The Engage Biography Series: Mike Yarosloski

An introduction to our Program Director, Mike Yarosloski, in his own words:

Hi – I’m Mike Yarosloski.  My career in Western Canada’s industrial sector has been a string of good fortune and amazing opportunities.  I have been lucky enough to meet others that took the time and made the effort to teach me what was important in our business.  On top of that, I have been in the right place, at the right time, and have been the recipient of some great roles.

Starting out as an apprentice Boilermaker, my professional activities took me to countless Construction and Turnaround projects across Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.  Opportunity found me early as I was given my first Construction Manager role in 1979.  This was for the construction of Dow Chemical’s power plant at their Fort Saskatchewan facility.   As the years passed, I progressed through various leadership roles and added Maintenance work to my experience.  In 2000 this culminated with the role of Site Manager at Albian Sands Energy on behalf of Jacobs Canada. 

Returning to the Projects environment in 2004, I moved to Suncor Energy’s Major Projects Group, participating in multiple major projects.  In 2006 I relocated to Calgary and assumed responsibilities as the  Constructability Specialist for all of Suncor’s major Projects.  It was in this role that I developed a passion for constructability and construction planning, and contributed to shaping Suncor’s project planning process.  My role transitioned to Construction Planning Manager with oversight for Suncor’s Voyageur Upgrader project – my last role with Suncor before retiring from the company. 

Since then my love for this business has kept me engaged and participating with roles as Construction Manager and Construction Director.  In 2017 I met Kevin Kuly and Ian Martin and learned what they were trying to achieve with the Engage Model.  To my great pleasure I discovered that it aligned perfectly with some of the planning development I had done at Suncor, CH2MHill and Jacobs.  I knew I had to be a part of this story, and yet again, was lucky enough to be given the opportunity.

The Engage Model is precisely how project planning and Front End development should be executed…and I’ve always liked doing things right!

Mike