"The Order of the Engineer is a solemn obligation to serve humanity by making the best use of earth's precious wealth."

In the early 1900s, a bridge across the St. Lawrence River in Quebec collapsed during construction, killing scores of workmen. Legend has it that one of the twisted iron beams was sliced into rings and worn by engineers to remind them of their solemn responsibilities. Today, engineers wear a stainless steel ring as a reminder of their calling.

In 2013, the University received some steel from the collapsed I-35W Bridge, which the Department of Civil Engineering fashioned into an oversized Order of the Engineer ring. The steel that forms the ring is chromed and the base on which it sits remains unfinished.

This ring has been incorporated into the Civil Engineering commencement. After accepting the obligation and reciting the Oath of the Engineer, graduates place their dominant hand through the memorial steel and receive their Engineer's ring.

(http://www.order-of-the-engineer.org)

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