ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2018 - 19

David Campbell's affinity for technology
allowed him to jump into the workforce
straight out of high school. His aptitude and
work ethic landed him a gig with Calgarybased Circa Telecom, and propelled him
up the ladder to the role of Product Line
and Quality Manager responsible for the
design group. This was an outstanding
achievement for a young man six years
removed from Grade 12 and lacking any
formal post-secondary education. But
when an electrical engineer he hired was
promoted to be his boss, Dave realised he'd
gone as far as he could with what he had.
This was the wake-up call he needed, and it prompted
him to enroll in SAIT's Mechanical Engineering Technology
Program. The original plan was to bridge to an engineering school and earn his P.Eng. However, the birth of son
Nolan in 2005, followed by daughter Clare two years later,
convinced Dave and his wife, Jodie, that going back to work
might be a better option. "It was really a family thing," he
explains. "Being a dad was important to me, and going on
to university would have made that really difficult."
The decade following his graduation from SAIT saw
Dave build a terrific career at Enerflex, a significant player
in the O&G sector specializing in natural gas compression, gas processing, refrigeration systems, and electric
power equipment, bolstered by in-house engineering and
mechanical services. By the time he left, he had earned
his P.Tech. and risen to become Manager of Engineering
Services, responsible for a 40-person team of engineers,
designers, and drafters.
Feeling a need for a change, in 2013 Dave joined engineering giant WSP's oil and gas team, becoming a project
manager and lead engineering professional of the group
building gas plants. He must have been pretty good at it,
because one of his clients, Houston-based Spectra Energy,
poached him to look after all facilities and compressor station design for western Canada, which involved managing
22 engineers and technologists, an opportunity made possible by those magic letters after his name: "P.Tech."
Two years later, Spectra was bought by Enbridge,
opening up even more doors and allowing Dave to work
on a range of really interesting projects, broadening his
horizons and adding to his already impressive resume.

However, he'd made a promise to himself at the beginning
of the downturn, and was determined to follow through.
"I'd always wanted to work for myself, so last fall, I added
to my P.Tech. and applied for an ASET Permit to Practice."
Sure, but what did his wife think? Dave laughs. "Actually,
she's been pushing me to do this for a while. Jodie is a selfemployed holistic-health coach who provides nutritional
guidance. In fact, we're an entrepreneurial family." What
does that mean? He pulls out his phone and proudly shows
us a picture of 12-year-old Nolan hard at work repairing a
bicycle. "My son is really good with anything mechanical,"
he explains. (The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. - Ed.)
"When he found out I was starting my own business, he
decided to do the same. So he began fixing bikes in our
neighbourhood. But while I was still at Enbridge, my buddies at work found out and started bringing in theirs for me
to take home to Nolan. And now he's expanding to sales."
What? "A friend from down the street had an old beater he
didn't want. He gave it to Nolan and told him if he wanted
to repair it, he could keep it or sell it. So that's what he's
working on now."
But back to Campbell Senior's business: Adrenaline Projects (www.adrenalineprojects.com) has been operational
since January 2 of this year and things are going well.
"Right now it's a lot of meetings with potential clients here,
in BC, and in Colorado. It's fun and stressful all at once.
But I have to say none of it would be possible without my
P.Tech. and my ASET Permit to Practice." He pauses, then
continues, "I have tons of expertise in gas compression,
gas-driven power generation and natural gas processing.
The thing is none of that would matter if I had nothing to
back it up. Going to SAIT is probably the best career move
I ever made. But getting my P.Tech., which allows me to
work independently, is a pretty close second."
Dave is targeting a three-to-six-month business development cycle before things really start moving. He sighs, "I
never knew how hard it was to create a client base. I have
a whole new level of respect for business development
professionals. After three or four meetings with potential
clients in a day I feel like I've been through back-to-backto-back job interviews." Then he catches himself, "No complaints, though. I love it and I'm really looking forward to
seeing what comes next."
As are we, David, as are we. Ain't the P.Tech. grand?
(And for those of you who live in Calgary and need
access to bicycle repair services, may we recommend
https://www.epicriding.ca/?) 

TECHNOLOGY ALBERTA | WINTER 2018 | 19

http://www.adrenalineprojects.com https://www.epicriding.ca/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASET Technology Alberta Winter 2018