The first engineering graduates in the class of 2017 are the first engineers to take the Obligation in P.E.I. Eight recent graduates and 10 eligible senior engineers participated.
The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is the ceremony where Iron Rings are given to engineers who choose to obligate themselves to the highest professionalism and humility of their profession.
With the formal accreditation of the UPEI School of Sustainable Design Engineering and degree-granting status, Island engineers applied to create a new Camp. The Corporation of the Seven Wardens/ Société des Sept Gardiens inc. is responsible for administering and maintaining the Ritual, which is carried out by Camps established by the Corporation in various locations in Canada.
Camp 27 Charlottetown was confirmed by Chief Warden Len Shara on Aug. 5.
The iron ring is a long-standing Canadian engineering tradition. Engineers who are accredited to work in Canada are also eligible to take the obligation. The ritual was created in 1922 when seven former presidents of the Engineering Institute of Canada approached author and poet Rudyard Kipling for assistance in developing a suitably dignified obligation and ceremony.
The iron ring symbolizes the pride which engineers have in their profession, while simultaneously reminding them of their humility. The ring is a reminder to the engineer and others of the engineer's obligation to live by a high standard of professional conduct. It is not a symbol of qualification as an engineer – this is determined by the provincial and territorial licensing bodies such as Engineers P.E.I.
Don MacEwen, FEC, P.Eng.
UPEI Engineering professor, retired
Chief Warden Camp 27 Charlottetown
