About Dr. McKesson
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Over the past thirty years Dr. McKesson’s greatest contributions have been on unconventional projects and programs. He is regarded as an extremely creative and inquisitive individual, sometimes a gadfly, sometimes a genius, always intriguing.
Whereas in early days “unconventional projects” in naval architecture tended to mean an emphasis on speed, in later years it included unconventional propulsion systems, or an ‘unconventional’ emphasis on environmental stewardship, or an unconventional approach to the ontology of maritime systems.
McKesson remains a passionate ship designer, and is happy to be available for part-time or contract work opportunities. These could be in the form of telecommuting for part time work, or they could include some full-time on-site roles. Relevant tasks might range from peer-review of a report, drafting a plan of action, or other “portable” projects completed via internet. Dr. McKesson can also be available as an extra hand on-site for a period of some weeks, although that will take a bit more advance planning. This latter option may be particularly useful for start-up efforts such as brainstorming in the early stage of a project.
Systematic Engineering Innovation
As described above, Dr. McKesson began his engineering career as a naval architect. He quickly established a reputation as an innovator and problem-solver. This innate talent was matured through many years of ship design practice. The links on the webpage provide access to a list of many of McKesson’s projects and publications from this period.
Eventually the skill in innovation grew into a desire to develop formal innovation methods that could then be used in other fields of engineering, and could be formally taught to other engineers. The cornerstone for this second volume of McKesson’s life work is his 2013 PhD dissertation “Innovation in Ship Design.”
Having completed his doctoral research, McKesson is now expanding his services to many different segments of engineering, wherever systematic innovation is desired. Ships, ship design, and the sea remain a central love for Dr. McKesson, and he welcomes projects in naval architecture. He also welcomes the opportunity to teach Systematic Engineering Innovation in other contexts. McKesson has developed a formal innovation curriculum which will be available through the University of New Orleans and the University of British Columbia, but is also available commercially as on-site short courses, project-specific charettes, or as consulting services in Project Management.
Dr. McKesson is available globally, providing that the legal formalities can be met.