DFI is currently performing website maintenance. Outages may occur.

Fine Civil Engineering - DFI Educational Trust

Manuel Fine Civil Engineering Scholarship

2024 Submissions are closed  |  2025 Applications will open Fall 2025

The Manuel Fine Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund was established in 2013 through a $25,000 donation from the Heavy Construction Association of Ontario and a $25,000 donation from the Ontario Association of Foundation Specialists. This was followed by similar donations from the Heavy Construction Association of Toronto and from Bermingham Foundation Solutions.

The fund honors Manuel Fine, who served DFI for 24 years in many roles, including trustee, president, executive director, managing editor of Deep Foundations magazine and as publisher of the DFI Journal. The fund provides scholarships only for civil engineering students attending universities in the Province of Ontario.

Donate to Scholarship Fund ➤
Submit Application ➤

Award

Several scholarships, ranging from $2,500 USD each will be awarded in 2024. Awards may be used for funding tuition, fees, books, and/or educational living expenses.

Scholarship check, payable to the student, will be sent in January 2025 after proof of enrollment and other required information is received by the DFI Educational Trust.

Eligibility & Requirements

The scholarship is exclusively offered to individuals attending schools in the Canadian Province of Ontario. Please direct all inquiries and questions by email to scholarships@dfi.org.

*Scholarships are awarded based on standards that do not discriminate relative to the applicant’s race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnic origin.

Eligibility

  1. Applicants must be currently enrolled full-time (as defined by the school) in a graduate or undergraduate civil engineering program in the Canadian Province of Ontario.
  2. The minimum GPA required is 3.0/4.0 (alternatively, a “B” or its equivalent).
  3. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in the deep foundations industry.
  4. Applicants must demonstrate financial need.
  5. Applicants must provide the Trust with all required contact information.

Required Documents

  1. Personal essay, no more than 500 words, highlighting why the applicant chose to pursue a deep foundations- related career, extra-curricular activities, leadership capabilities, long term plans and goals, and any special financial need.
  2. One-page resume, including work experience, honors, activities and organizations.
  3. One official transcript.
  4. Two letters of recommendation, one of which must be completed by a faculty member at the applicant’s school.

Submission Requirements

  1. All items on the scholarship application must be completed. Applications missing any of the required items will not be considered.
  2. The application and all supporting documentation must be submitted no later than October 31, 2024.
  3. The DFI Educational Trust will notify all applicants of the result of their applications on or about December 15, 2024.
  4. Applicants, as a condition of eligibility for being considered for a scholarship, must consent to their resume being posted on the DFI website for review by DFI members as potential employers.
  5. Applicants may be required to participate in a personal telephone interview with a Trust Board member.
  6. If selected as a recipient, as a condition of funding, applicant agrees to participate in a follow-up career survey that will be sent by the Trust at some point after the applicant’s graduation.

Manuel Fine (1929-2018)

Manuel Fine’s civil engineering career began at the University of Toronto and continued to 2017, when he finally opted for full retirement. Fine spent 23 years with the Bermingham Group of Companies, where he served as president of Berminghammer Corporation Limited and vice president of Bermingham Construction Limited.

Fine had longstanding involvement with DFI; he first served as chair of the 1987 Annual Meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, and later became chair of the Meetings Advisory Committee, the Equipment Applications Committee and Driven Pile Committee. He served on the Board of Trustees, then as vice president and president of DFI. In 1995, he became executive director of DFI, until 1998.

Continuing as editor of the DFI Newsletter Fulcrum, Fine developed the publication into Deep Foundations, DFI’s flagship magazine. In 2008, he resigned from that role and became publisher of the DFI Journal, a position he held through 2013.

Concurrently, Fine served as executive director of the Heavy Construction Association of Toronto, the Heavy Construction Association of Ontario and the Ontario Association of Foundation Specialists, retiring from that latter position at the end of 2016.

Fine was a member of Professional Engineers, Ontario, a fellow of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (having served on the Executive of CGS’ Southern Ontario Section) and a member of the Engineering Institute of Canada.

During his long career, Fine received numerous honors, including the DFI Distinguished Service Award in 1998, the Southern Ontario Award by the Canadian Geotechnical Society in 2006 and the Engineering Alumni Hall of Distinction Award by the University of Toronto in 2010.

Manuel Fine died on December 2, 2018, at age 89.

headshot of fine
Manuel Fine

Founding Donors

Premier

  • Bermingham Foundation Solutions
  • Heavy Construction Association of Ontario
  • Heavy Construction Association of Toronto
  • Ontario Association of Foundation Specialists
Scroll to Top