LICENSURE ADVISORS

Rowell Punzalan, P.Eng., was a licensed Electronics Engineer (ECE) in the Philippines. He migrated to Canada in 2013 and worked as HFC (Hybrid Fibre Coax) Designer at Shaw Communications, Inc. He moved to Manitoba Hydro in 2019 and became a Senior Fibre Plant and Facilities Specialist. It was 2020 when he decided to pursue his engineering profession in Canada. He went back to school (University of Manitoba) and took five (5) alternative courses in lieu of the CEQB (Canadian Engineering Qualification Board) examinations. He had successfully completed these courses in 2021 and had been re-classified as an EIT (Engineer-in-training). He was able to complete his CBA (Competency-Based Assessment) report in 2022 and finally received his professional designation (P.Eng.) in early 2023.
His field of expertise is telecommunications, from planning, estimating, and design to project management of outside plant fibre optic cable networks. He is currently working at Manitoba Hydro as Fibre Plant and Facilities Engineer.

Jeffrey David, P. Eng., graduated from the University of the Philippines in 2006 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He was registered as a Professional Engineer with Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba in November 2022 via the Competency-Based Assessment system.
Jeffrey immigrated to Canada in 2007. He has worked in the Pharmaceutical industry for the past 16 years with various roles in Quality Control and Quality Assurance, Equipment Qualification and Commissioning, Equipment Maintenance and Calibration, and Project Management. He was also a founding member of the University of the Philippines Alumni and Associates in Manitoba (UPAAM) and served as its Membership committee head from 2011-2012. He spends his free time travelling with his wife and son. He is currently a Level 6 Local Guide on Google Reviews.

Frances Dator, P.Eng, graduated in 2004 at Ateneo de Davao University with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering. She has worked in PLDT and in the Call Centre as an Engineer. But has spent most of her time managing her retail grains business.
When she immigrated in 2011, she promised herself that she will be working towards her professional designation. True enough, she proceeded with her EGM assessment and then landed a technical job at Manitoba Hydro Telecom. It wasn’t until 2022 that she became an EIT through the CBA program. Truthfully, this program has opened a lot of doors to internationally trained engineers. She may have stumbled a lot, but she remained loyal to herself, and she will pursue it no matter how hard. She was able to build core connections, and people who motivated her and helped her reach her full potential.

Marolo Alfaro, P.Eng., Ph.D. is a professor in the Dept. of Civil Engineering at the University of Manitoba. He received a BSc in civil engineering (magna cum laude) from the University of Mindanao, Philippines, an MEng in geotechnical engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and a PhD in civil engineering from Saga University, Japan. He completed postdoctoral studies at the Royal Military College of Canada and the University of Calgary. Marolo’s expertise is in geotechnical engineering. He received awards for his research work. He received the 2019 Geosynthetics Award in recognition of outstanding technical contribution to the applications of geosynthetics in civil, geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering. He also received the 2022 Roger J.E. Brown Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to permafrost engineering. He has co-authored a book and two book chapters.
Dr. Alfaro works as a geotechnical engineering consultant on a broad variety of infrastructure projects. He serves as Chair of the Canadian Geotechnical Research Board for 2022-2025. He played a key role in forming the Filipino Members Chapter of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. He served as Vice-President of the International Geosynthetics Society - North American Chapter and as Executive Member of the Canadian Geotechnical Society. He is a member of various international engineering societies.

Ethel Fernandez, P.Eng., was born and raised in the Philippines where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in electronics and communications engineering. After seven years of working in the electronics manufacturing industry as a quality engineer, Ethel immigrated to Canada. Obtaining her professional engineering registration in Manitoba allowed her to continue to work as a professional engineer. She currently works for the Royal Canadian Mint, as a Senior Quality Systems Engineer, where she is primarily responsible for supplier quality and qualification. She was the first woman to have chaired the Filipino Members Chapter, during which time she, among others,
• initiated the Chapter's community involvement through group volunteering at local charities
• organized the first volunteers' recognition event and team building
• introduced scholarships to motivate recipients to register for licensure (replacing bursaries)
• launched chapter website
• provided a worldwide audience for the chapter through a regular column with a local newspaper
• collaborated with other association chapters which resulted in multi-year networking events
• improved the chapter's visibility and participation in the association's events
• acquired annual sponsorship with a financial institution
She currently serves on the Association's Experience Review Committee and is one of seven wardens on camp eight.

Christiana Nancy I. Santoyo, P. Eng., a licensed Mechanical Engineer in the Philippines and Malaysia where she worked as Project and Construction Engineer for Petronas Oil and Gas
Process Platforms (BARDEGG) on-shore construction for off-shore hook–up and installation. In 1993, Nancy migrated to Canada. Her journey to P.Eng. did not come easy. Raising three young children while attending the University of Manitoba and working full time took her almost 20 years to achieve her goal to practice as a Professional Engineer in Canada. Nancy completed all assigned university courses in 2013 and became P. Eng., in 2015.

With Nancy’s 26 years of experience in aerospace under multiple roles, and currently working as RD / Production Engineer at StandardAero, she has been one of the extraordinary success stories and a living example of many immigrants who face many life challenges who survived, adapted and succeeded. Her resilience, dedication, hard work and faith helped her achieve her goals.

Today, Nancy continued to share her stories and mentor many immigrants, women, and students who dream to become P. Eng., someday. She had been serving the Filipino Member Chapter as Ex-Officio, adviser, volunteer, friend and as well a mentor to the association's Mentorship Program.

Blessilda Ramos, P.Eng., graduated from the University of the Philippines in 2004, with a degree in Chemical Engineering and was a licensed Chemical Engineer in the Philippines. She previously worked as Process Engineer at Hitachi GST and as a Technical Support Engineer at Emerson Process Management in the Philippines. She migrated to Canada in 2009 and immediately worked on her professional engineer designation. At the time, the only option provided to her was to take 5 confirmatory exams to be academically qualified. While working on her P. Eng designation, she worked as Project Coordinator for 9 years at Lakeside Process Controls, an Emerson Process Management Impact Partner, before taking on the Application Engineering role in 2019. She completed her Professional Engineer designation in December 2020. Her field of expertise covers process engineering, project coordination and management, estimating, scheduling, procurement, and inside sales. She was a member of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in Manitoba (UPAAM) and served as its Membership Committee Head from 2012-2013. She was also a member of the Executive Committee of the EGM Filipino Members Chapter in 2018-2019. She loves food, traveling, and relaxing.

Roy San Buenaventura, P.Eng., has more than 10 years of working experience in project development, delivery, and operations of capital infrastructure such as buildings, earth structures, bridges, tunnels, canals, coastal installations, and systems/facilities related to water, wastewater, stormwater, and transportation. He has worked for contractors, consultants, and clients in the Philippines, Dubai (UAE) and Canada. He is a Design Engineer in the Water Services Branch - Capital Planning and Project Delivery (CPPD) of the Manitoba Government. He completed a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering (BSCE) in the Philippines and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) in the United Kingdom. He volunteers as a mentor to EITs’ and at Engineers Association Events and is the former Chairman of the Filipino Members Chapter – Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. He obtained his Professional Engineer designation in July 2019 at Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba. To be academically qualified, he wrote and passed the assigned confirmatory examinations by taking the National Technical Examination Programs Option.