Terry Ridgway, a technologist for Waterloo’s civil and environmental engineering department, is a “glass half full” kind of guy. He is proud of it too.
“I was born and raised on a farm in Saskatchewan. I learned you can’t let things get you down,” he says.
In charge of the hydrology lab, Terry runs the fluid mechanics and open channel hydraulics labs as well as teaching a short surveying course for students transferring into the department. Picking up accolades over the years, he’s also one of the 2008 winners of the Dean of Engineering Outstanding Staff Performance Award.
Terry, who worked for The Alberta Research Council before coming to the University of Waterloo in 1988, says he enjoys the family atmosphere of working at the school. In fact, he makes it his mission to ensure all engineering students have what they need to be successful.
“If a civil or environmental geo student is standing there, I’ll help them. But if a mechanical student needs help too, I’m not going to go back to my office and put my feet up,” he says. “I don’t just work for my department, I think of myself as working for the University of Waterloo.”