32. 18-12-20 Terry Brueck’s Retirement Celebration

Tonight, it was a great honour to be invited to attend and speak at Terry Brueck’s Retirement Celebration. For many years Terry was Vice President and then President and CEO of EMA, an instrumentation, control and automation (ICA) consultancy company based in Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota, USA. EMA worked with Thames Water on an ICA strategy back in the 1990s and I also had the opportunity to work with Terry in the US on projects, bids, research projects and presentations at conferences. He introduced me to many senior water professionals and technical experts in the US that was to greatly influence my career in the water industry.

Although the retirement celebration had to be held virtually because of the pandemic it was opportunity to reconnect with many of those professionals both inside and outside of the US, some of whom I had not seen for 15 years. We shared our stories and I shared a few pictures that brought memories flooding back for many. I’ve included just one below which shows Terry and myself with the senior management from East Bay Municipal District taking the ferry across the bay from Oakland to San Francisco after a long workshop to enjoy dinner and a night out in the city.

I also spent a number of amazing holidays with Terry and his family in the US, and hopefully if they return to the UK in retirement for a vacation at some point I can introduce them to the hospitality of the Water Conservators in one of the City’s prestigious livery halls for one of our lunches.