Based in Ottawa, Canada, James is Director of the Icebreaker Centre of Excellence with Chantier Davie Canada Inc (Davie). Involvement in Polar shipping has been a theme throughout his 40+ year career. James joined Davie in late 2025 after 15 years at the American Bureau of Shipping. James represented the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) at the IMO on Polar Code, was a member of the IACS project team that created the Polar Class structures rules, chaired the IACS Expert Group for Polar Code. He is a University of Waterloo graduate, a register Professional Engineer and a Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.