[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/EngRing.jpg” caption=”Iron ring in front of John Hodgins Engineering building. Photo credit: Deborah McIvor”]This year's Kipling ceremony, the annual rite-of-passage for graduating engineers, marks a milestone at McMaster University – its 10,000th engineering student will graduate and receive engineering's iron ring at the annual Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer.

The ceremony is a uniquely Canadian tradition dating back to the 1920s. It is administered by an independent organization called the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, which has established Kipling Camps at universities across the country.

McMaster's Kipling Camp 13 will hold its 48th Kipling ceremony today. A total of 539 engineering grads will have iron rings put on their fingers for the first time and the 10,000th ring will be presented to software engineering student Andrew Flak, 23. As is tradition, he will wear the ring on the little finger of the working hand.

Flak originally heard about the ceremony and learned about the iron ring from his sister's best friend who is a professional engineer. “It's something I wanted even before I enrolled in engineering,” he says. Now that his five years of study are finally over, it's going to be a great feeling to put on his own ring.

“I'm proud to be part of the Kipling tradition here at Mac. Through the ceremony, you take an obligation in such a meaningful way. I look forward to my turn to present an iron ring to a graduate engineer.”

Waldo (Wally) Wheten, a Camp 13 warden and a professional engineer for over 65 years, will present Flak with the 10,000th ring as well as a special engineering gold pin to commemorate the milestone. A civil engineer, Wheten graduated in 1938 from the University of Saskatchewan and was for many years Hamiltons city engineer and manager of the water works department.

In 1961, at McMaster's first 'Kipling', 23 students received their iron rings. Dean Mo Elbestawi notes that the profession has seen many changes and advancements over the years including the use of computers for design work and the admission of women.

The Kipling ceremony, officially known as The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, was inspired in part by a Canadian tragedy.
During 1907, a huge cantilever bridge was being built just outside Quebec City. The 2800-foot bridge would span the St. Lawrence River and include two streetcar tracks and two railway tracks. An 1800-foot single span in the middle, 150 feet above the water, would permit ocean-going vessels to pass underneath. In the rush to complete this engineering marvel, the weight estimation was off by eight million pounds. In June of that year, inspecting engineers noticed that two girders were misaligned and were bending. On August 27, the south arm of the bridge collapsed into the river. Seventy-five workers were killed. It remains Canadas biggest engineering disaster to date.

At the 1922 meeting of the Engineering Institute of Canada in Montreal, a group of past presidents expressed the need for a ceremony to impress upon newly graduated engineers the social importance and responsibilities of the profession. As leader of this group, University of Toronto civil engineering professor Herbert Haultain, approached the celebrated British author Rudyard Kipling to write a statement of ethics to which graduates should subscribe. Kipling, who had often referred to engineers in his novels and poetry, wrote both a statement and a ceremony — the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer.

The ritual provides a guide in the form of a series of principles new engineers are asked to promise to uphold in both their professional and personal lives. The Corporation of the Seven Wardens, based in Montreal, has copyrighted the ritual in Canada, and registered the iron ring design.

There is a myth that the rings were made from the broken spans of the collapsed Quebec Bridge. This is completely false. The rings were made of hammered iron, which gave them a mottled appearance. They tended to rust and often had to be replaced. Today they are made of stainless steel.

Anyone who has been a professional engineer for a minimum of 10 years can attend the ceremony and present a ring. Approximately 100 presenters will be on hand to assist the Wardens and do the honours at Kipling 2006. They include grandfathers, brothers, mentors, and professors.

At McMaster, Alumni Relations manager, Carm Vespi and her staff administer the rings. Each year, they arrange to have the students' fingers sized prior to Kipling, and they also handle requests for replacement rings (for rings lost or worn out). As of this year, the Office of the Dean of Engineering will pay for the iron rings that are given to the graduating engineers.

Vespi has been involved with the preparations for 30 Kipling Ceremonies. “It is the most important day of the year for graduating engineers,” she says. “My staff and I enjoy helping to make this as memorable a day for them as possible. We are always so proud of our students!”

Following the Ceremony, graduates and their guests will celebrate at a dinner/dance at the Liuna Station in downtown Hamilton.