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Geotechnical News • March 2017
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
Bretagne. Mario Ruel est passionné
par l’amélioration de la sécurité à
partir de l’analyse des risques geo-
techniques (ou géo-risques) et il a
contribué aux lignes directrices et aux
meilleures pratiques canadiennes sur
les glissements de terrain. Mario Ruel
a enseigné l’ingénierie des fondations
aux professionnels ayant immigrés au
pays, et il donne également des cours
universitaires à l’ÉTS à Montréal. M.
Ruel a reçu le prix A. G. Stermac de
la SCG et trois President`s Award of
Excellence du CN.
Bien que Mario Ruel soit le candidat
proposé par le Comité de mise en
nomination, d’autres candidatures sont
aussi acceptées. Tout membre de la
SCG peut proposer une candidature
pour le poste de Président-élu. Les
propositions doivent être envoyées par
écrit au Bureau national de la SCG
avant le 15 juin 2017
.
La proposition doit inclure le nom, les
signatures et le numéro d’au moins 18
membres de la SCG, avec un énoncé
de la personne proposée qui exprime
sa volonté de servir comme Président-
élu, et ensuite (si élue) Président de la
SCG. Pour plus d’information, prière
de vous adresser au Bureau national
de la SCG.
S’il n’y a pas d’autre candidat, Mario
Ruel sera reçu par acclamation lors
de la réunion du Conseil de direction
de la SCG à Ottawa cet automne. S’il
y a des candidatures additionnelles,
la sélection du Président-élu se fera
par un vote des membres de la SCG
durant l’été 2017.
Soumis par Michel Aubertin
Directeur général de la SCG.
Objectives and Nomination
Statement
Mario Ruel - President-Elect
I am a strong believer in the CGS and
I am honoured to have been selected
by the Nominating Committee of our
Canadian Geotechnical Society as the
President-Elect in 2018. I accept this
nomination “avec grand plaisir”. If
elected, I will be eager to serve our
Society as your President for a two-
year term starting January 2019.
I have been practicing geotechni-
cal engineering both in French and
English throughout Canada and the
United States for the past 35 years.
Graduating as a Geological Engineer
in Montreal, I started my career in
Western Canada in 1981 and then
completed an M.Eng in Geotechnical
Engineering in Edmonton in 1988.
For most of my career I have been
interested in the development and
communication of geo-science as I
have actively participated in numerous
scientific organizations as outlined in
Dr. Aubertin’s preceding text. Passion-
ate about landslide problems, I strive
to apply our unique geo-expertise to
enhance risk management of ground
hazards. I have contributed to the
Canadian Technical Guidelines on
landslides and am participating in the
development of geotechnical manuals
and geotechnical courses. I am also
involved in ground breaking research
collaborations as co-founder and past
Chair of the Railway Ground Haz-
ard Research Program (RGHRP), a
unique partnership among industry,
academia and the federal government.
I am proud to have contributed to the
success of the Canadian Geotechnical
Society as Co-Chair of the GÉO-
Montréal 2013 Annual CGS confer-
ence and I am the current Chair of the
Transportation Geotechnique Commit-
tee. I had the honour of receiving the
A.G. Stermac Award in 2014.
The CGS has consistently been a
well managed, technically strong and
financially healthy organization. Our
Society is continuing to progress, for
instance, with recent enhancements of
our website, CGS Geotechnical Info
Net (E-News) and manuals. Building
from our strengths we shall continue
to adapt at an even faster rate in the
coming years, to better serve our
Society and the evolving needs of our
members.
I believe more participation from
young engineers and geo-scientists
will help us meet this challenge.
Although student participation is
already strongly encouraged in the
CGS, we also need to attract and inte-
grate more geo-professionals early in
their careers. They need to see that the
CGS is a dynamic organization which
truly welcomes “new blood” with
open arms. I remember my first CGS
annual meeting; I was feeling intimi-
dated at a luncheon table, surrounded
by senior CGS members. One of them
took some time with me to talk about
his career, asked about my goals, gave
me a few tips, then introduced me to
the group and invited me to a com-
mittee meeting. He made me feel like
I belonged and showed me that I was
part of the group, truly part of the
CGS. I think more of us, the seasoned
members, should have a similar sense
of duty to approach young members to
make them feel part of our CGS team:
Let’s invite them to attend meetings
and encourage them to take on leader-
ship roles both for the benefit of their
career and the future of our Society.
We are all pleased to see a growing
number of women joining the ranks of
geo-professionals bringing important
contributions to our Society. Recent
surveys confirm that Geoscience is
one of the specialties attracting the
highest rate of women in Canada
(~40% vs ~20% in other engineering
programs). I am also glad to note that
women have a strong leadership pres-
ence within the CGS Executive Com-
mittee. We shall continue to encourage
their participation in the success of our
Society and welcome their leadership
at the Board of Directors level and at
the local level.
Although the vast majority of our
membership speaks English, I am
proud that the CGS is providing bilin-
gual services and I am very pleased
with the French version of the Cana-
dian Foundation Engineering Manual.
Although communication efforts in
French are appreciated by CGS’s
Francophone members, I believe more
can be achieved to make everyone feel
part of the CGS’s family, particularly
