Leadership
Geoff Clark
Chief Executive Officer
Geoff Clark is Chief Executive Officer at Acceleware Ltd., leading a broad research and development portfolio of electromagnetic technologies that focus on economic industrial heating electrification of applications such as low-emissions, low-cost heavy oil production, critical minerals drying, and carbon capture, among others. Geoff’s vision is that electrification could replace large-scale industrial combustion heating, materially lowering global GHG emissions in the near term. He is a strategic leader who is resolute in developing a profitable, sustainable, and low emissions economy for all.
Geoff brings decades of operational leadership experience with many technology companies, and has been instrumental to the successful completion of multiple large-scale commercial projects. His experience ranges across a diverse set of industries, including electromagnetic systems, magnetic levitation, environmental services, internet services and energy. In 2021, Geoff received Canada's Clean50 Award™, which recognizes teams who have done the most to advance the cause of sustainability and the clean economy in Canada. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Western University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Calgary.
Dr. Michal Okoniewski
Chief Scientific Officer & Co-Founder
Michal Okoniewski is Acceleware’s Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Okoniewski co-founded Acceleware in 2004 and is a renowned expert in applied computational electrodynamics and RF and electromagnetics/antenna engineering. Michal has a proven history of developing leading-edge scientific solutions for the electronics, medical and energy industries.
With over 35 years of experience, Michal has pioneered hardware acceleration of computational electromagnetics, authoring many technical publications including a paper in Nature Journal, and obtaining dozens of patents. His innovations have revolutionized electromagnetic simulations and design methods, and he is now having the same impact on the decarbonization of industrial heating and drying via electromagnetics. Prior to Acceleware, Michal provided consulting services for the electronic and biomedical industries in North America and Europe. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University, Gdansk and is a Fellow of IEEE. He is a Professor for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department with the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary, Canada.
Mike Tourigny
Chief Operations Officer
Mike Tourigny is Acceleware’s Chief Operating Officer. Mike has over 30 years of international experience building high-growth, disruptive and innovative businesses in the energy, utilities, and technology sectors. Mike began his career in the oil and gas industry before pivoting to technology, where he worked to commercialize multiple ground-breaking innovations. He joined Acceleware in 2013, attracted by the enormous decarbonisation potential for large-scale industrial heating applications via electrification.
Mike’s unique aptitude for navigating barriers associated with business growth and technology development across a wide range of industries makes him well-suited to spearhead the process of commercializing Acceleware’s applications. He holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of British Columbia.
Board of Directors
Bohdan Romaniuk (Chair)
Lawyer, Economist, & Business Executive
Bohdan Romaniuk is a lawyer, economist and an experienced business executive. Mr. Romaniuk has an Honours B.A. in Economics from the University of Alberta, an M.A. in Economics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and an L.L.B. from the University of Toronto. He was a senior executive with TELUS Corp. from July 1994 to July 2001, after which he directed his attention to more entrepreneurial endeavours. Over the next two decades, Mr. Romaniuk was actively engaged in a number of business ventures, and served on the Boards and Audit Committees of several publicly-listed companies. He has since retired from most of these ventures. In addition, Mr. Romaniuk served on the Investment Committee of a national charitable foundation between 2001 and 2012 and remains active with the International Telecommunications Society, where he has held the position of Secretariat since 2005, after 10 years on its Board of Directors. Mr. Romaniuk completed two five-year terms as an Acting Commissioner of the Alberta Utilities Commission on December 31, 2023 pursuant to an Order-in-Council of the Alberta government. Mr. Romaniuk remains a member of the Law Society of Ontario (retired), and continues to serve on a volunteer basis on the Executive Committees and Boards of several local and national non-profit societies.
Caralyn Bennett
Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of GLJ
Caralyn Bennett is President of the Canadian Heavy Oil Association and serves on the board of Tamarack Valley Energy Ltd., International CCS Knowledge Centre and an intermediate private oil and gas producer. She also serves on the Industrial Curricular Advisory Board, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for the University of Waterloo, the Dean’s Advisory for the MacPhail School of Energy, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and the Formation Evaluation Awards Committee of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Previously, Ms Bennett was Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of GLJ Ltd., a global energy consulting firm and served on the Petroleum Advisory Committee to the Alberta Securities Commission and the Board for the Canadian Society for Evolving Energy. Ms. Bennett has a Professional Engineer designation in the province of Alberta and an Honours B.A.Sc. in Geological Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
Jim Boucher
Chair, President, and Co-Founder, Saa Dene Group of Companies
A highly respected Indigenous leader, entrepreneur, philanthropist and executive, Jim Boucher is Co-founder and President of Saa Dene Group of Companies, a collective group of companies with one clear vision: to increase diversity and inclusion through economic and social participation in the global economy. First elected in 1986, Mr. Boucher was Chief of the Fort McKay First Nation for over 30 years – until 2019. While Chief, Mr. Boucher led his community through the growth of the Canadian oilsands by facilitating meaningful, results-focused consultation while advancing the rights of his people. This led to sustainable social and economic prosperity for the First Nation, which through his tenure, had next to zero unemployment and reached a per capita average annual income higher than both the Provincial (Alberta) and National (Canada) average.
Mr. Boucher has extensive experience as Director of numerous private companies and expansive knowledge of the energy sector. He is a Member of the Alberta Order of Excellence and the recipient of multiple awards including Canadian Energy Person of the Year, Indspire (formerly known as the National Aboriginal Achievement) Award and Canada’s Most Influential Business Leaders.
Geoff Clark
Chief Executive Officer
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Dr. Peter Neweduk
Physician & Businessman
Dr. Neweduk is a medical doctor and businessman. He holds and has held positions on the Boards and Audit Committees of both private and publically listed companies. He is a past executive member of the Calgary Regional Medical Staff Association where he served as Secretary-Treasurer. He is a past executive member of the Calgary Medical Society, Medical Mercy Canada and held committee positions with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. Dr. Neweduk is past CEO and Director of Avapecia Life Sciences Corp. (now Enlighta Inc.). Dr. Neweduk was CEO and a Director of Westshire Capital Corp. and was a Director of Westshire Capital II Corp. (now Amcomri Entertainment Inc.). He is past President of Davanat Holdings Ltd., a private company focused on real estate management and redevelopment. He was also a Director and Audit Committee member of Ceres Capital Corp. Dr. Neweduk is a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia and Doctors of B.C..
Dr. Michal Okoniewski
Chief Scientific Officer, Co-Founder
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Advisory Board
Cal Coulter
Mr. Coulter has over 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, and has held positions in production, facilities, gas processing, joint operations, drilling and completions, exploration and operations in sweet, sour conventional and thermal operations. Supplementing his extensive history in energy operations, he most recently led research and development for a major carbon capture and storage project. Previously, Mr. Coulter was the Director of Subsurface Technology for Suncor Energy where he developed SAGD enhancement and in-situ bitumen recovery technologies. He has piloted work on surfactants, solvents, radio frequency powered recovery projects, and led the development of varied newly discovered deposits. Mr. Coulter holds a Bachelor of Sciences in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech.
Sean David
Mr. David is a professional engineer with over 20 years of experience in the energy industry, and has held progressively senior positions in operations at upstream companies. He has worked on conventional, heavy and thermal oil recovery schemes, and his experience covers drilling, completions, reservoir, production, and facilities engineering. During his career he has overseen implementation of multiple new technologies, from concept development and prototype testing to commercial implementation. He is a co-founder of an oilfield technology services company that specializes in artificial lift enhancement, is a named inventor on several patents, and has provided expert witness testimony for multiple oilfield patent lawsuits. Mr. David is currently the VP Upstream Operations at BTG Energy and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary.
John Howard
Mr. Howard is a proven industry executive with 38 years of experience in the energy sector focused on conventional and thermal heavy oil production. He has held several executive leadership and operational roles across numerous companies including Shell Canada Ltd. and Numac Energy Ltd., most recently serving as a Vice President with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. until his retirement in 2017. Mr. Howard has held board positions for energy companies, and also co-founded Verdant Energy Ltd., a renewable energy company providing waste-to-energy solutions. He provides volunteer advisory services to WaterNEXT, a water technology accelerator, and has served on the board of Autism Calgary, New Heights School for Children with PDD/Autism, and the William G. (Bill) Howard Foundation. He also served on the Capital Fundraising Committee for the Society for the Treatment of Autism. Mr. Howard holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Alberta and an MBA from the University of Calgary and is a member of the Canadian Heavy Oil Association, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta, the Institute of Corporate Directors and The Chancellor’s Club of the University of Calgary.
Jeff Reading
Mr. Reading's career has spanned numerous commercial, non-profit and academic institutions, giving him a comprehensive understanding of business and society. He has initiated and led a number of social enterprises that address energy innovation, energy efficiency, climate change mitigation and adaption, sustainability, and environmental literacy. In addition, he has a history of successfully commercializing clean tech solutions and engaging in commercial clean power advancement with ATCO’s Electricity Global Business Unit Innovation Team. Jeff teaches at the University of Calgary, is Chair for the Green Learning Canada Foundation (GLCF), past Chair of the Alberta Council for Environmental Education (ACEE), Board member with the Alberta Clean Tech Industry Alliance (ACTia), advisor with Carbon Talks Canada and sits on the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation Grant Review Committee. His extensive background and network will help support market entry for Acceleware's unique and novel RF heating technology.
Chad Robinson
Mr. Robinson has over 18 years of accounting, finance and private equity experience, specialized in the oilfield sector. Since 2006, in his role as CFO, he was instrumental in the rapid growth and development of Canada's largest premier private directional drilling company, Pacesetter Directional Drilling, which financed its growth solely with cash flow and conservative leverage. In 2015, the firm was acquired by the world’s largest oilfield services company, positioning it for future growth. Prior to Pacesetter, Mr. Robinson was in corporate finance and research with a prominent Calgary-based Merchant Bank, which armed him with unique talents for value creation initiatives, corporate and sales strategies, financial structuring and modeling, team building, and industry analysis. Chad is currently the Managing Director of SCF Partners Inc. in Canada, he serves on several private company boards and is Vice-Chairman of the Board of CUPS, a non-profit serving impoverished families in the Calgary region. Chad has an ICD.D designation, an MBA in corporate finance, a master's degree focused on resource economics, and a bachelor of science in chemistry.
Don Verdonck
Mr. Verdonck brings substantial knowledge of, and experience in, the oil and gas sector, with the majority of his 40-year career focused on energy development and operations in Western Canada. Prior to his retirement in 2018 he served as an executive with Athabasca Oil Corporation, an oil sands development and operations company. Mr. Verdonck's professional track record includes executive level management, operations, technical engineering, and facilities management. Currently, he serves on two private oil and gas boards, and is Chair of the Board of Governors of St. Mary's University in Calgary. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Manitoba and completed the Institute of Corporate Directors program in 2014. He is an active member in his Church community, as well as other volunteer organizations.