Here’s to 20 amazing years…and to the next 20!
Let’s take a look back:
In 2003, 50 Cent’s In da Club was the hit song of the year, the U.S. was about to unleash ‘Shock and Awe’ on Baghdad, and the Concorde made its final flight. NASA discovers the oldest exoplanet ever at 12.7 billion years old and the last old-style Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the production line in Puebla, Mexico. A litre of gas cost 70 cents.
From home to grown
2003 was also the year that Rob Rennie started what is now MEDATech Engineering. From a home-based business back then, to an acre of fearsome engineering prowess and a team of 45+ today, MEDATech Engineering is all grown up. And a lot of that is thanks to you!
Thanks to you
We didn’t get here all by ourselves. It’s thanks to our employee team, our customers and our partners that MEDATech is what it is today. So thank YOU for being part of the MEDATech family, and helping make us the success that we are. (continued below)
It began with a vision
With a young family to manage and a fledgling business, Rob had his hands full. But he had a vision for MEDATech—one that slowly emerged as reality. It started with a central premise: there is a need and a market for good quality heavy-duty mobile equipment engineering within the mining, construction and energy sectors. That has proved to be true, but it was hardly straightforward.
Surprise, surprise
One big surprise for us all was the variety of problems that people asked us to solve. Oil & gas drilling. Nuclear waste transport. A jack system to lift 400,000 lbs. A monorail for mining. Another shocker was just how much more work came from end users, rather than from OEMs. That said, it was Kitch Wilson and Peter Corcoran with Cubex in Winnipeg, as well as Ontario Power Generation, and to some extent MacLean Engineering, who were really our primary, consistent clients for the first eight to ten years. We owe them a vote of thanks.
A dynamic team
From Rob’s house, MEDATech moved to a tiny unit on Hurontario Street next to where the Wild Stand is today. From there, we hopped over to 25 Sanford Fleming, where we partitioned off and occupied a quarter of the building. By the time we moved to 35 Sanford Fleming in 2009, MEDATech had added Paul Cholewa, John Arnold and Dan Kidd. A dynamic team to be sure, but still a far cry from the 45 people of today.
Big milestones
There were some big milestones at 35 Sanford Fleming: a new shop built in 2009 and an office renovation completed in 2021. There were also some notable builds. The slant drill we built with Blue Rock Energy and Cubex was a big bite to take. It involved the design of the sub, drilling floor, mast-supporting and pipe-handling systems. Another was the custom foundation drill we designed and built for Hydro One. Our ALTDRIVE program kicked off in 2015 with the first application installed in a MacLean bolter, and we know where the division has gone from there. There have been many other big wins since, almost too numerous to mention.
But success was never easy. It’s the result of a concerted effort, over time. We figure that if we treat our customers, our employees and our partners like family, we’ll all do well—together. We have produced some groundbreaking work, from EV fleet optimization software, to a proven battery-electric powertrain for heavy-duty vehicles, to a robotic arm for drilling that’s years ahead of the competition. We are the engineering ninjas of the heavy equipment world, and our employees make it happen, every day.
Looking to the future
If you’re wondering what’s in store for the next 20, our star is rising. As the industrial world catches ‘EV fever’, our early work is paying off. As safety becomes a bigger issue in drilling, again, we are ready. We’re getting better known and winning great projects. We’re very happy to be in the business we’ve chosen.
#1 Green tech
In the next years, we are focusing on two great opportunities, the first of which is the EV drive market. There are a lot of little OEMs out there who will never have a million dollars to invest in their own BEV powertrain technology. We know that if they can get something off-the-shelf that’s quickly customizable, it’s really going to take off fast. And replacing industrial diesel with a greener technology is one of our company mandates.
#2 Drilling
The second opportunity is the drilling industry, the single biggest industry that we work in today. Our RodBot™ is an opener, and we have done some great work in the past, but we’re just getting started. The real opportunities lie in specialized drilling. Faster, straighter, more efficiently. That’s Borterra. With the right partners, we will make huge waves. Those two businesses, along with the custom engineering work we have always done, form the basis of a $100 million business, without the shadow of a doubt. That’s what we are aiming for.
We are fearless.
One thing that MEDATech will never be, however, is a volume manufacturer. Our essence, our secret sauce, is the custom development work that we do. It’s why we attract exceptionally talented people. Work at MEDATech is never dull. We have constantly pushed the envelope of what can be done with heavy-duty mobile equipment from an engineering point of view, and since day one we have been absolutely fearless when it comes to taking on ambitious projects. Don’t expect that to change.
It’s been an amazing ride so far. Here’s to the next 20 years. They’re going to be incredible!
Get in touch
Thanks for reading all the way to the end. If you like us that much, why not drop us a line or give us a call? Leave your thoughts here, in the form below. We would love to hear from you!
— The MEDATech Team