The Distinguished Jury

John Malcolm Symonds, P.Eng. (Chair) is Director of Engineering Services for the Winnipeg operations of Bristol Aerospace, now part of Magellan Aerospace. He also served on the jury last year.

After being an aircraft pilot with the Royal Canadian Navy, Symonds studied mechanical engineering at the University of Manitoba. Graduating in 1977, he joined Bristol Aerospace where he worked on space rocket payloads, and later became director of aircraft engineering.

Symonds has been president of the Association of Professional Engineers of Manitoba (APEM) and was awarded its Outstanding Service award in 1998.

Dr. Sherif A. Barakat, P.Eng. is Director General of the Institute for Research in Construction at the National Research Council of Canada, a position he took in 1997 after 20 years with the NRC. Based in Ottawa, he is responsible for the leadership and management of the Institute, which is the national centre for construction technology, employs over 220 skilled staff, and has an annual budget of $22 million.

Dr. Barakat earned a degree in mechanical engineering at Alexandria University in Egypt in 1967, and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1973 and 1977 respectively.

Yves Filion, ing.. is Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Hydro-Qubec in Montreal. He has a degree in applied science (civil engineering) from the Universit de Sherbrooke.

Since joining Hydro-Qubec in 1972, Mr. Filion has held various executive positions and took his present position in 1996. He is in charge of distribution, information technologies, customer service and the transmission division, TransEnergie.

Mr. Filion is on the board of the Caisse de dpt et placement du Qubec and chair of the Canadian National Committee of the International Conference on Large High Voltage Electric Systems.

Dr. Ralph Haas, P.Eng. is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. In 1999 he became a Member of the Order of Canada for his work in pavement engineering.

A native of Alberta, Dr. Haas has over 30 years of teaching experience and was chair of the department of civil engineering at the University of Waterloo in 1978-79 and 1983-89. He was a founding partner of ITX Stanley Ltd. in Cambridge (now Stantec), has published 12 books, 300 technical papers and 100 major technical reports. He is also a marathon runner, having completed over 20 such races.

Linda Weaver, P.Eng. is the Chief Technical Officer and co-founder of TecKnowledge Healthcare Systems. Based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, the company specializes in telehealth networks and has worked across Canada, the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates.

Ms. Weaver is also the president of the Engineering Institute of Canada (first female president), and past president (1998-99) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). She has a bachelor degree in electrical engineering and a master of business administration from Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. She is also an Internationally Certified Clinical Engineer.

Art Leitch, P.Eng. is President and Chief Executive Officer of the newly formed Hamilton Utilities Corporation, in Hamilton, Ontario. This multi-utility company has been set up to provide electricity distribution, water, wastewater, fibre optics and community energy services in a deregulated market to municipalities in Ontario. Previously he held senior positions in several municipal governments in southern Ontario and also spent a three-year period with a private consulting firm.

Mr. Leitch has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Toronto. He also has a master’s degree in business administration from York University.