Rob McLachlan, P.Eng.

Rob McLachlan is a Senior Mechanical Engineer with over 23 years of experience with the design, inspection, and commissioning of large-scale mechanical equipment. He has been working at KCB for over 16 years, and during that time has led a wide variety of hydroelectric, water control and dam safety projects. In 2021 Rob became the manager of the KCB hydro group, and in that role he continues to lead KCB's multi-discipline group of engineers and technologists.

Rob started his career working on the design and inspection of bulk materials handling equipment, working on projects throughout BC as well as in Australia and England. In 1999 he help found Microsphere, a computer workstation startup. After several years working for Microsphere, he returned to consulting engineering.

Over his career he has participated in projects in varying roles, including as a design engineer, site engineer, project manager, owner’s engineer, and senior reviewer. His work at KCB has involved work on various components of ports, dams and hydro plants including low level outlets, spillways, intakes, powerhouses, penstocks, draft tubes and cranes.

Key Projects

While at KCB, Rob has project managed over 100 different projects and worked on many others as a design resource. Key projects he has been involved with include:

• St Mary Dam Low Level Outlet Valve Replacement


• Dickson Dam Spillway Gate Replacement


• Bennett Dam Spillway Stoplogs


• GMS Low Level Outlet Decommissioning


• Cleveland Dam Low Level Outlets and Drum Gates


• Ituango Underwater Works

Education

Rob has a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Queen’s University. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon.

Fun Fact

Despite having grandparents and a father who were born in Vancouver, Canada, I was born in Brazil.