Digitalization Director
Maya HTT

Olivier Allard is a professional mechanical engineer with over 15 years of experience in IIoT, data collection and expert systems, specializing in predictive engineering software technologies. With a background in various industries such as Datacenter, Marine, Automotive, Aerospace and Defense, Olivier combines a multitude of niche expertise to address today’s challenges.

As Digitalization Director at Maya HTT, Olivier has worked on initiatives in 3D Multiphysics simulation and has participated in the development of digital twins for multiple vessels and different industrial asset types. His work bridges complex physic modelling with real-world operations, enabling data-driven decision-making and performance optimization across sectors. He has been working for the past 12+ years at Maya HTT, a Montreal based SMB offering solution in engineering software, industrial AI and IIoT with over 175 successful projects delivered within the last decade.

Director Strategic Growth
InnovMarine Inc.

Karen Arsenault began her career as a Communications and Electronics Engineering Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces and has since led multidisciplinary teams across national defence, cyber assurance, and critical infrastructure. With expertise in program management, secure-by-design solutions, and emerging AI applications, she brings a strategic, collaborative approach to solving complex challenges. Certified in PMP, CISSP, ITIL, and SAFe, Karen is also an artist, athlete, and writer who applies curiosity, creativity, and commitment to excellence in all she does.

President
Roger Basu & Associates Inc.

Roger I. Basu is a structural engineer with over 50 years of experience.  During his early career he worked on the structural design of bridges, buildings and offshore structures in the UK and Canada.  For the last 30 yrs his focus has been on ships and offshore installations working in Canada and the US.  His recent experience includes teaching at Webb Institute for 2 years and prior to that he was with the American Bureau of Shipping in Houston, Texas for 15 years.  He retired from fulltime employment in 2013 and started his own consulting company based in Toronto working on training and consulting assignments.

Roger holds a Ph.D. in structural engineering from the University of Western Ontario.  He is a Professional Engineer registered in Ontario and is a Fellow of SNAME.

Research, Education and Trainging Lead
ExxonMobil Canada

Tyler is a seasoned geoscientist and innovator at ExxonMobil, boasting over 20 years of industry experience. He has successfully delivered a diverse and valuable portfolio of upstream projects. Tyler holds degrees in Environmental Science and Geology from Western University, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Calgary and has worked for the Royal Ontario Museum and the Geological Survey of Canada on significant research projects and expeditions. 

Since joining Imperial Oil in 2008 and transitioning to ExxonMobil Canada in St. John’s in 2010, Tyler has held various managerial and technical roles, both domestically and internationally. He has spearheaded global-scale initiatives on technology application strategies and portfolio management workflows, ensuring long-term value delivery. In his current role, Tyler is dedicated to fostering collaborations that enhance capability and capacity development within the local energy technology ecosystem. 

Director of Product
MarineLabs Data Systems

Adrian holds a Mechanical Engineering – Thermofluids degree from the University of British Columbia. Adrian is responsible for MarineLabs’ product roadmap, delivering MarineLabs’ weather intelligence products, features, and highest priority customer solutions. Adrian delivered through Pure Technologies' scale up to $100M annual revenue and eventual acquisition by Xylem, holding many roles in product development and management.  At MarineLabs, Adrian focusses on tightly aligning product roadmap to customer needs and workflows to maximize the value delivered across the commercial marine operations and maritime domain awareness market segments.

Solution Architect
IBM Canada

Randy Giffen is a healthcare solutions architect and a member of the IBM Canada Innovation Team.  He has 25 years of experience in software development from coding to senior management and 12 years of experience in patient care including 6 years of general practice. He has conducted academic research in both computer science and healthcare and has 7 US Patents for invention. He is an adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa.
He is currently assigned to the Center for Analytics Informatics and Research at Memorial University. His research interests include the use of predictive analytics and machine learning in the context of clinical care. He is also working on solutions to support behavior change for healthy living.

Previously, he developed software systems for predictive maintenance, enterprise connectivity, and process management. Prior to that he worked on the Eclipse project, which created a widely used open source tool for software development.

Before joining IBM, Randy was a general practice physician in Nova Scotia and also conducted medical informatics research at the Open University in the UK.

CEO
CORSphere

M Sazied Hassan is an engineer and AI entrepreneur focused on the convergence of robotics and intelligent systems. As the founder and CEO of CORSphere, he leads the mission to build the "AI Doctor"—an intelligent predictive partner for autonomous machinery. Sazied directs the company's fusion of mechanical engineering with advanced AI, defines its strategic vision, and forges partnerships across the defence, marine, and energy industries. His work is built on a foundation of reliability engineering at Michelin, Honda, and R&D as a recipient of the Mitacs AI Research Award. Sazied is a graduate of Memorial University's engineering program and the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL-Oceans) program, founded at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management

Associate Professor
University of British Columbia

Dr. Jasmin Jelovica is an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, holding a joint appointment in the Departments of Mechanical and Civil Engineering. He received his Ph.D. from Aalto University, Finland, and his M.Sc. from the University of Rijeka, Croatia, both in Naval Architecture. His research focuses on the development of computational methods for structural analysis and optimization of ships, leveraging scientific machine learning to enable the design of lightweight and sustainable marine structures with enhanced mechanical performance, structural strength, and reduced welding distortions.

Software Engineer & Senior Inventor
IBM

Rosie is a Research Software Engineer at IBM, specializing in the development of next-generation tools and technologies designed to drastically accelerate solutions for today’s most urgent global challenges. Her technical focus involves leveraging geospatial data, AI models, and scalable cloud architectures, with a critical emphasis on applications for climate change mitigation and adaptation. A recognized innovator within the organization, Rosie is designated as a Senior Inventor at IBM and holds two high-value patents.

Her extensive project portfolio demonstrates a blend of scientific ownership and deep engineering execution. Rosie served as the Principal Investigator for the IBM-led science experiments onboard the groundbreaking Mayflower Autonomous Ship, where she drove the project from initial concept through technical development and final deployment. Her ongoing technical leadership includes developing a scalable platform for geospatial AI model inference and fine-tuning, alongside providing core contributions to the IBM granite geospatial ocean foundation model. Rosie is also the lead software engineer for TerraKit, an open-source library for curating AI-ready geospatial datasets.

After completing her BSc in Mathematics from the University of Edinburgh and MSc in Oceanography from the University of Southampton (awarded distinction), Rosie joined IBM's graduate program as a software engineer. Recognizing the value of using technology to tackle real world problems, like those covered in her MSc, Rosie became an Emerging Technology Specialist, progressing on to be a Research Software Engineer within IBM Research where she works today.

Professor and Head of Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering
Memorial University

Dr. Wei Qiu is Professor and Head of Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering at Memorial University. His research is in the area of marine hydrodynamics and its applications to ships and offshore structures. He has led numerous projects involving marine industries and government agencies.

Dr. Qiu has served in many international organizations, including the Chair of the ITTC Ocean Engineering Committee, a member of the ISSC Environment Committee, and a member of the joint ISSC-ITTC Committee. He is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE). He also serves as the Chair of the Interim Board of the Canadian Network for Innovative Shipbuilding, Marine Research and Training (CISMaRT).

Head of Innovation and Research
BMT

Passionate about Innovation and technological development, Jake has led a range of cross-business research programmes and is currently the Global Head of Innovation and Research at BMT. He is a member of the World Futures Society and has created an innovative horizon scanning framework to track and categorise emergent technologies. He has also been named an honorary professor at the University of Exeter in recognition for his work in leading industry-academic collaboration.

Software Developer
National Research Council Canada

Balsher is a data scientist and machine learning practitioner working on maritime data analysis and digital twin technology. He is involved in projects focusing on performance monitoring and environmental data from Canadian Coast Guard vessels at the National Research Council (NRC) in St. John’s. Balsher develops platforms that combine operational data with machine learning and digital twin models to provide comprehensive insights. He holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from Memorial University. Balsher’s expertise lies in developing data-driven solutions that support sustainable maritime operations through advanced analytics and visualization techniques. Passionate about bridging cutting-edge technology with real-world applications, Balsher aims to enhance the efficiency and environmental stewardship of maritime industries by harnessing the power of data.

Senior Program Manager/Principal Engineer
ABS Canada Inc.  

Matthyw is a Professional Engineer working in the Canadian Marine industry since 2003 and with ABS since 2023.  He is a capability builder and subject matter expert specializing in marine environment, regulatory, operational, and advanced systems modeling.  He’s worked on everything from icebreaker design to submarine refit to Arctic shipping and marine traffic modeling, and all kinds of marine technology and design projects.  His current work includes efficiency technology projects, vessel traffic modeling and prediction, and regulatory implementation and impact assessment, among other interesting things.

Manager, Technology for the Digital Research Team
ABS

Eric has worked in the maritime and offshore industry for 15 years through various roles, including in-service technologies, digitalization, decarbonization, and product management. His career at the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has allowed him to contribute to teams within ABS Bureau and ABS Wavesight. Currently, as the Manager, Technology for the Digital Research team, he supports the digital transformation of the maritime industry by working on cutting-edge technologies such as Digital Twins, Visualization Technologies, AI/ML, Autonomy, and OT Cybersecurity. His academic background includes a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in Civil Engineering with a focus on uncertainty quantification from Vanderbilt University.