Building Brain Power

Since its birth almost one hundred years ago, SNC-Lavalin has grown into Canada’s leading engineering and construction company, and one of the largest and most multi-faceted in the world. For over 40 years, the Montreal-based company has also had a close relationship with McGill, supporting everything from special programs to student internships and scholarships.

“Education is a priority on our list of annual donations and pledges in Canada,” says SNC-Lavalin Vice-President of Global Public Relations, Gillian MacCormack. “We need high-quality engineers, because our future depends on them. At the moment, there are not enough experienced engineers to go around.”

As SNC-Lavalin President and CEO Jacques Lamarre has often said, his company’s greatest asset is the quality of its engineers. In addition to its North American activities, the company has projects in 100 countries around the world at any given time, all requiring experienced engineers.

“We’re known internationally for the quality of our engineering,” says MacCormack, adding: “We develop and build on our expertise through acquisitions, but also by hiring new generations of engineers. We sell brains. And if the grey matter isn’t there, neither are we.”

With its eye on the future of the profession in Canada, last summer SNC-Lavalin announced its latest, and largest, investment in McGill: a $250,000 gift to the Faculty of Engineering. Half will direct-fund the SNC-Lavalin Scholarships in Engineering, five $5,000 scholarships to be awarded over the next five years to outstanding undergraduate students who have completed at least one year of a BEng program, primarily in the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics.

The other $125,000 will create the SNC-Lavalin Fund for Leadership and Professional Development to enhance services offered over the next five years by the Engineering Career Centre – academic advising and career counselling, as well as outreach and industry liaison.

The company also offers the SNC-Lavalin Award Program, a combined scholarship and internship given to engineering students at universities across Canada, the U.S., Chile, Egypt, France and Australia.

McGill is a long-time participant in the program. Each year, at least two third-year university students are awarded a $2,500 scholarship, as well as a four-month paid internship.

“Well-educated young engineers are critical for us,” MacCormack stresses. “They are our future.”

Patrick McDonagh