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Mike Dupuis of Hydro Tech: From Turbine Overhauls to Bearings
Engineered drawings for a complete Francis turbine located in Maine.
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ntario-based Hydro Tech, Inc., performs turbine and generator overhauls, provides overhauls and bearings for hydropower facilities, and performs a number of other vital services for the hydro industry. In addition to its core mechanical engineering expertise, it also provides both oil- and water-lubricated bearings and is initiating a 3‑year research and development project on bearings with a partner company in South Korea. In this interview, Hydro Tech Founder and President Mike Dupuis tells Hydro Leader about his company’s wide range of products and services. Hydro Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
20 | HYDRO LEADER | July/August 2021
Hydro Leader: How large is the company today? Mike Dupuis: Our Canadian company, Hydro Tech, Inc., currently has two offices: one in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and our head office in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Our U.S. company, Hydro Tech USA, is located in Brunswick, Maine. In addition, I have a partner, Russell Industries, that I brought on in 2016 to help me grow the company. Between our two companies, we’re about 250 people, and the revenue reflects that. Hydro Tech is largely technically based, so we have engineers, supervisors, and support staff for those engineers and supervisors. Hydro Tech is a small part of the 250 total employees of the two partner companies. While not a large company, we are a highly skilled team that is always growing. We have hired four people since January and are always looking for more good candidates. We have been getting some good, qualified applicants recently, which was not always the case when we were a new and relatively unknown company. Now that we are recognized in the industry, people are starting to gravitate toward us. If all goes well, we’ll bring on a few more hires this year and keep going from there. As a mechanical hydro company, we can take care of just about any kind of overhaul, but if we’re going to be the lead, mechanical engineering should be the main thrust of the project. hydroleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF HYDRO TECH .
Mike Dupuis: I am a mechanical engineering technologist. Prior to founding Hydro Tech, I worked for a regional hydroelectric company for 9 years. I was the group leader for an area covering seven power stations and was responsible for projects and maintenance with a multidisciplinary crew of electricians, programmable logic controller maintenance people, and millwrights. By the time I left that company, I had obtained two trade tickets in the mechanical field, which made me well suited for my position at that company. It was an excellent job, and my boss and coworkers were great, but it wasn’t providing the challenge that I was looking for. I wanted more and left on good terms to start my company. I founded Hydro Tech in 2001. At that point, it was just me working from my basement as a one-man consulting operation.
In 2005, the opportunity arose to start hiring employees for larger, long-term contracts, and things grew from there.
