Uzochukwu Benjamin inaugural winner

Stantec, a leading Edmonton-based design and engineering group with an incredibly wide array expertise across more than 100 specific services including environmental, community development and architectural, celebrated its 65^th anniversary in 2019.

Stantec built its success as a company with the support of clients, staff, colleagues and community, growing from a one-person firm to now over 22,000 employees working in over 400 locations across the globe.

Stantec wanted to share this success and demonstrate its on-going commitment and support of the many communities in which its employees work and live year-round, by establishing a series of $1,000 one-time grants to help newcomer professionals continue their own academic journey in one or more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. This educational journey is designed to help recipients secure career path employment.

Stantec partnered with CRIEC (one of the 8-organization Immigrant Employment Council Network across Canada), to administer this opportunity in the Calgary region. After a highly competitive process, the CRIEC selection team chose Uzochukwu Benjamin as the inaugural winner of the Stantec scholarship in the Calgary region.

Uzo arrived in Calgary about 2 years ago with both significant work experience and academic prowess in Geology, having earned a BSc (hons) degree in Geology and Mining from the University of Jos, Nigeria; an MSc degree in Applied Geology from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; and a PhD degree in Basin Studies and Petroleum Geoscience, from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He is in the process of narrowing his focus to Environmental Management.

Uzo has long been committed to making the world a better place and wanted to bring this guiding principal to his newly adopted community right here in Alberta. He recently spoke about this as he reminisced on his emphasis in environmental matters from a job perspective:

“It was for the love of Earth science that I committed over ten years of my life to studying this amazing science called Geology. When I migrated to Canada in 2018, all I wanted to do was continue my professional career as a Geologist. However, my background in geoscience, my love for the environment and the growing need for humanity to sustainably manage the environment, influenced my choice of Environmental Management Certificate at the University of Calgary.

There is a growing need to address the challenge of environmental degradation in Canada for the overall good of the current and future generations. More than ever before, environmental professionals are in high demand, not just to help mitigate the degradation in our environment, but to also encourage environmentally beneficial economic growth. It is for these crucial reasons that I chose to pursue a career in Environmental Management. Health is wealth, as the adage says. For our society, there is no greater wealth than the wealth of a healthy environment.”

Uzo’s commitment to implementing effective environmental approaches to economic and engineering development is a great fit with Stantec. When working on community projects that will impact the local environment, Stantec seeks to ensure that its local strength, knowledge, and relationships around the globe, coupled with its world class expertise, allow it to go anywhere to meet client needs. With a long-term commitment to the people and places it serves, Stantec has the unique ability to connect to projects on a personal level and advance the quality of life in communities.

Stantec has long been a leader in supporting diversity and inclusion in its organization. It wants its communities to be inspirational—a place that attracts the best and brightest, where everyone feels free to be true to themselves. Harnessing the power of all the characteristics that make Stantec what it has grown into, is vital to its success.

This scholarship is the embodiment of this support for both the individual and the community!

So successful was this first round of scholarships that Stantec has recently announced a second round – continuing to support worthy candidates in the world of STEM.

Stantec – “At Stantec, we design with community in mind.”

CRIEC – “We connect experience with opportunity”