After completing a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, Erin Herman joined the family farming business where he worked for nine years. During that time, the farm grew from a 2,000-acre grain farm to a 21,000-acre mixed farming operation.
During this expansion, Erin and the Herman family designed and constructed a unique grain upgrading and seed cleaning facility that was used to enhance the farm business. Erin also codeveloped and patented a zero-tillage seeder, which was licensed to a Canadian farm equipment manufacturer. At that time, zero and minimum-tillage farming practices were gaining popularity in Saskatchewan and the group was among the earliest adopters of the technology.
In 2003, Erin and his family decided to exit agriculture and pursued a long-term interest in industrial equipment design, manufacturing, fabrication and commercialization. As an entrepreneur, Erin was a founding partner in two businesses that successfully developed and commercialized technology used by some of the most prominent oil and gas service companies in North America such as Haliburton and Baker Hughes.
Erin led his companies through the development and manufacturing of portable bulk storage equipment for which over three dozen patents were obtained. These technologies improved worker safety and efficiency while simplifying operations. Among the inventions were portable sand silos with specialized transport trailers and innovative product handling and transloading solutions. This equipment was commercialized and sold. Some designs were sold to an American oil and gas company in 2009, and later technologies were sold to SmartSand Inc. After SmartSand Inc., acquired the technology in 2018, Erin stayed on as of Vice-President of Engineering in Saskatoon, Sask.
Erin joined SRC in 2019 as a member of the Board of Directors before accepting a staff position in 2021 in the Rare Earth Element Division. In this role, he worked with the team that is constructing SRC’s minerals-to-metals Rare Earth Processing Facility, a first-of-its-kind in North America.
In his current role as Associate Vice-President of Fabrication, Research and Development, Erin is leading the research and development and fabrication teams focused on the commercialization of the Metal Smelting and Solvent Extraction Units of SRC’s Rare Earth Processing Facility. Erin is also involved in developing several patents for the proprietary in-house technology developed by SRC for the processing facility, including process equipment and novel sensor technology.
