Paul obtained his Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 1981 and went on to work for McKenzie Snowball Skalbania and Bogue Babicki Associates before establishing Paul Fast Associates Ltd. in 1985.  Gerald Epp joined the firm shortly after, and in 1989 the corporate partnership of Fast + Epp was formed.

Paul's experience at Bogue Babicki Associates, a practice known for innovation, ignited his passion to explore new ways of creating economical and architecturally expressive structures.  Over the next 25 years Paul’s creativity, enthusiasm, and curiosity for challenging expressive structures has guided the firm to numerous award winning projects.

Paul sits on advisory boards with the Structural Engineers Association of British Columbia, the Institute of Research in Construction of the National Research Council of Canada, and the Canadian Wood Council.  In 2010, he was named an honorary member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers in the United Kingdom.