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Terri Steeves BSc’90 (Electrical Engineering)
“Extrovert’s extrovert” spending her retirement giving back
Terri Steeves is the president and chair of the council at APEGA
After nearly 34 years at TC Energy working primarily in operations and project roles, Terri Steeves (BSc’90) retired from the workforce in early 2024. She moved back to Calgary from her last post, VP Integrity, Operations and Projects in Mexico City, and the electrical engineer is as busy as ever. But these days she’s spending her nine-to-five giving back to the community.
“That's how I was brought up,” she says. “If you have the capacity to help others, you should. And I get a lot of satisfaction. I always feel really good when I feel like I've helped somebody, or I've made a difference. I was raised that you were always thankful, you were always grateful for what you had, and if you had the ability to give back, you did.”
Finding the right answer isn't just finding an answer, it's finding an engineering solution that works in the real world.
Terri Steeves BSc’90 (Electrical Engineering)
Early in her career, Steeves loved visiting classrooms to teach elementary students about aerodynamics by making paper airplanes and simple machines by building levers. “That was about getting kids excited about science and showing that it was fun, that it wasn't nerdy and something you should dislike,” she says. “I did a lot of that and really enjoyed it.”
Now, as the elected president and chair of the council of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), Steeves plays a crucial role in steering the body that regulates Alberta’s engineers and geoscientists. “As professionals, you have your peers assessing any discipline matters, assessing competency and professional practice. APEGA has thousands of volunteers,” she says. Hundreds of professional members work on statutory boards and committees to regulate the profession.
“I feel like I have always volunteered at APEGA,” says Steeves. She served as a councilor from 2012 to 2015, did school outreach and served on the Summit Awards committee in the 1990s and was a student liaison in the late 1980s at UCalgary. While at university, she was also president of the Electrical Engineering Society, a role that taught her “the importance of working in collective groups to achieve results.”
Engineering at UCalgary also showed her “how to learn and how to be resourceful” as well as understand that there's more than one answer to a problem. “Finding the right answer isn't just finding an answer, it's finding an engineering solution that works in the real world,” she says.
Steeves remains involved in the university community, taking advantage of networking sessions and lunch and learns, as well as presenting to students about project management. “One of the things the Schulich School of Engineering does really well is engaging with their alumni within industry, staying relevant, and ensuring alumni have a place to come back and stay engaged as their careers progress,” she says.
Now that her working career has come to an end, Steeves is thrilled to spend more time working toward bettering the community and giving back, something she’s always tried to do.
“I was 14 years old and teaching Sunday school and babysitting neighborhood kids, and it’s just what I always did,” says Steeves. “I'm an extrovert's extrovert, so anything that involves people and engagement and gathering is always a great idea from my perspective.”