Keynote Speakers

The Netherlands has had ties to the Arctic since the days of polar explorer Willem Barentsz. More than 400 years later the Dutch are still exploring the Arctic, albeit in a more scientific way. Dutch policy efforts concerning the Arctic focus on international cooperation, mitigating the effects of climate change, protecting the Arctic environment and contributing to scientific research. Dutch research in the Arctic revolves around four main themes: ice, climate and sea-level rise; polar ecosystems; sustainable exploitation; and the social, legal and economic landscape.

Carola van Rijnsoever is currently the Director Inclusive Green Growth, the Ambassador for Sustainable Development and the Arctic Ambassador at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Directorate Inclusive Green Growth formulates and implements Dutch foreign and international cooperation policies in the fields of climate, water, food security, energy, raw materials and polar issues. Sustainability, transition to low carbon economies and security of supply are key objectives. Unfortunately, due to commitments overseas, the Arctic Ambassador Carola van Rijnsoever is unable to attend and give her POAC2019 keynote herself.

She will be represented by Liz ter Kuile and Robert Jan Blaauw.
- Liz ter Kuile is Senior Policy Officer Polar Affairs at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Robert Blaauw is Executive Director at RJBC Arctic & Energy and Chair of the Steering Committee of the Polar Programme at NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research).

Slides keynote presentation by Robert Blaauw: POAC2019 Keynote by Robert Blaauw

Bob Frederking joined the National Research Council in 1970 and has conducted research on ice engineering, ice mechanics and cold regions engineering. He has carried out field, laboratory and analytical research on the forces generated by floating ice on offshore structures. He has served on numerous advisory committees and has also assisted regulatory agencies in the assessment of ice loading on structures such as the Beaufort Sea platforms and the Confederation Bridge. Recently he led a Technical Panel which made revisions to the ice action provisions of ISO 19906 Arctic offshore structures.

Slides keynote presentation by Bob Frederking: POAC2019 Keynote by Bob Frederking

Jukka Tuhkuri is a professor of solid mechanics at Aalto University. His main research interest is in sea ice mechanics, ice loads, and ice failure. Dr. Tuhkuri has about 30 years of research experience and about 140 publications. He has been a visiting scientist at NRC in Canada, CRREL in the USA, and UCL in UK. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Cold Regions Science and Technology.

Slides keynote presentation by Jukka Tuhkuri: POAC2019 Keynote by Jukka Tuhkuri

Joined Total S.A. in June 2012 as ice engineer – first in Extreme Cold group and from August 2015 in TEC/GEO Senior Ice Engineer and head of Extreme Cold within E&P’s R&D technological innovation platform. Total innovation prize for Arctic LNG carrier in 2014. Expert in Ice Engineering in 2017. Retired 2018 from Total.

Graduated as a M.Sc. 1978 in Mathematics and D.Sc. 1988 in Naval Architecture from the Helsinki University of Technology. Professor of Arctic Marine Structures in the Helsinki University of Technology and after academia director of a ship design company ILS Ltd. Professor II at the Norwegian Science and Technology University in Trondheim. Part time professor also in TU Delft.

Specialist on the Finnish-Swedish Ice Class Rules for the Finnish Maritime Administration. Contributed to design of several icebreakers and ice breaking ships, and to ice resistant FPSU in the Bohai Bay (with a soft yoke) and the Varandey terminal in the Pechora Sea. At the Helsinki University of Technology, he was responsible for the large ice laboratory at the university. About 80 refereed articles in scientific journals and a score of conference papers.

Slides keynote presentation by Kaj Riska: POAC2019 Keynote by Kaj Riska