AOE TEAM MEMBERS
Drew Devitt, Founder and CTO, and Nick Hackett BEng. MBA, President, of American Offshore Energy (AOE). American Offshore Energy is an American company dedicated to the development and implementation of offshore vertical axis wind turbines (VAWTs) combining airfoil technology similar to that used in high performance racing yachts with proprietary frictionless bearing technology supporting the revolutionary and patented design concept.
Devitt established American Offshore Energy to advance offshore utility-scale wind energy generation. Devitt’s 30 years of experience working with US machine-tool builders, provides extensive expertise in heavy machine-tool erection. His background in bearing technology and fabrication techniques are key to creating the equipment necessary to make the new wind turbine components and the bearing technology that enable them. As CTO of New Way, Devitt has maintained the company’s research efforts, new customer development, and its connections with research and academic institutions, in order to foster the continued development of air bearing technology understanding. Devitt has authored dozens of articles and technical papers and holds multiple patents including an application on air bearing-supported VAWT. He was published in Renewable Energy World NA (February 2010 issue) writing on flywheel energy storage for frequency regulation.
Hackett has served as President of AOE since January 2014. In that time, he has brought together a team of highly qualified industry experts to partner in the initial development of AOE’s novel vertical axis wind turbine concept. Hackett is also President of New Way Air Bearings. He brings 25 years of experience to the organization, covering strategic corporate management, business unit operations, marketing, and financial management. Hackett serves as the Vice Chairman of the board of directors of the PA-MEP Foundation.
John Edgar III, president of Glosten Associates. Glosten conceived the Pelastar system in 2006 seeing the potential to exploit superior wind resources in deeper water with floating foundation technology. Pelastar has a low structural weight, an in-harbor system assembly method, and superior dynamic responses to sea conditions.
Gary Jobson is a former All-American collegiate sailor. He won the America’s Cup in 1977 as tactician for Ted Turner. As a broadcaster/producer (he is ESPN’s Sailing Analyst), lecturer, and writer (he is an Editor at Large for Sailing World and Cruising World magazines), Jobson is the pre-eminent ambassador for sailing in the U.S. A prolific filmmaker, he has produced more than 50 videos covering sailing, engineering, technology, and energy topics.
Tyler Doyle is president of Doyle CFD, a consulting company which specializes in CFD and FEA based analyses and design. Tyler has a broad range of experience designing and analyzing kinetic turbines including wind and water VAWT and HAWT.
Hall Composites has been manufacturing the highest technology composite products since 1984 with large manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Holland, and New Zealand. Hall has built the longest, continuous composite tube built in the United States at 221 feet and has provided advanced composite components for everything from America’s Cup racing yachts to airplanes and underwater tidal turbines.
Joel Whitman, Principal at Whitman Consulting Group. With over 35 years of combined experience covering all aspects of the offshore cable industry Joel and his team bring a high level of knowledge and foresight to any installation project. Their specialties include cable installation planning, project planning & review, and risk assessment & mitigation.
Professor Jewel Barlow B.S., M.S., Ph.D., is Director of the Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel at University of Maryland. Professor Barlow is a widely published expert in the field of low speed wind tunnel testing with many years’ experience in the field including testing of wind turbines.