The Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers for the Board of OceansAdvance Inc. is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.  Thursday, February 27. 2014 at the Ocean Coastal and River Engineering- NRC Building, MUN Campus.

Please mark your calendars

In order to provide support to the Cluster and consistency with previous elections Cathy Hogan, Project Manager of OCEANS’14 has agreed to assist OceansAdvance with the upcoming AGM and Election.  Please direct your inquiries to her, however, please note that any questions or correspondence to Ms. Hogan will be answered after regular business hours.

If you wish to attend this event Please RSVP cathy.hogan@oceansadvance.net no later than 4:00 P.M. Monday, February 24.

We are very excited that the guest speaker for this year’s event is Dr. Richard Marceau – Vice President Research at Memorial University. In his presentation he  will explore “The Canadian University Business Model and the Role of Research.”

Election of Officers

We have an excellent selection of seven candidates on the ballot for this year’s election and we encourage everyone to vote. There are four vacancies. To aid in your decision please read on to view trhe bios of the seven candidates. Attached with this story, for those who may wisdh to vote early or online, is an electronic copy of the ballot for this year’s Election of Officers.

In order to give all Cluster Members an opportunity to vote, and recognizing that not everyone is available to attend the AGM we  will once again be  holding an advance poll  Advance poll voting can be done either electronically or via postal mail.  Ballots will be accepted until 12:00 noon , Friday, February 14, 2014. Please see the attached ballot if you wish to take advantage of this method of voting.

Please forward your advance e-ballot to cathy.hogan@oceansadvance.net  As in the past all advance ballots will be held in the strictest of confidence.            

If you wish to send your vote via Canada Post our address is: OA AGM, Cathy Hogan, C/O OceansAdvance Inc., Arctic Ave, MUN Campus, Box 12093, St. John’s, NL, A1B 3T5

The usual process for voting will take place at the AGM.

The AGM will be followed by a social.

If you wish to attend this event Please RSVP cathy.hogan@oceansadvance.net no later than 4:00 P.M. Monday, February 24.

Thank you and we hope to see you at the AGM !

Bios of Candidates for OA Election of Officers, Feb. 27, 2014

The following list of candidates is in alphabetical order

  1. Gary Dominic Corbett, Town of Holyrood
  2. Kristopher M. McNeil, Solace Power Inc.   
  3. Mark Murphy, PBA, OCRE   
  4. Greg Naterer, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, MUN
  5. Anthony Patterson, MM, BMS
  6. Leonard Pecore, Genoa Design International   
  7. Derek Scott, Provincial Aerospace   


If you choose to vote in the ADVANCE POLL please CLICK HERE to download the ballot
for this year’s election and follow the instructions for mailing or emailing your ballot in confidence.

Please select your choice of FOUR officers to serve on the OA Board from the SEVEN candidates identified.

Gary Dominic Corbett,
Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Holyrood

Gary Corbett began his career as Chief Administrative Officer at the Town of Holyrood in February, 2009 having previously spent 32 years in the field of Education. During the time period of 1975 to 2007, Gary was effectively engaged in a number of positions in the provincial education system including Eastern District Program Specialist for Physical Education, Active and Healthy Living, Administrator at Avalon West School District, an Administrator at Western Avalon School Board and an Administrator and Physical Education Teacher at Conception Bay Centre. 

Gary’s management style is one of an organizational learning theory and throughout his profession he has developed and delivered numerous professional development modules. He is most notable know for the positive and cutting edge “change process” that he brings to organizations.

He has a distinguished sports career provincially and nationally spending twenty five years as a player and 15 years on the provincial executive including the position of President.  He is in the Softball Newfoundland and Labrador Hall of Fame player category. Gary is well known for his involvement with Softball Newfoundland and Labrador, Softball Canada and the International Softball Federation where he was selected chairperson of organizing committees for 3 national and 1 international softball events. One of his most prestigious honors was to be selected by the Bahamas Softball federation to develop a Strategic Softball Plan for 6 of the Islands in the Bahamas.

Gary has an extensive list of personal skills which ensure quality work, practical understanding, honesty, integrity and shared decision making.
Gary was born April 14, 1953 and was raised in Holyrood where he continues to live with his wife Sandra. He has four children and two grandchildren.

Kristopher M. McNeil,
President and Founder, Solace Power Inc.

Kristopher brings more than 12 years of experience, mostly from Consilient Technologies Inc. and International Communications And Navigation (ICAN) Ltd.; both technology startups based in St. John’s, NL.

Experience with Consilient includes growth of a company from 5 employees to 75; experience in efforts to raise private, venture and government funding; creation and development of flagship products; establishment of relations with large billion-dollar industry partners such as Nokia, Oracle and Sun Microsystems; acquisition through RFQ (Request for Quotation) and RFP (Request for Proposal) processes of multi-billion dollar customers including SingTel, the leading mobile phone carrier in Singapore.

It was through the innovation of Mr. McNeil that the first Consilient product was created and developed to launch the company into the wireless push email market space. Through his knowledge and experience with wireless technologies, he helped to establish the company’s first major partnership with Research In Motion (RIM, now Blackberry) of Waterloo, Ontario. It was through collaboration with RIM that Mr. McNeil was able to also meet and establish relations with Sun Microsystems Inc. and Oracle, Inc.

In establishing relationships with Sun and Oracle, Mr. McNeil led Consilient into the development of its next generation product, Consilient Push. Through contacts established with these partners, Kristopher also established a relationship with Nokia, the (then) world leading Finnish-based cell phone manufacturer. Success with this partnership also led to partnerships with other mobile phone manufacturers.

Following his departure from Consilient, Mr. McNeil began working with ICAN Ltd. to help enhance their line of products for marine navigation and communication. In his time with ICAN, he worked on several large tender bids and ICAN successfully won contracts with large organizations such as the Turkish Navy, the U.K. General Lighthouse Authority, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, Mr. McNeil also helped ICAN in its winning bid to deploy a major nation-wide infrastructure upgrade for the Canadian Coast Guard, and also helped with the winning bid for a similar, though much larger, infrastructure upgrade project for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Mark Murphy,

PBA, OCRE

Work Area: I started at OCRE as Portfolio Business Advisor (PBA) on September 3, 2013. My role is to provide business leadership to the Portfolio and its external clients and collaborators.  With in-depth market intelligence and market-driven objectives and plans, my major responsibilities are to drive impact to NRC’s stakeholders and to secure external financial revenue at a level appropriate to support the programs. 

Career Highlights: I have been fortunate enough to work with some of the top Tier 1 companies in the world.  I started my career with Proctor & Gamble as Assistant Brand Manager for Olay, their flagship beauty care line and achieved double-digit growth through new product launches and innovative co-marketing initiatives. I was the first recipient of P&G’s recognition award for outstanding contribution to the business for increasing sales by +40% on the Olay gift set line. I also won two P&G Marketing Awards: Best Insight-Driven & People’s Choice, for my advertising campaign, CONFESSIONS. After several years, I was then recruited by the Campbell Soup Company as Brand Manager for Meal & Snack Solutions, a $50+ million portfolio and successfully achieved double digit growth via new product launches and line extensions.  Most recently, I was the VP of Marketing & Business Development with a local technology company focused on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions.  Our business focused on the oil and gas value chain and establishing a global reseller network and again managed to deliver double-digit sales growth.

Origin and Educational Background: I was born in Halifax and raised in St. John’s. I completed my Bachelor of Commerce in the Co-Operative Program at MUN, graduating in 1998.

Home life – Marital status and children: I got married 2 years ago to Claire Miller who also grew up in St. John’s. Claire is a certified yoga & pilates teacher and owns her own studio called Newfound Movement (www.newfoundmovement.ca).

Favourite Hobbies and pastimes: I enjoy snowboarding /rollerblading and walking my 8-month-old Boxer, Rosie. I also play guitar and am a lead vocalist in a 5-piece band, called “Any Other Tuesday”.

 
Greg Naterer, PhD, PEng, FEIC, FCSME, FASME
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, MUN.

Dr. Naterer is an innovative leader in engineering education. His achievements and contributions to engineering span the range of education, research and professional practice. He has served the engineering profession with dedication and commitment to excellence in teaching and research.

Dr. Naterer has made significant contributions to mechanical engineering, specifically in the fields of energy systems, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. He led an international hydrogen energy consortium, involving 8 collaborating institutions, 5 countries and 6 industrial partners, which developed the world’s first large-scale Cu-Cl cycle of water splitting for hydrogen production. He has (co-)authored over 400 journal and conference papers, 6 patents, and 3 books in the fields of thermal-fluids and energy systems.

Among his awards and honors for research and teaching, he received the CNS Innovative Achievement Award of the Canadian Nuclear Society and CSME Jules Stachiewitz Medal of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Naterer was the recipient of the Best Professor Teaching Award from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s (UOIT) Engineering Student Society. He has co-authored a number of technical papers that have received best paper awards.

Dr. Naterer has served in prominent international leadership roles in engineering research and education. He chaired the NSERC Discovery Grant Committee (Mechanical Engineering), Thermophysics Technical Committee of AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) and an international hydrogen production division of IAHE (International Association of Hydrogen Energy). He has actively contributed to the engineering profession through activities such as serving as executive director of the PEO Lake Ontario Chapter and Iron Ring Warden of Camp One.

Dr. Naterer was born in Toronto, Ontario. He received his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Waterloo in 1995. Dr. Naterer and his wife, Josie, have three children. Prior to Memorial University of Newfoundland, he was Associate Dean of Engineering and Applied Science at UOIT, as well as a Canada Research Chair in Advanced Energy Systems, Tier 1. Dr. Naterer is a Fellow of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC).

Anthony Patterson, MM, BMS
President and CEO, Virtual Marine Technology Inc.

Capt. Patterson joined Virtual Marine Technology Inc. as President and CEO in 2007 and has been responsible for transforming the company into Canada’s leading maritime simulation company with a particular focus on automated worksite systems.

Anthony Patterson was an officer in the Canadian Coast Guard for 19 years.  Following his career in the Coast Guard, Capt. Patterson managed Canada’s largest maritime simulation centre for 7 years at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Capt. Patterson holds a Master Mariner Certificate, a Coast Guard Command Certificate and a Bachelor of Maritime Studies.  He is also the Chair of OceansAdvance, a Director of the Aerospace and Defence Industry Association of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Deputy-Divisional Master in the Company of Master Mariners of Canada.

Leonard Pecore,
President, Genoa Design International

Leonard graduated from Acadia University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts, and joined the Canadian Military as a Naval Officer in 1987 where he completed 10 years service in both the Regular Forces and Naval reserves. He graduated with a Diploma of Technology in Naval Architecture from the Marine Institute in 1995 and obtained a Masters Certificate in Project Management in 2001.

Leonard started Genoa Design International in 1995, providing detail production design and lofting to the Shipbuilding and Offshore industries in North America, South America and Europe. Genoa currently employs more than 25 people in its office in Newfoundland and is an award winning company.

Genoa’s notable projects include the Washington State Ferries, Staten Island Ferries for New York City, U.S. Coastguard icebreakers, a U.S. Navy littoral combat ship, Iraqi Navy Patrol vessel, Canadian provincial ferries, ocean-going articulated tug barge vessels, offshore supply vessels, tugs, towboats, tanker barges, and chemical/product tankers. Genoa regularly participates in research and development projects in collaboration with other shipyards, design firms and software developers in the United States under the National Shipbuilding Research Program. Earlier in 2012, Genoa was named a sub-contract partner in Canada’s multi-billion dollar National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, which will propel significant growth for the company over the next 20 years.

Genoa is now owned by a team of design associates, each with a minimum of 10 years’ experience in marine design.

Derek Scott,

Vice President, Program Development, Provincial Aerospace

Derek is a 25-year employee with Provincial Aerospace (PAL) His career with the company commenced in the software engineering field, developing tactical data management systems for special missions aircraft which were under contract to perform surveillance of Canada’s oceanic boundaries. During his tenure, progressive positions have been held by Derek in that were reflective of the broad base of advanced skill sets applicable to Canadian surveillance operations and finally today in business and program development for similar applications around the world.

Over the years, Derek’s has achieved many visible accomplishments within Provincial Aerospace, such as leading an initiative that resulted in the expansion of Provincial Aerospace’s airborne surveillance operations with the Government of Canada. The result of this initiative continues today as a significant contributor to the protection and expression of sovereignty over Canada’s critical maritime approaches and boundaries. It also contributed significantly to developing the company’s core competencies that are now marketed internationally in the ocean and aerospace and defence sectors.

Derek also has also been active in the local community to foster an industrial base with the objective of securing, diversifying and expanding the oceans and aerospace and defence sectors in Newfoundland and Labrador. He is also a founding board member of the Aerospace and Defence Industry Association of Newfoundland and Labrador and currently serves as Vice President, Business Development. He also serves as a Member of the Board for OceansAdvance, which comprises many local stakeholders with core competencies and certifications applicable to both the oceans and the aerospace and defence industry with a specific focus on the maritime environment.