President’s Notebook
APEGA
Let’s Work Together to Strengthen Our Professional Community BY NIMA DORJEE, P.ENG., FEC, FGC (HON.) APEGA President
Being your President puts me front and centre of APEGA, and that’s particularly obvious in this edition of The PEG . Some of you might even say there’s too much Nima going on! Regardless, I am comfortable with the platform you’ve given me, and I truly believe I have worthwhile contributions to make. It is an honour to be the 99th President of Western Canada’s largest self- regulating organization, and I intend to live up to that honour to the best of my ability. As we close in on the end of our first century of service, my hope is to help improve the APEGA of today and prepare it for tomorrow. I do have ideas, but that does not mean I have all the answers. This job is about putting time and passion into leading, listening, and col- laborating, and those are the tools I bring to the table. We North Americans give individualism a lot of credence. In fact, the whole concept of self-regulation relies heavily on the ability of the self to succeed while doing the right thing for the public’s well-being. Smart and ethical APEGA members having reached the top is evident every year at our Summit Awards gala. The Movers & Shakers section of this magazine provides further examples. It is not just financial success that I’m talking about, of course, and life is always about more than the money we make. Inevitably, those members who do accumulate many millions of dollars give many millions back in support of the greater good, through charities, scholarships, educational institutions, and more. Even the most successful among us do not do it alone, however. No person is an island, and that fact of life underpins my presidency. We are on this self- regulatory journey together—you, me, permit holders, Council, the staff of APEGA—and we are on this
journey to serve the public interest. That’s our common denominator. Just reminding ourselves of these truths, every day, puts the duty of care conferred upon us into perspective. Every decision, every stamp, every volunteer assignment, every professional development hour should reflect our personal commitment to ethical, skilled, and competent practice. Many years ago, I joined a Canadian culture filled with stories of immigrants arriving and somehow succeeding. I became one of those stories. I worked hard to get where I am, but I am extremely cognizant of those who helped me along the way. I was born to Tibetan parents in a refugee settle- ment in northern India. My father died when I was just three years old and my brother just a year a half. My mother, who had no formal education, made sure that my brother and I had the opportunity to become the professional engineers we are today. I am indebted to others, too, especially my wife, Dr. Tsering Dorjee, for giving me the support and time I’ve needed to pursue my passions. Be assured that one of those passions is this presidency. It’s a natural progression for me, personally and professionally, and I’m fully committed to it. Much of the non-APEGA work I’ve done recently links directly to my family’s homeland. I have worked for the Dalai Lama and, as executive director and president of the Project Tibet Society, I have helped resettle about 1,000 Tibetan refugees from northern India to Canada. Tibetans, relocated and otherwise, make up one of my communities. Alberta’s engineers and geoscientists make up another. The way I look at it, this job is about helping build relationships and support networks
4 | PEG SUMMER 2018
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