VANCOUVER, Feb. 11, 2013 /CNW/ - Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT)
(NASDAQ:WPRT), the global leader in natural gas engines, today
announced that Ms. Nancy Gougarty has been appointed to the company's
Board of Directors, effective February 8, 2013. The appointment of Ms.
Gougarty increases the number of directors from nine to 10. To increase
Westport's depth and breadth of industry experience, outside of the
Board of Directors' core scope of responsibilities, an Advisory Board
has been created. Initial members of the Advisory Board are Joseph
Caron, former Canadian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and
Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat of the Privy Council Office for
the Canadian Government and Brenda Eprile, Managing Director at Sanford
Eprile & Company and former Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
"Westport currently operates on five continents and 10 countries of the
world," said John Beaulieu, Chairman of Westport Innovations. "Managing
a global endeavor of such size and complexity requires substantial
knowledge of markets, geopolitical realities, local customs including
legal guidelines and restrictions. Ms. Gougarty, Mr. Caron and Ms.
Eprile come with a wealth of experience and expertise to guide Westport
to become a strong, global company with industry- leading performance."
Ms. Gougarty served as the vice president for TRW Automotive Corporation operations
in the Asia-Pacific region from January 2008 until her recent departure
from TRW in 2012. Joining TRW in 2005, her previous positions included
vice president of product planning, business planning and business
development, and vice president of braking, electronics and modules for
Asia Pacific. Based at the Asia-Pacific headquarters in Shanghai,
China, Ms. Gougarty oversaw the operations of more than 30 plants in
the region. She directed the development and implementation of
strategic and operational plans and worked to enhance strategic
relationships with customers and joint venture partners in the region.
Ms. Gougarty's distinguished career began in 1978 when she started with
General Motors' Packard Electric Division, first as an industrial
engineer; she later took on various roles in application engineering,
finance, operations, and sales and engineering with increasing
responsibility. In 1997, she was named Managing Director for General
Motors' joint venture in Shanghai, followed by a series of appointments
accountable for strategic growth in Asian countries. After the
successful post as the Director for Delphi Packard, Asia Pacific, Ms.
Gougarty spent three years leading Delphi's largest account as Global
Account Director General Motors, until becoming the vice president for
Delphi Automotive Systems, Japan and Korea. Ms. Gougarty is a
certified Six Sigma Green Belt. She holds an EMBA degree from Case
Western Reserve University and a bachelor's degree of science in
industrial management from University of Cincinnati. A community
service advocate, Ms. Gougarty serves as Advisor to the President of
Marietta College, Ohio.
The inaugural members of Westport's Advisory Board are:
Joseph Caron
Mr. Caron began his international relations career in 1972 as a member
of the Trade Commissioner Service. His knowledge of the Japanese
language led to assignments in Japan for over 17 years in government
and business, including the Canadian Embassy as Minister
Plenipotentiary and Head of Chancery. He also subsequently held several
positions related to Asian and international economic affairs for the
Canadian Government, including serving the Foreign and Defence Policy
Secretariat of the Privy Council Office. From 2001 to 2005, he served
as Canadian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China with
concurrent accreditation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(North Korea) and Mongolia. In 2005, he was named Canadian Ambassador
to Japan and, in 2008, he served as High Commissioner to the Republic
of India. Mr. Caron has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Meiji
Gakuin University in Tokyo and has also been named a Distinguished
Fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as well as an Honorary
Research Associate at the Institute of Asian Research of the University
of British Columbia. Mr. Caron is currently Strategic Advisor, Asia
Pacific at Heenan Blaikie LLP and Board member of Manulife Financial
Corporation and Vancouver International Airport. Mr. Caron obtained a
Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours from the University of Ottawa in
1970.
Brenda Eprile
Ms. Eprile has been the Managing Director at Sanford Eprile & Company
since 2012, a boutique consulting firm serving a wide variety of
clients on a range of regulatory compliance issues. From 2000 to 2012,
Ms. Eprile was a Senior Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and led the
Risk Advisory Services practice. From 1998 to 2000, Ms. Eprile was a
Partner at Deloitte and created a regulatory advisory practice for the
Canadian member firm of Deloitte focusing on public companies and
financial services firms. From 1985 to 1997, Ms. Eprile had a
distinguished career as a securities regulator in Canada, having held
the positions of both Executive Director and Chief Accountant at the
Ontario Securities Commission. From 1982 to 1985, Ms. Eprile was an
audit staff member at Coopers and Lybrand serving a variety of industry
sectors including financial services, consumer electronics, and heavy
industry. Ms. Eprile is a Chartered Accountant and has an Honours
Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto, as well as a Master
of Business Administration from Schulich School of Business, York
University. She is the Chair of the Board of Canada's National Ballet
School.
About Westport Innovations Inc.
Westport Innovations Inc. is a leading global supplier of proprietary
solutions that allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels such as
compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen,
and renewable natural gas (RNG) fuels such as landfill gas and help
reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Westport technology offers
advanced LNG fueling systems with direct injection natural gas engine
technology for heavy-duty vehicles such as highway trucks and off-road
applications such as mining and rail. Westport's joint venture with
Cummins Inc., Cummins Westport Inc. designs, engineers and markets
spark-ignited natural gas engines for North American transportation
applications such as trucks and buses. Westport is also one of the
global leaders for natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel
in passenger cars, light-duty trucks and industrial applications such
as forklifts. To learn more about our business, visit our website or
subscribe to our RSS feed at www.westport.com, or follow us on Twitter @WestportDotCom.
SOURCE: Westport Innovations Inc.
<p> </p> <p> <b>Inquiries:</b><br/> Darren Seed<br/> Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications<br/> Westport Innovations Inc.<br/> Phone: 604-718-2046<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:invest@westport.com" slick-uniqueid="11" cr="true" target="_blank">invest@westport.com</a> </p> <p> <b>Media Inquiries:</b><br/> Nicole Adams<br/> Director, Communications<br/> Westport Innovations Inc.<br/> Phone: 604-718-2011<br/> Email: <a href="mailto:media@westport.com" slick-uniqueid="12" cr="true" target="_blank">media@westport.com</a> </p>