President’s Message

January 2022

Dear Fellows of the Academy,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break despite the sudden difficult challenges brought on by the Omicron variant, that has affected so many of us and our families. Without question, these are unusual and demanding times and I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude for your contribution to the CAE’s mission. At the 2020 AGM, we launched an ambitious strategic plan with a vision to apply ‘’engineering principles to the prosperity, well-being and sustainability of Canada and its people’’ and I am proud to see how we have made progress on many fronts:

• Programs have been launched and generated webinars, position papers and engagement with federal, provincial and municipal governments;
• The CAE Nation Building Scholarship Series was created, where two new scholarships were established to recognize undergraduate students’ leadership in climate change and in equipping the North with infrastructure and we worked with the sponsors of our two named scholarships to increase the focus on teamwork and leadership;
• New partnerships were built with international academies and Engineering Deans Canada to shape the future of engineering; and
• Sections helped recognized CAE Fellows for their service to the profession.

As we move into a new and hopefully better year, I find myself reflecting on the importance of implementing our strategic plan in order to have the engineering perspective valued when addressing challenges of critical importance to Canada, being climate change, the pandemic or sustainable development, to name only a few. This can be achieved by growing the CAE capacity to communicate regarding complex engineering challenges, increasing the profile of the CAE and providing strategic and actionable advice to decision- and policy-makers. It is ambitious and we will need additional support. The CAE has now over 850 Fellows all with exceptional experience and expertise and I invite you to participate in the CAE by taking part in committees, webinars, sections, task groups and proposing other activities that will help achieve our mission. Your skills and knowledge can constitute a vehicle for action towards national issues.

Our intent is to hold the 2022 Induction Ceremony in-person in Halifax, this June. I am looking forward to seeing you in person, even if at a distance.

Sincerely,

Yves Beauchamp

CAE President, 2020-2022

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