About Us

As founder of Tracta Engineering, Richard Thomas’ passion is designing products.  Richard takes ideas from concept to production and has been doing it successfully for over 20 years while working for small and medium sized companies involved in the military, security, automotive, heavy equipment and natural ressources sectors.  Supported by this strong experience, Tracta Engineering is well positioned to assist companies in need of design, fabrication and testing resources.

Starting with a backgroung in mechanical engineering, Richard has nurtured a hands-on rapid product development skill set that supplements his competency in three dimensional computer aided design and finite element analysis. Richard is known for his proficiency in machining, welding, mechanical and electronic design, which is especially valuable in the research and design stages of product development since it enables him to efficiently handle the multiple facets of the design process and to easily communicate with all parties involved thus helping you meet your deadlines and better control your development budget.

Richard’s work can be found in nearly every land vehicle of the Canadian Armed Forces, under the hood of natural gas powered Mercedes-Benz and Opel vehicles in Europe, in the hands of bomb disposal technicians worldwide and on forestry vehicles in Northern Alberta.  Richard has also guided products through rigorous testing programs to achieve compliance with many military and civilian standards such as those published by ISO, CSA, TÜV, SAE and OSHA.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree (mechanical engineering) and maintains an active membership in the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick (APEGNB).  Richard is also a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and of the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators (IABTI).