Dec. 8, 2022

Employee Spotlight: Craig Harris

Stantec Resident Engineer Craig Harris is set to retire at the end of this year, and he smiles fondly looking back on his successful career that has taken him and his family worldwide.  

Harris earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Akron in Ohio in 1978 before working for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation at the Denver office. While in Denver, he met his wife. Throughout the remainder of his career, he always seemed to find himself back in Denver.  

After three years with Reclamation, Harris went back to school and earned a master’s degree in geotechnical engineering from Cornell University. After graduation, Harris worked for Stone & Webster, based in Massachusetts.  

Five years later, Harris, his wife and six kids moved back to Denver to work on dam and hydropower projects before he accepted a year-long position as the resident engineer on a large rockfill dam in Peru. The entire family moved and fully immersed themselves in the culture. 

Stantec Resident Engineer Craig Harris.

After returning from Peru, Harris worked on major dam and hydropower projects in Chicago, Ethiopia, Iowa, Denver and California, before working on Chimney Hollow Reservoir as a project manager and later as project director. When construction began, Harris became the resident engineer and he spends every day on site.  

"This is like a dream to work on a project design and then finish my career here," he said.  

Harris will retire from his full-time position but stay on as principal in charge and fill in as needed on the project. He is looking forward to seeing the project completed and is proud to be a part of it.  

With more free time in retirement, Harris plans to spend time with his family, including his wife, their six children and nine grandchildren, as well as do more traveling.