Author: Silvio Napoleone

Kim Spencer, P.Eng., LEED®AP, Principal, brings to her new role a wealth of experience in the healthcare sector, with two decades as a successful and multifaceted manager and mechanical engineer with HH Angus. The Health Division is the firm’s largest service group, with millions of square feet of health care facilities designed by HH Angus in the last 5 years alone. Kim leads a large team of professionals providing design and engineering services to a range of facilities across Canada, including acute care, long term care, complex continuing care, mental health, children’s care, cancer centres, elder care, and rehabilitation centres.

“Kim’s promotion into this senior leadership role not only reflects her capabilities but also underscores the quality of our people, in that we are able to grow and develop leaders from within the firm,” said Paul Keenan, President, HH Angus. “Her deep understanding of the healthcare sector, communication skills and a client-centric approach will continue to grow our Health practice.”

Kim has earned a reputation for innovative engineering, sustainable design and successful project management, as well as a deep understanding of the healthcare sector. Equally, she is widely respected for a strong focus on clients and for her leadership skills in managing both people and projects. Kim’s portfolio includes new construction, expansion and renovation of acute care, complex continuing care, long-term care and mental health facilities, and experience with all forms of procurement, including P3s.

Kim is also an effective and timely communicator who understands that responsiveness is critical to successful project implementation and to building excellent client relationships. A few notable clients include: UHN, Michael Garron Hospital (formerly Toronto East General), Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, South Bruce Grey Health Centre, ,Northern Health, Alberta Health Services, Quinte Healthcare, among many others.

“I’m very excited about my new role,” states Spencer. “I’m fortunate to work with such a talented team and look forward to contributing even further to the success of our clients and the firm.”

If you would like to contact Kim to find out how HH Angus can help you with your healthcare project, you can reach her at ;

Kim Spencer| Associate Director, Health Division, HH Angus and Associates Ltd

+1 (416) 443 8200

kim.spencer@hhangus.com

hhangus.com

Melissa joined HH Angus in 2016 and is currently in the role of BIM Coordinator in our Knowledge Management Group.

What’s your favourite thing about working at HH Angus?

I enjoy my role as a contributor to BIM standards and workflow development. A large part of my job role is to develop new BIM workflows and provide specialized training and support to our staff. It is rewarding to have the flexibility to work on many different BIM initiatives and have the support of management to implement these new workflows company-wide and ensure they are successful.

How do you contribute to design and construction here at the company?

I coach members of our BIM team and operations staff on many different aspects of Revit and BIM to help improve efficiencies to produce construction drawings using BIM software. This includes building parametric Revit family content, advice on how to handle scan-to-BIM projects, and working together to find the best solutions for challenges in Revit.

How has working at HH Angus helped you grow your career?

HH Angus supports professional development. I am encouraged to participate in industry conferences and training programs to grow and learn new skills, and achieve professional designations. Management on the BIM team recognizes our strengths and weaknesses as individuals, and we work together to grow as a team so we can provide the best service to our clients.

Why did you want to work at HH Angus?

When I applied for my job in 2016 I was looking for a company that could provide stability, flexibility, and professional growth. Since then, HH Angus has provided the resources and support to help me exceed my career goals. I have presented at industry conferences, become an expert with new technologies and achieved my professional designations as an Autodesk Certified Professional and CanBIM Professional Level 2.

“The sense of community here is really awesome. It really feels like the company cares about you, supports you and helps you grow professionally. ”

What are some of the projects that you are most proud to be involved in at HH Angus?

I am most proud of our scan-to-BIM services. We have completed several scan-to-BIM projects such as Toronto Western Hospital’s Powerhouse Redevelopment. For this project, we scanned the 17,000 sf powerhouse and created a Revit model from the point cloud data to be used for refurbishing and replacing mechanical and electrical systems to improve reliability. This includes the hospital’s central steam, chilled water and emergency power systems servicing the operating rooms and general campus.

Another project that stands out was providing our scan-to-BIM services to a confidential client where we scanned the existing infrastructure of their data centre using the Faro laser scanner. Using the point cloud data and BIM software, we provided a LOD300 Revit model of all mechanical, electrical, plumbing, architectural and structural infrastructure. The client used our deliverables for 3D coordination of their switchgear replacement project and, since then, they have relied on our services for multiple projects.

What attracted you to HH Angus, coming out of school?

I researched many other companies, and what stood out about HH Angus is that it has been in business for so long – over one hundred years – so it has to be doing a lot of things right.  And I did notice by researching and talking to people that the company is very innovative and forward thinking and this is something that I wanted to be associated with.  I wanted a stable and rewarding career so that I can be here for a long time, and that’s what I've found.

Is what you are doing at HH Angus what you expected to be doing when you graduated?

I didn’t know what to expect, but I expected to be working with Revit. My role today is not what I initially thought about because I graduated from an Interior Design-focused program where I learned Revit, and then I worked on a few MEP projects in school. I got my foot in the door with the foundational skills I learned in college, and then grew into my role as BIM Coordinator with the support of my BIM team.

What are some of the things that you like about HH Angus aside from the technical aspects of your work?

The sense of community here is really awesome. It really feels like the company cares about you, supports you and helps you grow professionally. Our BIM Team has staff across the country and we work to maintain a closeness with each other over video calls and having fun together with virtual team-building activities like 'Family Feud'. HH Angus respects my work/life balance and enables me to have flexible working hours, especially with half-day Fridays year-round. The remote working aspect of my relocation from the Toronto to Montreal went so smoothly that some folks didn’t even know I had moved provinces.

“Having a mentor helped me learn what everyone’s role was and who to talk to for different kinds of project work. ”

What has been your proudest moment here?

It was when I taught a conference class on Reality Capture. I worked very hard for many months to develop the presentation, a 14-page handout, and on the spotlight project for Toronto Western Hospital. A lot of hard work went into that, and it was really rewarding to present it to an international audience of industry professionals and to share my knowledge. This led to a customer success story with Matterport and another presentation at Autodesk University.

Did you benefit from HH Angus' mentorship program?

HH Angus’ mentorship program is very beneficial - having a mentor helped me learn what everyone’s role is and who to talk to for different kinds of project work. This helped me build relationships with a diverse group in the company and to learn from their advice so that, in my role now, I can help others looking for advice.

What inspires you?

It is very encouraging to see colleagues build their skills with Revit and BIM software. As someone who creates and delivers in-house training programs for BIM software, it’s inspiring to see our staff succeed after leaning something new and taking initiative to build upon those foundational skills.

What aspects of your work you enjoy the most / least?

I enjoy training people so much. Developing the training courses, trying to make it interesting for all types of people with different personalities and especially different learning styles – that’s a big challenge in developing a training course that many people will take part in. So, I try to make my training courses fun; we get a lot of good feedback and that’s what I love the most.

Do you have any secret talents?

I like riding my motorcycle in the countryside. That’s my favourite weekend hobby, and would be my everyday hobby but I have to work.

What skills or traits have helped you the most to advance in your career?

I would say it’s knowing when I don’t know something and asking questions, researching, being willing to learn. I did graduate from an Interior Design program in college, so engineering was new to me as I was starting out. It’s essential to ask questions and gain a good understanding of the task at hand to do a good job. Talking to people and learning from their experiences is invaluable, especially since technology is evolving very quickly and there is always a new workflow to master.

If someone were to ask you if they should apply to HH Angus, what would you tell them?

Absolutely yes! It’s a fabulous place to work. The management cares about you, your work is interesting and everyday there is something new happening.

Toronto-based HH Angus and Associates is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2019, and at the end of May the company announced that Paul Keenan, formerly director of its health division has been named president.

Keenan replaces Harry Angus, the third generation of the Angus family to lead the privately owned firm. Angus remains on as CEO and Chair of the Board.

A Queen’s University grad, Keenan has been with the firm for 25 years and served as director for the past decade. Also, within the past year, HH Angus was selected among Canada’s Best Managed Companies for 2019, an achievement received in its first year applying to the Deloitte program. And last fall the firm captured the Schreyer Award at the 2018 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards for its work on the CHUM hospital in Montreal.

We spoke with Keenan to discuss HH Angus and where it goes from here.

You’re the firm’s first president not named Angus. What does that mean for the company?
I think it in part means we’re maturing. The firm has grown to over 250 people, and I think that as a bigger company you need inputs from different areas. The family legacy is important and it continues—Megan Angus, Harry’s daughter, is one of the senior leaders in the organization—and although I’m not part of the family. I’ve grown up in the HH Angus way, so we’re maintaining some of that family connection and we’re enhancing it as we go forward.

Describe the HH Angus culture?
We try to maintain the family feel of the business, and with that comes a responsibility to the staff and a social responsibility to the community. Our turnover has been historically very low—we have 40 or 50 employees with over 25 years service—and that longevity and feeling part of a group is
important for us.

What is your leadership style?
My experience here has always felt like a series of careers within one career. I started on small projects, gaining skills and transitioning naturally from project to project with larger challenges and increasing levels of responsibility.

I want to create those opportunities for our people. We’ve got to give them the opportunity to succeed or fail and go from there. At some point we all make decisions, and we need to believe in our decision making process based on the experiences we’ve had. Trust yourself, trust your team, make your decision and then move forward.

It’s important not to get stuck; we need to keep our momentum going.

How does a consulting firm foster creativity & innovation among its employees?
I think that’s a challenge for the entire industry, and we need to move more quickly now, to get from ideas to execution. One of the things we’ve done this year is create an Innovation Hub, which is a forum and a place to gather a range of ideas and have our people practice making presentations and share ideas, and then flesh them out, incubate them and then execute.

How has the firm changed over the years?
Traditionally, mechanical/electrical consulting engineering-led projects had been half of our business, and then the world changed. We did a lot of healthcare-related work in the ’90s and have become recognized as healthcare experts. As that market has matured we’ve responded and entered different areas, for example transit, data centres, and more commercial work. Our energy group, that traditionally has done a lot of industrial work, is focused on more low-carbon, sustainable energy projects.

We also have some sub-specialities, such as vertical transportation, lighting design, and our ICAT group that does communications and consulting around smart buildings. You need to be diversified enough to respond to what the market is telling you.

How will you measure your success?
One of our primary objectives is to continue to be an independent firm. That comes with its challenges, but it also comes with its rewards.

We’ve been on a steady trajectory of growth and fundamentally we need to continue to grow; growth is important to create opportunities for our employees and for the underlying strength of our business. We need to be strong enough to resist whatever economic forces come along; we need to grow geographically; and we need to grow our share of the market and do the kind of interesting work that motivates our people.

Which HH Angus project has impressed you the most?
There are many projects in the history of the firm that are impressive and set us on the path of wanting to continue doing projects that are special and iconic. Personally, the Sick Kids research tower, a 750,000 sq. ft. research building, is iconic in the City of Toronto and more fundamentally is a place where important things happen for the future of this community and this country. 

Canadian Consulting Engineer
June/July 2019 

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Golf/Activity Day 2019 at Hockley Valley Resort was a fantastic team-building day for HH Angus staff. The weather gods were smiling on us as we enjoyed golf, hiking the Bruce Trail, winery tour, art jam class, a great meal and lots of amazing prizes. An almost 60-year tradition, the event is a staff fave, and was even more special this year as HH Angus continues the year-long celebration of our 100th Anniversary!