Design Excellence Since 1988

Partners Who Build
Capability That Lasts

Pacific Design Engineering helps companies bring complex products to market. We integrate with your team, fill critical skill gaps, and deliver engineering expertise across hardware, firmware, software, and compliance, all under one roof.

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Who We Are

Technically-Led Product Design

Whether you found us through an industry partner, a colleague's recommendation, or your own research, you're probably here because you're facing a product development challenge that requires more than your current resources can handle. That's exactly the situation we're built to solve.

PDE is a technically-led product design firm where Account Owners and Project Owners directly contribute to the design, not just manage it. Technical decisions are made by the people doing the work, not translated through a management layer.

What We're About

Our Core Values

Integrity

Do Right By Our Customers

When we find a problem, we tell you about it. When we see a better approach, we speak up. We follow through on our commitments, even when it's difficult, because that's how trust is built.

Collaboration

Our Customers Are Our Partners

The technical team you engage during discovery transitions directly into execution. We build unified project teams, not client-vendor divides. We ask questions. We share early. We trust each other's expertise and integrate it into better solutions. Collaboration isn't a communication style; it's structural, baked into how we organize projects and distribute authority.

Innovation

The Right Solution, Not the Prescribed One

We find the solution the problem actually needs, not the one the process prescribes. Innovation at PDE means applying creativity with purpose and technical skill to deliver value through thoughtful, effective solutions. We don't innovate for innovation's sake; we innovate to solve real problems.

Agility

Stay Aligned When Things Change

We adapt the process to the problem, not the other way around. Fixed teams and rigid methodologies break when reality shifts. We flex. When things change, and they will, we stay focused on delivering value and moving forward with clarity. Agility means maintaining speed while adapting direction.

Ownership

We Own the Outcome

We own the outcome, not just the task. When something goes sideways, we ask "what could we have done differently?" before "who's responsible?" We make sure your team can carry the work forward after we leave. Ownership means accountability for results, not just effort expended.

Our Story

37 Years of Adaptation

The Beginning (1988)

Pacific Design Engineering spun out of MPR Teltech, BC Tel's (now Telus) captive research and development facility. Nine designers started the company with a clear mission: provide integrated design services that helped companies get products to market faster and better than they could alone.

In those early days, the work meant manual PCB layout techniques like tape and doughnuts. The tools have changed dramatically. The mission hasn't.

Photo of PDE's old office.
How We Got Here

Growth and Pivots

The company evolved rapidly in its first decades:

1988–1996

PCB to Full Product Design

Grew from 9 to 20 people, expanding from PCB-focused services to integrated product design. Acquired PDE Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon, serving Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and Tektronix.

1996

Employee Ownership

When parent company BC Tel closed operations, the management team led an employee buyout. For the first time, the people who built PDE owned it outright.

1999

Telecom Expansion

Acquired by a public company seeking to expand telecom ODM capabilities, growing the organization significantly.

2002

Second Employee Buyout

When the parent company changed direction, PDE's leadership led another buyout, restoring employee ownership for the second time. This established the company's commitment to technically-led decision-making, a structural advantage that remains today.

Technical Expansion

Regulatory Leadership 2007–Present

What followed was systematic expansion of technical capabilities and recognition:

2007

FCC, ISED, CE

First product certifications, establishing foundational regulatory expertise.

2010

TI Elite Design House

One of only 12 in the Americas, the only one headquartered in Western Canada.

2014

RF Testing

RF isolation chamber and advanced EMC/EMI/ESD troubleshooting equipment.

2020–2021

Cellular Certifications

First PTCRB and Verizon certifications, expanding into cellular and carrier ecosystems.

2022

Global Expansion

KC (Korea) certification; relocated to modern Burnaby facility.

2024

EGBC Permit

Government-regulated quality assurance with mandatory compliance audits.

The Partnership Insight

2020-Present

During the pandemic, we proved what our best client relationships already demonstrated: the projects that ship on time are the ones where your team has direct access to the people doing the work. Not filtered through a project manager. Not waiting for a weekly status deck. Your designers and ours work in the same Confluence instance, the same JIRA board, the same communication cadence. You see what's happening in real time, challenge design decisions as they're made, and retain full authority over your product.

We built our entire workflow around the assumption that you are a working participant in every technical decision that matters. That's the structural change. Not a philosophy statement, but how every project actually runs.

Why Clients Work With Us

The Structural Difference

You've likely worked with firms where the team that pitched the work wasn't the team that executed it. PDE's structure is different.

Team Stability

Our design team averages 8.8 years of tenure per team member (2025 data). Core leadership averages 28.6 years at the company. Combined experience: 218 years.

The Result

People stay because the work is interesting, colleagues are excellent, and the culture rewards ownership and expertise.

Team Continuity From Day One

The technical team involved in scoping your project transitions directly into execution. You'll meet them during discovery.

The Result

The people who scope your project are the people who build it.

Multi-Disciplinary Integration

Electronics designers work alongside mechanical designers. Firmware developers partner with hardware designers. Nobody works in a silo.

The Result

When integration issues arise, we own the solution. No finger-pointing at boundaries.

Documentation Built In

Structured documentation and knowledge transfer are explicit project deliverables, not afterthoughts.

The Result

Your team owns the product and the knowledge to maintain it when we leave.

Embedded Partnership

Your Account Owner works with you to understand your priorities and what matters most to your business. Your Project Owner drives execution and leads technical discussions.

The Result

You're not managing a vendor relationship. You're part of the project team.

We Raise the Hard Questions Early

PDE's designers surface strategic concerns with impact assessment and alternatives. When we see a requirement that will create problems downstream, we raise it early with options, not after your budget is committed.

The Result

Better decisions made earlier, with full visibility into trade-offs and consequences.

Industry Recognition

Proof and Validation

Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Elite Design House Elite Design House

One of only 12 companies in the Americas

Arrow ACES Trusted Design Partner

Pre-screened and certified

AMD AMD Partner Network Partner Network

FPGA development expertise

Renesas Design House Partner

Semiconductor solutions

Digi-Key Digi-Key Design Service Provider Design Service Provider

Electronics Supply

Government-Regulated

Quality Assurance

PDE holds an EGBC Permit to Practice, operating under a mandatory Professional Practice Management Plan with government-mandated quality controls, cyclical third-party compliance audits, and enforced continuing education for all registered professionals.

This means statutory accountability: PDE is legally bound by a provincial regulator to maintain documented quality management processes, not just contractually bound to you. For Canadian public sector procurement and safety-critical projects, this credential carries material weight.

Ready to Learn More?

Tell us about your project. We'll listen more than we talk. We'll ask technical questions that matter. We'll introduce the execution team who would actually do the work. Most importantly, we'll be honest about what we can deliver and what we can't.

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Tell us about your project and let's explore whether PDE is the right fit.

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Explore Our Work

See detailed case studies across industries.

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Find out What We Can Do

Technical breakdown of services and expertise.

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