THE Society of Punjabi Engineers and Technologists of British Columbia (SPEATBC), a non-profit organization, held its 22nd anniversary fundraising event – The Engineer’s Gala – at the Aria Banquet Hall in Surrey on Saturday, January 27 with well over 450 guests, including business leaders, dignitaries and regulatory bodies like ASTTBC and Engineers & Geoscientists British Columbia.
This year’s title sponsorship was courtesy of KD Khairah of Destinationone Consulting Inc. Sponsorships from various other companies were generously collected with a total fundraising amount of $31,000 that will help run various events throughout the year.
The event kicked off with Kahoot, a very interactive game, organized by host Jimmy Hansra, with the first prize going out to Pravin Kumar from CIBC Wood Gundy, one of SPEATBC’s platinum sponsors for the last five years.
Various entertainment items were showcased, including Bhangra from the BC Cultural Bhangra Academy, Bollywood dancing by SFU girls and well-known singers from the community. Many door prizes were drawn throughout the evening.
The keynote speaker, well-known Dr Kanwal Singh Neel, delivered an inspirational speech, highlighting the importance of relationships. Host of the award winning TV series “Math Shop”, he certainly knows how to get kids to learn math in a fun way.
The current executive team, led by the President, Ravinder Singh, and Vice President, Racy Sidhu, put up the spectacular show recognizing our youth leadership by awarding scholarships to the deserving candidates.
Scholarship winners were announced by SPEATBC’s first woman past president Jessie Hundal with five candidates receiving $1,000 each in the following categories:
1. Entrance Scholarship – Harpriya Kaur Gill
2. Post-Secondary – Dhruv Mahajan
3. New Immigrant – Gurkirat Sital
4. International – Gaurav Kaila
5. Women in Engineering – Kritika Joshi
The new executive team is to be nominated at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, February 17. For more details, check out SPEATBC’s website.
