Leadership

Management

• Dan Sceli
• Bill Larkin
• Lance Follett
• Bart van Aerle

• Dan Sceli

  

  Dan Sceli was appointed Chief Executive Officer in January of 2024. Mr. Sceli’s distinguished 37-year career in the global manufacturing sector marks him as a visionary leader, whose strategic acumen and commitment to excellence have propelled companies to new heights. Known for his considerable operational expertise, he has a proven track record of driving profitable growth and enhancing productivity through adept utilization of technology and manufacturing excellence. In his most recent position as Board Member and CEO of Cadillac Products Automotive Company, an international leader in the plastics converting industry, he demonstrated visionary leadership, diversified the product portfolio, and successful expanded into new markets. Prior to this, Mr. Sceli spent 12 years as Chief Executive Officer at Peterson American Corporation, the largest privately held spring manufacturer in North America. His transformative leadership led the company through strategic overhauls, resulting in significant and sustainable growth. He also spent 22 years in ever expanding leadership roles at The Woodbridge Group, a provider of material technologies for automotive, commercial, recreational, packaging, healthcare, and building product applications, including several years in Europe running their European business.
  
  Mr. Sceli’s thought leadership extends beyond corporate walls; as past chairman and member of industry supplier associations Original Equipment Suppliers Association and Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, he has shaped industry standards and practices.
  
  Currently Mr. Sceli serves on the boards of KSR International and Cadillac Products Automotive Company.

• Bill Larkin

  

  Bill Larkin was appointed Chief Financial Officer in December of 2022. Mr. Larkin’s experiences span a diverse set of corporate environments ranging from entrepreneurial startups, high growth small-caps and mature multi-billion dollar enterprises across various industries.
  
  Over the last 14 years, Mr. Larkin has served as Chief Financial Officer of both public and privately held companies and has extensive global, corporate development, finance and strategy experience across various industries including automotive. Most recently, Mr. Larkin served as CFO of Akumin, a national leader in comprehensive outpatient radiology and oncology services and solutions.
  
  Previously, Mr. Larkin served as the CFO of Westport Innovations Inc. from 2010 through mid-2014 and then Vice President of Corporate Development through the end of 2014. Mr. Larkin also served in progressively senior positions at Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. including CFO.
  
  Mr. Larkin began his career as a CPA with Deloitte & Touche and is a veteran of the US Army; he has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

• Lance Follett

  

  Lance Follett is Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President overseeing Corporate Development, Legal, Government Relations and Intellectual Property. He joined Westport Fuel Systems in 2001 as intellectual property counsel and has worked in a variety of capacities including Vice President of Licensing, Vice President of European Partnerships and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Intellectual Property. He assumed his current role in 2017.
  
  Mr. Follett has an extensive background in market development, intellectual property protection and licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and structuring and negotiating international technology deals in the energy, high tech, alternative energy, and automotive space. Mr. Follett is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and a registered Patent Agent.
  
  Mr. Follett holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree from the University of British Columbia and a J.D. from the University of Victoria. He has also completed executive programs at Harvard and INSEAD. Prior to joining Westport Fuel Systems, Mr. Follett practiced law at one of Canada’s national law firms where he focused on intellectual property litigation. Prior to his career as a lawyer, he also had a successful career as an acquisition geophysicist based in Southeast Asia.
  
  Mr. Follett has lived and worked extensively in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.

• Bart Van Aerle

  

  Bart van Aerle is Executive Vice President, IAM & LD OEM of Westport Fuel Systems having previously served as Vice President Prins, one of the corporation’s material subsidiaries and key brand of Westport Fuel Systems in the Netherlands. In this role, Mr. van Earle is responsible for strategic planning, the development of the corporation’s technology and product roadmaps, and identifying new market and industry partnerships. As Vice President, Prins, Mr. van Aerle led the strategy and operations of the Corporation’s Eindhoven operations and the Prins brand, expanding sales of high-quality LPG, CNG and LNG aftermarket systems and components for automotive and transportation vehicles worldwide. Previously, Mr. van Aerle served as president of Cummins Westport from January 2018-2019 where he oversaw the corporation’s joint venture launch of the first heavy-duty Class 8 truck with near-zero emissions. Mr. van Aerle holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Engineering from Fontys University in Eindhoven.

Board of Directors

• Daniel M. Hancock
• Michele J. Buchignani
• Brenda J. Eprile
• Philip Hodge
• Tony Guglielmin
• Prof. Dr. Karl Viktor Schaller
• Eileen Wheatman

• Daniel M. Hancock

  

  Daniel M. Hancock was appointed to the Board in July 2017, having previously joined the Company's Advisory Board in March of 2017, and appointed Chair of the Board of Directors April 2020. Mr. Hancock is currently President of DMH Strategic Consulting LLC and also serves on the board of directors of Cryoport Systems, Inc., a U.S. headquartered company listed on the NASDAQ. Mr. Hancock retired from General Motors ("GM") in 2011, after 43 years of service in GM's powertrain engineering and general management functions. His last position with GM was Vice President, Global Strategic Product Alliances. During this period he served as Chairman of GM's DMAX and VM Motori diesel engine joint ventures with Isuzu and Fiat, respectively. Mr. Hancock's previous appointments at GM included: Vice President, Global Powertrain Engineering; CEO, Fiat-GM Powertrain; and President, Allison Transmission Division. In these positions he was responsible for providing powertrain products that enabled regulatory dynamometer and vehicle certification and compliance, primarily on emissions and fuel economy. Given the global footprints of these organizations, he was responsible for assuring compliance with multiple, diverse national legal entity regulations and requirements. He now serves in board and advisory positions with several organizations focusing on new powertrain technologies and STEM ("Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics") education. He was President of SAE International in 2014 and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He received a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree also in mechanical engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University), Michigan.

• Michele J. Buchignani

  

  Michele J. Buchignani was appointed to the Westport Fuel Systems Board in March, 2018. Ms. Buchignani brings experience as a strategic business leader with extensive senior level expertise in law, finance, private equity, strategy, governance, compliance, risk management, and compensation. Ms. Buchignani is currently Chief Executive Officer of McLean Drive Consulting Ltd., a consulting firm to private equity owned and growth companies and also serves as Managing Partner of McLane Drive Holdings LP., a U.S. real estate holding company. She serves in board and advisory positions with several corporate and not-for-profit organizations including Copper Mountain Mining Corporation, a TSX listed company, TSX Trust Company, a federally regulated trust company, CAI Capital Partners V L.P., White House Design Company Inc., and The Fraser Institute. Her depth of Board experience includes serving as Chair of the Board of Directors, Chair of Governance and Human Resources committees as well as serving on Audit and Corporate Responsibility committees. Previously, Ms. Buchignani held executive positions including as a Director with Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in Toronto from 2005 to 2009; Managing Director and Head of the Private Equity Funds Group at CIBC Capital Partners in Toronto and New York from 1999 to 2003; and Managing Director, Canadian General Counsel and Head of Compliance for CIBC World Markets from 1996 to 1999. From 1989 to 1996, she practiced corporate law in Toronto and London at Stikeman Elliott and was elected as a partner in 1995. Ms. Buchignani holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Ms. Buchignani holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in English from the University of British Columbia and a JD from the University of Toronto. She has also completed the Stanford Executive Program at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

• Brenda J. Eprile

  

  Brenda J. Eprile joined the Board of Directors in October 2013 and was appointed as Chair of Westport Fuel Systems' Board of Directors from February of 2017 to April 2020. From 2000 to 2012, Ms. Eprile was a Senior Partner at PwC and led the Risk Advisory Services practice. From 1985 to 1997, Ms. Eprile had a distinguished career as a securities regulator in Canada, having held the positions of both Executive Director and Chief Accountant at the Ontario Securities Commission. Ms. Eprile is a Fellow Certified Professional Accountant (FCPA), and holds the ICD.D designation. She has a MBA from Schulich School of Business, York University. She is the former chair of the board of Home Capital Group, a TSX listed company and led the board through a severe liquidity crisis in April 2017 and the settlement of a significant regulatory action and compliance remediation. She is currently a member of the boards of Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc, Olympia Financial Group Inc., Olympia Trust Company and software developer Canvas GFX.

• Philip Hodge

  

  Philip Hodge is the founder and current President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Pine Cliff Energy (TSX: PNE), a TSX-listed junior oil and gas company, since 2012. He also currently serves as a Board Director of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada. Prior to Pine Cliff Energy, Mr. Hodge served as Vice President of Business Development, Acquisitions and Divestments at Penn West Exploration, one of the largest conventional oil and gas producers in North America. Mr. Hodge was previously a Managing Director at Mackie Research Capital Corporation and J.F. Mackie & Co., Calgary-based investment banks. From 2000 to 2006, Mr. Hodge was Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Westport Innovations Inc. where he was responsible for legal, corporate governance, strategic partnership, and corporate development functions, as well as the formation and growth of the company's business in China.

• Anthony ("Tony") Guglielmin

  

  Tony Guglielmin served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Westport Fuel Systems for the period of August 2023 through January 2024 when Dan Sceli was appointed as permanent Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Guglielmin joined the Board in January 2021, prior to that he served as SVP and Chief Financial Officer with Ballard Power Systems located in Vancouver, a global leader in clean energy fuel cell products and services, having joined Ballard in June 2010. Mr. Guglielmin previously served as SVP Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (“Canada Line”), a $2 billion rapid transit project connecting the Vancouver International Airport, City of Richmond and downtown Vancouver, BC. Prior to joining Canada Line, Tony held senior management roles in treasury, capital markets, investor relations, corporate development and strategic planning at both Finning International Inc. and British Columbia Hydro in Vancouver, and the Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto.
  
  Mr. Guglielmin holds a BA in Economics and Political Science and an MBA from McGill University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the Financial Executives Institute. In addition to his work on Westport’s Board he also serves on the Board and is Chair of the Audit Committee of Information Services Corporation (ISV.TO), a TSX listed company located in Regina, Saskatchewan, as well as on the Board of several private and not-for-profit organizations. He was also awarded the Business in Vancouver 2017 CFO of the year in the Transformation Agent category.

• Prof. Dr. Karl Viktor Schaller

  

  Prof. Dr. Karl Viktor Schaller is currently is an Honorary Professor at the Technical University of Munich, founder and Managing Director of kvs consulting. Previously, Dr. Schaller was the Executive Vice President of motorcycles with BMW AG from April 2014 to July 2019 and Technical Director of the Engineering and Purchasing Department at MAN Truck and Bus SE until 2006. Dr. Schaller then served as a Board Member at MAN and was responsible for product development, purchasing and planning. During his tenure at MAN from 1990 to 2009, he headed various departments including those responsible for development of alternative drive systems (batteries, various hybrids, natural gas, hydrogen in ICE and fuel cells) and heavy trucks. He holds a diploma and a doctorate (Dr.-Ing., magna cum laude) in mechanical engineering from the Technical University of Munich. In 2006 he was awarded honorary professor at the Technical University of Munich for his lecture on "commercial vehicles".

• Eileen Wheatman

  

  Eileen Wheatman is an experienced president and Chief Financial Officer with broad senior executive level management experience in a variety of industries including finance and telecommunications. Ms. Wheatman is currently the President of Douglas Communications Inc. having joined the organization as controller in 1996, was named Chief Financial Officer in August 1999, and President in 2017. She has a diverse background in business planning, finance and corporate strategy, as well as public accounting, audit, and estate taxation. Ms. Wheatman is currently on the Board of Directors and Audit Committee for KSR International Co., a Tier 1 auto parts manufacturer with $230M+ in revenue, and also serves on the Board of Directors for Quantum Fuel Systems, a previously publicly traded company acquired through bankruptcy in 2016. Ms. Wheatman holds a bachelor’s degree in business management with emphasis in accounting supplemented with Masters’ classes in Estate Taxation. Ms. Wheatman was awarded The Wall Street Journal award for the highest GPA in Business Management in graduating class and obtained a CPA certification in California in 1990.