Les Pickard retires after 31 years of service to Associated Engineering

Associated Engineering wishes a Happy Retirement to Les Pickard, Mechanical Discipline Leader in Associated Engineering’s Burnaby office. We say a fond farewell to Les after a career that has spanned 42 years, 31 years of which have been with Associated Engineering.

Les started his career in 1966 after graduating from the University of Alberta with a degree in mechanical engineering. Wanting to pursue aircraft design, Les ventured to the United States, and was employed by The Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. There he worked on the production of Boeing’s 747 aircraft.

Missing home, Les returned to Alberta, where he worked briefly with Canadian Superior Oil and Montreal Engineering.

In 1971, Les joined Associated Engineering’s Industrial group in Calgary. In the industrial sector, Les worked in various areas, including mining, oil and gas, and pulp and paper. He designed process facilities, water supply, wastewater management, site servicing, and building services for various companies including Westar Mining, Esso, Husky Oil, and Howe Sound Pulp and Paper.

Before long, other groups in the company saw Les’ talents, and Les was asked to provide his expertise on municipal and commercial projects. Les was the project manager for the utility installation at the Calgary Zoo and project engineer for the design of earthworks and pumping facilities for a four hectare recreational lake for the Fish Creek Provincial Park. At his retirement celebration, Les recalled his work on these projects and joked, “During construction of these projects, I was out on site. Clients would call the office asking for me, and the receptionist would advise them that I was either at the park or the zoo for the afternoon.”

Moving to Associated Engineering’s BC operation, Les’ career focused on the municipal sector. Les played a significant role on many of the largest municipal engineering projects that have been developed in BC. These include design of the Nelson Street pumping station in Vancouver, which, at the time, was one of the largest submersible pump stations in Canada, and the design of the gas distribution and metering for the Expo 86 World’s Fair in Vancouver.

Les left Associated Engineering for a brief period in the late 1980s, and returned to the company in 1992 as a team leader on Metro Vancouver’s upgrade of the Annacis and Lulu Island Wastewater Treatment Plants to secondary treatment. Les gained respect from the team and our client for his ability to successfully deliver complex contracts, such as the primary treatment upgrades and new influent pump station at the Annacis plant, both of which involved careful planning to ensure that operation at the treatment plant was not compromised during construction and tie-ins.

Over the years, Les became known as one of the leading pump station engineers. He designed pumping stations of every size and type, for water, drainage, and wastewater systems. Les’ flagship project, the design of the 18.9 cubic metre per second influent pump station for the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant remains one of the largest pump stations in Canada. In recognition of his pumping station design experience, Les was invited to participate in a number of value engineering reviews for clients.

For the past ten years, Les has been the Program Manager for the Regional District of Nanaimo’s wastewater system, which includes planning, design and construction oversight for the region’s interceptor mains, pump stations, four treatment plants, and outfalls. He also led the multi-discipline design of upgrades to Metro Vancouver’s Lulu Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

At Les’ retirement celebration, Kerry Rudd, President and CEO of the Associated Engineering group of companies, said, “Les, the projects that you have completed speak volumes about your technical skills and your engineering ability. For those of us who have had the pleasure and privilege of working with you, we know these projects are only a small part of your legacy. Les, when I look at some of the younger staff, and some of us who aren’t quite so young anymore, I see your true legacy. This legacy results from the time and patience that you have invested in many of us, giving us the skills that we need to build our careers, much as you have built yours.”

Les, congratulations on your retirement. We wish you and Shelagh many happy travels, and a long and happy retirement!

Les and wife, Shelagh	Chairman of our Board of Directors, Alistair Black, and Les Pickard (right)	Associated Engineering President & CEO, Kerry Rudd and Les Pickard (right)