The Iron Ring ceremony is an important rite of passage for Canada’s engineers, unifying them in a professional mission to do good work that serves society.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Iron Ring. The Poet Laureate of Dublin, California and Waterloo Engineering alum James Morehead (BASc ’90, computer engineering), recognizes the enduring relevance of the Iron Ring and what wearing it means to him as an engineer.
The Binding of an Iron Ring
You are here because you endured—
projects and papers, midterms and finals—
ready to proclaim your obligation
surrounded by a rich tapestry of engineers.
You are called to bear an Iron Ring,
no precious gems or garish bling,
just dimpled metal, forged silver-grey,
stalwart as the Canadian Shield.
It will be your constant guide,
ever curious, steadfast and stoic
in search of truth and honour,
and bound to a common cause
In reactors and clean rooms,
on bridges and factory floors,
over ocean surf or on rolling plains
one thousand miles from home.
Do not fear what you do not know.
Your ring has learned how to learn,
how to race towards challenge
when others steer clear.
It will be witness to each innovation,
problem solved, life improved,
yet warn of haste concealing flaws,
comfort bred from bias, profit eclipsing good.
Lit by the beauty of Northern Lights,
it will remind you of balance,
to be humbled by the natural world
and all we need to respect.
Decades from now, resting by a still lake,
your ring weathered by toil and time,
when days past outnumber days ahead,
what shared dreams will your work create?
Copyright 2024 James Christopher Morehead
James Morehead is a senior product manager at Google, Poet Laureate of Dublin, California host of the Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast and has published several collections of poetry including canvas, portraits of red and gray and The Plague Doctor. Morehead’s poem tethered was transformed into an award-winning hand-drawn animated short film.
Waterloo Engineering alum James Morehead, Poet Laureate of Dublin.