The ACEC-British Columbia Young Professional Award recognizes an individual young professional who has demonstrated excellence in consulting business practices, outstanding achievements in their applicable fields, and leadership in the community.
This year’s award recipient is David Ellis, P.Eng., McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd.
During his nearly nine years in the industry, David has shown tremendous growth in terms of his contributions to the engineering community, development of his leadership abilities, and in delivering high-quality, innovative projects. After working for Associated Engineering and Kiewit, David’s career with McElhanney began in 2017, as an Intermediate Bridge Engineer. Since then, David has worked on a variety of projects in several different roles, ranging from Coordinating Professional Engineer (CPE) to Project Manager.
David leads McElhanney’s internal Young Professional program this year as company-wide chair, where he works alongside senior leaders as part of the Executive Committee. An accomplished structural engineer, David is also an active member of McElhanney’s building and bridge technical discipline groups. Evidence of David’s technical and leadership skills is shown by his involvement in many engineering community initiatives, complex project undertakings, and thorough understanding of engineering business processes.
He prides himself on excellent client relationships, which is demonstrated by consistent positive feedback. David has represented McElhanney at the 2017 and 2018 ACEC Canada Summits in Ottawa, the Consulting Engineers of Alberta (CEA) YP Conference in 2016, and was a key member of the Local Organizing Committee for the 2017 IABSE Symposium, a conference with over 800 delegates.
David is a dedicated volunteer, and the current Chair of ACEC-BC’s Provincial Steering Committee for the Young Professionals Group. David is also a Young Professional representative on the ACEC-BC/MoTI Joint Bridge Subcommittee and a member of the Transportation Committee-at-Large.
David also demonstrates a keen interest in providing a positive influence on students and youth, and has volunteered with EGBC’s Science Games and Geering Up! Consultant’s Contraption, and 2018’s Christmas Toy Drive for 1UP Single Parent Resource Center in Victoria.
David is an inspiration to the YP community, sharing his knowledge while effectively delegating. He is a solid teammate, a willing teacher, and will no doubt continue to positively influence the consulting engineering industry.
