DR. JAMES R. McFARLANE, O.C., C.D., P.Eng. FCAE

Dr. McFarlane served in the Canadian Armed Forces, both afloat and ashore.  During this 18 year period he held among others the positions of Special Projects Officer, Senior Structural Engineer and Staff Officer Construction on the staff of the Canadian Naval Submarine Technical Representatives with technical responsibilities related to the Canada Oberon Class submarines built in England.  Dr. McFarlane also obtained bridge and engine room watch keeping tickets.  On his return from England Dr. McFarlane was appointed Senior Structural Engineer and Project System Engineer for a diving tender and Project Manager for the SDL-I Diver Lockout Submersible.

Following his retirement from the Canadian Forces as a Lieutenant Commander, Dr. McFarlane joined International Hydrodynamics as Vice President of Engineering and Operations.  In this capacity he had personal responsibility for development, construction, trials and operations of the company’s submersibles, their ancillary equipment and launch and recovery systems.

Dr. McFarlane is the founder and current president of ISE since 1974 and has been involved with the design, construction, and operation of manned, tethered and untethered Remotely Operated Vehicles as well as subsystems of these vehicles include manipulators and computer control systems.  Since that time, Dr. McFarlane has been a part of engineering teams that have built over 400 robotic manipulators and over 200 vehicles.

Dr. McFarlane is the author of many papers on submarines, manned submersibles, ROVs and AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles).  He has also made keynote presentations in Europe, Southeast Asia, USA and Canada.  Dr. McFarlane has served on many committees for international meeting and as a guest speaker at many conferences.  He has also received many awards.

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