Our Founding

1971

Datek Industries founded by Peter Van Der Zee

1973

Created the first electronics teletype

(for NAR – now CN Rail)

What is an Electronics Teletype?
Teletype was the next big thing after Morse Code for train line communication. Teletype is an typewriter used to communicate typed messages from point to point through a simple electrical communications channel.

1978

Project: Digital Flow Computer

(for Hudson’s Bay Oil & Gas)

Flow computers are used to measure the flow of oil or gas through a pipeline. Early designs were proprietary until 1989 with the use of the multibus platform standard. Components were maunfactured in-house.

1978

Project: Master Terminal Unit (MTU)

(for NAR – now CN Rail)

A Master Terminal Unit (MTU)’s job is to host the control software that communicates with Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). So an MTU is the central controller/server.

A Start in SCADA

1979

Project: Data Acquisition & Control System

(for Edmonton Power – now EPCOR)

A Data Acquisition and Control System (or DAC System) is essentially an early SCADA System. SCADA stands for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA Systems are essentially the brains controlling industrial automated operations, from power plants, to electrical grids, to pipelines, to metro rail lines. In this case the DAC controlled the electrical grid of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

1982

Project: VISTA

(for ICG Resources)

VISTA was our second SCADA system.

1983

Project: Totalizer flow computer

(for Interprovincial Pipeline – now Enbridge)

1984

Project: MTU

(for Gulf Canada – now Keyera)

1984

Project: Real-Time Measurement System

(for NOVA – now TransCanada Pipelines)

1985

Project: Changeover Switch

(for Home Oil)

What is a Changeover Switch?
Allowed an edge device to talk to more than one computer. This made fail-over from one computer to another possible, thus allowing for redundancy. Redundancy is essential for mission critical applications. This allows for the system to keep working even if one piece of hardware fails.

1985

Project: Model 800 Data Logger

(for Edmonton Power – now EPCOR)

Our Model 800 was built in-house with Intel 8080 microprocessors, which were cutting edge technology at the time.

1986

Project: SCADA System

(for NB Power)

1986

Project: Tank Gauging System

(for Imperial Oil)

1989

Project: Custody Transfer System

(for Alberta Natural Gas)

1990

FLEXCIM Services

FLEXCIM Services split out of Datek separating the manufacturing and engineering arms of the company. FLEXCIM Services is still in operation out of our first location.

1990

Project: VISTA-II

(for ESSO Petroleum)

VISTA-II was the third version of our SCADA system.

1990

Project: 8016 RTU

(for Gulf Canada)

RTU stands for Remote Terminal Unit. They are essentially mini computers that live on location in indoor or outdoor cabinets. RTUs transmit field data to the SCADA Master Station.

50 Years of Change

Becoming Willowglen

1992

Willowglen Purchased

Willowglen was operating in Calgary out of Willowglen business park (still visible from Deerfoot trail). Peter acquired the assets of the company, including its name and it’s product SCADACOM 2.

1992

Project: SCADA-RTU

(Calgary LRT)

1992

Project: 1208 RTU

(for BP Resources, became Talisman Energy – now Repsol Oil & Gas)

1992

Project: RTUs and Vista-II

(for Shell Caroline – now Pieridae Alberta Production)

1992

Project: SCADA-RTU

(for Bahrain National Oil, became BAPCO – now Tatweer Petroleum)

1993

Project: SCADACOM 2

(for Lee-Dickens)

1994

Willowglen Singapore Sold

Willowglen also had a Singapore operation that was sold in 1994. Willowglen Singapore later expanded to Malaysia and Thailand.

1995

Project: SCADACOM 3

(for Power Gas)

1999

Project: SCADACOM 3

(for Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC))

A New Millennium

2000

Value Added Reseller

(for Bombardier – now Alstom)

Willowglen’s Value Added Resellers have contracts with Willowglen Systems to sell our SCADA Systems to their customers. This can allow our product to reach new markets or regions that require local connections.

2001

Value Added Reseller

(for SAC China)

Our partnership with SAC (Guangdong Nanjing Automation Company) started when we were both small. SAC has since grown to a billion dollar company and still uses our SCADACOM products.

Currently 23 metro lines in China run on SCADACOM 5, in major cities including Beijing, Nanjing, Tianjin, Shen Yang, and Changchun.

2001

Project: SCADA

(for Kaohsiung Area Water Distribution Taiwan)

2002

Project: Offshore Platforms

(for ONGC Arabian Sea)

2003

Project: RTU

(for Ulaanbaatar Water Company USAG, Mongolia)

2003

Project: Highway Tunnel Remote Control System

(for Croatia)

2003

Project: SCADACOM 3

(Las Vegas MonoRail)

2005

Project: SCADACOM 3.1

(New York JFK AirTrain)

2005

Project: SCADACOM 3.1

(Vancouver SkyTrain)

2007

Project: SCADACOM 3.1

(Gautrain South Africa)

2007

Project: SCADACOM 3.1

(Yongin South Korea)

Employee Experiences From the 1990s and 2000s

New Leadership

2009

Wayne Karpoff Appointed President

Wayne and his management team developed the vision that we are working toward.

2011

Purchase of old building location

8522 Davies Rd, Edmonton

In 2011 we were located at 8522 Davies Rd, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Flexcim Manufacturing Services still operates out of that location to this day.

2011

Project: Unisen Flow Computer

(for Enbridge)

2012

Willowglen Partners (HCS) Human Factors in SCADA

2013

Bombardier Global Supplier Award

2013

Project: Flow Computers

(for Gibson Energy)

2013

Project: SCADACOM 5.1

SCADACOM 5 was the next generation of SCADA system after SCADACOM 3.1.

2013

Project: Vehicle Integrity Module (VIM)

(for Bombardier – now Alstom)

VIM monitors critical operations of a train (e.g. braking, thrust, door operations) to ensure unsafe operations cannot occur. Certified to a SIL 4 standard!

2015

Restructuring with Investment From Willowglen Asia

Today Willowglen has four investors: Willowglen Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia), Wayne Karpoff, a Vancouver investor, and the estate of Peter Van Der Zee.

Employees That Started Before 2016 and Their Stories

Orange Rebranding

2017

Move to current Edmonton location

Willowglen’s Headquarters are located at 9808 42 Avenue NW, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This stand-alone building is owned by Willowglen.

2017

Project: SCADACOM 5

(SAC)

2018

Project: portable Non-Revenue Vehicle Locator – NRVL

2018

Project: Wayside Health

(for CP Rail)

What is Wayside Health?
Railway crossings are required to be regularly inspected and for their data to be collected. Wayside Health is installed in outdoor railway crossing control cabinets to enable remote collection of data, improve operations, enhance safety, increase real-time visibility into your network’s wayside system status. Thus reducing the need for frequent on-site visits.

2019

Project: SCADACOM 6

(Ottawa Light Rail Transit (OLRT))

This project was for two new lines in Canada’s capital city: the Confederation Line and Trillium Line. Willowglen worked with teams from Ottawa Light Rail Constructors (OLRTC JV), OC Transpo (the operators), the City of Ottawa, and various sub-system providers to complete this project. Learn more about the Ottawa phase 1 project.

2019

Project: SCADACOM 6

(Las Vegas MonoRail)

2019

Project: SCADACOM 6

(New York JFK AirTrain)

Willowglen Systems has been working with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey since 1999. We worked both on the original SCADA System for this in the early 2000s and its upgrade completed in 2019. Learn more about the JFK AirTrain project.

2019

Project: SCADACOM 6

(Yongin South Korea)

2021

Calgary Office Opened

A Period of Growth:

From 2019 to 2022, Willowglen has increased its staff numbers by 120%.

As for the rest of the company, the Calgary office has also grown. Shortly after it was opened, it relocated to a larger space within the same office complex. It is currently located at Bow Valley Square 1, Suite 1000, 202 – 6 Avenue SW.

2022

Victoria Office Opened

Our third location in Canada.

Our third location in Canada is situated at 2103E – 4464 Markham St in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

2023

Projects in Progress: SentientQ

The Future of SCADA:
SentientQ is a new Supervisory-SCADA layer above our tried tested SCADACOM 6. This layer provides a platform for apps beyond basic SCADA functionality including ML/AI. Learn more about SentientQ.

Recent Employee Experiences