INNOVATION November-December 2013

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Seismic Retrofit Guidelines Recognized with Two National Engineering Awards The Seismic Retrofit Guidelines have received two Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards from the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies (ACEC) and Canadian Consulting Engineer magazine: an Award of Excellence, and the Engineering a Better Canada Award. Recipients were selected by a panel of 12 independent jurors with varied backgrounds and knowledge of the industry.

Representatives accept two Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards for the Seismic Retrofit Guidelines.

The Engineering a Better Canada Award is given for a project that best showcases how engineering enhances the social, economic, or cultural quality of life of Canadians; while the Consulting Engineering Award of Excellence recognizes that the Seismic Retrofit Guidelines “have received the highest national mark of recognition in engineering.” APEGBC, with the support of UBC’s Civil Engineering department, was engaged by the Ministry of Education in 2004 to assist with the implementation of a seismic upgrade program for BC schools. This included the development of performance-based Seismic Retrofit Guidelines and a unique state-of-the-art, web-based Seismic Performance Analyzer. With these made-in-BC guidelines, structural engineers are able to assess seismic risks for existing buildings and develop appropriate and optimized retrofits. Representatives of the team from APEGBC, UBC, and consultants Ausenco, Bush Bohlman & Partners, Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd., and GENIVAR accepted the honours at an awards ceremony in Ottawa in October.

APEGBC’s Organizational Quality Management Program Recognized with ACE Award This year, APEGBC is the proud

recipient of the Association Cornerstone of Excellence (ACE) Award in the New Program category for its Organizational Quality Management (OQM) program. Presented annually by the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE), the award recognizes innovative and unique association programs with proven success. The APEGBC OQM program is a voluntary

Corinne Atwood, CSAE BC President presents award to APEGBC’s Lina Bowser, Manager of Quality Assurance Programs, and Kelly Dayman, Organizational Quality Management Administrator.

process which offers participating organizations employing professional engineers and geoscientists OQM certification, recognizing adherence to an APEGBC-endorsed quality management program. In September, the Canadian Society for Quality held its 5 th annual Canadian Quality Congress in Calgary. The Congress featured leading experts from academia, industry, and government from around the world who gathered to talk quality and continuous improvement. Impressed by APEGBC’s OQM program, Peter Mitchell, APEGBC Director, Professional Practice, and Marg Latham, Aqua Libra Consulting Ltd. President, were asked by organizers to co-deliver a presentation on the program to attendees. Since its launch in September 2012, over 100 organizations have participated in the program, ranging from sole practitioners to large multinational corporations. The program is self-funded and available to all organizations carrying out professional engineering and/or geoscience.

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