Moving Image

Doug VanDine answers the question “What are you doing to keep out of trouble these days”? He describes his transition from being a geotechnical design engineer to a researcher and writer of geotechnical engineering history. His first publication gave a history of the Drynoch Landslide in BC, which has been moving for over 6,000 years.  He has also researched and published biographiesy of Robert Leggett, “ a father of geotechnical engineering in Canada” and Major Leslie Charles, who located much of the Hudson Bay Railway from The Pas to Churchill Manitoba a century ago.

Geotechnical engineer Doug VanDine describes his experiences as an employee of a consulting engineering firm, a professor at Queen's University in Kingston, and as a sole practitioner engineering consultant. Drawn to geotechnical engineering by his love of math, science, and the outdoors, he worked in the western Arctic on three projects after completing his undergraduate degree at Queen's University in 1972. He returned to Queen's to earn a Master's degree that included a thesis based on the Drynoch Landslide in British Columbia, and notes that his subsequent career as a sole practitioner engineering consultant "kept coming back to landslides". He taught geotechnical engineering at Queen's for four years, developing two-week summer fieldwork projects that engaged students in the hands-on practice of the discipline. After purchasing the contents of his office at Thurber Engineering for $500, he founded VanDine Geological Engineering. His many projects include pioneering studies on debris flows that led to assessing and developing mitigation strategies for debris flows on the Squamish and Coquihalla Highways in British Columbia. He also served on the Oil and Gas Appeals Tribunal, the Forestry Appeals Commission and the Environmental Appeals Board in British Columbia, and conducted practice reviews and wrote guidelines for the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. He describes his transition from being a geotechnical design engineer to a researcher and writer of geotechnical engineering history. His first publication gave a history of the Drynoch Landslide in BC, which has been moving for over 6,000 years. He has also researched and published biographies of Robert Leggett, " a father of geotechnical engineering in Canada" and Major Leslie Charles, who located much of the Hudson Bay Railway from The Pas to Churchill Manitoba a century ago.

Cory Jones answers the question “Tell us about the projects you’ve worked on” by describing the impact that completed water treatment and recreation facility have on the First Nations communities that they serve.   He describes his satisfaction to be able to work in an engineering role to help provide such facilities to communities that need them.  In response to the question “Is there anything else you want to say”, he expresses his desire that the Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents of Canada can work together to provide help and support for those who need it.

First Nations civil and structural engineer and project manager Cory Jones describes his introduction to engineering practice when, as a high-school student, he was employed by a contractor to help oversee the construction of a water-treatment plant in his home community of Cape Croker, Ontario.  He found summer jobs while an undergraduate student at Western University and joined R. J. Burnside and Associates Ltd.  after he graduated in 1997.  He started as a structural designer of infrastructure, including water treatment reservoirs and buildings, and community arenas and recreation facilities, to be constructed for Indigenous communities across Canada. He is now the President of Neegan-Burnside, an offshoot of R.J. Burnside and Associates Ltd., that designs and manages infrastructure projects for First Nations across Canada. He describes in detail the values held at these two firms as being consistent with those a small family-owned and family-oriented business, and also with his own personal beliefs coming from his indigenous background. He advises high-school students interested in a career in engineering to get practical experiences in construction as summer work, and encourages new engineering graduates to learn from the experiences and knowledge of their senior colleagues at their first engineering job.  He answers the question “Tell us about the projects you’ve worked on” by describing the impact that completed water treatment and recreation facility have on the First Nations communities that they serve.  He describes his satisfaction to be able to work in an engineering role to help provide such facilities to communities that need them. In response to the question “Is there anything else you want to say”, he expresses his desire that the Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents of Canada can work together to provide help and support for those who need it.

Boro Lukajic describes developing his fascination with the Canadian Arctic while a university student in what was then Yugoslavia. He described this to a Canadian immigration agent at the Canadian embassy in Vienna, who responded “Welcome to Canada”.  He describes some of his experiences in the wilderness, including a work camp at Churchill Falls, Labrador – and encounters with a black bear.

Geotechnical engineer Boro Lukajic immigrated to Canada after completing an engineering degree in what was then Yugoslavia.  He became fascinated about the Canadian Arctic – impressing a Canadian Immigration agent at the Canadian Embassy in Vienna by sharing this fascination – and so was delighted to spend his first assignment in Labrador working on the Churchill Falls hydroelectric power development. He recalls his mentors, including an engineer he met while doing his military service in Yugoslavia who ignited his interest in engineering, and Dr. Ray Benson at Acres Engineering who improved his abilities in hydropower engineering.  Mr. Lukajic worked as a consultant in the Canadian Arctic (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Northern Ontario), Latin America, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.  He describes a six-week visit to Colombia where the had to climb mountains in a jungle invested with snakes and scorpions! His biggest professional transition came in 1977 when he left Acres to join Ontario Hydro and experience project management. At Ontario Hydro, he switched to nuclear engineering, designing cooling water tunnels under Lakes Huron and Ontario. He reflects on changes to the profession, particularly the development of automated tunneling technologies like tunnel-boring machines and smart drill jumbos.