Western Canada’s leader in project and construction management, and multi-disciplinary engineering services, RAM Consulting (RAM), is growing. The leading multi-disciplinary firm recently acquired two companies to expand both its services and its geographical reach.
Started in 2007 by fellow UBC Civil Engineering graduates Joe Di Placito (Principal) and Ziad Boustany (Principal), RAM quickly distinguished itself as a market leader for its unique marriage of technical design expertise with project delivery execution.
The team, which provides project management, construction management, procurement, and engineering services throughout Canada, US, and the Caribbean is highly sought out by clients in transportation, infrastructure, utilities, energy and marine industries who depend on the RAM team for solutions in heavy civil and infrastructure.
In August, 2021, RAM announced the acquisition of two companies to complement RAM’s existing expertise and expand the company’s market share; Encepta Corp (Encepta) and Horizon Engineering Inc (Horizon).
Encepta is well-known as a technologically advanced and enabled professional services firm delivering outside plant field services, design, inspection, and construction management, as well as big-data analytics and AI-powered models for the telecommunication sector.
Most notably, it is increasingly relied on for its reputable expertise in telecommunications, servicing the meteoric growth in value of fiber optics and 5G servicing.
“Acquiring Encepta helps us enter the telecommunications market,” says Di Placito. “Encepta is strong in utility field data acquisition and analytics that can be applied to RAM’s sectors like utilities, energy, and transportation.” New services to the RAM roster will include field data acquisition, telecommunication planning and design, big-data analytics and AI-powered models for any utility sector.
The second acquisition, Horizon Engineering Inc, is an engineering consultancy providing a full range of geotechnical engineering services including geotechnical assessments comprising subsurface investigation, laboratory testing and engineering analyses followed by design, report and specification preparation, and field reviews during construction.
“Horizon will allow us to enter early in an infrastructure project life cycle by offering geotechnical design including shoring, piles, retaining walls and slope analysis as well as hydrological design including groundwater seepage, and erosion and sediment control,” says Boustany.
Horizon has provided a full range of geotechnical consulting services to almost 5,000 projects for a diverse set of clients, and is a member of the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of British Columbia (ACEC-BC).
Di Placito spoke of the growth strategy to expand RAM’s service offerings both from a technology, engineering services, and geographical perspective. “The acquisitions help RAM grow our engineering capabilities and depth and expand our geographical reach to our clients,” he says.
Boustany, adds, “RAM, Encepta and Horizon offer complementary services and we are excited to extend and exchange our services in the geotechnical, infrastructure and telecom sectors in Western Canada.”
“With Horizon, the geotechnical services are often in the first phase of the project and with Encepta, field data collection is also in the first phase of the project. They also complement each other as Encepta uses geotechnical services while Horizon can use Encepta’s data collection and analytic solutions for their clients.”
“The acquisition follows recent ambitious strategic investments in a growing portfolio of firms aligned to strengthen RAM’s position as a leading EPCM firm in Western Canada,” continues Boustany. “This growth allows for better servicing utility clients BC Hydro, FortisBC, Metro Vancouver and government institutions like the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and local municipalities.”
“The combined synergies of the firms further strengthens RAM and our ability to offer wholistic project delivery services to our clients,” says Di Placito. “We also share similar values like innovation, integrity, and fun! We’re all people-focused organizations; diversity and inclusion are key elements in all the companies. The acquisitions help us provide local, on the ground experience across Western Canada with industry leading experts. We’re not the biggest, but we’re the best.”
