2015-2016 annual report - engineers...

ONTARIO PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION[AUTHOR NAME] 1

2015-‐2016 ANNUAL REPORT


BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on May 26, 2015, the members of the Ontario Professional Engineers Foundation for Education (Engineers Foundation) elected the following directors affiliated with Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO):

George Comrie, P.Eng. Maria Iannone Roger Jones, P.Eng. Chetan Mehta, MBA Zico Sarmento Marisa Sterling, P.Eng. and the following directors affiliated with the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE): Jane Huang, P.Eng. Steven Rose, P.Eng. Alourdes Sully, P.Eng. Sue Tessier, P.Eng. At the first meeting of the Board of Directors on May 26, 2015, the following officers of the Engineers Foundation were appointed: President and Chair Marisa Sterling, P.Eng. Secretary Sue Tessier, P.Eng. Treasurer Chetan Mehta, MBA Note: The Directors are retired at each annual meeting of the members of the Engineers Foundation, but are eligible to be re-‐elected if otherwise qualified. The Officers are elected or appointed by the Board at its first meeting after the annual general meeting. The Secretary and Treasurer of the Engineers Foundation need not be members of the Board of Directors.


Board of Directors elected for 2015 – 2016 term

Back row left to right – Maria Iannone; Jane Huang, P.Eng.; Marisa Sterling, P.Eng.; Alourdes Sully, P.Eng.; Sue Tessier, P.Eng.; front row left to right – Zico Sarmento; Steve Rose, P.Eng.; George Comrie, P.Eng.; Roger Jones, P.Eng.. Missing from photo was Chetan Mehta, MBA. Photo taken June 10, 2015.


ENGINEERS FOUNDATION MEMBERSHIP

The Engineers Foundation has a total of 48 members plus 1 PEO Chapter member.

• Kim Allen, P.Eng. • Paul Ballantyne, P.Eng. • Annette Bergeron, P.Eng. • Noreen Calderbank, P.Eng. • Colin Cantlie, P.Eng. • Tracey Caruana, P.Eng. • Maria Cellucci, CA • Jeannette Chau, P.Eng. • Corneliu Chisu, P.Eng. • Bruce Clarida, P.Eng. • George Comrie, P.Eng. • Peter Cowherd • Chris Cragg, P.Eng. • Valerie Davidson, P.Eng. • Marta Ecsedi, P.Eng. • Bernard Ennis, P.Eng. • Roydon Fraser, P.Eng. • Diane Freeman, P.Eng. • Ravi Gupta, P.Eng. • Santosh Gupta, P.Eng. • Rhonda Hall • Jane Huang, P.Eng. • Maria Iannone • Stephen Jack, P.Eng. • Roger Jones, P.Eng. • Catherine Karakatsanis, P.Eng. • Chetan Mehta, MBA • Nadine Miller, P.Eng. • Nick Monsour, P.Eng. • Colin Moore, P.Eng. • Clare Morris, P.Eng. • John Moudakis


• Valeria Mueller • Gonzalo Pineros, EIT • Shannon Pole, PEO Oakville Chapter representative • Steven Rose, P.Eng. • Brian Ross, P.Eng. • Changiz Sadr, P.Eng. • Zico Sarmento • Rakesh Shreewastav, P.Eng. • Baijul Shukla • Marilyn Spink, P.Eng. • Marisa Sterling, P.Eng. • Alourdes Sully, P.Eng. • Sue Tessier, P.Eng. • John Turner, P.Eng. • Richard Weldon, P.Eng. • Michael Wesa, P.Eng. • Robert Willson, P.Eng.

It is with great sadness that we report the loss of two members this past year. Brenda Caplan passed away June 5, 2015. She served as a member, past director and most notably as Secretary between 1997-‐2005. Manoj Choudhary, P.Eng. passed away November 8 2015. He served as a member since 2010.

ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS

Your Board of Directors met a total of six times since the last AGM on:

• June 10, 2015 • June 17, 2015 • September 23, 2015 • December 8, 2015 • February 24, 2016 • April 26, 2016


The following are the highlights of the Engineers Foundation’s achievements over the past year.

1. Student Awards

In September 2015, the Foundation increased its scholarship funding and quantity by 50%.

The Engineers Foundation distributed a total of $153,000 in award monies between September 2015 and March 2016 across all of Ontario’s fifteen CEAB-‐accredited engineering schools. A total of 117 students were recipients of the Foundation’s awards, of which over 30% were women engineering students.

The Foundation received media coverage of its scholarship increase by Plant Engineering and Maintenance magazine, Real Estate Management Industry News and PEO’s Engineering Dimensions.

Foundation President Sterling and Lassonde School of Engineering Dean Kozinski with York University Gold Medal winner Jonathan Lebon

Since the Foundation was created in 1959, over $2.6 million dollars of student funding has been invested in 3044

engineering students across Ontario.


“Awards like this provide tremendous value to a student’s education as it allows students to focus less on financial restrains and more on personal development through education and extracurricular involvement. I hope to be a great example

of this.”

-‐ Ontario engineering student Chris Kornas

Entrance Scholarships ($1,500 each, 2 per school, 50% women recipients)

The scholarship amount was increased by 50% from $1,000 to $1,500 each.

A total of $45,000 (an increase from $30,000) was given to 30 first year engineering students who attained high academic standing in their final year of high school and were assessed to be well-‐rounded students with leadership characteristics. In each school, one male student and one female student received this scholarship. Over the past 20 years, the Engineers Foundation has awarded over $285,000 in scholarships to women entering engineering programs in Ontario.

Undergraduate Scholarships ($1,500 each, 2-‐8 per school based on enrolment)

The total scholarship amount was increased by 50% from $72,500 to $108,000 per year.

A total of $108,000 was given to 72 undergraduate engineering students in either their 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of studies who exhibited exceptional role model qualities through participation in professional and non-‐academic activities while maintaining above average marks.


“Receiving this award really motivates me to continue to work hard. Your generosity has truly motivated me to help others and give back to the community. I hope one day I will be able to help students achieve their goals, just as you have

helped me.”

-‐ Ontario engineering student Natasha Rahman

Gold Medals (no cash value, 1 per school)

A total of 15 graduating engineering students were awarded the Foundation’s gold medal for achieving the highest academic standing in their final year. The medals were inscribed with the student’s name and were mostly presented at convocation ceremonies to an audience of their peers.

Leaders for the Future Scholarship ($2,000, 1 per year)

The Leaders for the Future scholarship was awarded to Hilary Stone, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering student at Western University. The award was presented to Ms. Stone at the Engineers Without Borders annual conference in Hamilton, Ontario on January 16, 2016. The award is given to an Ontario engineering student completing a volunteer placement with EWB.


2. Engineering Community Engagement

In 2015-‐2016, the Engineers Foundation was advertised in PEO’s Engineering Dimensions. The Foundation wishes to thank PEO’s graphics department and editorial team for their help in developing and publishing this ad.


Engagement with Ontario’s Engineering Schools

The Engineers Foundation continues to foster strong relationships with Ontario’s fifteen engineering schools. The Deans of engineering, the engineering faculty members and the central awards officers are key partners in the success of delivering our awards program since they select the awardees according to the Foundation’s criteria.

The Foundation has signed multi-‐year donor agreements with its university partners. The objective of these agreements was to provide the universities with assurance of the Foundation’s multi-‐year giving and to ensure that:

• All Engineers Foundation awardees meet our criteria and all monies are distributed within the academic year;

• Every effort is made to arrange a suitable award ceremony among the students’ peers with participation by at least one representative of the Engineers Foundation;

• Awardees are invited to join PEO’s and OSPE’s student membership programs and establish ongoing contact with the Foundation; and

• Engineering schools are invited to provide feedback to the Foundation on ways to improve the effectiveness of our awards programs.

During the 2015-‐2016 academic year, the Engineers Foundation participated in a total of 13 university award ceremonies at Royal Military College of Canada, Western University, Ryerson University, University of Ottawa, University of Waterloo, Carleton University, University of Toronto, York University and McMaster University. The Foundation is grateful for the volunteers from the Board, membership and PEO chapters who helped to present the Foundation’s awards.

This year saw an increase of four additional student ceremonies for the entrance and undergraduate awards, and an increase of four additional public ceremonies for the gold medal.


Engagement with Ontario’s Deans of Engineering (CODE)

CODE appointed its chair, Dr. Ramesh Subramanian, P.Eng, of Laurentian University, to be their official liaison with the Foundation and provide regular reports on activities to both groups. During the year, the Foundation tracked the changes in enrollment by engineering schools. As a result, the Foundation rebalanced its quantity of undergraduate scholarships to better represent the distribution of students across the Ontario schools.

Engagement with Ontario’s Engineering Students (ESSCO)

We are thankful to the local university engineering societies, members of ESSCO, that assisted in the identification of student award ceremonies where the Foundation’s awards can be presented.

We look forward to welcoming a liaison from ESSCO to interact with the Foundation in the coming year.

Engagement with Ontario’s Engineering Associations

In 2015/16, the Engineers Foundation received generous donations and/or in-‐kind support from PEO, OSPE and CEO. PEO continued to administer donations from its members to the Engineers Foundation through the annual PEO fee renewal form. PEO also provided the Foundation in-‐kind support through office and meeting space, IT support, graphics assistance and hosting the Foundation’s AGM.

OSPE provided in-‐kind support including hosting two of the Foundation’s board meetings, and providing marketing, communications and human resources assistance.


The Foundation is extremely grateful to PEO and OSPE for their continued support.

The Foundation also forged a stronger partnership with Consulting Engineers Ontario (CEO). Through CEO’s endorsement and in-‐kind support, the Foundation began a direct mail campaign to CEO member firms.

The Foundation also continued to reach out to PEO chapters to invite new members to the Foundation. This was a result of a by-‐law change in 2015 that allowed executive members of PEO chapters in good standing to request membership in the Foundation.

3. Donor Engagement

The Foundation continued to execute its fundraising plan to bolster both the quantity and amount of donations from engineers and engineering firms. This action is a result of a drop in donations that the board of directors have noticed since 2010.

The Foundation sent monthly mailings to PEO members, in advance of their PEO licence fee renewal date, to request donations via the check off box on their PEO fee renewal form. This initiative resulted in a close to $10,000 increase in PEO member donations in the 2015 calendar year.

The Foundation is grateful for the support of its many individual donors as well as the continued support of its corporate donors including Ontario Power Generation and the Gillespie Family Foundation.

4. Volunteer Recognition

To recognize long-‐standing directors, the Foundation initiated nominations to the Ontario Volunteer Service Awards for six members. The following individuals were recognized by the Ontario Government in May 2016 for their years of significant service to the Foundation:

15 years of service: 5 years of service:

George Comrie, P.Eng. Peter Cowherd Nick Monsour, P.Eng. Chetan Mehta Stephen Jack, P.Eng. Marisa Stering, P.Eng.


In addition, the Foundation supported a nomination of Stephen Jack, P.Eng., to the Officer level of PEO’s Order of Honour. Mr. Jack received this recognition on April 29, 2016 at PEO’s Annual General Meeting weekend.

Financial Results

The Foundation’s total revenue for 2015 was $189,081 versus $1,041,135 in 2014, a decrease of $852,054. This significant drop was mainly a result of a generous anonymous bequest in the amount of $800,000 that the Foundation received in November 2014. Donations received from individual engineers and PEO members were $99,322 in 2015 versus $89,841 in 2014, an increase of $9,481 or10%. Donations from corporations, associations and other sources totaled $1,100 in 2015 versus $3,489 in 2014, a decrease of $2,389 or 70%. The lower corporate donation revenue was offset by the increased individual engineer donations.

The Foundation’s expenses were $34,242 in 2015 versus $39,501 in 2014, a decrease of $5,259 or 13% primarily due to reduced fundraising expenses and receipt of an HST rebate. Scholarships and awards totaled $165,539 in 2015 versus $111,565 in 2014, due to the 50% increase in award funding as well as disbursement of the Professional Engineers Benevolent Fund.

There was a resulting deficit of $9,700 in 2015 versus a surplus of $890,069 in 2014 again due to the significant bequest received in November 2014, and the increased scholarship disbursement this year. The Foundation is pleased to report it received a clean audit for 2015.

The directors and staff of the Foundation continue to manage expenses carefully in order to maximize the percentage of each revenue dollar that goes directly to award recipients. Expenses in 2015 represented 33% of donations received, and scholarships and awards represented 160% of donations received. The Foundation is currently issuing scholarships and awards of a total greater value than total annual donations it receives, however, it started to close this gap this year with the increased individual donation revenue.

The long-‐term goal of the Foundation is to increase both the value and the quantity of scholarships that it issues to students in order to continue to help defray the rising cost of an engineering tuition, expected to be over $100,000 during the course of an undergraduate degree.


Our vision is to make the Engineers Foundation top-‐of-‐mind within Ontario’s engineering community and the charity of choice for

Ontario engineers.

Our Visions

The Foundation board worked this past year to refresh its purpose and vision statements to guide the Foundation’s future direction. It was decided to split the student awards from the benevolent fund’s financial support for professional engineers in order to give each fund sufficient attention.

The resulting statements are as follows:

Engineers Foundation

Purpose Statement:

Our purpose is to nurture tomorrow’s engineers by providing deserving students with recognition, financial assistance and connections into the path to license.

Vision Statement:

Our vision is to expand the assistance engineering students receive and the engineering network giving that gives back to the next generation.

Engineers Benevolent Fund

Purpose Statement:

Our purpose is to care for professional engineers in need by providing emergency financial aid.

Vision Statement:

Our vision is to always be there for professional engineers in financial need.


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow directors and officers for their enthusiasm and dedication to the work of the Engineers Foundation. It has been a very busy and rewarding year.

I must also thank our part-‐time administrator, Andrea Bussinger, and our treasurer, Peter Cowherd, for their faithful attention to the many details of the Engineers Foundation’s day-‐to-‐day operations. Andrea is the face of the Engineers Foundation to the public, and in particular to those in the engineering schools with whom we partner closely. Peter manages our finances and provides timely and accurate financial status reports at each Board meeting.

In January 2015, Peter Cowherd resigned after serving six years as Treasurer. He then returned in May 2015 to support us until May 2016 – he just can’t leave! I want to thank Peter and Chetan Mehta for their ongoing support of the Treasurer role.

In May 2016, the following directors resigned from the Foundation board:

-‐ George Comrie, P.Eng. -‐ Chetan Mehta

I want to thank George and Chetan for their volunteer service.

I believe together we have been laying the groundwork for future growth of the Engineers Foundation in terms of both impact on and relevance to the engineering student community we serve. I look forward to continuing to implement our shared vision with our partners and our donors. It is a privilege to be able to make a positive impact on the lives of our future engineering leaders.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Board of Directors,

Marisa Sterling, P.Eng.

President and Chair

2015-2016 annual report - engineers...

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