The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) hosted the 2018 Small and Medium Size Bridge Conference at the Hilton Hotel in Quebec City on August 1-3, 2018. The co-chairs were Dr. Josée Bastien, Laval University Professor of Laval University and Adel R. Zaki, Vice-President-Chief Engineer of SNC Lavalin. Over 500 delegates from across the world attended.

Engineers across Canada, many of them CISC members, visited the CISC booth at the exposition hall which was hosted by Alfred Wong and Hellen Christodoulou. There were great discussions and exchanges on all important products, services, initiatives and advocacy efforts by the CISC.

The Quebec Region of the CISC co-sponsored the Opening Gala dinner. Hellen Christodoulou gave the opening speech to attendees and presented the following message:

“We have an important role in todays world to advocate, to make certain that our political bodies fully understand that their decision and actions affect our industries, our economies and us as professionals.

Our bridge industry and our construction industry has evolved. Our standards are very high, our innovations are stellar and our continuous efforts for design, fabrication, erection procedures are trendsetting. Our mutual respect is even higher, our collaboration as professionals and organizations plays a key role in our progress and improvements for all.

Many industries are represented here today, and as I represent the steel industry, I can easily voice that only together we will bring positive improvements, growth and opportunities. We all have to work closely together to achieve future prosperity for our industries, for our businesses and for our communities. We must make this commitment! For all of us in here: communication, respect, strategy and good collaboration should be the drivers. We should all rise above the politics because bridges connect us and do not separate us.”