Company History

Continuing Our Legacy of Engineering Innovation

A rich and diverse history, our heritage stems from four companies that joined to form MWH, now part of Stantec, as it is known today: James M. Montgomery Consulting Engineers (JMM), Watson Hawksley, Harza Engineering Company and Stantec. These mergers – JMM and Watson Hawksley in 1992 and Montgomery Watson and Harza in 2001 – and an acquisition by Stantec galvanized the company’s rise to prominence on the world platform where we are now a true leader and a formidable competitor in the water infrastructure industry.

JMM was founded in 1945 in southern California. In the early 1990s, JMM merged with English firm Watson Hawksley, Ltd. of High Wycombe, England, which originated in London in the 1850s. This created a company of global scope with similar corporate cultures that honored individual expertise and encouraged teamwork, innovation and initiative; and a common view of the industry’s future. The name was eventually changed to Montgomery Watson Harza then to MWH Global in 2001.

In 2010, MWH acquired United Kingdom (UK) based Biwater Services Ltd, a leading UK water construction and engineering firm. The acquisition afforded MWH a broader range of skills to address the creation, management and optimization of existing water infrastructure assets and enhanced our ability to service the full asset life cycle of our clients from feasibility through commissioning and operation. The companies have a shared heritage in the UK market that dates back to 1820.

Today, MWH, now part of Stantec operates in 35 countries, on six continents bringing highly trained engineers, managers, consultants, policy and project advocates, informational technologists, economists, statisticians, public relations professionals and financial experts together. We continue to be dedicated to innovation and committed to mastering and applying emerging technologies to create client-focused results. We have engaged in the engineering, construction, financing and management of some of the world’s largest and most technically significant water and natural resources projects in the world.

We continue to build on our strong foundation and are constantly improving our services by delivering projects faster and more efficiently through our global resources, aggressively sharing knowledge at an accelerated pace and demonstrating our willingness to change and adapt.

Company History Timeline