A Milestone to Remember

The Member Milestones celebrations mark the professional achievements of three distinct APEGA groups: members achieving life member status, members-in-training who are swearing their oath and graduating to professionals, and those who have volunteered for APEGA or Engineers Canada for a period of time.

These celebrations happen at the President's Visits to branches and at separate events in Edmonton and Calgary, drawing together members from the beginning and the end of their journeys as professional engineers and geoscientists.

The voices of the newly pinned professional engineers and geoscientists course strong as they stand to take their oath at the Member Milestones events in Calgary and Edmonton: “Through all my actions, I will serve society and enhance my knowledge and the dignity and status of my profession.”

The proud applause of family, friends, and APEGA staff and Council reverberates for them as it does for the dedicated members receiving their life member pins, having long served society and staying true to the tenets of that very same oath.

As each new and life member carefully removes their pin from its velvet box to glint gold on their lapel, they toast the amalgamation of the old guard heralding the new, elated that the future would remain in good and capable hands, full of possibility.

Becoming a licensed professional

Nazmus Sakib, P.Eng., a water administration engineer with the Government of Alberta, received his professional designation at the Edmonton Milestones event in 2022. Sakib confided he now felt ready to build his life and his family as he carries forward in a career he hopes will help better society.

“I feel like I have been given the responsibility to be ethical, professional, fair, and transparent through my processes. I can call myself a responsible person in the discipline and take care of the welfare of those I work with, whether it be stakeholders or clients. Through my work, I can do something that is meaningful and adds to the overall goodwill of the nation.”

Transitioning to life membership

Lifetime Member Pin Dave Rumbold, P.Eng., received his life member pin at the Edmonton Member Milestones Celebration in 2022.

Rumbold is a retired mechanical engineer who has volunteered in various capacities with APEGA for the past 30 years, including as part of the Practice Review Board, the AGM/Summit Awards Task Force, the Nominating Committee, the Special Committee of Council on Nominations, and the Act, Regulations, and Bylaws Committee.

He explains receiving a life member pin is a transition: it’s a moment when you realize you have truly retired by relinquishing your role as a practising professional. Although Rumbold is retired, he still affects the professions by leading the engineers and geoscientists of tomorrow through his volunteer work with APEGA committees and as the Chief Warden of Camp 6 of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, which administers Edmonton’s Iron Ring Ceremony.

Dave Rumbold As he watched the new professionals confidently say their oaths, Rumbold felt gratified that he helped pass on a legacy of safety to a new generation of innovators, creators, and builders. “I know our future is in good hands.

"I look at those young women and men becoming professional members with all the rights and responsibilities that brings, and I can tell they understand the importance of their impact. You know they have the tools, passion, and capabilities to keep things moving forward and take us to places we can’t even imagine. It’s a joyful thing."

For more information about APEGA’s Member Milestones celebrations, contact [email protected].