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Electrical Engineering

Upon graduation, many electrical engineers form their own companies to manufacture electrically based products or to provide consulting services. Others become involved in research, design, manufacture, sales or maintenance of electrical equipment.

Article

Churchill Falls

The project was undertaken by a subsidiary of British Newfoundland Corp Ltd (Brinco), and was at the time the largest civil engineering project ever undertaken in North America. Eighty strategically placed dikes pooled the vast waters of the Labrador Plateau in the Smallwood Reservoir.

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Civil Engineering

Before the multiplication of engineering disciplines in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, engineers were either military or civilian. Civilian engineers built nonmilitary structures; those in the military concentrated on FORTIFICATIONS.

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Genetic Engineering

Interspecies gene transfer occurs naturally; interspecies hybrids produced by sexual means can lead to new species with genetic components of both pre-existing species. Interspecies hybridization played an important role in the development of domesticated plants.

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Military Engineers

Military engineers are soldiers specially trained to apply engineering science and technology to war. Their designation as "sappers" refers to their task of sapping - digging trenches.

Article

SNC-Lavalin

SNC-Lavalin is a global engineering and construction firm based in Montreal, Quebec. It works in several industries including oil and gas, mining, cybersecurity and nuclear power. It also builds public and private infrastructure around the world.

The company began in 1911 as an engineering consultant for power projects. In 1991, the original company, called SNC, merged with competitor Lavalin to become SNC-Lavalin. Today it employs some 50,000 people in more than 50 countries. In 2018, it registered $10.1 billion in revenue.

In Canada, the company has received contracts to build major transit projects in cities including Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Worldwide, SNC-Lavalin oversees resource-extraction and infrastructure projects in North America, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East.

Since 2011, allegations of fraud and corruption on the part of SNC-Lavalin and several of its executives have plagued the company with scandal.

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Natural Gas in Canada

Natural gas ranks among the fastest-growing energy sources in Canada and is seen by many in the energy industry as a game-changer, a comparatively clean, low-cost and versatile fuel. It can directly generate power and heat and can be chemically altered to produce a wide range of useful commodity chemicals. It burns cleaner and more efficiently than other fossil fuels, releasing significantly fewer harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. Natural gas is colorless, odourless, shapeless, lighter than air and contains a mixture of several hydrocarbon gases, which are organic compounds consisting of some combination of hydrogen and carbon molecules.

The primary consumers of natural gas are the industrial (54.1 per cent), residential (26.6 per cent) and commercial sectors (19.3 per cent). Canada is the fifth largest natural gas producer after the United States, Russia, Iran and Qatar. Currently, all of Canada’s natural gas exports go to the United States through a network of pipelines, making Canada the largest foreign source of US natural gas imports. At the end of 2016, Canada had 76.7 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and had produced 152 billion cubic metres of natural gas that year. It is forecasted that global natural gas consumption will double by 2035.

Article

SkyTrain

The SkyTrain is the rapid transit rail system serving Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. It uses mostly Advanced Light Rapid Transit (ALRT) technology, an automated rail system that operates mainly on a raised guideway, although some sections run underground or at street level. Regular service began 3 January 1986. The SkyTrain’s opening coincided with Expo 86, the world’s fair hosted by Vancouver as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations. The system is run by TransLink, the provincial transit agency for the South Coast of British Columbia. It was the world’s first driverless urban rail system. Now, it is one of the longest fully automated rapid transit systems in the world. The SkyTrain has three lines connecting 53 stations in seven municipalities. In 2018, it had more than 495,000 boardings per weekday, on average.

Macleans

Canadarm2's Broken Wrist

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on May 27, 2002. Partner content is not updated.

It was a bad day at the aerospace office. Around 9 a.m. on March 5, NASA called Richard Rembala, a lead engineer for CANADARM2. There was a problem.

Macleans

PEI's Engineering Marvel

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on June 2, 1997. Partner content is not updated.

Islanders had never seen anything quite like it. On July 13, 1995, the world's largest floating crane, known as the Svanen, arrived off the coast of Prince Edward Island for work on the $1-billion bridge that has finally linked the province to mainland Canada.

Article

Engineering

To some extent, the history of engineering is the history of humanity's progress in using tools and observations on the nature of matter to overcome physical limitations and to modify, harness and control the natural environment.

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Iron Ring

The Iron Ring is a symbol of professional duty and obligation worn by Canadian engineers. The tradition began in 1922 when a group of Montréal engineers met to consider the solidarity of, and a means for providing guidance to, their profession.