Approach
Don Spencer, M.Eng., P.Eng., Director of Technology
Mr. Spencer has a Mechanical Engineering degree from the Technical University of Nova Scotia and a Master’s
of Marine Technology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Mr. Spencer started his career in ice
research during the 1980s, when he examined multi-year pressure ridge loads on conical structures for the
Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea, a project that now seems set to become a reality. In 1985
Mr. Spencer joined the Arctic Vessel Research group at the National Research Council (NRC) where he worked
until 1996. There his research activities involved the calibration of model tests with available full-scale
data, icebreaker trials, ice loading on offshore structures, and the development of new modeling techniques.
Mr. Spencer left NRC to form Oceanic Consulting Corporation where he has continued to study ice, performing
numerous studies supporting the development in the Sea of Okhotsk offshore Sakhalin, Russia. Other
Sakhalin-related work has included the investigation of tanker loading units (TLU) and tanker behaviour due
to sudden changes in the direction of drifting ice. Mr. Spencer also specializes in the area of vortex
induced vibration (VIV) and has performed both independent and joint-industry-project VIV studies for AIMS
International and FloaTec. Mr. Spencer’s research in this area led him to develop Oceanic’s VIV test rigs,
which have been used in small- and large-scale scientific experiments for the offshore industry.