Donald Wilson, C.E.T., MBA, DBA, MIEEE
Don Wilson has served in leadership positions in several professional associations. These include: multiple executive positions and founding membership of the Grain Elevator and Processing Society, Canadian Prairies Chapter, in Winnipeg; as Chair of the Bachelor of Technology Program Advisory for NAIT; as a founding board member of Technology Accreditation Canada; and as ASET’s 2019 president, and member of Council for 10 years.
If elected, Don will continue in his decade-long commitment to push through the legislative recognition that certified engineering technology professions have earned.
“ASET continues the effort in improving legislation with the addition of a definition of practice for its members,” Don says. He says that if he wins a seat on Council, he can bolster ASET’s legislative efforts, using his prior experience on ASET Council and the executive, and his vigorous dedication to these goals.
Don spent his early years in a tourist lake town, living an outdoor life of fishing, hunting and camping. After spending two years touring Western Canada with a professional music act, he earned a diploma in electronic engineering technology in 1985. Don then took up a career in technical sales with a local distribution company in the applications engineering department.
In 1989 Don moved to Vancouver, working in application sales at Reliance Electric, as a power smart technologist with BC Hydro, and in technical power products sales at SOFTAC Systems. He ended up purchasing a mid-sized electrical repair firm in Winnipeg, after previous ownership initially invited him to manage. Don moved to Alberta in 2004, where he eventually became the country head of the Canadian Portfolio Companies business for Siemens Canada Ltd.
In the ‘90s, to bridge his education between technology and business, Don completed a senior certificate of business at BCIT in Burnaby, BC, where he majored in sales and marketing management. He received a master of business administration in 2001 from Royal Roads, and a doctorate of business from the University of Phoenix in 2009. This formed the basis of Don’s desire to promote more contiguous bridging programs like NAIT’s bachelor of technology program. He has served as a mentor, Chair of the PAC advisory and continued adjunct member for the program.
In 2019, Don and his wife Debra created a consulting business, DW Strategic Inc. Their business offers consulting on both technical business and human resources, real estate advice, and instruction on specific topics. Holding two post-graduate degrees involving technology, Don brings a unique set of skills and a passion for educational advancement of certified engineering technologists. He also has a keen sense for student goals and motivations regarding higher learning.
Don’s other interests include the outdoors and angling, health and fitness, and golf. Don is a singer-songwriter with two published albums composing music under the recording project “The Name Eludes Me.”