Photo (L to R): Robert Johanson, Ph.D., Engineering Licensee, Head of Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Saskatchewan; Ryan Caufield, 2017 Brian Eckel Memorial Scholarship Award recipient and Paul Walsh, P. Eng., ACEC-SK Chair.

The 2017 Brian Eckel Memorial Scholarship Award recipient is Ryan Caufield.

As a young Regina high school student, Caufield felt compelled to support his community. Volunteering for the Indian Metis Christian Fellowship, he helped deliver furniture to those requiring assistance and used his skills to repair bicycles for members.  The Regina Humane Society and the Blue Mantle Thrift store both benefited from his contributions.

Relocating to Saskatoon for his post-secondary education, Caufield continued his commitment to community service.  He volunteers as a child caregiver at Student Wellness Initiative Toward Community Health (SWITCH), a student run health clinic. The U of S student group known as SaskInvent designs and builds medical related projects for community members requiring solutions. Caufield was involved in the design process of a hand therapy device to assist a client requiring physiotherapy in Regina.  He was also involved with the U of S Space Team working on their rover.

This past summer he worked with the University of Toronto’s Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Physics.  With a small team he helped to design and build a chemostat, a device used to study bacteria populations.  As an electrical engineering student, his role was designing the circuit board and writing the code required for the device to operate as required.

The practical experience outside the classroom has made Ryan Caufied determined to land an internship for the summer and he looks forward to moving into industry following completion of his degree.