FOR COUNCIL Jason Vanderzwaag, P.Eng., MASc.
I am a civil engineer with an undergraduate (2003) and a master’s degree (2008) from the University of British Columbia. I have been working with Associated Engineering since 2003. In 2010 I moved to Alberta and am currently the Office Manager for Associated Engineering in Fort McMurray. During my undergraduate program, I participated in the Co-operative Education Program, taking placements
I returned full time to Associated Engineering in 2008, where I worked from the Burnaby office on Municipal Infrastructure and First Nation community projects. In 2010 I transferred to Fort McMurray, as part of a two-year project management partnership with the Engineering Department of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB). Since January 2013 I have led the Fort McMurray office for Associated Engineering, providing support to the regional municipality and other clients in the region, on infrastructure and community development projects. In response to the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, I led the AE team assisting the RMWB with response and relief efforts. Our team provided remote operation of the water treatment plant to meet the firefighting needs for first responders, and the subsequent water system recovery plan. This included all the work to lift the boil water advisories and allow residents to safely return home following the evacuation. I am the current Chair of the APEGA Fort McMurray Branch Executive. My involvement with APEGA started in 2012, when I took on the role of Outreach Coordinator with the Branch. I held this role for three years, and used the opportunity to engage our membership and local students in various activities that supported STEM. I have also held the role of Vice-Chair. My other APEGA involvement includes proctor for the National Professional Practice Examination from 2013 to 2015, and a mentor in the mentoring program since 2015. I have also been a member of the APEGA legislative review champions collaborative since 2015. Through this process, I have gained insight into the proposed changes to address challenges that APEGA is currently facing as a self-regulated organization. A key motivation for running for Council is to help oversee the implementation of those changes arising out of this review. I also want to act as a voice for the Fort McMurray region on Council, in recognition of the challenges we face. These include not only recovery from the wildfire, but also the ongoing economic situation that continues to impact our Members across the region and the province. My volunteer associations include the Ptarmigan Nordic Ski Club, where I am a youth coach for cross-country ski lessons and sit on the executive as a member-at-large. Other interests include hiking, running, cycling, skiing, scuba diving, and international travel.
with the Corporation of Delta in Delta, B.C.; Progressive Engineering in Calgary; Habitat for Humanity in Costa Rica; and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in the Lower Mainland, B.C. I also studied one semester on exchange at the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile. I completed my master’s in Pollution Control and Waste Management as a CIHR/MSFHR Strategic Bridge Training Fellow at UBC in 2008. This multidisciplinary program combined public health, public policy, and engineering. My thesis topic was Use and Performance of BioSand Filters in Posoltega, Nicaragua. Field research included three months visiting rural communities in Nicaragua to assess the long- term efficacy of household drinking water treatment. Follow- up work included education and training programs to improve the biosand filter program in this region of Nicaragua. The work was performed in collaboration with the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology in Calgary, the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, and the local health centre in Posoltega, Nicaragua. My thesis work and related technical presentations were recognized for awards, including the School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene Joel Bert Award, and the Canadian Association of Water Quality Philip H. Jones Award. I published two papers based on my research work in the Water Quality Research Journal of Canada. I started by career with Associated Engineering in 2003 as a water resources engineer in our Burnaby, B.C., office. From 2004 to 2005 I took leave to complete an internship through the Central American Water Resources Management Network at the University of Calgary, where I provided technical support to development projects in small rural communities in Guatemala. In 2006 as part of my master’s thesis, I worked one summer for Klohn Crippen Berger in Vancouver, where I undertook field research for the social and environmental assessment for a proposed nickel mine in Guatemala.
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