Employment Opportunities

Offer of Employment – Arctic Ice Drift Forecasting R&D

THE FOLLOWING POSITION HAS JUST BEEN FILLED. HOWEVER, WE ARE OFTEN SEEKING EXPERTS IN SEA-ICE RELATED FIELDS FOR SHORT TERM ASSIGNMENTS AND OCCASIONALLY PERMANENT POSITIONS.  IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH CANATEC AND HAVE EXPERTISE IN PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING ASPECTS OF SEA ICE, PLEASE CONTACT US.

October 16, 2009

Canatec Associates International Ltd. is seeking to hire a recent PhD graduate or a PhD student soon to graduate, to help us develop an arctic sea ice drift forecasting model. We have funding for a 2 year applied research project and need a person to start on this work as soon as possible.

Canatec (www.canatec.ca) is a consulting firm specializing in sea ice. We do projects relating to remote sensing, physics of movement and engineering properties. Our consulting activities have extended into supporting operational projects in offshore petroleum developments. We develop specialized instrumentation for ice movement measurements and software for ice drift and historical statistics. Canatec also sells training courses to companies needing their oceanographers, meteorologists, engineers, native northerners and marine officers to be better skilled in ice observation. Our markets are global and we are one of the leading international firms in this field. We are growing rapidly and combine the best characteristics of an informal, highly creative, entrepreneurial startup with an established firm with senior partners who have industrial experience of up to 3 decades. Our offices are located in the technology park at the University of Calgary, in Calgary.

Our preference is for a candidate with prior knowledge and experience relating to modeling arctic sea ice drift. However, we know this is an unusual request and will be pleased to consider people with a variety of related backgrounds who have the mathematical, computational and research skills to be able to pick up the additional ice knowledge under the guidance of senior Canatec staff and from external colleagues. Suitable candidates could therefore have backgrounds in oceanography, ocean engineering, fluid dynamics, meteorology, physics or mathematics. Candidates must be Canadian or eligible for permanent employment in Canada.

The candidate will work in Canatec's office under the guidance of senior Canatec staff to produce an ice drift forecasting model that is a tool for commercial use in both consulting and operational support projects. It will be based on existing public models and Canatec's own model currently proven in the field for almost a decade but needing updating. As the research progresses, the candidate must be alert to and assist with spinoffs of potential commercial products. The candidate will need to balance an interest in applied research with involvement in all Canatec's commercial projects, learn from other staff and share his/her knowledge with them. We are seeking a person who is highly skilled, highly creative, entrepreneurial, innovative, interested in dealing with cutting edge industrial applications of knowledge in a variety of fields related to ice and polar seas, comfortable with academic and industrial colleagues, and enjoys working with ambitious clients working in complex, expensive and difficult frontier environments. Our intent is that this person will choose to remain with Canatec and eventually take up a position in the senior management team.

For further information or sending a brief letter and CV, please contact Dr. Scott Tiffin.