2018-19 Award Winners
Friend of the Professions Award
The Friend of the Professions Award was created in 2013 to recognize exceptional achievements or unique contributions by a non-member in the promotion of the professions in Saskatchewan.
Deborah Rolfes
Debbie Rolfes’ natural inclinations and all her education are in the humanities fields; she certainly did not anticipate that so much of her career would involve working with engineers and geoscientists. After obtaining a BA in English at the University of Saskatchewan, Deb moved to Los Angeles and completed a Master’s in English at UCLA. This background led to a position as a technical writer and, when she moved back to Saskatoon, as an instructor in professional communication at the University of Saskatchewan, first in the College of Commerce and then in the College of Engineering. During this time, she also completed a Master of Theology in Old Testament Scripture.
In 2006, the same year that she became a faculty member in the Graham Centre in the College of Engineering, Deb was named as a Public Appointee to APEGS Council, a position she held until 2013. On Council, Deb served on the Discipline Committee, where she received extensive training in regulating the professions, knowledge that she now brings to her classroom, helping achieve Ron and Jane Graham’s vision of giving future engineers the skills they need to become “engaged citizens.” Since leaving Council, Deb has volunteered on the Professional Edge Committee, offered training at track sessions for APEGS annual meeting and professional development days and volunteered on ACEC-SK’s Award Committee.
Deb is now serving as the Director of the Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, where she is leading the evolution of the school as it adds entrepreneurship, business skills and potentially project management skills to the opportunities it offers to engineering and geoscience students and, increasingly, to industry as well.
Debbie and her husband, Matt Sherry, have two children, neither of whom is an engineer or geoscientist. They are, however, engaged citizens in the best tradition of the professions.
Promising Member Award
The Promising Member Award was established in 1995 to recognize exceptional achievements by professional members in the early stages of their careers in Saskatchewan.
Nicholas Christopher Kaminski, P.Eng.
Nicholas is a structural engineer with KGS Group Consulting Engineers based in Saskatoon. Prior to working in the consulting field, he was employed with Ledcor Group in Edmonton, Alberta.
He was interested in engineering from a young age, constructing both Lego and Hot Wheels cities complete with buildings, roads and stoplights. Naturally, he pursued a degree in civil engineering graduating in 2013 and currently, he is an M.Eng. Candidate at the University of Saskatchewan. Nicholas has also obtained his Project Management Professional designation with the Project Management Institute.
He has authored nine published articles for Canadian Civil Engineer and the Association of Polish Engineers in Canada.
For many years, Nicholas has served on various committees with the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Saskatchewan (ACEC-SK) and APEGS. He takes pride in representing a diverse group of technical, business, regulatory and civic organizations. Most notably, he is a member of the Board of Trustees with the Saskatoon Public Library having been appointed by City Council. He is a 20-time donor with Canadian Blood Services and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.
Nicholas’ commitment to volunteerism and governance is exhibited by having obtained his Public Sector Governor designation and a certificate in public governance with the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy through the University of Regina. In addition, he has obtained his certificate in Not-for-Profit Governance with the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Rotman School of Management with the University of Toronto.
Nicholas has been commended for his professional and community achievements having been awarded an SGI Anniversary Scholarship, an APEGS Member Scholarship, the provincial 2018 ACEC-SK Young Professional Award and most recently, an RBC Foundation Scholarship.
In his spare time, he trains for half-marathons and will run in his tenth later this year. He lives in Saskatoon with his spouse Alexia, who is a pharmacist.
Environmental Excellence Award
The Environmental Excellence Award created in 2005 recognizes exceptional achievements by an individual or team in the application of engineering, geological and/or geophysical methods related to environmental protection and preservation.
Nathan E. P. Bruce, Engineer-In-Training
Nathan grew up in Regina and did not go too far away for university. Nathan received his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Systems Engineering from the University of Regina in 2014 and returned for a master’s degree in the same field in 2015. During his time as a graduate student, he worked in the solid waste research group managed by Dr. Kelvin Ng.
By the end of his degree, Nathan had presented at the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering conference in 2015, published three journal articles as first author and worked as a teaching assistant for undergraduate courses. His conference and journal topics explored provincial waste management trends and landfill gas collection modelling. He completed his degree in 2016.
Nathan previously worked in surveying and design for municipal land development projects and enjoyed the field work. He recently moved to the field of solid waste management to put his specialty to good use, where he now works on landfill projects and waste diversion studies.
A home composting enthusiast, Nathan has gradually acquired a range of indoor and outdoor composting systems. He brought this interest to his workplaces by implementing organic waste diversion programs, including the necessary communication, collection, auditing and take-home processing. Prior to transferring to Saskatoon, he passed the torch to a team of 18 volunteers.
Exceptional Engineering and Geoscience Project Award
The Exceptional Engineering/Geoscience Project Award was founded in 2001 to recognize accomplishments in engineering and/or geoscience. The project may be located inside or outside the province, but the project team must be comprised predominantly of Saskatchewan engineers and/or geoscientists.
Neighborhood Traffic Reviews City of Saskatoon
The City of Saskatoon Neighbourhood Traffic Review Program addresses transportation concerns (speeding, shortcutting and pedestrian safety) on a neighbourhood-wide, holistic basis. Recommendations are developed by the administration and residents in a collaborative fashion.</p><p>
The program allows the city to implement recommendations in a timely fashion. Typically, the community meetings, data collection, traffic review and report are completed within the first year and the recommendations are installed the following year. Traffic calming measures are installed temporarily to determine their effectiveness. This provides flexibility to ensure that the devices meet the community’s needs without causing operational issues (such as snow clearing, street sweeping, waste management and transit services).
Highlights of the program include<<br>
• Traffic reviews completed for 50 neighbourhoods and 11 neighbourhoods being reviewed in 2019.<br>
• 90 community meetings held to develop traffic plans for the neighbourhoods.<br>
• Nearly 1,000 recommendations.<br>
• $4,062,000 spent on traffic calming measures, pedestrian safety devices and program administration.</p><p>
Nathalie Baudais, P.Eng. is responsible for neighbourhood traffic including managing the neighbourhood traffic review program, pedestrian safety, traffic calming, signage and pavement marking.</p><p>
Mariniel Flores, P.Eng. has facilitated or led the discussion, at over 60 neighbourhood traffic review public meetings.</p><p>
Justine Marcoux, P.Eng. was the project manager for all neighbourhood reviews for the first two years of the program and has continued as a project manager for a few neighbourhoods each year thereafter.</p>
The McCannel Award
The McCannel Award was established in 1983 to honour service to the Association and to the professions as a whole. It is named for Roy McCannel, a founding member of the Association.
Kevin W. Hudson, P.Eng., FEC
Kevin Hudson was born and raised in Saskatoon and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan (Electrical Engineering) in 1991. He worked in natural gas in Calgary and later Regina before returning home in 2006 to work at Saskatoon Light & Power. In 2018, Kevin returned to his alma mater and now works on ways to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Kevin was proud to follow in his dad’s footsteps, a 1st Class Steam Engineer who also worked in the energy industry at SaskPower Boundary Dam in the late 1950s.
Kevin has long been aware of the key role of engineers and geoscientists to ensure a sustainable energy future. He has volunteered on a number of APEGS committees encouraging students to consider engineering or geosciences as a career and providing professional development opportunities in environment and sustainability.
He has collaborated on innovative energy projects, including developing natural gas storage caverns, a landfill gas collection system, solar power and electric vehicle demonstration projects and the deployment of smart meters for electricity and water.
His most meaningful work has been volunteering with teachers and students on sustainability issues. He worked with students, teachers and other professionals on the APEGS Building Your Future poster series for schools published in English, French, Cree and Denesuline. He was also a founder of the Student Action for a Sustainable Future program, now in its sixth year, which involves 300 grade 5 to 8 students annually in action and inquiry projects.
Kevin was honoured to receive the Saskatoon Engineering Society’s Engineer of the Year Award in 2017 and the Rob Dumont Energy Management Leadership Award in 2018. He continues to seek opportunities to raise awareness of sustainability issues.
Kevin lives in Saskatoon with his wife (who teaches high school) and two sons.
Outstanding Achievement Award
The Outstanding Achievement Award was created in 1998 to honour members who show technical excellence and achievement in engineering and/or geoscience in Saskatchewan.
Esam M.A. Hussein, P.Eng.
Esam Hussein, Ph.D., P.Eng. devoted his career to advancing the application of atomic/nuclear radiation in non-destructive testing and imaging, particularly in detecting contraband and threat materials. He trained many highly qualified personnel and leaders in the area. He has six patents of three new technologies, one of which resulted in the creation of a company by two of his graduate students: Inversa Systems Ltd. His work was recognized by two national awards: the Canadian Nuclear Innovation Achievement Award in June 2003 and the Sylvia Fedoruk Award in 1999.
Dr. Hussein is the author of a handbook on radiation applications and two monographs, one on radiation mechanics and the other on computed radiation imaging, in addition to numerous papers and technical reports. Currently, Hussein leads a team of university researchers from both the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan to explore the regulatory challenges of licensing small modular nuclear reactors in Saskatchewan.
Esam is a member of the Petroleum Technology Research Centre Board of Directors and has served on the Board of Directors of the Fedoruk Centre and the Board of Governors of the University of New Brunswick. He has been serving as a receiving editor of Applied Radiation and Isotopes since 2011.
Esam is a registered professional engineer in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Ontario and he is a member of the Canadian Nuclear Society, the American Nuclear Society, the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society, the American Society for Non-destructive Testing and the America Society of Mechanical Engineers.
He is currently the Dean of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Regina and he was an engineering professor at the University of New Brunswick and a nuclear design engineer with Ontario Hydro.
Brian Eckel Distinguished Service Award
The Distinguished Service Award was created in 1978 to recognize outstanding contributions to the community, the Association and technical and learned societies, as well as to honour distinctive and outstanding achievements in professional and technical fields. In 2004, it was renamed the Brian Eckel Distinguished Service Award to honour the contributions of the late Brian Eckel, a Past-President of the Association. It is an honour given only to those who truly exemplify the best standards in engineering and geoscience in Saskatchewan.
Kenneth G. Linnen, P.Eng., FEC
Kenneth Linnen, P.Eng., FEC grew up on the family farm near Francis and graduated with distinction in Civil Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972.
Following several years in the public sector, during which he became Director of the Land Department at the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, Ken entered the consulting field in the 1980s. He was Saskatchewan manager at Delcan, Vice-President of DWL Engineering and became Principal Civil Engineer at Stantec, responsible for municipal and land development services within Saskatchewan. He has been the Principal in charge of the consulting team for numerous Regina subdivisions such as Harbour Landing, Wascana View, Woodland Grove, Windsor Park and Riverbend, providing communities for more than 20,000 residents.
Ken has served as project manager for infrastructure improvements and community plans for 15 First Nations communities in southern Saskatchewan. Other significant projects include Owner’s Engineer for the planning and design of the Global Transportation Hub, the Grant Road School storm detention site in Regina, site engineering works for the conversion of the Plains Hospital to Saskatchewan Polytechnic, site improvements at several pumping stations for Enbridge Pipeline and new subdivision planning and development for the City of Weyburn.
Ken has been a strong supporter of the profession through involvement with many local, provincial and national organizations, in addition to his active volunteer involvement with many community organizations.
His other awards and distinctions have included the Regina Engineering Society Volunteer of the Year Award in 2009, the University of Saskatchewan Alumni Achievement Award in 2011 and the ACEC-SK Lieutenant Governor Meritorious Achievement Award in 2018.
Ken and his wife Sue have three daughters and seven grandchildren.