On the evening of May 10th, during the banquet dinner for the 2018 Joint ACCES/CMBEC Annual Educational Seminar and Trade Expo, a clinical engineering professional from Atlantic Canada, David Hancock, was recognised for having distinguished himself through his hard work, exceptional service, technical skills, and dedication to the clinical engineering profession.
David (“Dave”) Hancock is a Biomedical Engineering Technologist and has served in our Clinical Engineering Community for more than 30 years. He graduated from the Cabot Institute in St. John's, Newfoundland and during his career he has been employed at several places across Canada: Ontario, PEI and Halifax to name a few. Several years ago, while working at UPEI, he noticed an advertisement for a Team Leader position in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the IWK Health Centre. He applied and was accepted. He quickly became a valuable asset to the department and after a few years he was eager to advance himself, so he accepted the TAO (Technical Assessment Officer) Role in the IWK Biomedical Engineering Department. After several years in that role he moved on to the position of Biomedical Engineering Manager at the IWK, which he has held since the fall of 2016.
Accepting a manager’s position when coming from the ranks can be a daunting task, but he accepted the challenge willingly Dave accepted this challenge willingly. Since then, he has steered the IWK Biomed team toward new achievements: a more effective Alarm Management Project for the ICU’s and an upgraded PM program are just some recent accomplishments by his department during his tenure as manager. His managerial and leadership skills, communication skills, and mutual respect for others are attributes that have helped David lead by example.
During his career, Dave has always strived to better himself both scholastically and professionally. Soon after becoming a Biomedical Engineering Technologist, he became a Certified Engineering Technologist (CET). With a thirst for learning, his next step was to become CBET(c) certified, becoming the first certified in PEI, after which he went on to acquire a CRES designation in Radiology. Next on his list was a BTech Degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He wasn’t satisfied there, so he decided to attain an MHI (Masters of Health Informatics) at Dalhousie University, which was quite a challenge to attain while employed full-time, but he was up to the task.
Additionally, Dave has strived to help others in the Biomed Community professionally as he has served on the CBET(c) Board of Examiners, and has always been a strong advocate of promoting CBET(c) education to others in our Biomedical Profession. He was one of the founding members of ACCES, having served on the Executive during its formative years. Over the years he has also served on many ACCES Conference Planning Committees, and he actively promotes the National Clinical/Biomedical Engineering Appreciation Week on an annual basis. In 2013, Dave was recognized by CMBES with their annual Outstanding BMET award.
On a personal note David has been married to his wife Pam for more than 30 years. They have two daughters and have recently become proud grandparents with the addition of a granddaughter to their family. His personal and professional journey still continues…
In summary, Dave Hancock is someone who through his dedication, passion and a desire to achieve has risen to greater heights while contributing to the advancement of our profession and that is why he is worthy of accepting our 2018 ACCES Clinical Engineering Professional of the Year award.