INNOVATION May-June 2016

l et ter s

Submit letters to the editor, 300 words or less, to innovation@apeg.bc.ca by June 24 for the July/August issue. Letters are published as space is available. Opinions expressed in letters are not necessarily endorsed by APEGBC. Remembering Phil Hill, P.Eng., With great sadness, the UBC Department of Mechanical with a student, with Job-like patience explaining some subtlety of thermodynamics. All who interacted with him felt privileged to work with such an exemplary human.

Engineering reports that Dr. Philip Hill, P.Eng., Emeritus Professor and former Head of the Department, passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 17, following a short battle with cancer. I was fortunate to have overlapped for a number of years with Phil. His was a remarkable intellect. In recognition of his enormous talents, Phil received numerous major honours for engineering. He won the R.A. McLachlan Memorial Award, our professional association’s highest award. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He won the Encana Principal Award of the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation, Canada’s highest award for engineering innovation. His work on the thermodynamic properties of steam and on the fueling of diesel engines with natural gas was world-leading. He was a man whose work was respected by faculty at the best universities in the world—over the years, I have spoken with colleagues at Caltech, at Cambridge, and at MIT, all of whom had the highest regard for Phil. Phil was much more than a towering intellect: he was a gentlemen. Phil’s personal warmth, his integrity, and his profound concern for the welfare of humanity were apparent to all who knew him. I can still picture Phil hunched over in conversation

Phil will live on in our thoughts and through his impact on the thousands of students and colleagues he interacted with over the decades. —Dr. Sheldon Green, P.Eng. Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC Vancouver, BC Public Interest Bylaw Proposal Sparks Response Once again, the membership has clearly spoken against mandatory CPD reporting. As professionals, we have an obligation to stay current in our fields of expertise. All active engineers that I know do this routinely. Furthermore, I am unaware that anyone has shown that public safety has been enhanced by doing more record keeping. We do not need to waste time keeping track of mundane activities such as reading trade magazines—better that record keeping time be spent on actual professional development. We already have a code of ethics which requires professional behavior and we have an enforcement mechanism for those members who jeopardize public safety or our standards. We do not Since graduation, you’ve upgraded your computer, your cell phone and probably even your car. What about you? Isn’t it time you thought about upgrading your knowledge and skills? Upgrade — your way — with an on-line Master’s program. The on-line Master’s program in Electric Power Engineering in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, o€ers advanced, state-of-the-art, training in Electric Power Engineering. The Program is designed for engineering personnel from the electric power industry, electrical engineering graduates, and other professionals looking to upgrade and accelerate their career in the power and energy sector. The program o€ers a full spectrum of courses, o€ered over three terms each year, which are relevant to the power industry. Courses are taught by world-class faculty members from the Department’s Power & Energy Systems Group; one of the best power engineering research groups in North America. Program Information One of the following three program options is available to all program participants: » Master of Engineering (MEng) in Electric Power Engineering : Awarded on completion of 9 courses » Graduate Diploma (GDip) in Electric Power Engineering : Awarded on completion of 6 courses » Certificate of Completion : Awarded on completion of a single course. The MEng and GDip Programs are fully approved by the Ontario Council on Graduate Studies. For more information on course schedules, fees, and other details, please visit ece.uwaterloo.ca/onlineMEng .

time for an upgrade?

ON-LINE MASTER’S PROGRAM In Electric Power Engineering University of Waterloo | Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

C009287

5

M AY/J U N E 2 016

i n n o v a t i o n