Renan Orquiza is an alumnus of Humber College, who successfully completed the Engineering Software Skills Enhancement Bridging Program (designed specifically for newcomers to Canada). Despite having arrived in Canada just 3 years ago, Renan has already made several significant contributions to the community. As a result of these contributions, Renan has been shortlisted for the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award.
Click below to vote for a highly deserving alumnus:
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About Renan:
Philippines-born Renan Orquiza arrived in Canada on May 31, 2013, and unlike other newcomers who were struggling in adapting and landing their desired job within their professional field, he seemed to have planned things out and was able to transition his life smoothly.
He signed up with Career Edge, a non-profit organization that helps bridge internationally trained immigrants into their careers in Canada. And he was hired by a geo-environmental consulting firm based in Markham, Ontario, as an environmental project manager within four months.
While employed, he also participated in a four-month Engineering Bridging Program offered at Humber College, which helps engineering students with networking, resume preparation, interview skills, software skills, and more. He also learned that networking and volunteering were also important to your career in Canada.
With that in mind, he looked for non-profit organizations that he could help. He started volunteering at the Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) Mississauga Chapter as a committee member. He helped facilitate a bridge building competition for high school students and was asked to assist in other events within the PEO. In early 2015, he was elected to become one of the executive board members and is currently appointed as the environmental committee chair.
He also volunteers with Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) Authority promote their environmental programs and share information with the public about maintaining and preserving the conservation areas. Orquiza wanted to give back to the community where he and his family were living in, as well as to help conserve the environment for future generations. Because of his efforts, he received a long hours service recognition from CVC. He was also selected as the 2014 recipient of the Newcomer Gem Volunteer Award.
As a member of the grad panel and an alumni of the Engineering Software Skills Enhancement Program at Humber College, he spoke to recent candidates of the program about what his story and tips. One of his proudest accomplishments is mentoring others, which provides him with the opportunity to touch people's lives personally and to get to know others better. Even though he is mentoring others, he realizes that he, too, is learning and growing through the experience. Recently, he decided to take this passion to another level by officially becoming a mentor within the Mentoring Partnership program by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC).
At present, he is a registered professional engineer (P.Eng.) within Ontario and working as a project manager at Watters Environmental Group Inc., an environmental consulting firm based in Vaughan, Ontario.
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