CivMin’s Sam Richardson, a MASc candidate under the supervision of Prof. Jeffrey Packer, has received the University of Toronto Donald Tong Graduate Scholarship in Structural Engineering from DIALOG.
The annual award was presented by company partner Daria Kachi and EIT Jordyn Tripp (CivE PhD 2T0) at a ceremony in the company’s downtown Toronto office on February 27. Richardson is the sixth recipient of this award since its inception in 2019.
“I’m very pleased to have been awarded this recognition for an engineering student who shows not only a strong academic background, but also good communication and community service experiences as well,” says Richardson. “Donald Tong was clearly an inspirational person who will always be remembered by the company, and I’m proud this award can carry on his memory, and his traits, that made him such a recognizable person.”
As an undergraduate student in engineering, Richardson was also simultaneously a varsity soccer player, balancing a demanding academic schedule with competitive athletic endeavours. “I was balancing that extracurricular side with engineering studies, and then along came Covid. So I then got involved with making some COVID-19 test result calls for a hospital, which added significantly to my community service profile. As well, I’ve always been involved in coaching soccer throughout my life – a lifelong passion. During the pandemic, it had to turn to virtual coaching, but I still got to keep that involvement going.”
Peering into the future, he says, “My aspirations, after completing my MASc, is to go into industry and work on complex and innovative projects. That’s where I align with DIALOG and what they do. I have some experience in the multidisciplinary approach through my previous co-ops; I like that way of working, where you’re working directly with other sorts of engineers, whether it’s mechanical or electrical engineers, and also working with architects.”
(Photo courtesy of Dialog)
The award is named for Dialog’s long-time structural team member Donald Tong, who tragically passed away in 2018 after a courageous battle with cancer. In an online description, Dialog provides insight into the motivation for the award: Donald epitomized the integrated design culture at the heart of DIALOG. He started his career as an interior designer, followed by a stint as an architectural technologist, before he found his passion in structural engineering. It is our hope that future structural engineers will embody Donald’s creative, wide-ranging design spirit.
Jane Tong, Donald’s daughter also present for the event, is continuing the family legacy of engineering as a career.