Established in 1989 by Jonathan Stoppi (still its principal) in London (UK) as Cadonmac – a consultancy to train and advise architects and designers in the use of computer-aided-design (CAD) on the Macintosh – the business was renamed Qualum three years later to reflect its catering to clients' needs for support and training in areas beyond CAD.
Today, it is a multi-disciplinary business offering a range of computing, information and design services in support of individuals, commercial firms and government departments in their work. This includes various CAD services, design services, web consulting, technical documentation and database development.
Have a look round the site – chances are there'll be something we can help you with. In particular, check out our new Good To Know section – continually updated news & info that are, er, good to know, and will continue to be accessible here long after they've disappeared from the newssites where they were first reported.

qualum, Latin, -i, n. wicker basket.
And, er, we offer a basket of services.
And some people say we're kind of basket-cases ourselves…
Alright, alright, we admit it. We chose this name because:

1. People like Latin names. It sounds old, established, and appeals to the common culture of all European-language-speakers around the world. And – in this case, at least – the result doesn't mean "dog poo" in Chinese, either, which is useful.
   
2. People like the letter "q" – think Qinetiq, Qwest, Qantas, Questar, Compaq (R.I.P.). And "Qual" suggests "quality" – or so we'd like to think.
   
3. Because it means nothing in English, it's non-specific, so it can be used in conjunction with whichever service we're offering.
   
4. You try and make a catchy tradename out of the name "Stoppi".
   

Excuse me? Oh, sorry – you mean Qualum High Quality Fenestration. We don't do windows (come to that, we don't do much Windows, either, if we can help it…). Please go to www.qualum.ca.

Hélas – (comme que j'ai justement dit en anglais), nous ne fabriquons pas des fenêtres. Pour Qualum Fenestration de Haute Qualité, veuillez visiter www.qualum.ca.

Sorry, you want the French lessons next door. Ask for Mme Grenier .

No, it's Qualum, not Qualicum (see above). We knew this would happen when we moved to Vancouver Island. No – we have nothing to do with the fine town of Qualicum Beach – although we were really tempted to move there just for the fun of it. When we do, you'll know we've retired.