An enthusiastic and dedicated volunteer, Noubar Takessian has served on the Willowdale-Thornhill Chapter executive for over 15 years, earning respect from his colleagues for improving the chapter’s operations and increasing its involvement in the community.

Noubar has held almost every executive position with the chapter, including secretary, treasurer, vice chair and four consecutive years as chair. Under his leadership, the chapter has undergone tremendous growth and development. He established a structure for chapter business meetings that increased their efficiency and effectiveness. This included finalizing the chapter by-laws, reforming and redefining the chapter subcommittee system and ensuring the chapter held at least one function every month. He even introduced a motion calling for chapter executives to resign if absent for three consecutive meetings without valid reasons, to stress the importance of taking on this responsibility.

As chair, Noubar also established the chapter’s Government Liaison Program (GLP) committee and helped to create the necessary culture for promoting PEO’s role to elected officials at all levels of government and for increasing their presence at chapter events. Today, the Willowdale-Thornhill Chapter is one of the association’s busiest in GLP activities.

A tireless and passionate advocate for the engineering profession, Noubar has consistently provided a strong voice for his chapter at PEO congresses and annual meetings. He is an avid supporter of the chapter’s attempts to diversify its events and extend its reach in the community, which it has done by collaborating with neighbouring chapters to stage seminars and social events. Noubar has also mentored and trained international engineering graduates, helping them gain local work experience and assisting them with PEO’s licence application process.