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26 Maritime Professional 2Q 2011 President of Cegelec USA, where he developed business with the U.S. defense industry, resulting in numerous contracts for the sup- ply of electrical propulsion equipment including the T-AKE fleet of electric ships for the U.S. Navy. A recognized leader and a champion of the “All-Electric” ship concept, Pope has long touted its viability to commercial and mil- itary buyers alike. He insists, “For the all electric drive -- the mod- ern concept was pioneered by cruise ship design, although electric drive technology was used on some naval designs back in the 1930’s. It was supplanted by steam and mechanical driven ships, but is now being used on a wide variety of ships. The prime driv- ers were fuel savings and emissions, where one is able to closely match the propulsion load to the available power generation. The second factor was the reduction in cost of electrical drives, thereby making it a more affordable design as compared its mechanical alternatives. The challenge, mainly in the 90’s, was to persuade ship owners and operators, including navies, to embrace this new technology.” Arguably best known for his close involvement with the devel- opment of the "All-Electric" ship over the past years, he has pre- sented at several conferences on the subject. Beyond this, he is a member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Advanced Power Electronics at Florida State University. Mr. Pope received his Master of Science in Management and Business Studies from the University of Warwick, Coventry, England after receiving a College Associateship in Electronic Engineering at the Bolton Institute of Technology in Bolton, England. Not surprisingly, Pope’s career path began with General Electric in the UK, where he was given responsibility for the introduction of industrial electrical variable speed drives for a wide range of applications. Following that he assumed a leadership role intro- ducing microprocessor based automation systems for numerous applications - from car production plants to chocolate manufactur- ing. Later, as he took charge as President of the North American operations of CEGELEC (which was then rolled into Alstom), the growth of the all electrical ship became evident. COMING UP NEXT Brian Pope’s current choice for recreational reading – “The Beach” by Alex Garland, describing Garland’s adventures in Southeast Asia – gives MarPro readers no more insight into what will come next for L-3’s Senior Vice President than his promise to continue the rapid expansion of L-3’s product offerings. “Having been with L-3 for over 6 years, I look forward to what lies ahead both personally here, and for our group. As for the future of L-3 M&PS, we will continue to grow our marine electrical business and are committed to building on our position as a maritime leader.” Based on past performance, however, L-3’s future under Pope’s steady and highly technical hand will be anything but bor- ing. – MarPro MarPro Profile Brian Pope Senior Vice President of business Development for L-3 Communications / Marine & Power Systems Group “Regarding the “All Electric Ship” – “The prime drivers were fuel savings and emis- sions, where one is able to closely match the propulsion load to the available power generation. The second factor was the reduction in cost of electrical drives, there- by making it a more affordable design as compared its mechanical alternatives. The challenge, mainly in the 90’s, was to persuade ship owners and operators, including navies, to embrace this new technology.” www.L-3com.com/MPS
