June 27, 2006

Associations

ACEC to focus on young recruits

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

TORONTO

Veteran Quebec consulting engineer Rejean Breton, founding president of Breton Banville & Associates (BBA), has bent over backwards to encourage young engineers to consider careers in the consulting industry.

His firm made a practice over the years of hiring recent graduates and introducing them to the world of consulting engineering.

Many of those recruits now occupy key positions in the 27-year-old Montreal-area company.

“Some of them had never heard of consulting engineering,” said Breton, who taught postgraduate courses at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal for 20 years. “We try to motivate them and help develop their careers.”

Rejean Breton, incoming chair of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada.

That thrust should hold Breton in good stead as he takes over the helm of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada (ACEC) later this week.

The association, which represents some 600 independent consulting engineering firms and 11 provincial and territorial organizations, is holding its annual convention in St. John’s, Nfld.

One of Breton’s priorities as incoming ACEC chair is to promote careers in the industry at both the high school and university levels. He is also anxious to encourage more women to consider engineering.

“We want to send a really strong message that there are good career opportunities in the industry.”

Breton, who graduated from Laval University in 1970 with a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering, worked at Shawinigan Engineering for nine years before joining forces with colleague Jean-Louis Banville to set up BBA.

“It’s not how hard you work that counts. It’s what you achieve.”

Rejean Breton, ACEC Chair

Over the years, the firm has gained a reputation as one of the province’s leading electrical engineering firms. BBA now has some 275 employees. It is headquartered in Mont-Saint-Hilaire.

Breton is a registered professional engineer in six provinces.

His expertise regularly is sought for the design and implementation of power supply and distribution systems of up to 735 kV.

As a technical expert, he is often called upon to negotiate new power supply contracts or contract renewals between power companies and major industrial clients.

Both Breton and his firm have been honoured for their efforts to achieve excellence.

Currently a vice-president of ACEC, Breton became active in the association after fellow Quebecker Pierre Shoiry became chair in 2002.

“He was looking to bring someone along with him from Quebec as vice-president,” Breton recalled. “I decided to follow him there. It’s been a marvelous experience. I am honoured to be asked by my peers to head the organization this year.”

During his one-year term of office, Breton is keen on promoting the InfraGuide best practice document for selecting a professional consultant, which reflects the principles of qualifications-based selection.

A draft document currently is being circulated among various stakeholders.

Another priority is fostering greater involvement of consulting engineers in all aspects of the energy sector, from technical/economic studies to design and commissioning of projects.

“Over the last few years, we have heard more and more about infrastructure development across Canada,” Breton said.

An advocate of work-life balance, Breton is fond of saying “it’s not how hard you work that counts. It’s what you achieve.

“I don’t think it takes a lot of time to achieve important objectives. You just have to set priorities.”

A sports enthusiastic, Breton is keen on skiing, playing tennis, golfing — and yachting. In fact, he sailed his 50-foot Benettau sailboat to Kingston earlier this month to attend the annual meeting of Consulting Engineers of Ontario.

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