Rick graduated with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1988. Rick started his career with Structural Consultants Limited a St. John’s based structural engineering consulting firm where he was responsible for numerous building designs. He studied for his graduate degree part-time while working and received his Master of Structural Engineering from Memorial in 1995. In 1995 Rick joined the NL based multi discipline firm BFL Consultants Ltd. where he held the role as Lead Structural Engineer. During his time at BFL he had the opportunity to be involved in the design of the Hibernia GBS and the Hibernia Topsides. In 1998 he accepted an overseas assignment with BFL and worked on the structural design of the Petro Canada’s Terra Nova FPSO offshore facility.
Shortly after his return to Canada in 1999 he established Tiller Engineering Inc. Today the firm has grown to become an established independent structural firm and are considered niche specialists in Tower and Telecoms Engineering as well as Energy and Infrastructure. Rick is a member of the Technical Committee of the Canadian Tower Code CSA S37-13 and a Founding Member of STAC Tower Council.
Rick is Past Chair of Association of Consulting Engineers Newfoundland & Labrador (ACECNL) and Association of Consulting Engineers (ACEC) Canada. Rick is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and a Fellow of the Professional Engineers of Canada. Rick is the Past Chair of the Board of the recently established Center for Entrepreneurship at Memorial University and Past Board Member of Ronald Macdonald House NL. He is past president of the Rotary Club of Waterford Valley and a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. Rick has been recognized as a Top 50 Atlantic Canada Business CEO in 2016 and received the 2022 Beaubian Award recognizing his lifetime commitment to ACEC and the Canadian consulting engineering profession.