The iron ring is small, sized to fit the little finger of an engineer's working hand. Today it is more often made from stainless steel than iron. Though it doesn't weigh much physically, it carries enormous symbolic weight, acting as a reminder to Canadian-trained professional engineers of the oath they took to do good, safe work that advances society.
For Waterloo Engineering alum Dr. Madelaine Liddy (BASc '14, PhD '22), her iron ring is especially special as it was presented to her by her father, a fellow Waterloo Engineering alum, at her Iron Ring Ceremony in 2014.
The ceremony, also called the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, involves holding a long iron chain while reciting the oath to practice with integrity. The chain represents the interconnectedness of the profession, and the responsibility of engineers to help one another uphold their oath.
Liddy says that moment of connection was something she'll remember forever. "Holding the chain together, before we received our rings, really struck me - the sense that we were making this commitment as a community."
Quantum impact
Liddy now works in Germany as a senior quantum engineer at Quantum Brilliance, a company that specializes in diamond-based quantum technology. The team's mission is to advance compact quantum devices that operate at room temperature for integration into everyday devices and computing systems.
One of the projects she works on aims to create a mobile quantum computer - a system that can be plugged into the wall, moved and operated by non-experts, all while delivering reliable performance outside of controlled lab conditions.
"We're asking what we can do with tens of qubits, not hundreds," she explains. "The goal is to turn quantum theory into technology that we can deploy into existing computing system architectures and make available for use, now."
Liddy's fascination with quantum began in her second year at Waterloo, when nanotechnology engineering courses introduced her to the mind-bending rules of physics at the atomic scale. That led to a PhD in quantum information, a program offered by the University's Institute for Quantum Computing in collaboration with the electrical and computer engineering department, followed by a postdoctoral research position with SandboxAQ, a startup in California that builds quantum and AI solutions for a range of industries. There, she worked on developing a novel medical device, integrating quantum sensors for cardiovascular disease diagnosis. The project involved deploying the systems to hospitals where they were used to measure the magnetic field from the heart using a technique called magnetocardiography (MCG), a rapid noninvasive diagnostic method that provides more information than traditional ECGs.
"It was incredible to start with something in the lab and then see it at work helping medical professionals and patients," Liddy recalls. "That's what I love about engineering - you can see the impact of your work in the real world, and you get to collaborate with people from completely different disciplines."
Her studies also stand out for their breadth - she completed a joint honours degree in nanotechnology and music, a combination that no one before her had done.
Balancing rehearsals, coursework and labs was challenging, but she believes the experience shaped her into a more creative and resilient engineer.
"Switching between the subjects helped me think differently," she says. "It trained my brain to approach problems from multiple angles which helped me through my studies and is very useful in my job."
Universal resonance
Many of Liddy's German colleagues are curious about the distinctive ring she wears and keen to learn more about the Canadian tradition that started 100 years ago.
"It's come up a few times - people asking, 'Oh, what's that ring?'" she says. "Explaining what the iron ring means to colleagues unfamiliar with the tradition makes me feel enormous pride. And I loved my one colleague's response, 'Wow, that's really cool. How come other countries don't do this?'"
For Liddy, conversations like those show how the ring symbolizes something uniquely Canadian yet universally resonant - an engineer's responsibility to public wellbeing.
Ceremonial changes
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Canada's iron ring ceremony. In response to calls to modernize the ritual, largely unchanged since 1925, the updated ceremony now features two new inclusive poems, one in English and one in French, chosen through a national poetry competition. Archaic and gendered language, along with religious imagery, have been removed.
The changes aim to reflect the profession's diversity as well as the expanding responsibilities of engineers in the 21st century, from addressing environmental sustainability to ensuring technology advances equitably.
As Liddy notes, the strength of the tradition lies not in its unchanging form, but in its enduring values. "The world has changed and continues to change. The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer needs to change with it," she says. "But an engineer's responsibility to society, the idea that your work has consequences - that should never change."
Feature image: Madelaine Liddy with her husband and fellow Waterloo Engineering alum AJ Rosewarne (BASc '14, electrical and computer engineering) in Germany. Copyright@ Madelaine Liddy.
