Operational Implementation Specialist
Kewal earned his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree at Karnataka University in India and subsequently a Post Graduate Certificate in Environmental Control at Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada. He is also an Environmental Practitioner in Training (EPIT) with the Canadian Environmental Certification Approvals Board as well as an active member of both the American Water Works Association and the Ontario Water Works Association. Prior to his introduction to the water and wastewater sectors, Kewal served as an Environmental Technologist with the Imperial Oil Company in Sarnia, Ontario.
With respect to his capabilities in the development, implementation and administration of Operator Certification Systems, Kewal’s strongest attributes were developed when he served as a leader with the government’s third party sub-contracted Program Administrator who was responsible to manage the Water and Wastewater Operators Certification Program. In his capacity as Operations Manager, he managed and provided leadership for all project requirements, set priorities and deadlines and provided master project planning to ensure that the project deliverables were met on time and within budget. He was also required to provide technical information, interpretation and education on all associated regulatory guidelines to municipalities, operators and other stakeholders. Kewal contributed to the formulating of ministry guidelines for licensing and supervised all of the customer service initiatives to clients and regulators using judgement and tact to deal with a diverse range of clients.
Because of his high degree of integrity, professionalism and hands-on knowledge, Kewal was selected and brought along when the third party sub-contract was awarded to a new firm. In his new capacity, he was responsible to set-up a new water/wastewater operator certification office including hiring and training staff, managing key strategic client relationships with stakeholders and senior management, and interact at a high level with decision-makers both internally and externally. He was responsible for the quality assurance aspect of the project, requiring him to provide technical regulatory information and guidance on drinking water legislation including Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and Ontario Water Recourses Act to municipalities, operators and key stake holders. He was also responsible for maintaining relevancy and integrity of database records related to drinking water operator certification, training, water and wastewater systems classification. He developed and implemented internal quality systems and training programs to ensure the delivery of the project as per the ministry quality standards in addition to performing audits on the deliverables based on quality standards. As the liaison for the government, he attended meetings with Ministry of Environment (MOE) officials and provided input for the development of ministry guidelines for operator licensing and communication strategies. Kewal was depended upon to develop and deliver presentations on the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Ontario Water Resources Act at industry conferences, seminars as well as developing policies, procedures and protocols for the delivery of operator certification program support.
With the inclusion of Kewal to our team, WWOTC will benefit from his international experience in setting up and implementing projects. Since then, we have significantly strengthened our capabilities, potential and customer confidence.