Stephen Bernier

Director of Domestic Engineering (Father) and non-practicing professional geotechnical engineer

Canada

About

In March 2024, I am very happy to say that quit my geotechnical engineering job after 12 years to be a full time father. Thankfully, my wife is in remission now, but after two bouts of cancer and the birth of our two boys between 2020 and 2023, our perspective on life has changed. I am raising our children while she resumes her already marvelous career. I am thrilled with both our present and future life situation. I currently have a non-practicing status with APEGA. I thank everyone (colleagues, bosses, clients and friends) who I have ever worked with. It's a small world, so I won't say farewell. I have worked as a project engineer on hundreds of geotechnical investigations for residential housing developments, commercial buildings, residential and commercial slope stability, retaining walls, powerlines, power substations, wind farms, solar farms, pipelines, oil and gas facilities, tank farms, landfills, lagoons, communication towers, municipal infrastructure, road construction and bridges. I have worked in Western Canada and in the United States.

Experience

  • Full-time parenting at Career Break
    Mar 2024 - Present · 2 yrs 4 mos

    Director of Domestic Engineering (Father) and non-practicing professional geotechnical engineer

  • Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Barr Engineering Co.
    May 2023 - Mar 2024 · 11 mos

  • Geotechnical Specialist (Secondment) at Freeport-McMoRan
    Sep 2022 - May 2023 · 9 mos

    I was remotely seconded from WSP Canada Inc. to Freeport McMoRan as a geotechnical specialist working for the corporate engineering team. My role was to advise and mitigate the corporate group's geotechnical risk for various international construction projects related to their mining operations. I advised on projects in Indonesia and Arizona during my time here. I truly enjoyed this position and I learned a great deal.

  • Geotechnical Engineer at WSP in Canada
    Nov 2015 - May 2023 · 7 yrs 7 mos

  • Geotechnical Engineer at LWL Engineering Ltd.
    May 2015 - Sep 2015 · 5 mos