Elect Roger Jones

Stop press!
I've decide to leave my election website up for now to remind myself and any visitors of the values I ran on. Feel free to email me with any comments or questions you may have. I can be reached at roger_jones@ieee.org (this is an IEEE alias address.)
Very best,
Roger Jones, P.Eng, SMIEEE, PEO Councillor-at-Large 2010-2012.

Election website follows...

RJ & Associates

Since he retired from George KELK Corporation in 2008 as Vice-President Engineering and Chief Engineer, Roger has been Principal of Roger Jones & Associates, consulting in the field of Engineering Management.

"Be the best you can be"

What I've done since being elected...
I feel I should give some accounting of my activities as Councillor-at-large. To date (July 2010) I have participated in the following:

Council meetings... several, as called.
Standing committee meetings, as called, viz:

Finance
Professional standards (new member, none attended to date)
Emerging Technologies (a Task Force, but may be renamed as a standing committee), CIE and NME sub-committees.

The 2010 AGM (May 2010, Toronto)
Witnessed a key discipline hearing at our head office.
Chapter events at Willowdale-Thornhill, Scarborough and East Toronto chapters, including new engineer's licensing receptions.
Councillor's retreat at Lake Rosseau: governance, training, etc. (two and a half days.)
Attended OSPE's Mid-Summer BBQ at Milne Park (by OSPE invitation.)
Represented the engineering viewpoint at several Economic Political Action Committee meetings at the Queen's Park legislature.

I will add relevant material as it happens.

Roger Jones, has a wide experience of engineering and engineering management. From his first degree in electrical engineering to his last position in corporate Canada, he has focused excusively on excellence in engineering and the sound management of engineering departments. Here is a summary of his technical education and career to date.

Education
B.Sc(Eng) – Imperial College, London University, England (Electrical Engineering)
Dipl. Management, McGill University
DIC, (Diploma of Imperial College), London University, England.
M.Phil. - Imperial College, London University, England (Sampled Data Control Systems)
MBA – McGilll University (Finance and International Business)

Employment
Roger Jones & Associates, Thornhill (Principal)
George KELK Corporation, Toronto (Vice-President Engineering & Chief Engineer)
Noranda Technology Centre, Montreal (Manager, Control Systems)
Cowan-Lavelin, Montreal (Manager, Control Systems & Instrumentation)
Foxboro, Montreal. (Industrial Instrumentation & Control systems)
Sandwell & SDK&H, Montreal. (Engineering Consultants)
GEC, London, UK (Computer process control)
Ferranti, UK, (Aerospace, inertial navigation)

Professional
Member PEO
Former member OIQ (1973-1999, Quebec), P.Eng. (1999 to date, Ontario),
ACGI (Associate of the City & Guilds of London Institute)
Member OSPE.
C.Eng, MIET (1963 to 2009 inclusive, UK)
Life/Senior MIEEE
Over 35 technical papers and articles published.

Roger has served in many engineering roles over an extensive career. After graduation in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College (IC), London, he joined Ferranti's Aircraft Equipment Division and worked for a year on inertial navigation systems. Desiring to learn more about system theory, he returned to the Imperial College EE department to pursue a graduate degree in Control Systems Engineering. After this he joined GEC Limited in London to work on computer-based process control – GEC was one of the pioneering companies in this field (paper, cement, chemical and oil refineries.) A few years later he emigrated to Canada.

His single longest serving position was with Foxboro Canada Inc (FCI) in Montreal where, over 16 years, he moved from Systems Engineer to Manager, Industry Systems, the latter responsible for all digital product applications for the company's process industry clients. After FCI, a spell with the Lavelin Group (EPCM consultants) preceded six years with Noranda at the Noranda Technology Centre (NTC) near Montreal as Manager, Control Systems in the Manufacturing Division.

Given the opportunity to join George KELK Corporation (GKC) as Vice-president Engineering and Chief Engineer, in 1999 Roger and his wife Lorna left Montreal and moved to Thornhill, just north of Toronto. Some nine years later he retired from GKC and now has his own management consulting practice from Thornhill.

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Personal
We all like to know with whom we are dealing. Here is a brief outline of the non-engineering side of Roger Jones.

Roger and his wife Lorna (a retired physiotherapist) live in the pleasant suburb of Thornhill, Ontario, (nestled between the towns of Markham and Vaughan, just north of Toronto.)

In his spare time Roger plays the piano, as a returning student. He says: “It's very hard work to getting back into it... If you learned a musical instrument as a youngster, don't give it up!”

Roger also restores vintage radios and high-fidelity audio amplifiers. “They're the ones with those glowing vacuum tubes in them!” He is a member of the Ontario VIntage Radio Association (OVRA.)

Complementing a long time aviation interest, Roger is a member of the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWH) in Hamilton and volunteers at the Canadian Air & Space Museum (CASM) working on original, vintage avionics in aircraft restoration. He says: “I used to fly light aircraft but when I started my MBA at McGill I ran out of time and money, so I let my pilot's license lapse... now I really wish I had kept it up! At CASM, I am helping rebuild a WW2 Canadian Lancaster bomber for static display and, if I am successful, it will have working, original avionics. Incidentally, CWH has a flying Lancaster, one of only two left in the world but, of course, it has modern radios and nav-aids.”

Roger and Lorna also serve the community on the Thornhill Festival Committee where he is in charge of Historical Reenactments and Lorna looks after the childrens and teens entertainment program. He is also a Board Member of Heintzman House in Thornhill (community centre and historic building.)

Interested in Canadian and world-wide current affairs, Roger is also a long-time member of a Thornhill Federal and Provincial Riding Associations. He's also a member of an Economic Political Action Committee at Queen's Park. "Engineers must be heard", he says.

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The Engineering Profession

On the engineering profession, Roger says:

“Over my entire working life, I have been personally My sense is that it is not only a moral obligation to undertake one's life-calling at the highest quality but also a means to ensure that the status for the engineering profession is at least comparable to professions such as medicine, accounting and the law.

“Excellence requires the competence and integrity of each of us as practitioners. When talking to new Canadian graduate engineers I often ask them to remember the immortal words of Rudyard Kipling who wrote The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer. Check it out! This is the obligation given at the Iron Ring ceremony. These words still make wonderfully good sense and have guided me throughout my career.

"By the way, Canada had a neat "iron ring" postage stamp a while back... when postage was 46 cents!
Pop quiz: when was that? Email me if you know!

"Anyway, here are a couple of nice pictures...

"The ethics of the profession is epitomized by the Iron Ring ceremony. It deals with our obligation to be competent in our practice (no 'bad workmanship', no 'faulty materials' and 'stability and perfection of [our] works'), to deal honourably with our peers, to protect our reputation, and to take fair recompense for our work. It recognizes our 'assured failures' but guides us back on track ('... aid, comfort and restrain'.) Thus, after all these years, I still wear the iron ring with pride.

"This value is made tangible by the Engineering Licence. We must recognize our privilige as licensed engineers and consistently bring to our practice the highest technical and ethical standards."

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New technologies and the present realities of Engineering

“PEO must evolve to addresses current realities of new technologies, including the required engineering skills development. This needs input from experienced practitioners in such fields as Software Engineering, Embedded Systems, Control Systems, Automation, Process/equipment engineering and HAZOP, to name just a few. Some of these are emerging technologies. These disciplines all have quality and safety issues requiring diligent practice and regulation by licenced engineers. PEO must not be just a traditional 'civil, mechanical and power electrical' regulatory body or it risks becoming irrelevant in today's fast-moving, high-tech world.

“A good example of modern engineering realities are the specializations required for the planned TTC subway extensions into the cities of Markham and Vaughan (but now on-hold, April 2010). In addition to classic excavation, civil and mechanical construction there is electrical distribution & traction, real-time software, embedded systems, automatic train control (to stop the new 7 car, 500 foot trains at 500 foot platforms within centimeters), communications and many other engineering specialties... all of which affect cost, performance and safety. Recently, Toyota has been in the news regarding a brake actuating embedded system. Let's never forget what pioneer astronaut, the late Walter Schirra, said many years ago about a particular Mercury rocket launch... Asked what he thought while sitting in the capsule at the top of a Mercury rocket after a nerve-wracking rocket-motor glitch, Capt. Schirra replied: "I was thinking that [all] this was all put together by the lowest bidder.”

"Similar specializations are required by maintenance and additions to our infrastructure, commonly, but somewhat colloqually, referred to as 'the drains and the roads'. PEO's regulatory involvement in the areas of energy, environment, clean water, sewage, waste disposal, energy sufficiency, transportation, communications and their related safety issues is vital. These matters are front and centre in the public eye and PEO can contribute more than it does now. These projects require professional engineers to both do the engineering work and manage it. I look to member initiatives here, most likely via the Chapters - we must encourage their submissions and, importantly, listen to them.

“Within new, and not so new, specializations, PEO must address quality assurance, knowledge and competence in professional practice so that we deal properly and fully with the current realities of new technologies in engineering. Related to this is continuing education (CE) and professional development (PD.) Here we must liaise with and support the OSPE programs for CE and PD.

"I'll also make the point that PEO should be ecouraging internships in industry for final year undergraduates. My own experience is that internships are a valuable means for helping soon-to-be graduates embrace the new technologies used by industry today. Internships are also valuable to the companies which run them. In my business, we had our interns contributing to mechanical, electronic and embedded system design in our new hi-tech products. Supervised by senior engineer mentors, they made a valuable contribution. PEO must give recognition to appropriate internships as an adjunct of the EIT program.

"Another reality of our profession is the need to integrate competent foreign trained engineering graduates and experienced immigrant engineering professionals, i.e. facilitate their PEO licence application. Vital issues include validation of credentials, quality of the foreign engineering school, individual competence and professional experience. Again, a formal PEO-supported internship process might be part of such an effective licencing policy. As VP Engineering, I recruited several foreign-trained, experienced engineering professionals for our company and helped them qualify for the P.Eng. licence. All of them have done well and became a credit to the company's engineering department."

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Accountability and Consultation

“PEO cannot be effective unless it is accountable to its members as well as to government. This requires member participation in our self-governance, the contribution of Chapters to PEO regulatory affairs and Chapters advancing motions to Council. Thus, I advocate that Chapters be stengthened and communication with them improved. Consultation requires good communication between PEO and all its members - also with the public so that it is aware of the value added by the engineering profession.

“We must never ignore the contribution of the “front end” of the profession. We need more informed involvement by Universities (Engineering faculty), Students and EITs in PEO affairs. I was fortunate many years ago to be advised by the late Sir Willis Jackson (Engineer and Head of the EE department at Imperial College, later Lord Jackson) to “join the (then) IEE (now the IET) to “serve the profession”. I followed his advice and became a graduate member, later an associate member and finally a full member of the IEE, which I have sustained to this date as an MIET.

"Volunteers are an important part of PEO. We must recruit and encourage them, and respect their valuable contribution. We need "new blood" on PEO committees and on Council. Non-profit organizations live or die on how they treat volunteers! In short, volunteers are 'gold'.

“Finally, as a PEO councillor, I would advocate leadership through consensus, openness, transparency and inclusiveness, while strongly defending the self-governance of the engineering profession."

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Relations with OSPE

"This is an important topic. As we all know, OSPE is charged with the advocacy of engineering and engineers within the industrial, public service and the public-at-large domains. This is vitally important for the well-being of the profession and individual engineers. OSPE's role complements PEO's regulatory role and, within its regulatory role, PEO must maintain this synergy.

"Below, I mention a need for PEO to engage politicians so that they have a perspective not solely determined by the 'chattering and scribbling classes' (journalists, radio & TV commentators, book and magazine authors, literary critics, etc.) Engineers should also contribute to public policy. I would expect my proposal of 'pairing' (see below) to be implemented by a combined PEO-OSPE task force.

"OSPE can help PEO, the regulator, improve its visibility to the general public and garner more public support. This will help improve public perception of engineering and the recognition of its 'added value' to the economy. One way to do this is to set up outreach to high school science programs in conjunction with OSPE.

"PEO's objectives are complemented by OSPE's Professional Development programs. Together, PEO and OSPE must ensure that these PD programs are well aligned with the goals of the engineering profession, government and industry.

"While separate, PEO and OSPE are synergistic. If elected, I will nurture good relations with OSPE for our common good. OSPE has talented people, good to to work with and vital to the wellbeing of our profession."

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Governance... and public policy

“Of course, I support full compliance with the Professional Engineers Act and Regulations, including diligent monitoring of licencing, the important “reserve of title” and professional self-governance. It is vital to uphold all of this diligently and proactively. In this arena we must address the Industrial Exception – unfortunately, this has been 'on the books' for too long. Specifically, we must eliminate the Industrial Exception so that only professional engineers practice engineering.

“There is extensive experience out there related to the regulation of other “serve-and-protect” professions, the classic example being the medical profession. Some of this is effective but, unfortunately, some of it less so... Regardless, it behooves us to be aware of what other professions do so as to have the most effective self-governance of the profession, serving both engineers and the public. In so doing we can balance the public interest with that of the profession. A serious committment to the Ontario Profession Regulators’ Policy Network is the preferred way.

"We must also contribute to public policy. Who better to guide public policy than profesional engineers trained in problem solving? We engineers don't do things just to look good. We know how things work and we do things that work.

“Indeed, sound science and engineering is a base for sound public policy. As regulators, we must acquire and maintain a close relationship with governments so that PEO can contribute to public policy at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. To augment present PEO initiatives (OCEPP, GLP), I propose a voluntary pairing of one PEO member and one Ontario MP and MPP to ensure these public servants are made aware of issues facing Canadians from an engineering perspective. This might work for local City Councillors, too. For too long our parliamentarians have been on the receiving end of comments from only the aformentioned 'chattering and scribbling classes', much less so from engineers! We need a informed, competent and respected engineering lobby with the ear of government. If elected to Council I intend to advance this idea and, from my provincial political experience, propose ways to achieve it.

To quote Pat Quinn, P.Eng. (Engineering Dimensions, November 2009) 'Self-regulated professions must retain positive relations with political overseers to avoid misunderstanding, and to head off legislative proposals that might be at odds with self-regulation.'

"A recovery of manufacturing in Ontario (and, of course, Canada-wide) is vital. Ontario has lost some 30,000 maufacturing jobs over the last five years. Manufacturing is a driver of good engineering jobs, innovation and satisfying engineering careers - not to mention providing people with the physical things they want. While much of the future of manufacturing in Canada is in the hands of politicians and bankers, PEO obviously has an important role to play, viz: Engineers make the innovations, do the R&D, design and build tangible products, ensuring highest functionality, safety and competitive success.

A word on the "Greening of Canada"... Whatever side of the climate change debate you are on, Canada can benefit from "greener" products, processes and energy sources. The opportunities for engineers are enormous. While "wind" and "wave" energy are important we still need base-load generators. Nuclear and fossil fuel stations do this and will be with us for many years. Engineers can make nuclear and fossil sources safe and minimally polluting. The development of "greener" products, processes and energy will result in more choices, better products, lower costs, less pollution, longer life for our fossil fuel reserves, safer and cheaper energy sources... etc. Please email me with your ideas...! PEO must have a strong regulatory role in all these activities, starting with R&D - see below.

“Regarding PEO and Ontario's industrial R&D: as Vice President Engineering in manufacturing industry, I was responsible for my company's Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) program. This is a valuable federal government program that provides tax credits for qualified industrial R&D. Government should mandate that SR&ED engineering projects be only managed by licenced engineers to qualify for the tax credit. On Council, I would advocate that PEO raise this matter with the federal government. For the record, at KELK, I signed off personally on all our SR&ED projects as ''VP Engineering & Chief Engineer' and, of course, with 'P.Eng' clearly stated. The same should also apply to IRAP projects (NRC's valuable Industrial Research Assistance Program.)"

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Accounting and Economics

“My MBA studies of finance and economics, combined with my engineering and managerial experience in industry, gives me an insight as to how PEO regulation can be most effective in advancing the engineering economic domain. This backgound can also help us avoid harm from the unintended consequences of poorly conceived policies, both public and professional.

"Certainly, PEO fiscal responsibility is important to our members. On Council, I would work to ensure that increases in PEO's operating expenses do not exceed Ontario's inflation rate plus the growth of our membership and that increases in Members' fees do not exceed provincial inflation. We should increase PEO's revenue via increasing qualified membership numbers. Too few qualified, "should-be engineers" are unlicensed by omission or indifference - we must work to correct this. Of course, a good deal of this relates to the Industrial Exception (see above) - qualified staff have openly said to me 'I don't need the P.Eng, I don't sign drawings.' Well, professionally they do need it! In industry I always encouraged my qualified staff to pursue their P.Eng. licence... with some success, I must add.

"Balanced budgets and a minimal bureaucracy are part of fiscal responsibility. Chapter input on fiscal matters can help PEO ensure best value for fees paid.

“A very important Canadian economic policy objective is to reduce inter-provincial barriers in trade and labour. This benefits both engineers and the Canadian economy at large and, of course, Ontario. It is not generally known but there are more barriers to commerce between the provinces than there are between Canada and the USA. This must be corrected by our governments. Fortunately, we may be getting new federal-provincial initiatives in this direction - we shall see how well they work out. Regardless, it is vital that PEO and the other provincial licensing bodies be part of this process. However, any government mandated engineering mobility must not impair the self-regulation of the profession - I am glad to see that PEO is already addressing this (see Engineering Dimensions, November 2009.)

"See also R&D, above. The Government's tax-supported engineering R&D programs in the public and private sector must be subject to oversight by licenced engineers. Reason: to assure the wise use of taxpayer's money (the tax credit) and to get the highest performing product or process development result for the owning company."

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An award!

"I was very pleased that the company where I was VP Engineering and Chief Engineer from 1999 to 2008 (George KELK Corporation) was awarded a "50 Best managed Companies" award, see "50 best". This was in no small part due to the company's aggressive R&D program, product excellence and the quality of the Engineering department, all of which were my direct responsibility.

"And again! 'Today's (February 6, 2010) National Post newspaper announces that KELK has again been awarded the designation of one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies.' I congratulate my successors for continuing the good work!"

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A final word...

“During my engineering career I have been fortunate to work with some great companies, some outstanding people and on some very interesting projects, processes and technologies. As a 'hands-on' engineer, even when in management, I have found the whole experience most gratifying. Whatever I have contributed is on the record but I still have the desire to further my contribution to the profession, particularly to our EIT's and younger practitioners. I trust that as a PEO Councillor I would be able to do this.

“Engineers' contributions must be recognized positively by society, industry and all levels of government. One value I have always encouraged in my staff and colleagues is teamwork and if elected I would apply this personal value to Council. With your support I pledge to bring my varied, practical industrial experience to bear on these objectives for a profession we can continue to be proud of. My philosophy can be summarized as "strive to be the best you can be", bringing others along with you or, indeed, beyond... as they are able. It behooves PEO to strive to be the best it can be, too.

"My sincere thanks to you for reading my election platform. I am asking for your vote and, if elected, I will not let you down."

Elected! March 2010 My thanks to all supporters!

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Q&A and Contact

If you have any questions on Roger Jones' PEO election platform, or if you have have any suggestions, do not hesitate to contact him at roger_jones@ieee.org. (this is an IEEE alias address.)
"I'd like to hear from as many members as possible", he says.