Speakers

Lunch Keynote Speaker: Graham Tyson, VP Operations, Crowley Wind Services

Graham Tyson, PE is the Vice President of Operations at Crowley Wind Services, a business unit of Crowley Maritime and a leading provider of marine, terminal, and support services to the US offshore wind industry. Graham graduated from the US Naval Academy with a degree in Naval Architecture before commissioning into the US Coast Guard as an engineering officer, working a variety of operational, engineering, maintenance and procurement roles. From there he worked for a small defense and energy engineering and boatbuilding firm in Maryland as a Naval Architect and Project Manager, earning his PE in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. He transitioned to the Offshore Wind industry in 2019, working for 4 years at Vestas Wind systems focusing on transportation, installation, and maintenance of offshore wind turbines in the US and EU with work on installation vessels, feedering, port infrastructure and service vessels. In 2023 he joined Crowley Wind Services to grow the team and capabilities there, where his team has supported multiple major offshore wind projects, particularly the South Fork and Revolution wind projects, and the development of the Salem Wind Terminal. He lives on the North Shore of Boston, MA with his wife and 2 kids.

Panel Discussion (Moderator): Richard D’Souza

Richard received his Naval Architecture Bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Master’s degree from the University of Michigan and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Tulane University. His fifty-year career has been dedicated to the safe extraction and processing of hydrocarbons and advancing deepwater developments worldwide. He is a SNAME Fellow, recipient of the Blakely Smith and ABS/Linnard awards and the Texas section SNAME Lifetime achievement award.

Panel Discussion Speakers

Roald Lokken

Roald has a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, in Naval Architecture and Offshore Engineering and is a SNAME Fellow. He had a 38-year career with ExxonMobil’s research, development and production groups. He supported most of ExxonMobil’s deepwater developments during his career, including TLP’s, semis, spars, FPSOs, and the Lena guyed tower. He was also involved in qualification of membrane insulation systems for the Q-Flex and Q-Max LNG carriers and worked on floating LNG concepts. He retired as ExxonMobil’s Chief Offshore and Infrastructure Engineer at the end of 2018.

Rick Fowler

Rick Fowler is the independent chairman for Third Coast Energy and has over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry.  In addition to his role at Third Coast, Rick is currently a Board Member for three other energy related companies in the GOM.  Rick was formerly Chief Operating Officer for LLOG Exploration until 2020.  He helped grow LLOG to be the fifth largest producer in the GOM and the largest private US oil producer.  In his career, Rick has been involved in ten multi-billion dollar GOM projects using new floating production systems (FPS) and numerous subsea tieback projects.  Prior to joining LLOG, Rick was Vice President at Dominion E&P (formerly CNG Producing) where he led the $5B Offshore Business Unit including the management of over 300 employees.  Rick previously worked for Exxon for twelve years in various operational and supervisory assignments.  Rick has a BSME from Tulane University and is a licensed professional engineer.  Rick was awarded the API Meritorious Service Award, the SPE Regional Service Award and the SPE Distinguished Contribution Award. 

Brian Jarrell

Brian, a Texas-registered Professional Engineer and Consultant with over 25 years of experience delivering full-field integrated solutions in the Oil and Energy industries. His expertise spans the entire project life cycle, uniting traditionally siloed disciplines to transform innovative concepts into practical, high-value developments. From ultra-deep offshore infrastructure to cutting-edge technologies like HP/HT, AI, digital twins, and GHG reduction, Brian’s influence consistently drives successful execution of complex, system-wide solutions.

Marc Paquette

Marc received his Civil Engineering Bachelor’s degree from McGill University and Master of Science (Civil Engineering) degree from University of California, Berkeley where he was introduced to Offshore Engineering.  As a structural engineer, Marc’s thirty-six career has included design of offshore structures, site engineer at various fabrication yards and various leadership roles leading to his current title of “Principal Technical Expert – Offshore Structures” at Shell in the Houston office.

Steve Leverette

Steve received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Gettysburg College and his PhD in Ocean Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  His career in the oil industry spans 48 years including a decade with a major oil company, a decade as the president of a small specialist engineering firm, and 22 years with several innovative offshore contractors.  For the past 6 years he has been an engineering consultant working on a major deepwater Gulf of Mexico floating production system.  Steve has contributed to the development of TLP, FPSO, and semisubmersible production platforms.  Steve is a SNAME Fellow, received the Texas section SNAME Lifetime Achievement Award, and was on the Board of Directors for the Offshore Technology Conference for 9 years.