COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
December 2017

Roland AnderssonAfter 19 years (1998-2017), Roland Andersson, FCIC, will be stepping down as executive director of the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) on December 31, 2017.

“When the executive search firm contacted me in 1998, I made time to look hard at the opportunity that CIC could provide. Up to that point in time, I had had a great career in in the chemical industry and related industrial associations but through the CIC I thought: one could be connected to anything and everything related to the chemical sciences and engineering. The CIC offered a great opportunity to ‘put back into the chemical community; and through it, society.’  And over the years, my enthusiasm and commitment to the profession and sector has always remained high no matter the challenges that this complex organization posed. I have been especially pleased with the many career development activities undertaken for young professionals and do hope that we have made a difference.

I am proud to leave my successor Dr. Ian Jobe a well-managed, financially sound, professional organization with strong national and international programs and activities. These have been achieved, throughout the years, by the teamwork of our professional staff and the many volunteers who have generously given their time on our five corporations (CIC, CSC, CSChE, CSCT, CEF) in various leadership positions on local sections, subject divisions, awards selection committees, conference organizing committees (national and international), and boards of directors. I would like to thank all of you for your time, contributions and the strong support for me and the staff. It has been most appreciated and I ask that you offer the same to Ian.

After taking some time off in early 2018 to do lots of downhill and XC skiing plus hiking, I intend to stay involved in the chemical sector by a combination of voluntary initiatives and short contractual work. I look forward to staying in touch with many of you.”

Regards, Roland

 

I would like to leave you with some brief points on what I consider to have been our team-based achievements.

  1. Professional Staff

    • Excellent staff provides year-to-year continuity in a complex organization (125+ governance meetings annually, two major national conferences, 17 divisions, 20+ sections, 40 national awards, national and international agreements, etc.)

    • Although there is normal turnover of young professionals (e.g., aggressive federal government hiring), our senior (Joan Kingston, Bernadette Lockyer) and middle management (Kyra Van Den Bos, Krista Leroux, Gale Thirlwall) staff have 10 to 20 years of CIC service

  2. Service to the Members

    • Career development programming that will resonate with young professionals is offered at the CSC and CSChE conferences. These include career discussion panels, communication workshops, speed networking evenings and highlighting of general conference programming geared towards early career development.

    • Independently and through its membership and active involvement in the Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR) and the Partnership Group for Science and Engineering (PAGSE), CIC advocates on behalf of chemical scientists and engineers to federal and provincial governments on issues of research funding and regulations. Working with cabinet ministers, parliamentary secretaries and committee members who influence decision-making within the federal government, CIC ensures that they recognize that research funding for the chemical sciences and engineering is important to future advancement in critical areas including healthcare and pharmaceuticals, environment, energy, food and water.

  3. CIC/CSChE Leadership in Process Safety Management

    • CSChE Process Safety Management (PSM) subject division formed in 2000; now up to over 300 members (primary, secondary); creation of new CSA PSM Standard in 2017. This will have considerable influence on new federal / provincial legislation and regulations and ultimately on how manufacturing, warehousing / distribution and even transportation companies operate.

  4. Conferences

    • Major management changes from voluntary-managed to a team effort of local community and CIC National Office staff. Improvements in finances, operations, attendance (e.g., 2017 CSC Toronto was 3,500+), industrial connectivity and CIC membership.

    • International congresses leadership and successes:

      • Pacifichem series (e.g., 16,000 attended Dec 2015)

      • 2009 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE8)

      • 2021 IUPAC General Assembly and World Chemistry Congress

  5. Canadian Chemical News (ACCN)

    • ​​Journalistic and design improvements. Thanks to Tim Lougheed, Jodi Di Menna, Roberta Staley and Krista Leroux, ACCN and contributing science writers have won many awards over the past ten years.

    • ACCN distributed (complimentary) to CEOs of 16 chemical trade associations and to all (approx. 350) federal MPs.

  6. Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering

    • Led by Kyra Van Den Bos, a strong voluntary Editor-in-Chief / Associate Editors team and the contributions of Canadian chemical engineering researchers, the Journal has had increased international manuscripts / followers to now have it ranked in the top 50% of related journals worldwide over the past several years.

    • With 12 issues annually, its publication time from manuscript receipt has improved to 1.5 months electronically and 7 months hard copy. The Impact Factor has improved from 0.330 in 2003 to 1.356 in 2016 with projections of reaching 2.000 within the next several years.  The partnership with John Wiley & Sons has extended the Journal’s reach to virtually every corner of the globe where chemical engineers are found.

  7. Governance and Finance

    • 2013-2014. Bylaws were updated for all CIC governance entities (CIC, CSC, CSChE, CSCT, CEF) to comply to new federal government Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (2009) legislation and regulations. New CIC / Society policies

    • Overall combined equity of CIC, CSC, CSChE, CSCT, CEF, and Gendron Fund from $1,485,351 in 2000 to $2,417,559 in 2016, which is a $932,208 increase (62.8%)

  8. Membership

    • Most individual-membership professional associations, both national and international, have had major membership declines (up to 50%) since about 2000. CIC has maintained absolute membership numbers averaging 5,590 over the last 12 years. Membership was 4,843 in 1998 and as of November 30 was 5,550 in 2017.

  9. National and International Relationships / Agreements

    • The national and international collaborations and agreements that have been developed over the years extends the CIC / constituent societies’ reach and influence far beyond our internal membership.

    • CIC

      • Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE)

      • Partnership Group in Science and Engineering (PAGSE)

      • Canadian Consortium for Research (CCR)

      • Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC)

      • Responsible Distribution Canada (RDC)

      • BIO Innovation  Organization (World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology)

      • Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) (London, UK) / SCI Canada

      • Canadian Nuclear Society (CNS)

    • CSC

      • Canadian Council of University Chemistry Chairs (CCUCC)

      • PACIFICHEM Congress: International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (chemistry societies of Australia, New Zealand, Korea, China, Japan, United States)

      • Atlantic Basin Conference on Chemistry. Partner chemistry societies of European Union, South Africa, Africa Federation, Brazil, Mexico, US, Canada

      • Canadian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology (CSBMCB)

      • Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP)

      • National Research Council (NRC) re: Canadian National Committee for the International Union of Pure and applied Chemistry (CNC/IUPAC)

      • American Chemical Society (ACS)

      • Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

    • CSChE

      • Association of Chairs of Canadian Chemical Engineers (ACCCE)

      • Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC)

      • Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) via PSM Committee

      • World Chemical Engineering Council (WCEC)

      • Inter-American Confederation of Chemical Engineers (IACChE)

      • American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) via NAAChE

      • Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)

      • Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE)

    • CSCT

      • Technology Professionals Canada (TPC)

      • Technology Accreditation Canada (TAC)

      • Canadian Council of Technologists and Technicians (CCTT)

      • Canadian Technology Accreditation Board (CTAB

 

December 8, 2017