Our Ice Team (for more detail, click on each name)

Partners

Canatec's three partners have been working with sea ice since the early 1970s.

Chris Hill, B.Sc. - Geographer, President of Canatec, with 25 years experience in sea-ice analysis, imagery interpretation, and reconnaissance systems integration. Extensive field experience in Beaufort and Caspian Seas.

Roger Pilkington, Ph.D. - Founding Associate of Canatec, 35 years experience in physical analysis of sea-ice, quantitative methods, forecasting, on-site monitoring, and software development. Served as on-board ice advisor/forecaster to the Arctic Coring Expedition of 2004, the first ever deep sea coring project in north polar ice cover from surface ships.

Scott Tiffin M. Eng. (Oceans), Ph.D. - Offshore structures design experience in 1970s in Newfoundland, field work  building Fenco ice islands, PetroCanada Arctic LNG tankers, deployment of beacons on high arctic ice islands. Main focus is now on corporate management and development of new projects, markets and products. Leads the beacon, software and training activities.

Professional Staff

With the recent upsurge in offshore arctic work, Canatec has engaged a team of highly skilled and motivated young professionals.

Leonardo Guzman M.Sc. - Initiated career as a civil engineer working on design and projection of water supply networks and small hydraulic structures; M.Sc. in hydrology and geomatics; with Canatec since October 2008 as a data/GIS analyst.

Scott Thumlert B.Eng. - Mechanical engineer designing structural components of beacons, project field operations support and Health, Safety, Environmental manager.

Chris Ulan-Kvitberg, BSc. - education in physics and mechanical engineering. In 2010 will start a Masters of Engineering degree in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture at Memorial U.

Mauricio Velasco, M. Eng.,  M.Sc. - Oil industry experience with control systems in Colombia;  during M.Sc. studies at U Calgary developed 3D computer simulations and 3D data visualization systems; author of 3 academic publications.

Tyler Sylvestre, M.Sc. - Geographer specializing in arctic ice. General project design and analysis, satellite image interpretation and field support.

Edgar Herrera Guzman, Ph.D. - Climatologist, hydrologist and statistician specialist. Develops Canatec's ice drift forecast modelling system for the Beaufort Sea region. General support to all consulting projects. The project is sponsored by Alberta Ingenuity Technology Futures - Provincial Government Organisation.

Associates

To supply skills in closely-related areas, and give broader geographic reach, Canatec has a group of associates, some of whom work by formal contract almost exclusively with us on arctic consulting and operations projects; all are recognized as leading professionals in their fields.

Dave McGonigal, P.Eng. - Senior ocean engineer, with 25 years experience, specializing in regional and local area ice analysis, on-site monitoring, operations support management and ice-structure interaction. Field experience in Beaufort Sea, Newfoundland and Labrador, Caspian Sea.

Alex Brovin, Ph.D - Senior ice research associate. Formerly head of the Ice Navigation Research Laboratory of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St. Petersburg, Russia. 30 years experience in regional ice regime analysis, ice forecasting methods, on-site monitoring. Field experience in Russian Arctic, Sea of Okhotsk, Caspian Sea.

Doug Hagen - One of Canada's foremost satellite image interpretation specialists. Over 25 years experience in interpreting ice features and ice development from optical and radar imagery, including airborne and satellite based sensors. Trained in operations of the Canadian Ice Service.

Bob Marcellus, P.Eng. - Senior Ice Engineering Associate with 30 years experience in definition of ice design criteria for in-ice structures, construction of ice-resistant gravel islands, design and installation of pipelines in ice-infested waters.

Niel Hillier, Master Mariner - 30 years experience as Ice Pilot and Captain in Arctic and Antarctic seas.

Lars Friis, Mariner - 30 years experience as Ice Pilot, Captain and navigation consultant for offshore and arctic petroleum operations.

Business and Office Management

Svetlana Machurina, BEcon., MBA - After working with several large multinational firms like Phillips and Samsung, Ms Machurina has joined Canatec to lead Marketing and Sales, and help with overall Canatec strategy and management.

Paul Cooper - Canatec's Chief Information Officer, with 20 years experience in software development, computer integration, robotics and remote monitoring in a variety of industrial settings from mining to oil and gas.

Patricia L. Sawatzky, BComm - Thirty years of experience providing accounting and financial management services to numerous clients in Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto and has been working with Canatec for three years.

Maria Carvalho - Over fifteen years of experience working with different companies in varying industries to bring their books to current status while working to streamline operations.