AEF CAMPAIGN CONNECTION
BY CORINNE LUTTER Member & Internal Communications Coordinator
YOUR GIFT TO THE PROFESSIONS The APEGA Education Foundation makes it easy for Professional Engineers and Professional Geoscientists to give back to professions that have enabled them to enjoy fulfilling and rewarding careers. When you give to the foundation, you’re investing in the future of the engineering and geoscience professions. Your gift will live on in perpetuity — not only through endowments created and built through your support, but through the meaningful work of young people entering the professions, creating wealth, sustaining the environment, and enhancing the quality of life in our communities. FOUR WAYS TO DONATE • Attach a cheque for the foundation to your annual APEGA membership renewal form and mail it in. • Donate online through the APEGA Member Self-Service Centre. • Donate online or begin monthly donations through CanadaHelps.org. • Download a donation form from the AEF website at apega.ca/AEF and mail in a cheque. Optimize assembly lines? Extract oil from sand? Convert raw materials into everyday products? Check, check, and check. “I think it would be interesting to go into engineering, and there are lots of different jobs that you can do when you finish (school),” says Layla. She was one of 30 girls, aged 12 to 14, who took part in the nine-week program this fall. It’s one of several programs offered by the Fort McMurray branch of Girls Inc., a non-profit organization that empowers young women in Canada and the U.S. to break free from gender stereotypes and develop their confidence. Operation SMART started in Fort McMurray four years ago, through the volunteer efforts of several APEGA Members. Three- hour sessions are held on Saturdays from late September through November. A variety of hands-on activities — like egg drop challeng- es, circuit construction and building Rube Goldberg machines — give students a chance to explore, ask questions, and solve problems. “It’s fun — brainstorming ideas and learning new ways of doing things,” Layla says. Thanks to a $4,000 grant from the APEGA Education Founda- tion (AEF), the program was able to expand its curriculum in 2015. This allowed the addition of an extra class — computer science and web development. On the final day of the program, students got to create their own website, girlsincsmart2015.com, a place for shar- ing their favourite Operation SMART experiences. “Our goals are to give the girls an idea of what engineering is and introduce some of the different disciplines within engineering,” says D’Andre Wilson-Ihejirika, P.Eng. She designed the Operation SMART curriculum and coordinates its volunteers, most of whom are APEGA Members.
Building geodesic domes, newspaper towers, and robots is tons of fun. But for Layla Dillon, 11, the best part about taking part in Opera- tion SMART (Science, Math, and Relevant Technology) was meeting real-life engineers and learning about what they do at work.
Design buildings? Check. Develop websites? Check.
TOWER TIME Operation SMART participants learn how to manage project resources by building towers using only newspapers.
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