Rough Seas is back, and fresher than ever. Speaking of fresher, this episode finds our man Ben Garvey speaking with Mina Mekhail, the founder of FreshR Technologies - a Halifax‑based advanced materials startup on a mission to tackle global food waste through smarter seafood packaging.

Throughout the conversation Mina shares his journey from witnessing food insecurity in Egypt as a young lad, to studying biomaterials, and eventually launching a product that extends the shelf life of fresh proteins without touching the food itself.

Along the way, he unpacks hard‑won lessons about customer discovery, mentorship, and leading a growing deep‑tech team through technical setbacks, COVID disruptions, fundraising, and scale‑up.

Mina also shares candid and refreshing perspectives on the power of tough‑love mentors, and why founders must fall in love with the problem more than any single solution.

Enjoy the ride.

For centuries, sailors have looked to the stars to navigate the open seas. But can you use those same stars to chart a course through a career? By charting a course using little but the stars above, John's journey from corporate finance and to the tutelage of Johns Hopkins' NASA scientists is an inspiration. John is a best-selling author and the Director of the Abbey Ridge Observator and Eastern Canada's premiere stargazing park. There's also a couple of surprises in this episode. Our guest turns the mic around and interviews our host, Enginuity President and Founder Ben Garvey, about his early life among artists, poets and music, that eventually inspired his path towards engineering. And...there's also a little hidden chestnut at the back end of this episode. Enjoy the ride. ​

In this episode we follow Colonel Oldford's journey from the blackfly laden woods of New Brunswick to the NORAD command centre at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, and now most recently, his current post as Commander of 22 Wing.

Oldford details his extensive roles within NORAD, his transparent leadership approach, and how international defence partnerships endure regardless of shifting political climates.

Is it nature or nurture that creates great leaders? In the case of today's guest, it's a lot of both! In this week's episode of Rough Seas Ben speaks with Lieutenant Jerome Downey.

As founder of DMF Energy Inc. and as public affairs officer in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve, Downey's journey has been rooted in integrity.

He has drawn inspiration from his family's legacy of leadership and service - and is passionate about helping the next generation cultivate that same sense of purpose and willingness to serve community and country.

In this personal and candid interview, we join Tom Knox on his marine tech journey, beginning in radar, fibre optics, and RF testing under the tutelage of BAE Systems on the Isle of Wight, to eventually finding him as entrepreneur extraordinaire on Canada's east coast .

His philosophy regarding R & D and financing is a refreshing take on how to develop and market marine innovations.

In this episode we're joined by Nick Macan, an engineer and executive who's spent his career in the thick of big challenges—from West African oil projects to Russian sanctions to concrete and Canadian steel mills.

Nick now leads at Algoma Steel, a company taking bold steps of swapping out coal-fired blast furnaces for electric models, cutting emissions by 70%, and powering a new era of local, sustainable steel.

He and Ben discuss why producing steel close to home matters, the challenges and opportunities of "green steel," and how strategic procurement can strengthen Canada's economy and sovereignty.

In this episode, Robyn Warrier, Program Manager at COVE's NATO DIANA accelerator joins Ben to discuss her journey in ocean tech and commercialization. Together, they explore how dual-use innovation helps SMEs blend defence and commercial applications, offering new opportunities for growth and impact in the marine technology sector.

Today we welcome the absolute legend that is Jim Hanlon, a true pioneer in ocean technology. While many people have struggled to commericalise cutting edge tech, Jim has made a habit of it.

With over 40 years of experience in engineering, marketing, and management across civilian, academic and military sectors, Jim has not only built an impressive career but also revolutionised how we think about collaboration and innovation in the ocean economy.

In this playful conversation he and Ben discuss the finer points of facilitating collaborative research which can best be surmised in the mantra, "Synthesizing Opportunity out of Disparate Things".

In this episode Ben speaks with Dave Pedersen from Thales Canada about his incredible journey from paramedic to project engineer, delving deep into the challenges and rewards working in the Arctic & Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) and the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) programs.

From her beginnings as a young sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy to helming COVE, Nadeau's forward thinking approach is charting new opportunities in ocean entrepreneurship.

This episode explores the many challenges and opportunities that lay below, above and at the surface of the world's oceans.