2022 CISMaRT Online Workshop – Panelists
Andrew Kendrick, President of SNAME
Andrew is a naval architect with many decades of experience in ship design, applied research, and regulatory development. In 2021 he took up the Presidency of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), in which role he promotes SNAME’s involvement in the key challenges facing the marine industries worldwide, through research, education and information-sharing. Andrew also continues to work as a marine consultant with Vard Marine, following his retirement from the company; and also with other clients in Canada and overseas. He is an active member of a number of other societies and boards related to the marine industry, and a regular presenter at conferences and symposia.
Andy Stone, Director of Project Delivery & Intellectual Property, Ocean Supercluster
Andy is Director of Project Delivery & Intellectual Property at Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. He brings 20+ years of experience working in the innovation space in business development and project management roles working for private, public and not-for-profit sectors. He has specialized in technology commercialization where he has developed an understanding of intellectual property considerations in collaborative R&D projects between industry, academia and government labs.
Erik Johnston, Project Manager, Robert Allan Ltd.
Erik joined Robert Allan Ltd. in 2004 after graduating from the University of British Columbia. Erik holds a B.A.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, with Thermofluids Option, and is a registered Professional Engineer in B.C. Erik leads Robert Allan Ltd.’s activities relating to the design of all sizes of workboats for the offshore wind industry.
Over the last 15 years Erik’s primary responsibility has been the design and engineering of vessels’ propulsion, machinery and ships systems. He has worked on a variety of projects from large Research Ships, OSVs, Tugs, Inland River Pushboats, Pollution Response Vessels, Fireboats and Ferries. Erik is currently a Project Manager, Team Lead Mechanical Engineering. Past projects include design of alternative powering systems for propulsion, including methanol, hydrogen fuel cells and hybrid propulsion. Through an international network of owner and shipyard clients, Robert Allan Ltd. stays at the forefront of alternative powering innovations.
Mandar Avsare, Research Development Officer, Marine RD&D, Transport Canada
Mandar is a research engineer for Transport Canada (Innovation Centre). In this capacity, he leads research, development, and deployment projects focused on decarbonizing the maritime sector. Mandar holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Paul Topping, Director of Regulatory and Environmental Affairs, Chamber of Marine Commerce
Paul is the Director of Regulatory and Environmental Affairs at the Chamber of Marine Commerce located in Canada’s capital, Ottawa. Prior to joining the Chamber in 2017, he worked for 28 years in marine-related positions in the federal government, leading to his last position at Transport Canada as Manager of Environmental Protection with Marine Safety and Security.
Paul has experience managing regulatory programs dealing with preventing water pollution, reducing air pollutants and greenhouse gases, managing ballast water, ocean noise, marine protected areas, and recycling of old ships at both Environment Canada and Transport Canada. He represented Canada at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as part of the Canadian delegation for the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) and at other international forums. As well, he has chaired the Standing Committee on the Environment at the national meetings of the Canadian Marine Advisory Council.
Paul holds an Honours Bachelors of Science Degree in biology from the University of Waterloo and lives in Ottawa valley region.
Dr. Zuomin Dong, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria
Dr. Dong is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a member of the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at the University of Victoria. He and his team researched integrated modelling, simulation, design and control optimization of hybrid electric vehicles, marine vessels, hydrogen fuel cell systems, and power distribution networks. He has established and led the UVic Clean Transportation research team and collaborated closely with many industrial partners, including Ballard, GM, Seapan and BC Ferries.
In recent years, the team’s research focused on integrated design and control optimization tools of various clean marine propulsion solutions to each specific marine application. Aimed to reduce the well-to-wake GHG emissions and air pollutions, the new real-time optimal control method for NG-engine hybrid electric propulsion can substantially reduce fuel cost, CO2e emissions and air pollutants, including methane, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Furthermore, their research on hydrogen fuel cell hybrid electric propulsion seeks significant lifecycle cost reduction to facilitate the adoption of cleaner propulsion. Finally, propeller cavitation noise modelling pursues optimal design and operation control to constrain ship-induced noise pollution.