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The Sandford Fleming Foundation is a co-organizer and sponsor of the Waterloo Engineering Competition held during the Spring and Fall terms. This competition consists of the SFF Debates, the SFF Technical Speaking Competition, the Junior Team Design Competition, the Sentior Team Design Competition, and the Engineering Consulting Competition. These competitions are used to select students to participate in the Ontario Engineering Competition each year.

About Sir Sandford Fleming

Sir Sandford Fleming, an engineer and inventor, was designated as a person of National Historic Significance in 1950. Among his many achievements are the following:

He served as the Chief Engineer of both the Intercolonial and Canadian Pacific Railways,
He pioneered Standard Time and the establishment of time zones,
He designed Canada's first postage stamp (the "Three Penny Beaver" of 1851),
He championed the laying of the Trans-Pacific telegraph cable, and
He founded the Royal Canadian Institute and was a founding member of the Royal Society of Canada.

About the Sandford Fleming Foundation

The Sandford Fleming Foundation is a charitable organization associated with the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

The Sandford Fleming Foundation's primary objective is to foster and create an enriched academic environment for co-operative engineering students. This objective is achieved through the offering of program activities that strive to enhance engineering education at the University of Waterloo and across Canada.

University of Waterloo Program Activities

At the University of Waterloo, the Sandford Fleming Foundation partners with the professional engineering community to offer the following:

Sponsorships of on-campus engineering competitions,
Awards to recognize academic excellence, leadership, and co-operative education proficiency,
Awards to recognize teaching excellence,
Travel grants for individuals and teams to attend conferences and team competitions,
Scholarships to promote student participation in exchange programs, and
Work term report awards in partnership with industrial sponsors.

These program activities are only available to engineering students at the University of Waterloo. These activities are primarily funded by donations from Waterloo engineering students. Each term, students pay a refundable fee of $6 to the Sandford Fleming Foundation to support the activities of the foundation.

National Program Activities

The Sandford Fleming Foundation also runs a national program of activities with the objective of enriching engineering education across Canada. The Sandford Fleming Foundation partners with other organizations and individuals to offer the following:

Sponsorship of the Ontario Engineering Competition,
Sponsorship of the Canadian Engineering Competition,
The Wighton Fellowship to recognize excellence in the development and teaching of laboratory-based courses, and
W. R. Petrie Engineering Design Award to recognized the engineering design talent at the Canadian Engineering Competition.

These program activities are primarily funded through special endowments.