This year marks the centennial anniversary of the Iron Ring, an important Canadian engineering tradition that students and graduates participate in each year. The anniversary is being celebrated across the country and acts as a reflection on how far engineering has come as a profession in Canada over the last century. Universities all over the nation are participating in the commemoration, and as Canada’s largest engineering school, UW has taken their own spin on the celebrations. For many at UW, this anniversary is not simply a reminder of the importance of the Iron Ring, but also an opportunity to appreciate the significance of the profession they are dedicating their lives to. 

The origin of the Iron Ring and the Obligation Ceremony, which graduates must participate in to receive their ring, comes from the collapse of the Quebec Bridge in 1907, which killed 75 people. Among the dead were workers from the surrounding communities and the Kahnawake Mohawk community near Montreal. This tragedy was found to occur due to avoidable mistakes and failures in the engineering of the bridge. Following this, it was clear that the engineering profession needed to employ high technical and ethical standards in its practice to ensure that no such tragedy would occur again. Herbert Haultain, a Canadian mining engineer, was a pioneer in regulating engineering practices and was the first to have the idea to create a meaningful ceremony that would instill these high ethical standards in all Canadian engineers. Haultain also saw the ceremony as a way of creating a unique community, setting apart the engineers of Canada from the rest of the world. The first Obligation Ceremony was held in 1925 in Montreal and has continued ever since. 

The Obligation Ceremony is conducted and organized by The Corporation of the Seven Wardens, named after the original seven engineers who were tasked with designing and executing what the proposed ceremony would be. The Corporation operates through individual camps across the country, which host the ceremony for all the graduating engineers in that region. Camp numbers are given out chronologically, with Toronto being Camp 1. There are a total of 28 camps across Canada, with UW’s associated camp being number 15. There are often local engineering artifacts displayed at the ceremony, along with an infinite metal chain running up and down the seats of the graduates, which they hold while participating in the ceremony. During the Obligation, they must make a promise to uphold integrity, competence, and accountability in their work. After this, the engineers will receive their Iron Ring, which they wear on the pinky finger of their working hand, as a constant reminder of the promise they have made.  

Along with the 100th anniversary, this year’s Obligation ceremonies are also significant because they mark the first year when the new modernized ceremony will be put into practice. Since 1925, the ceremony has not been updated — however, the engineering profession has grown and changed with time. “One hundred years ago, engineering was a male profession, and, you know, it was mostly practised by white males in Canada, and that was the reality,” said Leonard Shara, Chief Warden of The Corporation of the Seven Wardens. “Today, we have a vastly different demographic in Canada, and that’s reflected in our ceremony and in our candidates, you know, people from all over the world, and every possible background: race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, whatever, everyone is welcome, always has been, but it’s a much more inclusive thing now, and that’s reflected in the ceremony.,” Not only have the demographics within engineering changed, but the scope has also broadened to include many new branches of the discipline. A century ago, the main forms of engineering were limited to civil, mechanical and chemical — however, now, multiple new areas of study encompassing computers, medicine, and AI exist within the profession. “When we think about today, where we’re at, you know, we’ve got new fields of engineering, biomedical engineering, software engineering, engineering science and nanotechnology engineering. And there’s been almost a convergence between science and engineering to a certain degree,” said Mary Wells, Dean of Engineering at UW. All of these changes in the engineering profession have now been represented in the new modernized ceremony.

Another recent change to the ceremony allows friends and family of the graduate to attend the Obligation as well. In previous years, the ceremony was restricted to only graduates and engineers being present. The reason behind the privatization had not previously been widely communicated, allowing the public to only assume what was really happening at the ceremony. Wells explained that the main idea behind the private nature of the ceremony was rooted in the spirit of humility. “They didn’t want to advertise, they didn’t want big fanfare, they wanted it to be a kind of ceremony filled with humility. And for the engineers to feel and sense that humility,” she said. While the ceremony still aims to achieve that level of modesty by discouraging photos during the ceremony, Wells feels that opening it up allows the public to gain a better understanding of what it all means. “It got, I would say, misinterpreted over time in terms of what was going on behind closed doors. Was it like some type of initiation thing, and, you know, I’m glad we’ve opened it up. I think it was the right decision to make as part of the modernization, so that more and more people have a better understanding of what engineers do in Canada, what it means to be a Canadian engineer, and our obligations, so we can be held to account in terms of the decisions we make and how we go about our lives and our work,” Wells said.

Garv Arora, a second-year engineering student at UW and the president of the Engineering Society, discussed how important it is for incoming and first-year students to understand the significance of what they are studying and, if they earn their ring, the influence they would have to impact people both positively and negatively. “You hold a lot of responsibilities that you might not even think about, like, as a first-year, you might not even think that could happen or that could fall on your plate. Like, if a bridge collapses, people actually die because of it, and you were the one who signed off on those documents,” Arora said. The Engineering Society president went on to describe the connection between understanding the significance of the work an engineer does and the ring that they wear when he said, “It has an immense power, and you have an immense power in your hands, and you have immense responsibility. And [the Iron Ring] is just a reminder for that. Strive for that, work hard for that. At the same time, but keep [the Iron Ring] in your mind.” 

UW has organized multiple events to commemorate the Iron Ring anniversary which have been distinct to the school while still celebrating the nationwide event. The most unique centennial celebration has to be the “Ring Road Lager,” a canned drink brewed by Elora’s Brewing Company which was founded by UW engineering alum Jim Murphy. The drink features the engineering faculty colour, purple, and UW’s unofficial mascot, the goose, on the front. Additionally, a small percentage from the proceeds from any purchases of Ring Road Lager will come back to support UW engineering students in the future. UW also hosted a public lecture presented by the UW TRuST Network. According to Wells, the lecture explored and discussed the topic of “trying to better understand the past 100 years, but maybe more importantly, the future. How do we continue as engineers to engender trust from the public around the technologies that we design as engineers and deploy and unleash on the public, and to better understand from the public’s perspective, what are those things that go into creating trusted technologies?” The event was held at E7 and was free to attend for anyone who registered. In addition, a limited-edition, commemorative coin which celebrates Canada’s engineering legacy has been released by ​​The Royal Canadian Mint, in collaboration with Engineering Deans Canada, also chaired by Wells. 

The traditions and practices of engineering in Canada have often been perceived as an enigma, leaving the public to perceive these ceremonies and responsibilities as a mystery to anyone not a part of this unique community. However, it has become a common sentiment within Canadian engineers that this disconnect between society and the engineers within it, can only foster mistrust and confusion, and needs to be opened up. Instead of viewing the Iron Ring and its Obligation Ceremony as a symbol of the disconnect between the public and engineers, it should instead be seen as the connective tissue which fosters a sense of trust and binds them to the public through their responsibility and obligation to them. The Iron Ring, in essence, is the lighthouse which guides Canada’s engineers through the practice of their profession.

“I’ve never taken this ring off. I’m left-handed, so it’s why I wear it on my left hand. And, you know, there’s many times when I have to make a difficult decision about something and I find myself touching it, thinking about it, and reflecting on what my own value system is. So I found it’s been a way to ground me and my value system and know what are the most important things, especially as you have to make decisions,” Wells concluded.