It is with great gratitude that I announce my election to the Council of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC council). From the first conversations with peers as I was considering running in the election, through to the wonderful response by colleagues and connections within the Victoria branch as I was collecting nominating signatures, and finally in the overwhelming votes of confidence by members, I am aware of the support within the profession for women and diversity in engineering.

We will have six women on council this year! What an amazing representation of our future vision for engineering.

The call for increased fairness has been heard. It is time for us to respond.

How nice, too, that the election closed the Friday before the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. How considerate that all candidates were personally contacted and informed before making the results public. For the kindness and support of engineers throughout BC, again, I thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As reported on the ASEE aggregator

On its website, KXAN-TV Austin, TX (10/11, Schwaller) reports twenty-nine percent of the freshman engineering class at The University of Texas are women. University officials say the “increases have become more rapid in the last five years.” According to Tricia Berry, director of the Cockrell School’s Women in Engineering Program, “the increase reflects a national trend to put an emphasis on” STEM.

I must find out what they are doing…

From The Ryan Group, offering the Trust Me, Trust You Assessment [which] addresses behavioral characteristics in key dimensions of trust associated with team, group, department, and organization performance.

What is trust? Trust is to have belief or confidence in the purpose, honesty, actions, competency, decisions, and intentions of a person, organization, or team based on predictable behaviors observed over time. Trust is also the positive expectation of a person or group’s methods, measures, principles, decisions, and outcomes demonstrated by the consistency and congruence of behaviors expressed in words and actions.

Why is trust important? As a team member, you have a critical role in helping your team identify and address trust issues that hinder your team’s growth and effectiveness.

In an ideal work situation, people trust each other; they do not feel people will do them harm; they feel that their members have the knowledge, skills, and motivation to interact with each other and get things done.

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