Paul C. DiNovo

Background

Paul was born in 1931 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Education

UNIVERSITY LEVEL TEACHING (PART TIME). U. of T. Industrial Management (Postgraduate), McMaster: Creative Product Design (Undergraduate), Sheridan: Computer Systems Design and Analysis (Extension).

Career

Paul Charles DiNovo, B.A.Sc., M.B.A., F.E.C., P.Eng.

PRESIDENT: Pyramid Engineering and Management Consultants Ltd. (9 years). Product and Manufacturing Facilities Design and general Management Consulting. These helped many smaller companies increase sales up to 12 times previous and increase annual profits up to $6,781,000.

PRESIDENT: Amir Construction Ltd. (3 years). Land development and residential facilities design. Increased profits an average of about 200% per year.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING: Wheelabrator Corporation Ltd. (13 Years).

Designed industrial automation, finishing, and air pollution control equipment. Large project management. Reviewed operations for computer system selection and supervised its programming and use. Sales when leaving were over 10 times those when started.

CHIEF ENGINEER: Butler Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (14 years). Designed steel framed buildings and bins. Managed many large projects. Reviewed operations for computer system selection and supervised its programming and use. Sales when leaving were over 10 times those when started.

PRODUCT DESIGN MANAGER: Mueller Ltd. (2 years). Designed plumbing, water, and gas fittings. Increased sales of 258% in the second year.

Retired but manage own investments. They now exceed seven times those when first retired after all living expenses, gifts and taxes.

Achievements

• Summary: Relatively few engineers in Canada are involved in product design as most are done in the U.S. Paul is the exception, as even when he worked for U.S. firms, his designs proved to be outstandingly successful and more suitable for the market.
  
  Position: President, Pyramid Engineering and Management Consultants Ltd.
  
  Transport Systems for Infectious Medical Samples on Swabs:
  
  The dependable and environmentally friendly designs cost less enabling NCS Diagnostics to become internationally competitive.
  
  Mechanics' Tool Chests:
  
  Lower costs enabled Beach Industries to stave off Taiwanese imports, keep their Sears and Canadian Tire business and enter the U.S. market. Taken over by Stanley, they are now a major supplier to the U.S.
  
  Washing machines for parts at automobile repair shops:
  
  Enabled Dover Industries to reduce costs, improve functionality and sell the division profitably.
  
  Pre-Engineered Industrial/Commercial Buildings:
  
  These gave Acrospan Building Systems a complete line of competitive clear span buildings using commercially available steel sections so that no inventory was required.
  
  Bulk Handling Conveyors:
  
  These gave Walter’s Welding a complete line of belt conveyors and the ability to replace failing parts of competitors’ conveyors.
  
  Position: Director of Engineering, Wheelabrator Corp.
  
  Dust Collectors for Industrial Air Pollution Control:
  
  Reduced costs in the order of 30% and improved performance enabling the company to get the bulk of the Canadian market and increase export sales.
  
  Electrostatic Precipitators:
  
  Reduced costs over10% of the German franchisor's designs for greater sales success.
  
  Blast Cleaning and Paint lines for steel plate:
  
  Reduced costs 15% and automated operation.
  
  Blast Cleaning Machines for automobile engine and transmission parts:
  
  Increased machine-tool life and reduced manufacturing costs for GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
  
  Air Blast Rooms and Paint facilities for cleaning and finishing sections of ships, rail cars, and smaller items:
  
  Reduced costs and improved performance so much the U.S. parent company stopped manufacturing and gave the world mandate to the Canadian operation. Sales of the product line increased over 1000%.
  
  Position: Chief Engineer, Butler Manufacturing Co.
  
  Industrial and Commercial Building Systems:
  
  Increased load capacity of standard frames 1/3 and reduced cost and parts for the same range of sizes of buildings enabling Butler to become the major supplier in the industry. Standardization enabled inventorying production in slack periods to give relatively stable employment to employees and to maximize plant utilization. The lower costs led the U.S. owner to allocate all foreign sales to Canada.
  
  Steel Grain Elevator System:
  
  This was a world first, as others were of wood. It reduced explosion and fire hazard.
  
  Insulated Curtain Wall and Roof System:
  
  Enabled sales of 47 buildings for the North West Territories
  
  Farm Equipment Storage Buildings:
  
  Reduced costs and improved appearance enabling sales in Canada to go from 47 to 600 buildings the first year. In the U.S. over 2,000 were sold at their spring sales meeting.
  
  Small Buildings 6 to 24 ft. wide and any length:
  
  Suitable for portable classrooms, offices, garages, etc. the line required only 15 minutes of engineering time per order due to complete computer processing.
  
  Steel Mill Buildings:
  
  Massively larger and heavier than the standard line, the designs allowed for far greater use of Canadian produced steel than was normal in such structures. Their competitiveness allowed the sale of the Interprovincial Steel facility in Regina, No. 2 Galvanizing Line building at Stelco and the Sheerness Steel facility in England.
  
  Position: Product Design Engineer, Mueller Ltd.
  
  Plumbing Line:
  
  Improved appearance and reduced costs allowed an increase in sales of the complete line of 258% the first year. Sales of individual products went up over 10,000% (4 in. center set). A National Industrial Design Award was given to the firm.
  
  Pipe and tubing fittings:
  
  The cost was reduced by 10 to 20%, doubling the profit on the lines.
  
  Paul taught Creative Product Design part-time at McMaster for 7 years. Design projects included everything from a steerable toboggan to oil and gas pipelines from Inuvik, Northwest Territories, to Emerson, Manitoba. The latter was estimated to have a cost of $3,600,000,000 at the time. It was never built because legal and political battles delayed it until another alternative, the Alaska pipeline, was selected. (The idea of an Alaska pipeline and super tankers had been rejected by design teams due to the cost and the environmental hazard to the west coast.)
  
  He has helped enhance the reputation of Ontario Professional Engineers throughout Canada, the U.S., England, South America, and Africa. His work has done much to improve the environment and the standard of living of Canadians.
  
  

Personality

Currently healthy and play tennis and golf. Psychological tests by Stevenson and Kellogg indicated "His ability to exercise critical judgement and analyze complex problems similar to those encountered at the management level of business surpasses 98% of management people" and "In the areas of abstract, conceptual reasoning and spatial visualization (the ability to think in terms of three dimensions) he surpassed 99% of male high school graduates."

Connections

Married twice and with present wife, Willo, have 7 adult children, 15 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.