Rand Ackroyd

Rand Ackroyd worked for Watts Regulator Co. from 1972 to 1997, holding positions including vice president of Codes and Standards and vice president of Research and Development. He held more than 15 patents in backflow prevention valves as well as general plumbing products. After leaving Watts in 1997, he started his own technical consulting company, Rand Engineering, Inc. The company provided expert witness, forensic and litigation support services in the field of plumbing product performance, specifically with backflow prevention, pressure regulation, temperature control and safety pressure relief valves. Rand Engineering was also actively involved in developing and updating plumbing product performance standards, obtaining product approvals and managing the Plumbing and Drainage Institute (PDI) trade association. Ackroyd attended Wentworth College, graduating as valedictorian of his class, and then Northeastern University, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. Ackroyd was named IAPMO’s Industry Person of the Year in 1996, and ASSE presented him with the Fellow Award for Outstanding Contributions in 1998 and the Henry B. Davis Award for Meritorious Service in 1999. Following his passing in February of 2013, ASSE named an award in his honor – the Rand Ackroyd Award, which is annually presented to an individual who has expressed a thorough knowledge and true dedication to the ASSE backflow prevention program or the backflow prevention industry by their efforts in protecting our drinking water through cross-connection control and education.