OUR COMPANY
About Us
Chorley + Bisset Ltd. is a mechanical and electrical consulting engineering company. Our company was established in London, ON, in 1973 by George Chorley and John Bisset. We have provided services for thousands of institutional, academic, industrial, and commercial building projects. For over 45 years, we have worked hard to build our reputation for developing innovative and practical solutions to building system issues. We aim to deliver professional engineering services that efficiently meet our Clients' technical requirements and high expectations for quality and value.Our Ottawa Office
Our first project in Ottawa, the Steacie Superlab at Carleton University, was completed in 2007. The $3 million laboratory upgrade was the beginning of our professional relationship with the university, which has since grown to include a variety of new builds and renovation projects. In 2015, we opened an office in Ottawa to serve Carleton University and seek other work in the capital region. We are looking forward to further expanding the office.Our Team
Our current staff size is 40. We have 13 registered Professional Engineers on staff, including 5 Designated Consulting Engineers. Seven of our senior staff are LEED Accredited Professionals. This high ratio of professionals to staff translates into the delivery of a particularly professional service to our clients. John Bisset remains active in the firm, mainly involved in special projects. Everyone on our management team is actively involved in engineering. We believe ownership is strongly linked to the quality of our engineering services. A cornerstone of our ownership structure is the ongoing process of senior management succession, ensuring that the company’s quality and culture have a broad base within the shareholder group. Ownership of Chorley + Bisset is currently distributed among more than a dozen shareholders, all of which are employees of the company.Derek Vakaras
President
Mechanical Engineer
P. Eng., LEED AP BD+C, PMP
Designated Consulting Engineer
Derek has 23 years of consulting engineering experience with Chorley + Bisset. Derek has a strong interest in sustainable design, and was the Mechanical Engineer for many of the region’s first LEED building projects. He has expertise with mechanical system concept development, energy usage, and design and construction practices as applied to education, healthcare, and lab facilities.
Dennis Dawe
Vice-President
Mechanical Engineer
P. Eng., LEED AP
Designated Consulting Engineer
Dennis has 26 years of experience with Chorley + Bisset. He has expertise with mechanical system concept development, energy usage, and design and construction practices as applied to healthcare, assembly, laboratory, and education facilities. His experience with Western and Carleton universities has given him specialized knowledge of the design of systems for academic institutions.
Andrew Piatek
Vice-President
Mechanical Engineer
P. Eng., LEED AP
Andrew has 31 years of consulting engineering experience with Chorley + Bisset. Andrew’s background is in industrial, chemical, and process engineering. He specializes in work involving piping system design and flow analysis. He has been the project manager and mechanical engineer for many major academic and healthcare institutions, as well as industrial and commercial projects.
Robert Gordon
Vice-President
Electrical Engineer
P. Eng. LEED AP, BD+C, RCDD
Designated Consulting Engineer
Bob has 29 years of consulting engineering experience with Chorley + Bisset. He began his career as a licensed electrician and later obtained an Electrical Engineering degree. Bob was responsible for a wide variety of Construction and Design/Build projects before joining Chorley + Bisset, giving him a valuable and unique perspective on the design process.
Michael Myatt
Vice-President
Electrical Engineer
P. Eng. LEED AP
Designated Consulting Engineer
Mike has 19 years experience with Chorley + Bisset, and is a Director and Vice-President of the firm. Mike’s design experience includes all aspects of power and lighting design, structured cabling system design, fire alarm systems and communication systems design. Mike has been the senior electrical engineer for a wide range of projects including academic, institutional, healthcare, and electrical infrastructure upgrades.
