About Jim

Jim is a 40-year veteran of the ocean technology industry, having worked in engineering, marketing, and management for companies in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and New England. His career has spanned the aerospace and defense sectors as well as the marine environmental monitoring field. Jim has worked in senior management positions with several large publicly traded multinationals. He has also been a business owner in two separate tech companies that have successfully grown and been purchased by large multinationals.

Jim currently serves as the CEO of COVE – The Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship. COVE is a 70+ tenant ocean technology hub in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He also serves on a number of advisory boards & councils including the Ocean Tracking Network, the Ocean Frontier Institute, and the National Research Council of Canada’s Ocean, Coastal & River Engineering Research Centre. In 2013 he served on the Expert Panel of the Canadian Council of Academies studying the future of ocean science in Canada.

Jim is a graduate of Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Engineering with a degree in electrical engineering. He also has an MBA in marketing from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax and is a registered professional engineer in Nova Scotia. Jim was elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2020.

MTS and Other Association Experience

While there currently is not an MTS chapter active in Nova Scotia, in past I have been part of the organizing committee for the MTS/IEEE Oceans Conferences in Halifax in both 1987 and 1997. I am currently the industry chair for the organizing committee for the Oceans Conference coming back to Halifax in 2024. As part of this, I am active in re-establishing a chapter of MTS here in Halifax.

I have attended and participated in more than 20 Oceans conferences over my career. I was particularly honored to accept the Compass International Award on behalf of COVE from Dr. Rick Spinrad at the recent Oceans Conference in Seattle. I remain a big supporter of the organization and its goals – to promote awareness, understanding, advancement and application of marine technology. This completely aligns with my personal activities and objectives over the past 8 years leading COVE. I have recently announced that I plan to retire as CEO of COVE in 2020, but plan to remain very active in the marine technology sector and will likely have more time available for volunteer activities than in past!

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