Iron Ring
The Iron Ring is a ring worn by many engineers in Canada, serving as a symbol and reminder of the obligations and responsibilities of the profession. The ring is acquired through a ceremony available to students graduating from an accredited Canadian engineering program, or engineers from abroad who can demonstrate their eligibility for membership in a Canadian Professional Engineers' Association. The ceremony, known as The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, was developed with the assistance of English poet Rudyard Kipling after a request from Professor H.E.T. Haultain, and is administered by The Corporation of the Seven Wardens Inc./Société des Sept Gardiens inc. The request was made on behalf of seven past presidents of the Engineering Institute of Canada, who would become the original seven Wardens of the Corporation.
Design and Symbolism
The Iron Ring presented at most ceremonies is actually made of stainless steel, although the option to receive a ring of wrought iron still exists at universities that art part of Camp One (Toronto). The rings are distributed at ceremonies held by each accredited university, operated by one of the 25 Camps of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens across Canada.
A common myth about the Iron Ring is that the earliest rings were forged from the unusable iron and steel from the first collapse of the Quebec Bridge in 1907. During the incident, 75 of the 86 workers on the bridge were killed, and the rest injured. The collapse was attributed to poor planning and design by the overseeing engineers. This misconception may be related to the common practice of attaching a symbol of an engineering failure, such as a bolt from that bridge, to the chain that is held by the participants of the ritual.
The Iron Ring is worn on the little finger of the working (dominant) hand. There, the facets act as a sharp reminder of one's obligation while the engineer works, because it would drag on the surface while the engineer is drafting or writing. This is particularly true of recently obligated engineers, whose rings bear sharp, unworn, facets that will smooth out over time. Protocol dictates that the rings should be returned by retired engineers or by the families of deceased engineers.
The Ring itself is small and understated, designed as a constant reminder to the wearer, rather than an aesthetic piece of jewelry. The Rings were originally hammered manually with a rough outer surface. The modern machined ring design is unique, a reminder of the manual process. Twelve half-circle facets are carved into the top and bottom of the outer surface, with the two halves offset by one facet radius.
The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer
The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer (known informally as the Iron Ring Ceremony) is the ceremony in which Iron Rings are conferred to graduating engineers who choose to obligate themselves to the highest professionalism and humility of their profession. The process of the ritual is symbolic of the moral, ethical, and professional commitments made by the engineer who will wear the Iron Ring. The ceremonies are private and not open to family and friends who do not have Iron Rings. The Iron Ring is presented to each graduating engineer by a Warden of their Camp, or by a presenter that has demonstrated their devotion to the engineering profession (i.e. a relative or mentor, but not an instructor).
Other Ring Programs
Based on the success of the Iron Ring in Canada, the Order of the Engineer was founded in the United States in 1970, and conducts similar ring ceremonies at a number of U.S. colleges. The recipients sign an "Obligation of the Engineer" and receive a stainless steel Engineer's Ring (which, unlike the Iron Ring, is smooth and not faceted).
At the University of Toronto's John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, there is a post-convocation ring ceremony at which each new graduate is given a silver ring to symbolize his or her entry into the kinship of architects and landscape architects. The ring is also worn on the little finger of the drafting hand, but has no other associated symbolism or obligation tied to it.