A Waterloo Engineering professor bestowed the Iron Ring on her students at this year's Iron Ring ceremony on campus. Now in its 100th year, the ceremony is an important rite of passage for Canada's professional engineers, reminding them to work with integrity.
Dr. Nadine Ibrahim, the Turkstra Chair in Urban Engineering from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, shares why the Iron Ring tradition holds enduring relevance for future engineers and the societies they work in.
In 2000, Ibrahim graduated with a degree in civil engineering, became a Canadian citizen and took the oath to wear the Iron Ring. She described receiving the ring as the celebration that brought it all together — uniting her with her graduating cohort, giving her newly achieved degree purpose and meaning and welcoming her into a profession in Canada.
The first Iron Ring ceremony took place in Montreal on April 25, 1925. One hundred years later and the annual event which now takes place across the country still reminds Canadian-trained engineers, who are registered with a professional organization, that their work needs to serve society and ensure public safety.
“The ring reminds us that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves,” Ibrahim says. It connects us to a legacy of engineers who built Canada and the world over the last century — and it challenges us to think about the impact of our work over the next 100 years. I am excited to see a new generation of Waterloo engineers wear the Iron Ring proudly and lead with integrity, creativity and purpose.”
Go to Uniting Canada’s engineers with pride and integrity for the full story.