Thank You OSPE Ambassadors! – Celebrating National Volunteer Week 2021

As a non-profit organization, OSPE relies heavily on the time and expertise of our Board of Directors, subject matter experts, Task Force and Committee members, mentors and event volunteers. We can’t thank you all enough for your continued dedication to the betterment of the engineering profession in Ontario.

Since the inception of OSPE, the work of our members have made the Society’s advocacy wins a reality. During National Volunteer Week, we want to feature a few of OSPE’s ambassadors in an effort to thank them for what they do for us every day.

Flora Tse – OSPE Student Member and Ambassador, Toronto Exchange Hub

flora tse volunteers week

Why did you initially get involved with OSPE?

I initially got involved with volunteering with OSPE because I felt that this organization had a lot of potential and I wanted to get more involved in my third year of university. I felt like there needs to be more OSPE involvement within my university.

What interested you about being a part of the Toronto Exchange Hub?

OSPE has many volunteer sectors, but OSPE’s Toronto Exchange Hub caught my attention because it was recently created and geared towards tackling current engineering situations for both student and professional sections. The Toronto Exchange Hub allows me to work alongside P.Eng.s and engineering interns (EITs) where I can interact with all kinds of people and create events that benefit them. I gain experience every time I take part in our team meetings and I get to observe how our team’s engineers and EITs engage in a professional setting.  

Bob Waddell, P.Eng. – OSPE Professional Member and Ambassador, Energy Task Force

bob waddell volunteers weekWhy did you initially get involved with volunteering at OSPE? 

I wanted to contribute to the energy future of Ontario and believe that engineers need to speak up more and be a voice for the stakeholders such as the provincial government to listen to.

What kind of benefits do you get from volunteering?   

An opportunity to contribute, to meet other like-minded people and share ideas.  We all have a lot of knowledge about certain things, and I enjoy being able to share some of what I have learned.

What interested you about being a part of OSPE’s Energy Task Force?   

The ETF has an important role as the voice of OSPE in discussions with the provincial government and other stakeholders in the province.  The ETF is also made up of a great group of interesting, knowledgeable engineers, who also want to help with the evolution the energy system in Ontario and elsewhere.

Why are you an OSPE member?   

The engineering profession needs an active voice and OSPE is that for Ontario’s engineers.  Like other professions, we need to advocate for ourselves and to ensure that the expertise required of us is properly supported and valued.

Lauren Briens, P.Eng., OSPE Professional Member and Ambassador, Diversity & Inclusion Task Force

Lauren Briens volunteers weekWhy did you initially get involved with volunteering at OSPE?

I was impressed with some of the events that OSPE recently hosted and I think the issues that OSPE advocates for are important.  I knew Réjeanne Aimey as a Western Engineering alumna and had previously met Angela Wojtyla.  They helped personalize OSPE for me and allowed me to more easily visualize any involvement with OSPE.

What kind of benefits do you get from volunteering?

Engineering is a community where all can benefit from engagement.  Volunteering allows me to give back and help strengthen the community and advocate for issues that I feel are important.

Why is diversity & inclusion in engineering an important topic to you?

Engineering is a great opportunity and career for many.  The community, however, needs to ensure that all are welcome and included so that they can thrive and reach their full potential.  I have seen underrepresented individuals hindered from reaching their full potential and goals.  It is important to me that this changes.  I think it is also important to the engineering profession so that it can continue to grow and effectively and innovatively respond to challenges of the societies that it represents and serves.

Albert Jiang, OSPE Student Member and Ambassador, Guelph Exchange Hub

albert jiang volunteers weekWhy did you initially get involved with volunteering at OSPE?

Since I was a first-year undergrad, I’ve been an OSPE member, which helps me stay connected with the local engineering. Later on, I saw the opportunity to volunteer with OSPE, which I thought would be an excellent experience for me to contribute to this community.

What interested you about being a part of OSPE’s Guelph Exchange Hub?

The greatest interest comes from the opportunity to make my own contributions to my local engineering community.

Why are you an OSPE member?

Most of my reasons for being an OSPE member, are in line with the reasons for being an ambassador. I joined OSPE since I knew this is the place where engineering students and professionals get to connect. I found there are much more than that after getting involved more with my local community, such as receiving mentoring opportunities, which can help engineering graduates start their careers with the resources they need. Other than that, such as the insurance programs have made my life a lot brighter with the peace of mind. 

Anita Eisakhani, P.Eng., OSPE Professional Member and Ambassador, Energy Task Force

Anita E volunteers weekWhy did you initially get involved with volunteering at OSPE?

I started volunteering with OSPE through advocacy work for government policies that will advance deployment of sustainable energy technologies.

Currently, I’m a member of OSPE’s Energy Task Force, where we develop policy related to energy. My best experience with OSPE has been all of the wonderful people that I have met from various engineering backgrounds that have expand my view of engineering, especially it has been valuable to meet successful women leaders in engineering field and get to know their journey and advice.

Why are you a member of OSPE?

As a member I enjoy participating in social events which are great networking opportunities, OSPE has been a great place to network and learn at the same time.    

 

Want to start volunteering with OSPE? There’s lots of opportunities! Check out our Ambassador Page for full details.

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