Canadian Consulting Engineer's Lifetime Achievement Awards: Jeremy Haile

Canadian Consulting Engineer's Lifetime Achievement Awards: Jeremy Haile

Publication: Canadian Consulting Engineer
Issue: January/February 2023
Issue Title: Exceptional Careers

In late 2022, for the first time, Canadian Consulting Engineer launched an initiative to recognize leading professional engineers for their exceptional careers in—and legacies of contributions to—consulting engineering in the fields of construction and infrastructure. The community responded strongly, with a wide variety of nominations for these accolades. The following are the chosen winners.

Jeremy Haile
Principal engineer (formerly president) of Vancouver-headquartered Knight Piésold Canada, Jeremy Haile expressed an early interest in engineering projects when he was a child—and as it happened, he was in the right place at the right time.

“I was very fortunate to grow up in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) and go to school in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at a time when lots of major projects were being built, including the Kariba Dam and the Kafue hydroelectric project,” he recalls. “We lived in one mining town, Bancroft (now Chililabombwe), before moving to another, Broken Hill (now Kabwe). All of that was part of my youth and I wanted to go into civil engineering.”

Haile graduated from Oxford University with an M.A. in engineering sciences and economics in 1972. He started his career that year as a project engineer with Watermeyer, Legge, Piésold and Uhlmann (WLPU), the predecessor to Knight Piésold, working at an office in the U.K. and construction sites in Zambia and Malawi.

After completing an M.Sc. in soil mechanics at Imperial College of the University of London, he was transferred to Knight & Piésold in Vancouver in 1979, where he served as senior engineer and director until 1990. (The Knight Piésold name was adopted by WLPU and associated operating companies around the world in the early 1990s.)

Following the retirement of Bruce Knight, founding partner of the Canadian operations, Haile became president of Knight Piésold Canada, a position he held until 2012.

“I’ve only worked for one company,” he says. “When we expanded to Canada, we brought a different perspective from mining in central Africa. Translating our expertise into a Canadian context was a major learning exercise; I’d never dealt with winter conditions before! It was an exciting challenge.”

Growing from a team of about 20 people in the 1980s, the company focused primarily on mining tailings and water management projects until Haile, as president, branched out into British Columbia’s hydropower industry in the early ’90s. The company developed run-of-river hydroelectric projects for mining clients and independent power producers. Haile also led geographic and service expansion by opening another office in North Bay, Ont., increasing involvement in Eastern Canadian and international projects.

The company had grown to about 200 people across Canada when Haile stepped down from the helm in 2012.

“It was a big relief to hand it on,” he says, “knowing there was a very capable team in place to continue managing the company.”

Looking back today, Haile’s 50-year career—one of the longest tenures of anyone currently working at Knight Piésold anywhere in the world—has combined technical expertise in civil and geotechnical engineering, mentorship of his fellow engineers and contributions to industry associations.

“He has been an incredible mentor to me ever since I started at the company 32 years ago,” says its current president, Ken Embree.

“Now I can work when I want to,” says Haile. “I get involved when I’m asked to and I don’t come into the office unless there’s something for me to do. I enjoy staying in touch with everyone. I write proposals, look at management systems, conduct risk reviews for projects around the world, streamline office documents and just help make it all work seamlessly. I like staying involved in complex, challenging projects.”

 

Read the full article.

Download

Recent Insights

September 2024
Importance of Indigenous Community Engagement related to ARD/ML and Long-Term Water Quality
September 2024
Effective Assessment of ARD/ML Potential for Non-Mining Infrastructure Projects
August 2024
CESA Aon Engineering Excellence Awards 2024: Kikagati Hydropower Plant
July 2024
Interview: Mario Lazo Emparanza, Regional Manager, Knight Piésold Chile
July 2024
Visionary Leadership: Driving Engineering Excellence in Africa with Vishal Haripersad
June 2024
Concept Feasibility and Predicted Behavior of Mining a Rock Tower with Drill-and-Blast Undermining Using Dynamic Three-Dimensional Discontinuum Numerical Models
June 2024
Estimating Shear Stress within a Clay Foundation Using the Burgers-Creep Model
June 2024
Laboratory Study of Manganese Mining Overburden Mixed with Lime as a Paving Subbase Layer
May 2024
Knight Piésold: Ensuring African Excellence in the DRC
May 2024
Wild Coast N2 Highway Project Taking Shape
May 2024
Interview: Guillermo Barreda, Gerente General, Knight Piésold Perú
April 2024
Risk Mitigation through Design Optimization Utilizing Seasonal Effects under Arctic Conditions at the Amaruq Mine
April 2024
Synthetic Rock Mass Modeling of Progressive Unravelling and Overall Slope Stability Using the Discrete Element Method
April 2024
Operational Slope Stability Risk Management for Large Open Pits at the Mount Milligan Mine – A Case Study
April 2024
Risk and Informed Approach to TSF Design and Operation
February 2024
Empowerment and Resilience
January 2024
Balancing Act: Water Usage Management Vital for a Sustainable Future
January 2024
A Difficult Balance Between Engineering, Environmental, Social and Economic Aspects
November 2023
Knight Piésold Commences with the ESIA for Haib Copper
November 2023
Insights from the Compilation and Critical Assessment of Breach and Runout Characteristics from Historical Tailings Dam Failures: Implications for Numerical Modelling