• 18 Cheviot Hill, Porters Lake, NS B3E 1K1

The CIMarE presents several awards, spread across a broad spectrum of the marine engineering community.

The CIMarE Medal of Excellence 

The Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering’s Medal of Excellence recognizes an individual’s outstanding contribution to marine engineering in Canada, including technical innovation, sea-going service, substantial leadership in the industry or the teaching of marine engineering.  The Medal is the hallmark of achievement in Canada’s marine engineering profession.

Award of the Medal will be made annually to a Member of the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering by the National Council on the basis of nominations from Institute members and others in Canada’s marine engineering sector.  Written nominations will be kept confidential and the Council will not disclose its inquiries or deliberations into making the award.  The Medal of Excellence will ordinarily be presented at the annual Mari-Tech conference and exhibition.

The award of the Medal of Excellence is restricted to members of the Institute.  A Member who may have made a meritorious, substantial and lasting contribution to marine engineering in Canada, through the operation of vessels at sea, the management and work of marine transportation enterprises and shipyards, the design of vessels, the promotion of safety of life at sea, government regulation, or the pursuit of excellence in the marine engineering field are eligible for the award.

Please note that serving members of National Council or any Branch Executive are not eligible. There is no bar to nominating previous winners or nominees.

Nominations for 2024 will open in October 2023.

The CIMarE Medal of Excellence – 2022 Awarded to Dr. Jeffery Smith

Dr. Jeffrey Smith is a law academic, marine engineer and lawyer.  After joining the Royal Canadian Navy at the age of 17, he completed his degree studies and qualified as an engineering head of department, serving as chief engineer in a warship based at Esquimalt, BC.  On leaving the navy in the mid-1990s he re-qualified as a lawyer, working in Vancouver in commercial maritime and regulatory matters, later serving as law of the sea counsel to the United Nations in East Timor during that country’s transition to independence in 2002.  On his return to Canada, he joined a newly privatized BC Ferries, acquiring progressive responsibilities to becoming the company’s head of fleet maintenance and capital construction projects. After leaving BC Ferries in 2009, he taught in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, Ottawa, while pursuing a busy private practice advising governments and marine classification societies in regulatory matters.
Jeffrey researches and is extensively published in climate change and shipping, protection of the marine environment, and transportation safety affairs.

From 2009 through 2014, Jeffrey chaired the CIMarE National Council, leading the Institute to changed governance, financial stability and the Mari-Techs we’ve enjoyed in recent years.  A Fellow of the Institute, Jeffrey was recently elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society for his law of the sea work in East Timor and Western Sahara.  Earlier this year he joined the Canadian Coast Guard as its Director, Inspection, with responsibility for the quality assurance of construction of new Coast Guard vessels across Canada and development of National Shipbuilding Strategy shipyards.

Fellows of the Institute

The designation Fellow of the Institute will recognize those who have made a significant contribution to CIMarE as well as to the Canadian marine industry.  For members to qualify as a Fellow they must:

  • Have been a member of CIMarE for 10 consecutive years
  • Have served as a member of a branch executive or national committee for 3 years
  • Have or hold one of the following:

– a Transport Canada issued Certificate of Competency as a First Class Marine Engineer or as a Second Class Marine Engineer

– a Royal Canadian Navy Engineering MARE Marine Systems officer Head of Department Qualification, or the equivalent as determined by the Council

– a Royal Canadian Navy Certificate 4 or Certificate 3 for Marine Engineering Technicians

You can nominate yourself and you can propose others. Once approved by both your Branch and National Council, a Fellow will receive a Certificate and the right to include the designation FCIMarE following their names on business stationary and correspondence. As well, their names will be published on the website and in the Marine Engineering Digest from time to time.

An application form is available here.

Note: A Fellow will be required to pay annual dues.

Previous Medal of Excellence Recipients:

  • 2013 – Bud Streeter
  • 2014 – Thomas Ward
  • 2015 – Malcolm Barker
  • 2016 – Ken Harford
  • 2017 – Wendy Tadros
  • 2018 – William B Jamer
  • 2019Darryl J. Hansen
  • 2020 – Ray Morrissey
  • 2022 – Dr. Jeffery Smith

TM Pallas Award

The TM Pallas Award is given to graduates of the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The instructors nominate the students receiving the highest combined occupation level course average and certification board mark while qualifying for their Marine Engineering Certificate 4 and Certificate 3.

The graduates receive a certificate and an engraved plaque in recognition of their academic excellence.