through Lloyd’s Register to achieve quality results, and the application of what I learned at Ulnooweg Education Centre to systemize design and development of STEAM curriculum. We will go through basic management systems, the difference between Agile systems and waterfall management, and how all teams within Ulnooweg Education Centre were systemized onto common systems within a year.

The goal for this presentation is to outline how management principles common in engineering can and must be modified to suit other educational backgrounds and team intentions. I want participants to walk away reassessing what quality means to them in different environments, and understand how to make team operations reflect constraints, necessity, and this definition of quality.

The talk will be approximately 60 minutes long and will include various exercises throughout the presentation.

Levi Morrison is Senior Project Manager at Ulnooweg Education Centre and sessional lecturer at Dalhousie University. At Ulnooweg Education Centre, Levi oversees the management staff for successful development and delivery of STEAM programming throughout Mi’kmaqi using a Two-Eyed Seeing and Community First Approach. At Dalhousie, Levi delivers the Project Management course within the Civil Engineering Department.

Levi’s passion is amplifying others, management and engineering are the tools he uses to do so. Levi has received his PO, M.A.Sc, P.Eng, PMP, and PO designations while holding over 10 years of engineering experience. 

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Presentation Title: Inspection, Analysis, Diagnosis and Recommendations for Repairs for Two Bridges in the Patagonia Region of Chile

Speaker: Jorge Perez Armino
Speaker: Christopher Dyck

Presentation Summary / Abstract: COWI North America has a significant presence in Chile. Currently COWI is serving as “Owner’s Engineer” for MOP (Chilean Ministry of Public Works) in the construction of the Chacao Bridge, a 4-span suspension bridge connecting the Chilean mainland with the island of Chiloe with spans over 1000 meters in length. As a result of COWI’s presence in Chile and given our demonstrated experience in suspension bridge engineering, MOP retained COWI to complete the inspection, load testing, structural analysis, and design of repairs of two suspension bridges located in the “Ruta 7” of the Patagonia Region of Chile. The “Ruta 7” is the only route that connects the Patagonia Region in the South of the country with the provinces to the North, so the bridges are considered critical infrastructure. The assignment’s main goal was to ensure acceptable service conditions during the next 5 to 10 years when the bridges are expected to be replaced with two new bridges. The project was delivered from Halifax and the experience gained by the Halifax Team during the A.L.Macdonald Re-decking Project proved to be instrumental to the success of the project. Apart from technical challenges, the Halifax project team had to overcome some personal and logistical challenges as the project involved travelling to Chile in the middle of the COVID pandemic.

Speaker Bio - Jorge Perez Armino, P.Eng.: Jorge has 24 years of dedicated bridge engineering experience and has led multiple bridge projects in North America and globally. As Associate Technical Director at COWI, he contributes to develop and implement design practices in bridge engineering, regularly acts as subject matter expert, and participates in internal and external technical networks. One of Jorge's focuses is mentoring more junior engineers, and teaching structural engineering through collaborations and teaching positions at various Universities throughout his career.

Speaker Bio – Christopher Dyck, P.Eng. Chris is a Senior Engineer with 15 years of engineering experience. He works primarily in conceptual and detailed design and analysis of Bridge and Marine Structures and Project Management and has a keen interest in digitalization of workflows. Chris is the Engineer of Record on multiple bridge and wharf structures.  Prior to COWI, Chris was a Project Manager and Bridge Rehabilitation Engineer at the Nova Scotia Department of Public Works (NSDPW) Bridge Engineering group, and also held positions in structural consulting engineering companies working on heavy civil design engineering including bridges and wharves.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Presentation Title: BioVectra Expansion - Windsor, NS

Speaker: Steven K. Ramsay, P.Eng., PMP, CEM

Presentation Summary:  BioVectra Inc. is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) of complex chemistry and biologics drug substances for global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. BioVectra purchased an existing pharmaceutical facility in Windsor, NS in June 2014 which was originally designed for chemical processing of small molecule ingredients.  Over the past six years, the company has invested $90M into renovating more than 20,000 square feet and expanded the building to approximately 51,000 square feet.

The locally Engineered and Designed and Constructed and Certified facility meets regulatory requirements of agencies around the world and now gives Nova Scotia the capability to stand with the best in the world for producing Biologics, including vaccine products to fight known and future diseases like COVID-19.

During the entire project, BioVectra and Nova Scotia Engineers have taken a collaborative engineering approach with local engineering firms leading the design, construction, and certification.  Nova Scotia engineering leadership and capabilities were key to accomplishing specialized joint engineering efforts, further developing local engineering talent, and drawing on global engineering knowledge, on both a temporary and permanent basis, to produce a truly world class facility.  Many of the key members on the project team included diversity and several were women, with roles including: Construction Manager, Lead Structural Engineer, General Contractor Project Manager, Process Piping contractor Project Manager, Automation Lead, Project Scheduler, Commissioning and Qualification Project Manager, Maintenance Lead, etc.  All consultant teams were comprised of employees from diverse cultural backgrounds and all hold diversity and inclusive environments as core values.

Steven K. Ramsay, P.Eng., PMP, CEM - Steven has engaged in detailed and complex projects for 25+ years, graduating from UPEI and UNB.

He has worked on small and large scale commercial, institutional and industrial projects in Canada and internationally. bioscience, food processing, laboratory clean rooms, and cannabis facilities are within his expertise.

Steven has earned a reputation relating to customer needs and requirements and has gained extensive knowledge of HVAC, plumbing, sprinkler, and automation/integration design as consultant, contractor, and project manager.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Presentation Title: Goal Setting and Miraculous Cures: How to set, manage, and achieve your biggest goals

Presentation summary:  This talk will be focused on goals. During the talk, I’ll discuss the importance of goals, how to set meaningful goals, and how to manage goals over time to increase the likelihood of successfully achieving them. 

My objective with the talk will be to have participants walk away being inspired to commit to big goals - both in support of their own professional development and in support of the organizations they serve.

The talk will be informative, interactive, practical, and entertaining. It will draw both from popular and academic literature as well as from my own experience as a leader in engineering. Most importantly, it will be geared specifically towards an engineering audience.

The talk will be approximately 60 minutes long, including interaction throughout. A Q&A session will follow.

Speaker(s) bio: 

Patrick Sweet, P.Eng., MBA, PMP, CSEP is an expert in management, productivity, and leadership. He is the president of The Engineering & Leadership Project, which provides leadership and management training and consulting for engineers. He also hosts the globally top-rated Engineering & Leadership Podcast.

Pat has a Bachelor of Engineering from Dalhousie University and an MBA from the Royal Military College of Canada. He’s currently pursuing doctoral studies in management at Saint Mary’s University. 

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Presentation Title: Enabling Rapid Commercialization through Technical Infrastructure with Digital Harbour

Throughout our history, we have harnessed the potential of the ocean to provide economic growth in Nova Scotia. Naval installations, fishing, shipbuilding, seafood processing, ports and marine activities have long been mainstay activities in the province. Purpose-built to drive commercialization, COVE has become central to Nova Scotia’s, and Canada’s, blue economy. COVE’s model of connecting natural and physical assets, talent, and emerging technologies through shared infrastructure, programs and services is globally unique.  

In 2022, COVE was awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Engineering for the Digital Harbour: Stella Maris, a multi-sensor seabed platform.  The Stella Maris serves as an instrumentation test bed to provide ocean-based firms the ability to rapidly test and advance the commercialization of their technologies.  Since its first deployment, new ways of operating in the ocean environment have been discovered, and the technical capacity of the platform continues to expand. A program of work has recently been launched to evaluate new products and services using artificial intelligence and machine learning with the data being captured by Stella Maris.  The platform has been used as a teaching tool to increase ocean literacy and education around STEM and will be the basis for a new program launched by COVE in the Fall entitled Deep Dive into Data.

Stella Maris is part of a broader vision to have a fully interconnected digital harbour to test, evaluate, and develop new products and services using ocean data. Digital Harbour will create a data ecosystem through shared infrastructure spanning the seafloor to space.  

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Bruce MacDougall, P.Eng.

Senior Project Manager, COVE

Bruce MacDougall is the Senior Project Manager for Stella Maris. Bruce is a computer engineer, tech entrepreneur, and business leader.  He has many years of experience in the telecom and ICT fields before becoming immersed in ocean technologies at COVE.  Bruce is the past chair of the board of Digital Nova Scotia, the ICT industry association in this province, and a board member at mitacs.  Bruce has an engineering degree from McGill and an MBA from Queen’s and is a long-time IEEE member and professional engineer registered in Nova Scotia.

Tom Knox,General Manager, DOT

Tom Knox is the General Manager at Dartmouth Ocean Technologies (DOT). Originally from the UK, Tom completed an advanced engineering apprenticeship with British Aerospace (BAE) and HNC Electrical engineering at Solent University in Southampton and is skilled in oceanographic deployment. An ambitious and motivated manager with a demonstrated history of working in the maritime industry, Tom launched his ocean tech start-up EMO Marine Technologies, in 2013, specializing in underwater fibre optic communications. During his past decade of work, Tom excelled in product placement, sales, control systems design, and SolidWorks. Prior to DOT, he was the General Manager at MacArtney Underwater Technologies and was the technical lead in building COVE’s subsea platform, Stella Maris.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Presentation Title: Can wood chip bioreactors reduce nitrate in agricultural drainage?

Presentation Summary: With increasing amounts of nitrogen (N) being added to farmland in the form of fertilizer and manure to optimize crop yields, and more broadly, to meet the growing demands for food, feed and energy, there are public concerns regarding its possible negative impact on the environment.  Subsurface agricultural tile drainage can allow large gains in agricultural productivity, but huge concerns are about pollutants moving through these systems. Discharge of excess nitrogen from the agricultural farms can enter surface waters, contributing to nutrient loading and eutrophication which is one of the main threats to the biodiversity. To tackle these challenges, wood chip bioreactors are a new option to reduce the amount of nitrate in drainage before it gets to local surface waters. These wood chip bioreactors consist of a buried trench filled with wood chips through which drainage water flows before leaving the farm and entering the natural environment. The wood chips enable a process known as denitrification, in which bacteria break down the nitrates. These bacteria feed on the carbon in the wood chips and transform the nitrate from the water into nitrogen gas, which exits the bioreactor into the atmosphere.

Speaker Bio: Lordwin Jeyakumar, PhD, P.Eng., is an Agricultural and Environmental Engineer in the field of agricultural water quality. His research mainly focuses on environmental technologies for pollution control especially to reduce the amount of nitrogen in drainage water from agricultural fields. He is active in providing service and leadership in professional societies and academic communities.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Presentation Title:  Internationally Educated Engineers and Intercultural Diversity: Challenges, Supports and Opportunities

Strength lies in diversity and this session will be highlighting the strength that comes from internationally educated engineers.

Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) is a leading community, not-for-profit charity, welcoming and providing settlement and employment services to immigrants in Nova Scotia. Working in partnerships with organizations throughout Nova Scotia, ISANS services create opportunities for immigrants to fully participate in Canadian life.

In this session, staff from three ISANS departments will draw from the experiences of their programs and will work as a panel to highlight the challenges, supports and opportunities of employers hiring immigrants.  They intend to draw from and build on audience experience.

Denise Callahan will outline the Orientation and Communications Skills for Engineers course. In this course, internationally educated engineers focus on learning and practicing workplace communication skills and gaining intercultural awareness needed to succeed in the engineering field in Canada. 

Speaker Bio:  Denise Callahan has been an adult educator for over 15 years. She is in her 5^th year at ISANS and is an English as an Additional Language (EAL) Instructor with the Language Services Team. She facilitates a course for internationally educated engineers called Orientation and Communication Skills for Engineers. Denise has an MA in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching and a Bachelor of Commerce, has taught at universities abroad, and is passionate about learning.

Paul Pickering is coordinator of The Intercultural Workplace Program, an employer-focused service. He will review how Nova Scotian employers benefit with support and training to increase organizational ability in hiring and retention of immigrants for the long-term.  Intercultural skills, awareness and knowledge are supported through: in-person and virtual workshops, presentations, organizational assessments and HR-related support.

Speaker Bio:  Paul Pickering has been delivering diversity and intercultural-related learning for over 20 years.  He is in his 10^th year at ISANS and is the Coordinator of the Intercultural Workplace Program at ISANS. Paul has worked with employers of all sizes throughout Nova Scotia, in all sectors. Paul has lived and worked internationally since 1995, has degrees in anthropology and communication, a diploma in lifelong learning, and he immigrated to Canada in 2011.

Samar Khalil: graduated from Damascus University faculty of Civil Engineering in 2001 and worked as a Structural Engineer for over 14 years. She moved to Canada as a skilled immigrant in 2017 and worked with ALS as an interpreter for the Newcomers refuges for three years. Samar has Joined the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) in 2021 as the Coordinator for the Internationally Educated Engineers and Architects (IEEs & IEAs) bridging program.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Title: Mentorship for All.  

Summary: Mentorship is a natural and crucial part of our professional lives; we instinctively look to others for support and inspiration. As we grow in our careers, we are at times learning and teaching, sometimes simultaneously. In this panel, we explore the experience of five engineers who have engaged in formal one-on-one mentorship, group mentorship, professional sponsorship, or coaching. We seek to demonstrate through this conversation that everyone can benefit from both sides of these relationships at various points in their careers. 

Session Moderator

Moderator Bio:  Sapna Natarajan is a third-year chemical engineering student from Halifax, Nova Scotia currently attending Dalhousie University. Sapna is heavily involved in engineering student societies, she currently serves as the VP Outreach of the Women in Engineering Society and the Secretary of the Chemical Engineering Society. Sapna is a Civilian Instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and volunteers weekly with 615 Bluenose Squadron. Additionally, Sapna holds a Glider Pilot License and frequently glides during the weekends and the summertime. 

Panelists (Mentor/Mentee Relationship

Michelle MacIntyre, P.Eng., is a structural engineer with a focus on industrial and building design. Her responsibilities have included completing or overseeing the assessment, design and construction of a variety of structures. With almost 10 years in the private consulting sector, Michelle has recently started as a Technical Specialist, Project Management, with Defence Construction Canada. Outside of work, Michelle enjoys arts and crafts, baking, home renovations, and quality time spent with her husband and 2-year-old son.

Cheryl Sewell, P.Eng., MASc. is a senior structural engineer with more than 26 years of experience specializing in seismic design and force protection. Cheryl has a passion for historic structures and travel and is a successful proponent of the DFATD Seismic Program for conducting structural seismic evaluations and remediation of Canadian Federal foreign properties.  Cheryl is a Member of the NRC National Building Code Standing Committee on Earthquake Design. Cheryl also enjoys hiking, kayaking, wood working, and home renovations.

Coaching

Annamarie Burgess, MCIP, P.Eng, is an engineer and planner with over a decade's experience in both private and public sectors. Her role with N.S. Environment and Climate Changes' Water Resources Management Unit is dynamic - it includes working with individuals and organizations on projects from construction to strategic policy. For the last four years Annamarie, motivated by a WIE event, has been working with a professional coach. Coaching is a space to keep herself accountable for professional development by accessing out of industry perspective.



Sponsor

Christopher Davis, FEC, P.Eng., is a Municipal Engineer with over seventeen years of experience with municipalities in Atlantic Canada.  In his role as the Manager in HRM’s Right of Way Services department, he leads a team of 10 Engineers and Engineering Technologists responsible for reviewing, permitting, and inspecting works in the city’s streets. Chris helped develop HRM’s Engineer-in-Training program in 2019; creating a bridge to connect new graduates motivated to join the public service with a junior engineering role that offers a rotation through eight departments across four business units. 

Group

Nancy Sutherland, P.Eng. is a Civil/Structural Professional Engineer with 15 years of experience specializing in structural integrity analyses of utility infrastructure and project management. Nancy has participated in multiple mentorship programs such as the CEATI (Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation) program, Women in Power, Women in Hydropower Mentorship Program and the LINKS mentorship program through Engineers Nova Scotia. The mentorship groups included women from different career stages such as self-identified senior, mid-level and junior professionals. As CEATI is an international group, not only were members from different engineering disciplines, but other parts of Canada, the United States and abroad.  Nancy is a volunteer for the Networking and Mentoring Subcommittee for Engineers Nova Scotia.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Engineers Nova Scotia is hosting an in-person member social event.  There will be no charge to attend this event, however registration is required.

Refreshments and hors d'oeuvres will be served. 

Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00pm

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Join us for the Annual General Meeting.  The meeting will include presentations from Engineers Canada, the current and incoming President of Engineers Nova Scotia, review of the financial statements, introduction of new Council members, and an opportunity for registrants to ask questions regarding the business of the association. 

Registration for this event is required.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.  

Register for virtual attendance of the Annual Business Meeting and the Awards Gala.  

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM   Engineering Awards Gala & Luncheon
 The 2022 Awards Gala & Luncheon is an opportunity to celebrate and recognize our 2022 Award Recipients. 

F.H. Sexton Gold Medal Recipient - Christopher S. Zinck, FEC, P.Eng.
Engineering Award – James E. Hannam, FEC, P.Eng.
L.A. White Young Engineer Award Recipient(s) –
Ashraf T. Abdelrahman, P.Eng. & Aaron D. Ferguson, P.Eng.
S.L. Devereaux Award for the Advancement of Women in the Engineering Profession – Dr. Corinne MacDonald, P.Eng.
J.D. Fraser Service Award – Kevin K. Bezanson, P.Eng.
Citizenship Award – Andrew Thalheimer, P.Eng.

Registration for this event is required to ensure that only Engineers Nova Scotia registrants receive appropriate voting permissions during the Annual Business Meeting portion of the day.

An email will forwarded along to you as we draw nearer to the date of the Annual Business Meeting.  This email will will be sent to the email address included in your online Engineers Nova Scotia profile and will provide you with information in order to access the livestream events of the day.  Please ensure that the information within your profile is current.

Join us for a celebration of the 2022 recipients of the following Engineers Nova Scotia Awards (Award recipients to be announced)

12:00 PM - 2:00 PM   Engineering Awards Gala & Luncheon ($40 per person) The 2022 Awards Gala & Luncheon is an opportunity to celebrate and recognize our 2022 Award Recipients. 

F.H. Sexton Gold Medal Recipient - Christopher S. Zinck, FEC, P.Eng.
Engineering Award – James E. Hannam, FEC, P.Eng.
L.A. White Young Engineer Award Recipient(s) –
Ashraf T. Abdelrahman, P.Eng. & Aaron D. Ferguson, P.Eng.
S.L. Devereaux Award for the Advancement of Women in the Engineering Profession – Dr. Corinne MacDonald, P.Eng.
J.D. Fraser Service Award – Kevin K. Bezanson, P.Eng.
Citizenship Award – Andrew Thalheimer, P.Eng.

Engineers Nova Scotia requires that you register for only those events that you plan to attend in order to ensure that we are ordering the appropriate amount of food and beverages for those in attendance.

Please ensure to include any dietary restrictions and/or accessibility requirements that you might have when registering for any of our sessions.