[Goanet] Fourth Meeting of the Goan Engineers & Professionals

[Tim de Mello]

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****************************************The Fourth Meeting of the Goan Engineers & Professionals was held last Sunday, Feb. 9 and was well attended by a good cross-section of Goan Engineers and Associates.

All presentations were followed by lively Q&A sessions.

1) The first presentation by John D'Souza dealt with Safety in the workplace. Some of the common errors and consequences - some fatal - were dealt with. John urged all present to familiarize themselves with the rules on safety covered in Canada's Occupational Health and Safety pocket guide - "The Green Book".

2) This was followed by talk given by Marilyn Mendes - Registered Nurse on Keeping Fit & Healthy in the Working Environment. This was a lively talk followed by a very enthusiatic Q&A. Some of the points covered were:
a) We as a South Asian people, living in N. America, are VERY susceptible to diabetes, heart and stroke.
b) Marilyn urged all over 40 years of age to have annual medical check-ups.
The watch-outs in your check-ups:
- blood pressure (for a healthy 18 year old it should be 120/80). Blood pressure of less than 140 over 90 is considered a normal reading for adults. A systolic pressure of 130 to 139 or a diastolic pressure of 85 to 89 needs to be watched carefully. A blood pressure reading equal to or greater than 140 (systolic) over 90 (diastolic) is considered elevated (high).
- cholesterol. It is very important to obtain ALL the readings from your blood test. An overall figure for your cholesterol count - LDL/HDL/Triglycerides - is not sufficient information - even it is 5.2 (normal). The reason for this is that your LDL reading (the bad stuff) could exceed 2.5 and your HDL (the good stuff) could be very low. This would indicate a serious condition that warrants monitoring.
- blood sugar. A reading of greater that 6.0 - even just over 6.0 - "a slightly elevated sugar level" is a dangerous condition of South Asians over 40 and would lead to diabetes rapidly if not checked.
3) Opportunites for engineers. Tim de Mello a retired engineer spelled out the opportunites that are currently available. With the current practice for large corporations downsizing and outsourcing a lot of their engineering work, the climate could not be more conducive to entrepreneural engineers. He urged the senior engineers to help the younger engineers to realize these opportunities with a mentoring program. This mentoring program should also be used to help new immigrant engineers to get their qualifications recognized by the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) so that they could rapidly obtain their professional designation and move into the professional career path. The President of one Engineering Company stood up and stated that he was willing to train a few young and new immigrant engineers and offer them a suitable reference to get them going on their chosen path. If more companies were willing to do this, we could help build a strong community of engineering personnel.
4) Immigrant Engineers obtainging their professional designation. There is still a lot a confusion when new immigrant engineers come to Canada. When they do not have a network to fall back on, they struggle on their own and sometimes make very costly mistakes which could prevent them from entering their professional field for many years. It was suggested that a Networking/Business Group be set up to help/advise young and new immigrant engineers.
5) One young student engineer addressed the group and asked for assistance in trying to decide what type of engineering she should settle upon as a career. The audience identified with her dillema as the engineering taught at school is sometimes a very far cry from what one actually practices in the field. However, the broadening of her mind would hold her in good stead. Nevertheless, a networking group would help guide her in her career choices.

The following decisions were made:

A. A Goan Networking/Business Group be set up. An inaugural meeting of this group is to be held within four weeks. All interested parties should contact <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or the undersigned.
B. That the "Goan Engineers & Professionals" name of the meeting be changed to embrace all professionals. It was suggested that perhaps a name like "Goan Professionals Network" might be more appropriate. Suggestions would be welcome.
C. That we meet at least four times a year.

One final comment.

There are a lot of Goan professionals who were aware of this meeting but chose not to attend, perhaps because they saw nothing in it for them. I would urge all Goan professionals to try and attend and give of your time and effort. There are many in our community who would dearly love to not only get help from you but also just to hear some encouraging and comforting words from you. Many of us struggled in our time - sometimes against seemingly unsurmountable obstacles - to achieve our goals in this new, beautiful and bountiful country. There is no need for our new immigrants and young engineers to go through this pain - again - if it can be avoided.

SO PLEASE COME OUT AND HELP.


Tim de Mello
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ontario, CANADA




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