Edward Smith, Chief Executive Officer
“The act of leadership is making decisions in line with our vision of tomorrow… not today.”
Edward graduated with Honours from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland with an Honours Bachelors Degree in Building Services Engineering, and holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Mechanical Engineering from the Glasgow College of Technology.
He joined the company in September of 1991 and accepted a Partnership position in 1994 at the age of 29. Having a passion for the business side of engineering, Edward has acted as Managing Partner since 2000, guiding the company’s growth from 26 to over 100 staff members. In addition to expanding the Vancouver market, he has also established new market shares in Toronto, Kelowna, and Prince George.
He established the company’s profit sharing structure, bonus plans and performance measurement systems, as well as taking the lead on business development within the company. With a passion for both learning and teaching, he has helped to develop and inspire many other leaders.
He was featured as one of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 Under 40, an award presented to the brightest up and coming business people in Vancouver. Edward is also a former member of the Council-appointed the City of Vancouver Urban Design Panel – the first Mechanical Engineer to serve the City in this capacity.
Edward has given many presentations on sustainable system design and management and has regularly featured as a guest speaker at UBC’s renowned “Sauder School of Business” at the Executive Training Program on Leadership.
He is the Engineer of Record for the first two LEED Silver Certified buildings in Canada. Under Edward’s leadership and vision, Cobalt has started to provide full design and construction management services and commissioning.