In my Facilities Update in April, I announced that a new 24/7 supervision structure for the Operations Centre is planned to improve regulatory compliance, preventative maintenance, worker safety, and service response.
Today, I am pleased to announce the new structure and all of the successful candidates for the Shift Sub-Head Operating Engineer 3rd Class positions supporting the new Facilities 24/7 Operations Centre.
New 24/7 Operations Centre structure
Starting Wednesday, September 1, 2021, a new 24/7 Operations Centre structure will take effect. The Operations Centre is the 24/7 hub located within the University Services Building (USB) that will have oversight of the building Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems on the UBC Point Grey campus.
The new Operations Centre structure will run with five different shift teams ensuring boiler pressure vessel and refrigeration (BPVR) compliance by increased monitoring, control, optimization, and inspections of our mechanical assets.
Each shift team will have a total of five team members — a Shift Sub-Head and four Operating Engineers. The Shift Sub-Head will supervise the day-to-day activities of the four Operating Engineers, and report into Operations Centre Team Leader, Tino Moscato. The Operations Centre team will also be supported by Dayshift Sub-Head Operating Engineers, Django Lehner and Jeev Sain; Head Special Projects, Walter Bonetti; Head Refrigeration, Daniel Askin; and Gas Service Technician Graham Ewald.
Shift Sub-Head Operation Engineer 3rd Class
Please join me in congratulating all of the successful Shift Sub-Head candidates who will play a key supervisory role to ensure the successful implementation and on-going function of the Operations Centre, and work alongside team members within the Trades – Mechanical Operations team.
Willy Bois: Willy’s career at UBC began in 2002 when he was hired as a Control Technician. He worked in this role for 5 years and moved into a supervisory role. Willy led the Control shop for seven years and then moved into the Operations team as a Building Management Engineer in 2015. Willy brings a wealth of building and systems knowledge, controls experience and supervisory experience to this new role.
Joel Decolongon: Joel joined UBC in 2008 as an Operating Engineer. He brought extensive building knowledge from his previous role as the Chief Engineer at Science World where he was fully involved in all the maintenance activities. Science World is a not for profit, so Joel had to ensure that his team of Engineers performed their tasks safely and as cost effectively as possible. This experience combined with his strong knowledge of the campus led Joel into his current role as Building Management Engineer in 2016.
Andy Gomes: Andy’s career at UBC began in 2021 when he was hired as an Operating Engineer. Andy brings a wealth of industrial knowledge as he obtained his Red Seal Steamfitter certification while working in the Alberta Oil Sands. Andy is highly motivated to continue the exceptional work the mechanical team has accomplished in the short time that he has been with the university. He has been able to combine his industrial hands on experience with the Operating Engineer role by utilizing his skills and abilities related to maintenance strategies and tactics.
Julian Hawkins: Julian came to UBC from the hospitality industry where he learned a great deal about customer service and how to prioritize his workload. Julian’s career at UBC began in 2013 when he was hired as an Operating Engineer. Julian is highly motivated and is always looking for improvements on current processes and was instrumental in the rollout of our first electronic forms program.
Lance Lane: Lance has been with UBC for 27 years. Lance worked as an Operating Engineer, and then as a Building Management Engineer, moving into a union business representative role with IUOE for 5 years. After his time with the union he rejoined the Operations team as a Building Management Engineer. Lance brings a wealth of building and systems knowledge as well as his union experience.
I know this new structure will take some time to adjust, and there will be further transitions to fill shift vacancies and allow training support for the successful candidates. Our plan is to implement a phased transition of work duties to help our team more easily adapt to their new roles, and continue to deliver exceptional service to the campus community.
Thank you for everyone’s continued efforts as we work through the implementation of the Operations Centre. For questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to me or your Supervisor.
John Metras
Associate Vice-President, Facilities