The Iron Pin Ceremony is intended to welcome new students to the engineering community and to ask them to reflect on the values of professionalism and responsibility that are fundamental to the profession.

It draws on some of the traditions of the ritual of the Calling of an Engineer (Iron Ring Ceremony), which is offered to new graduates as they enter professional practice. The ceremony is closed to the public, with only students, faculty, staff and engineering professionals in attendance. The dress code is business attire.

Iron Pin Ceremony Information
Date:	19 October 2023
Time:	7:00 PM
Location:	IIC 2001

About the ceremony

The Iron Pin Ceremony asks participants to pause for a moment to reflect on the values that are fundamental to the engineering profession:

• Responsibility to the common good, public safety and the environment
• Honour and trustworthiness
• Inclusivity and respectfulness

The ceremony draws on language from both the PEGNL Code of Ethics and the ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, or the Iron Ring ceremony, as it is more commonly known.

During the ceremony, participants receive an “iron pin”, as pictured to the left, which is an obvious reference to the Iron Ring, although neither is actually made of iron, and is intended in the same way as a reminder to participants, and a symbol to others, of the pledge that they undertake at this ceremony. It is hoped that participants will treasure it and wear it proudly, as appropriate, just as most graduates wear the iron ring, and will allow it to remind them of the pledge that they undertake at the ceremony.

The first Iron Pin Ceremony at Memorial was held in the Fall of 2019. It is intended that it will be offered to incoming, engineering one, students each fall semester. 

The Pledge

At the ceremony, participants recite the following pledge, in unison:

1. We will hold paramount our responsibility to:
1. advance human welfare and serve the common good;
2. promote safety in public and in the workplace; and
3. safeguard the environment in sustainable ways.
2. I will act in an honourable and trustworthy manner by:
1. continuously improving my professional competence;
2. upholding professional ethics and acting with integrity; and
3. accepting criticism humbly and giving credit freely.
3. We will build an inclusive and respectful professional community by:
1. acting with equity, fairness, courtesy and good faith;
2. respecting and expressing gratitude to colleagues from all fields of endeavour;
3. being accountable, learning from failure and supporting each other as we advance the profession together.

The participants are then asked, "Do you make these commitments freely and upon your honour?", to which the response is, "Yes, I do."