OSPE - The Voice - September 2016 - 6

viewpoint The term "engineer-entrepreneur" has recently become a familiar title both across the engineering profession and in society at large. Message froM Your president Educational institutions and professional societies are investing heavily in dual-degree curricula and professional development programs that incorporate an entrepreneurial mindset into students' traditional engineering education. As a result of this recent emphasis, we tend to think of entrepreneurship as if it has been newly discovered. The reality is, entrepreneurship is actually the heritage of Canadian engineering. As part of an emergent society, the first settlers to colonize Canada were compelled to modify their existing infrastructural and technological know-how in order to adapt to this new land and the resources available to them. Consider this excerpt from a Historica Canada article on the history of engineering, which eloquently summarizes the innovation required to complete one of Canada's iconic feats of engineering - the Rideau Canal project of 1832: "The Hog's Back embodied an important lesson: engineering is often best when it relies heavily on local materials and labour along with the adaptation of known technology to fit local circumstances. These characteristics were to become hallmarks of Canadian engineering and serve Canadian engineers well in jobs throughout the world, particularly on those requiring flexibility and imagination in the face of unusual circumstances.1" These footprints of innovation and entrepreneurship are evident in the very roads, railways, grain elevators, communications channels and power generating stations, to name a few, that drive society as we know it. Past and present, entrepreneurship and engineering go hand in hand, because entrepreneurship is fuelled by engineering knowledge. Engineers have the trained ability to evaluate current trends and predict future societal need. They have the technical expertise to develop new technologies and services to meet those needs, and the analytical mindset to continually make improvements, so that new ventures remain competitive and relevant. By the same token, entrepreneurship is fuelled by Ontario's colleges and universities, government support programs, private industry and investor base, each of which provide Ontario's engineers with the tools and platforms required to take their innovations from ideation to reality. Entrepreneurship across our OSPE membership is as broad in scope as the diversity of our members themselves. Engineering students, alumni and professional engineers work in all fields from finance and manufacturing, to health and nanotechnology. In fact, virtually any and all disciplines are well served by the fundamental approach taken in engineering; that is, harnessing available resources for the betterment of society and the earth that supports us. This is the richness of our engineering heritage. By providing networking opportunities for engineering students, graduates, professional engineers and an extended community of partners, OSPE's entrepreneurship program helps facilitate this continued ingenuity and resourcefulness. With over 200,000 engineers and engineering alumni in this province, Ontario has a lot to give. Ontario's engineers are poised to take on today's challenges for furthering a sustainable society that brings a high quality of life to its citizens, while protecting the cherished land on which we live. Michael Monette, P.Eng. MBA President and Chair, OsPe 6 The VOICe September 2016 Ball, Norman R. "History of Engineering." Historica Canada. May 30, 2007. Accessed July 4, 2016. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/history-of-engineering/. 1 http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/history-of-engineering/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - September 2016