Filipino Engineers and Geoscientists Annual General Meeting

by Ethel Clemente-Fernandez

	Executive Officers and Past Presidents

Members of the Filipino Members Chapter (FMC) and guests from Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba (the provincial association), including the Arab and Chinese Members Chapters gathered at the Canton Food Gallery to attend the 2017 Annual General Meeting on Saturday afternoon, March 11.

The chapter president, Ethel Fernandez, facilitated the meeting with a presentation to reflect on the work she and her team had accomplished in 2016, which included events organized by the chapter, community involvement and collaborations with the Arab Engineers chapter as they set their own chapter. She also spoke about the Internationally-Educated Engineers Qualifications (IEEQ) program and an academic excellence award for deserving IEEQ students, as well as the Settlement On-line Pre-Arrival (SOPA) program with a webinar to assist immigrants with engineering backgrounds. Ethel then discussed what the members could look forward to in 2017, which will include more visibility in the community and the provincial association. She also provided a membership update, which saw a growth of 24 per cent from the previous year.

Ray Sator, VP for Finance, presented the chapter’s financial statement, where a stable financial status is evident and a confidence that there will be enough funds to ensure that planned events for 2017 will materialize.

A representative from the SOPA program, Milagros Dacwag, spoke briefly on the collaboration with FMC and presented an overview of what SOPA is all about – more details can be found on their website: www.entryprogram.ca

The second part of the event was a technical presentation on the new National Building Code, presented by Norman Garcia, former chapter executive officer. The presentation generated several questions from professionals working in the construction and consulting industries.

Volunteers from last year’s events were also acknowledged during breaks and during the last part of the event.

Presentations and coverage of the meeting will be made available on the chapter’s website: www.fmc-egm.ca

Ethel Clemente-Fernandez is a professional engineer registered in the province of Manitoba. She is an active member of the Filipino Members Chapter - Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba (FMC-APEGM). www.fmc-egm.ca

Volunteers		With guests from the provincial association Chinese and Arab chapters
Technical Seminar Speaker Norman Garcia		2017 AGM Registration