Executive Profiles
Charles Randell, Ph.D., P.Eng.
President & Chief Executive Officer
Since Charles became President in 2006, C-CORE has realized 100% revenue growth, 50% personnel growth and expansion virtually across the country (including offices in Nova Scotia, Ottawa and - most recently - Calgary). In 2011 under his leadership C-CORE has established two Centres of Excellence: LOOKNorth (the only federally-designated Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research in Atlantic Canada) and CARD (the Centre for Arctic Resource Development, sponsored by the Hibernia and Terra Nova projects and the Research & Development Corporation of Newfoundland & Labrador.
A Professional Engineer who holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering from Lakehead University , as well as Masters and Doctoral degrees in Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Victoria, Charles began his career in 1981 with the offshore oil and gas industry, then worked in telecommunications, and ultimately in engineering technology development. His technical expertise spans a broad spectrum of remote sensing including synthetic aperture radar, satellite remote sensing and terrestrial radar systems, and underwater optical and acoustic sensing.
Charles has a substantial record success in initiating, negotiating and stewarding multi-million-dollar multi-national collaborations for industry and government, comprising over 30 international partners and with values exceeding $20M. He is well versed in international business development, negotiation, and management.
Susan Kennedy, B.Comm., CMA
Vice President, Corporate Services
Susan is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) with over 20 years of corporate and project level business management experience. Susan became C-CORE’s Chief Financial Officer responsible for the corporation’s financial performance, intellectual property management, human resource strategies and operational policies in 2001. In 2005 Susan became Vice-President. Susan works with C-CORE’s talented team of engineers, scientists and business experts to develop corporate strategies to continue to grow and position C-CORE as Newfoundland and Labrador ’s premier corporation delivering innovative engineering solutions to clients worldwide.
Desmond Power, M.Eng., P.Eng.
Vice President, Remote Sensing
Desmond has been working with Radar and Vision systems for over 15 years. He has a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering in acoustical imaging systems and first joined C-CORE in 1991. He became an integral part of a research team that developed the Northern Radar surface wave radar facility at Cape Race Newfoundland. He has considerable expertise with applications of satellite and shore based radar, including high frequency, ultra-high frequency and microwave-based systems.
Desmond's experience includes antenna system design and development, receiver design, and radar signal processing. Desmond has been leading the development of advanced methods for iceberg detection including shore based radar and satellite based synthetic aperture radar. He is currently leading several projects on ground movement monitoring with satellite-based interferometry. He is also leading the development of encroachment monitoring systems and techniques using radar and high-resolution optical satellites. Desmond's considerable expertise, in hardware, software and signal processing techniques, significantly contributes to C-CORE's radar and vision systems activities.
Jim Bruce, BSc., P.Eng.
Director, Ice Engineering
Jim Bruce, formerly C-CORE’s Deputy Director of Ice Engineering, has been appointed Director of Ice Engineering. Jim holds a B.Sc. in civil engineering and has over 20 years of ice engineering experience. His expertise includes ice load assessments on offshore structures, characterisation of ice and environment for developing region specific design bases, field experiments and structural analyses. Most recently, Jim was principal investigator on an ice keel test program, under the Pipeline Ice Risk Assessment and Mitigation (PIRAM) Joint Industry Project, studying the ultimate strength of gouging ice keels. Recent projects include ice load assessments for structures in the Barents and Caspian Seas, offshore Newfoundland and Labrador and Lake Erie, ice management requirements for operations off West Greenland and ice regime characterisations of the Northwest Passage, Barents and Chukchi Seas, West Greenland and Labrador Shelf.
Note: C-CORE’s former Director of Ice Engineering Freeman Ralph has taken on a new role, as doctoral student and Ph.D. candidate at Memorial University’s Faculty of Engineering. While pursuing doctoral research, Freeman will continue to work with C-CORE’s Ice Engineering Group.
Christopher Fowler, M.Eng., P. Eng.
Director, Systems Team
Chris has a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and has been with C-CORE since 2001. His previous experience includes monitoring and analyzing existing processes and recommending appropriate technological improvements. Much of this work involved adaptation and implementation of existing technology for use in demanding production environments. Recently this experience has been moved into intelligent sensors applications including image processing, intelligent control and robotics projects directed toward the natural resource industries.
Ryan Phillips, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Principal Consultant
Ryan has over 30 years of geotechnical engineering experience. He has been involved in a wide range of industrial research projects including soil - pipeline interaction and performance of offshore foundations, performance of production platforms, thaw-induced settlement of pipelines in permafrost, and wave action on submerged causeways. Ryan is an expert in geotechnical physical modeling and has carried out numerous applied research programs for industry.
Ian Jordaan FCAE, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Principal Consultant
Ian Jordaan became a principal consultant to C-CORE in 2005. Ian is President of Ian Jordaan and Associates Inc., St John’s. He is Professor Emeritus and University Research Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. For the period 1986 - 1996 he was NSERC-MOBIL Industrial Research Professor of Ocean Engineering at the same university. Previously he served as Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, at the University of Calgary, and worked for several years at Det norske Veritas (Canada) Ltd., ending as Vice-President (Research and Development) in 1986. He has been involved extensively in developing methodology for engineering design criteria, and in the use of probability theory and risk analysis applied to engineering problems.
Ian has acted as a consultant in many studies, including determination of the design loads for the Confederation Bridge, and studies for the Terra Nova design, the West Bonne Bay prospect, the AMEC gravity based concept, the White Rose project and the Hebron prospect. He has received the Horst Leipholz Medal for contributions to mechanics, and the P.L. Pratley Award for the best paper on bridge engineering, both from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. Recently he served on an Expert Panel of the Royal Society of Canada, advising the Minister of Natural Resources Canada on science issues related to oil and gas activities offshore British Columbia. In 2005 he was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
Paul Adlakha P.Eng.
Executive Director, LOOKNorth
Paul Adlakha joined C-CORE in early 2007 as Director of Marketing. While retaining those responsibilities, he has been appointed Executive Director of LOOKNorth (Leading Operational Observations and Knowledge for the North). Paul will provide leadership and overall direction to this new Canadian Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research hosted by C-CORE. He holds a B.Sc. in electrical engineering and has 25 years of experience in senior marketing and business development roles in technology-based manufacturing and service companies. Before joining C-CORE Paul was V.P. Marketing and Sales at SEIMAC Ltd.
Originally from India, Paul has lived in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. Paul now lives in Fall River, just outside Halifax , with his fiancée. He has 4 daughters also living in Nova Scotia.
Arash Zakeri Ph.D., P.Eng.
Director, Geotechnical Engineering
Arash has 10 years of national and international experience on numerous large-scale civil engineering, mine waste management and offshore projects in Canada, USA, Australia, New Caledonia, Norway, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, Greenland (Denmark) and Vietnam. As a researcher in the field of offshore geosciences, Arash has expertise in estimation of drag forces on pipelines and seafloor installations caused by a submarine debris flow and turbidity current impact. Further expertise include offshore geohazards study, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis, earth dam classification and design, dam break analysis, tailings basin siting, planning, and management, specialized geotechnical / foundation analysis and modelling including stability of natural and embankment slopes, settlement estimation and foundation (deep and shallow) design, liquefaction potential evaluation, earthquake effects and seismic/dynamic stability of earth dams, cost tracking, drawing preparation, assimilation of geotechnical data / information and site characterization.
The primary focus of Arash’s team is to work with the oil and gas, mining and government authorities in addressing their offshore and on-shore geotechnical challenges and to provide innovative and/or effective solutions.
Stephen Churchill, M.Eng, P.Eng.
Program Director, LOOKNorth
Stephen has been appointed Program Director for LOOKNorth. In this role, he oversees the execution of the Centre's programs and the on-going activities of the Centre and its staff.
Stephen joined C-CORE's Remote Sensing Group in 2001, bringing extensive experience in telecommunications. After undertaking increasingly responsible leadership and management roles, in 2008 he relocated from St. John's to Ottawa to head C-CORE's first expansion office. As Director of Operations for Ottawa, Stephen oversaw the strategic and daily operations of C-CORE's Ottawa branch.
Stephen holds a Master of Engineering degree and has a broad range of experience, including aerospace and remote sensing projects with Canadian and International partners. His technical background includes remote sensing and EO data applications, as well as risk assessment and data fusion.
Joseph Chamberland B.Eng.
Director of Operations, Ottawa
Joseph Chamberland joined the C-CORE team in 2008 as the Deputy Director of Operations at C-CORE's Ottawa office. He holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and has experience in research and development of emerging radar applications, with a focus on digital signal processing. His expertise covers a considerable range of applications including tracking, data fusion techniques, SAR image encoding and covert encryption. His DSP experience combined with his experience in remote sensing has allowed him to lead research projects on emerging space borne SAR technologies such as polarimetry and interferometry. As Director of Operations, Ottawa, Joseph will oversee the strategic and daily operations of C-CORE's Ottawa branch.
