Hans R. Kivisild was born in Tartu, Estonia. He grew up in the
Estonian capital of Tallinn before moving on to Stockholm, Sweden
where he completed a PhD. in Engineering at \the Royal University of
Technology (RUT). For a brief time he worked for a Swedish
engineering firm before he decided to immigrate to Canada in 1950.
He moved around quite a bit in looking for a job that suited his
talents, working at FENCO
in Vancouver and Toronto before finally moving to Calgary in 1973
where he was appointed vice-president of FENCO's western region. He retired in 1985 as
vice-president of Lavalin Offshore Inc., the company that bought FENCO in
1975. After having worked over 30 years in the field as an
Engineer for FENCO and its affililiates, Mr. Kivisild decided to
form his own consulting company, HRK Consulting. In 1985, Hans
Kivisild was awarded the Manning Innovation Award of Merit for his work in
developing ice platforms for petroleum drilling in the Canadian
Arctic. Mr. Kivisild was also instrumental in designing an
earthquake-proof George Massey Tunnel, which is situated under the Fraser River
in Vancouver, British Columbia. Perhaps his most fitting contribution to the
engineering world were the designs he created that allow the port of Paldiski in
Estonia to harbour ships year-round. Mr. Kivisild spent much of
his professional life in Canada, and Alberta. His contributions to
the engineering field were enormous. He passed away at his home in
Calgary, at the age of 78.
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This digital collection was
produced with financial assistance from Canada's Digital
Collections initiative, Industry Canada.