July 2010

The Award of Merit

The Award of Merit is PEGNL’s highest honour. It recognizes members for outstanding contributions to the engineering and geoscience professions and/or community service. This year, the Award of Merit went to three members.
 

Art Cheeseman, P.Eng.

The Jungle Room? What do these words spark in your imagination? Elvis’s room at Graceland - full of ugly furniture?   Or something more meaningful?

For Art Cheeseman, his ‘jungle room’ is actually a room that he built to house his African masks and carvings - souvenirs of his five trips to Africa, when the City of Accra, Ghana, was twinned with the City of St. John’s. More about that later.

Art grew up in Holyrood – one of a large family, with eight brothers and sisters. He went to Memorial University where he received his engineering degree in 1974 – one of Memorial’s first engineering graduating class.

He received quite a few job offers, and chose to go to work in Sudbury, Ontario, where he worked as a Mine Engineer for Falconbridge Nickel Corporation for a year, before returning to Newfoundland to work for a short while at the Fluorspar mine in St. Lawrence.

In 1976, he moved back to St. John’s and joined the City as Water Works Engineer. He rose to the position of Director of Engineering and Planning/Associate Commissioner, and retired a few months ago.

It has been very satisfying, he says, being part of the changing face of the City.

At national conferences, it bothered him to meet his peers knowing that St. John’s had not tackled the issues of waste and wastewater treatment. Therefore, he is most proud that these big issues have been dealt with.

In particular, he is very proud of the major upgrades to the City’s Water Treatment Plants to meet and exceed Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines; the implementation of wastewater treatment for the City at the Riverhead Wastewater Treatment Facility; and, Development of the Regional Waste Management Plan, and the Retrofit of the Robin Hood Bay Landfill.

Between 1989-1995, his job gave him opportunity to go to Accra, as Canadian Delegation Leader, for a program funded by the Canadian International Development Agency [CIDA] to help the country move towards democracy. The community projects he worked on, included building a Women’s Hospital, a day care centre, and a sanitation project. But the people also needed guidance in smaller municipal processes such as building inspections, taxation billings, and computerization.

It was a fantastic experience he said. The people were wonderful. They were very committed and worked very hard on these projects.

Having retired this year, he went on a European holiday and on his return looks forward to staying at his summer place in Holyrood, where he can enjoy sea kayaking and biking.

Therefore, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the engineering profession and the City of St. John’s, Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador confers the Award of Merit on Art Cheeseman, P.Eng.

Susan Richter, FCSCE, P.Eng.

“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” This was a tough problem for the Ancient Mariner, as his ship lay becalmed in the famous Coleridge poem.

Humans need water, not only to drink but for energy too. But not having enough water is almost as bad as too much water.  And, no-one knows this better than Susan Richter who is a hydrotechnical engineer trained to solve these problems.

Susan graduated from the University of British Columbia, with a B.A. Honours in English. But she felt that she wanted something different.

One day, at Memorial University, she saw a notice for the engineering Co-op. program and, although she didn’t have the right courses, she was encouraged by Merv Andrews to go for it.

And she’s glad she did, because engineering suited her – she had found her niche. She graduated in 1980 with a B.Eng., followed by a M.Eng. in Civil Engineering in 1994.

Along the way, she had some excellent teachers – like Ross Peters, whose help and encouragement in Calculus (which she had never taken) helped her immeasurably.  And, like all engineering students, she also learned a lot by working with her fellow classmates. 

She also won awards, such as: the Association of Professional Engineers of Newfoundland Award for Excellence; the Memorial University Medal for Excellence in Graduate Studies; and the David Dunsiger Award for Excellence, awarded for excellence in graduate studies in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.

After graduation, Susan worked as a consultant for more than 25 years, specializing in hydrotechnical engineering, with a particular interest in hydroelectric generation.

In 2006, she joined Fortis Properties, as Manager of Hydro Developments.

She is a Professional Associate at Memorial University and has taught the Hydrotechnical Engineering course to senior engineering students; and still enjoys teaching a few classes.

Susan is proud of her support of the Co-op. program, having hired students whenever possible, even in hard times. And, she adds, she has hired some excellent engineering graduates.

As a volunteer, she has served on the Discipline Committee of PEGNL; on the Organizing Committees for the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering [CSCE] conferences held in St. John’s; and as chair of the National Honours and Awards Committee of CSCE. In 1998, she was honoured to be named a Fellow of this Learned Society.

Other engineering organizations in which she has participated include the Canadian Dam Association and Women in Science and Engineering.

She has served as a Warden of Camp 20, and now is one of the national Wardens of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, which is responsible for the Iron Ring.

Therefore, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the engineering profession, Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador confers the Award of Merit on Susan Richter, FCSCE, P.Eng.

Dr. Derek Wilton, P.Geo

When Derek Wilton received the PEGNL Teaching Award in 2004 he was he asked why he likes teaching? He said, it’s like being a vampire ‘living off the vitality of young people!’ 

Of course, he meant that he is energized by the enthusiasm of his students, and that is still true today. He gets satisfaction from seeing them blossom, he says, “to be what they can be.”

Many of them have gone on to receive advanced degrees and now perform leading roles in many mineral-exploration companies and geoscience institutions; and, by the way, include Dr. John Hinchey who was awarded the 2010 Early Accomplishment Award.

Derek has a B.Sc. in Geology from Memorial; an M.Sc. in Geology from the University of British Columbia; and a Ph.D. in Earth Science from Memorial.

He began teaching in 1983 and hasn’t looked back, bringing humour and energy to his lectures to ensure the continued interest of his students.

He is a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and, was awarded the annual W. H. Gross Medal by the Mineral Deposits Division of the Geological Association of Canada given to young geologists who make ‘outstanding contributions to the field of economic geology.’

More recently, he was elected as a Fellow in the venerable Explorers Club of New York, which has been promoting exploration and field sciences since 1904.

He was featured in an episode of the CBC’s The Nature of Things series, which focussed on the Labrador part of the Canadian Shield. Traveling with a film crew was a great adventure, he says.

And he’s just as comfortable speaking to a luncheon gathering of MUN’s Board of Regents, as to his students, or a group of prospectors in Goose Bay, or a film crew.

A scientist of exemplary repute, Professor Wilton is also an award-winning teacher, a stalwart in his professional community, and a raconteur of some note.

These attributes make him a leader in the Earth Science faculty at Memorial University, both as a researcher and a teacher, and a major contributor to the public awareness of science in Newfoundland and Labrador; including publishing a children’s book, with Janet McNaughton and artist Cynthia Colosimo, called The Polar Bear and the Rock: Two Windows on the Planet , that uses an Inuit legend to illustrate and describe the geology of Labrador.

Therefore, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the geoscience profession, research and education, Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador confers the Award of Merit on Dr. Derek Wilton, P.Geo.

© Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland and Labrador