PROFILE
And You Are… Kashif Dada, P.Eng. Mechanical engineer
Professional Progress — Places and Perspectives No matter what stage you’re at in your career, volunteering opens doors to new opportuni- ties and experiences. Some of them, you probably won’t even see coming Kashif Dada, P.Eng., is in the early phases of his professional life. Laurie Slezak, P.Geol., is a retired Member who continues to give back. Service to APEGA, the professions, and the public is their number one motive, but both say volunteering has rewarded them personally and professionally — sometimes in ways they couldn’t have imagined. Mr. Dada has just launched his career and, by stepping up to chair the Vermillion River Branch, a commitment to volunteering for APEGA. Ms. Slezak, with more than two decades of APEGA volunteer experience on her resume, recently retired from the work world after a 30-year career in geology. But she continues to give back, now through participation in our Member induction ceremonies. On the next few pages, these two living testaments to the power and purpose of volunteerism share their stories. If you aren’t doing so already, perhaps they’ll motivate you to volunteer for APEGA, too.
Adventure seeker Branch volunteer
As a young boy growing up in Pakistan, Kashif Dada, P.Eng., dreamed of one day becoming an engineer, just like his favourite uncle, Taufiq. So he moved halfway around the world — from Karachi to Montreal — to study mechanical engineering at McGill University. Once in Canada, he couldn’t imagine travelling even further west after earning his degree. But he did. Job opportunities took him first to North Battleford, Sask., and eventually landed him in small-town Alberta. The Alberta side of Lloydminster, to be exact. “If someone had asked me 15 years ago where I thought I’d end up, I never would have thought I’d move from Karachi, a city of 18 million, to Lloydminster, a city of 30,000,” says the 31-year-old, a project engineer for oil and gas consulting firm Enhanced Engineering, an APEGA Permit Holder. “I’ve always been a big city boy — I
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