In 1965 he moved his young family back to Vancouver and started his career as a professor at UBC. By 1968 he was feeling the urge to try his hand at entrepreneurship and, with his friend and colleague, Vern Dettwiler, founded MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates in the basement of his Vancouver home in 1969 while continuing to serve as a professor at UBC.
In 1965, he moved back to Vancouver and began teaching as a professor at UBC. By 1968, he felt the urge to start his own business, and with his friend Vern Dettwiler, they founded MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates in 1969 from their basement home in Vancouver while still holding his professorship at UBC.