Judith Weiszmann

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Judith Weiszmann

Judith Weiszmann, P.Eng, FEC was an engineer that practiced in Manitoba. She was the first woman to be registered in Manitoba as a professional engineer. She passed away on May 27, 2014 (85 years old).

Early Life

Judith was born on January 30, 1930. She was originally from Budapest, Hungary, and graduated with a diploma in Structural Engineering from the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary on March 25, 1954.


Professional Career

She was first registered as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng) in Manitoba on April 16, 1969.

She served on the “Safety in Engineering Practice” committee for two dozen years. Always concerned about the protection of the public, she was proactive in wanting to know what engineers were going to do about a potential problem facing citizens before it became a real problem. She didn’t wait for someone else to make a suggestion, Judy was quick to challenge committee members with thought provoking questions about how to provide a better solution.

Judith Weiszmann was a Life member of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Manitoba having been active in membership for 45 years. She was also a Fellow of Engineers Canada; a national recognition to honour individuals who have given noteworthy service to the engineering profession through their work and volunteerism.

Personal Life

In 2013, Judith was honored by Canada Post when her image as a 14 year old girl was used on a commemorative stamp of wartime hero Raoul Wallenberg; the Swedish diplomat who was solely responsible for the salvage of thousands of Hungarian Jews from the holocaust. National Post writer Joe O’Connor told her story “Judith Kopstein met her husband, Erwin, another Wallenberg Jew, after the war. They became engineers, married and fled to Canada in 1956 after the Russians crushed the

Hungarian Revolution.” In a ceremony at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre May 9, 2013 in Toronto, Judith was presented with a framed copy of the commemorative stamp by Canada Post President and CEO Deepak Chopra. O’Connor further reported words from Chopra’s presentation speech “We do lots of historical stamps and each one has a great story, but never a story like this.” Mr. Chopra said “To know that the person on the stamp is actually alive, and here to tell her story is just amazing.”

Family

Her husband Erwin was also an engineer. A bit older than Judith, born in 1923, he was a civil engineer from Jozsef Polytechnic University, Budapest, Hungary, class of 1949. Erwin was first registered in Manitoba December 2, 1957. He pre-deceased Judith October 27, 2011.

References

Judith Weizmann, P.Eng, FEC: The First Female Engineer Registered in Manitoba by Grant Koropatnick, P.Eng

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/05/09/canada-post-honours-holocaust-survivor-saved-by-swedish-diplomat/