The ISA Water/Wastewater Industries Division is pleased to announce that Mr. Slawek Wolski will take over as our new WWID Newsletter Editor starting in January 2023. After more than 11 years in the newsletter editor role, Graham Nasby will pass the baton so that Slawek can lead this important WWID member benefit. For the current Summer 2022 issue and the upcoming Fall 2022 issue, Graham and Slawek will be jointly producing the newsletter, after which Slawek will take over the role of WWID Newsletter Editor. Starting in January 2023, Graham will provide a regular column for the newsletter. Slawek has kindly provided the below introductory message for our readers:
Being a nerd, I thought I would start this off with the iconic phrase of any new programming language: “Hello World!”
My name is Slawek Wolski, but my friends call me Swav; I am grateful for the opportunity to be the new Newsletter editor for the WWID. I look forward to working with the new group and filling the big shoes that Graham Nasby (former Newsletter editor) has left me to serve. I aim to continue the quality of content that Graham has provided over the years and follow in his footsteps.
To start this off, I’d like to provide a little bit of my past background. I have been working in the water and wastewater industry for the last 16 years. I graduated from an electrical control technologist program, but my experience and exposure to the electrical world had come way before. As a teenager, I worked with my father (an electrician) on all house and car repairs. My dad is one of my mentors, and the reason I became interested in electrical design and programming.
After graduating from Mohawk College (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), I first worked at a multimeter repair shop. I worked with the owner who helped me understand electrical circuitry and create the foundation I would need to become the designer/programmer I am today. Shortly after that, I started my water/wastewater career as a drafter for a panel builder with a continuous urge to do PLC programming. It wasn’t until my next position at a consulting company that I started getting exposed to PLC programming. However, even as a drafter, I had already started writing my own code and functions in AutoCAD to help increase productivity and ensure the excellent quality of designs. This was when I began wearing multiple hats. I would work directly with the senior electrical engineer, developing electrical designs and Process & Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs). I would be involved with the contract administration, site coordinator, and programmer on the same projects. Exposure to programming and electrical helped me provide accurate information for contractors in various scenarios. From there, I continued my career developing my skills with exposure to multiple platforms and programming languages and gaining continued knowledge of how to accurately read the electrical code and create electrical designs for stations and plants.
Later I decided that I wanted to learn more than just programming and jumped out of the programming and electrical world into a sales role. I learned an entirely different side of the industry and met a new mentor and now friend. I found this incredibly challenging but put every effort into making it successful. However, with life-changing challenges within my family after only a year, I decided to move back to consulting. It was here that I started working at NLS Engineering. After only a few years, I became the Associate Director of the Water and Process group, and now after the acquisition by Ulteig, my title has changed to Engineering Supervisor. My passion for knowledge of how things work does not stop. I am currently studying to get my CCNA designation, growing my engineering group, and surrounding myself with passionate and intelligent individuals.
I am married to my beautiful wife, Anya, and we enjoy travelling and photography outside of work. We have slept under the night desert sky in Morocco, travelled through Greece and multiple other countries, and experienced various cultures. We have had our share of bad and fantastic food and some questionable circumstances but enjoy the overall part of travelling. I like all sorts of music, including jazz, electric, alternative, instrumental, classical and dance/pop. I love anything outdoors. Every year I try to go camping and stay in a tent for at least two nights. I have done solo portaging in Algonquin park here in Ontario, Canada, and have encountered moose, bears, and typical raccoons, snakes, and squirrels. It has been quite a life so far, and my journey is just getting started.
If you have made it this far, I thank you for reading and hope to provide each issue with a brief introduction of what is new in the current issue and any recognitions. I welcome you to follow along in the journey, and I encourage you to desire more from your career and life. Never stop learning. Remember we all have the same amount of time each day. It’s what we choose to spend our time on that determines the path of our lives.
Warmest Regards,
Slawek Wolski
Assistant Newsletter Editor, WWID
Engineering Supervisor (Water/Wastewater)
Ulteig Engineering Inc
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Tel: (416) 606-3294
Email: slawek.wolski@ulteig.com
Slawek Wolski is the Engineering Supervisor (Water/Wastewater) with Ulteig Engineering’s Hamilton Ontario office. Ulteig Engineers is an employee-owned company with offices in Hamilton ON, Austin TX, Billing MT, Bismark ND, Boise ID, Cedar Rapids IA, Denver CO, Detroit Lakes MN, Sacramento CA, Sioux Falls SD, St. Paul MN, Williston ND, and head offices in Fargo ND. Slawek was an associate director with NLS Engineer, prior to it being acquired by Ulteig in 2021. Slawek has also held senior positions with Grey Matter Systems, Hatch Mott MacDonald, Insyght Engineering, Sirron Systems, and The Walter Smith Co. Slawek and his wife live in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada which is part of Canada’s largest city: Toronto