APEGGA changes its name; new CEO comes from military

The professional engineering licensing association in Alberta, APEGGA, has dropped a “G” and is to be known from now on as APEGA.

Formerly the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta, the association has condensed two of its groups and is now licensing geologists and geophysicists under one title as professional geoscientists, or “P.Geo.” The province was the last jurisdiction in Canada to separately license geologists and geophysicists.

The change affects 3,730 licensed professional geologists and 1,130 professional geophysicists, who from now on will use the P.Geo designation.

APEGA president Jim Smith, P.Eng., noted that the change is important because it keeps up with developments. For example, emerging disciplines such as environmental geoscience “need to be regulated but currently fall between the two existing professions,” he says.

The association has also announced a new chief executive officer. Mark W. Flint, P.Eng. takes up the post on April 16. He comes to APEGA after more than two decades in the Canadian Armed Forces where he was most recently Commanding Officer of the Mission Transition Task Force Engineer Regiment in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

In that post he led the withdrawal and relocation of Canadian equipment and personnel from Kandahar.

APEGGA has more than 63,000 members. Its president Jim Smith, P.Eng., said the association is “excited about the experience, knowledge and above all energy that he [Flint] brings to this vital position…”I am sure that Mark will provide the strategic leadership to move our association forward.”