Originally from Markham, Ontario, Canada, Major Nicholas Vlachopoulos joined the Canadian Forces in 1991 and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1995 with a Bachelor’s of Civil Engineering. Upon completing his training from the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME) in Chilliwack in 1996, Lt Vlachopoulos was posted to 2 Combat Engineer Regiment in Petawawa. There, he served as a Heavy Equipment Troop Commander, a Unit Environmental Officer, DART Engineer Troop Commander and as a Course Officer for a Junior Leadership Training Course. In 1997, he was deployed to aid in the domestic flood relief tasking in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1998 he acted in the capacity of the Engineer Support Troop Commander as part of 23 Field Squadron, 1 Royal Canadian Battle Group, a NATO Mission in Bosnia-Herzogovina (SFOR); he was also assigned the duty of Battle Group Environmental Officer. He was promoted to Captain in theatre in Bosnia-Herzogovina in 1998. Later that same year (1998), Capt Vlachopoulos was posted to the Royal Military College of Canada as he was accepted into an RMC-sponsored Geotechnical Engineering Master’s degree program. Upon his completion of his Master’s degree in 2000, Capt Vlachopoulos worked at the Royal Military College in the capacity of Military Faculty.
In 2003, Capt Vlachopoulos was posted to the Canadian Forces Joint Headquarters. There, he took on the responsibilities of the Engineering Operational Planner and DART Engineer. That same year, he commenced his doctorate degree within the Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering Department at Queen’s University. While at the CFJHQ, he was also deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan in 2005 and acted in the capacity of the Engineer Liaison and Planning Officer as part of the Theatre Activation Team.
In 2005, Capt Vlachopoulos was asked to teach at RMC for yet another term. He agreed. In 2006, he was promoted to his current rank of Major. At RMC he acted in the role of an Assistant Professor within the Civil Engineering Department. There, he founded and directed the RMC Green Team, a research team that addresses Environmental Engineering issues within Canadian Forces Bases and Wings, an organization that has worked at over 80 sites across Canada. For his successes associated with the RMC Green Team, he won the DND Deputy Minister’s/Chief of Defense Staff Innovation Award in 2008. In 2009, he obtained his doctorate from the Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering Department at Queen’s University.
Currently, he is a Research Director within the GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC and is a cross-appointed professor at Queen’s University. Recently, he co-authored a paper that won the coveted R.M. Quigley award for best paper that appeared within the Canadian Geotechnical Journal.
He is also a member and actively involved in over 15 professional associations. Of note is that he is on the National Education Committee for the Canadian Geotechnical Society, a Director within the Professional Engineers Ontario (Kingston Chapter), founding member of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (Kingston Chapter) and past President of the Canadian Military Engineer Association (Kingston Branch). In addition to his Professional Engineering License in Ontario, he also holds a Professional Engineering License in the European Union, specifically, in Greece.
Dr. Nicholas Vlachopoulos was made multiple offers from universities across the country and has chosen to accept a full-time, tenure-track faculty position at RMC within the Civil Engineering Department. As such, upon retirement, he will be residing in Kingston, Ontario with his supportive wife, Efrosyni and two children. Anyone in the Engineering family is more than welcome to contact him at: vlachopoulos-n@rmc.ca . He is truly appreciative to the Branch for all of the support and opportunities it has afforded him.
Postscript: For an update, see RMC Engineering Professor to Receive Award for Teaching Excellence