NATIONAL HELICOPTER SERVICES LIMITED –
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lieutenant Commander (Ret.) Larry McIntosh
Lieutenant Commander (Ret.) Larry McIntosh possesses over forty (40) years’ experience in the military helicopter industry in Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America. He began his career as a helicopter technician in the US Army and went on to become a US Army pilot, achieving the rank of Captain. He served two tours as an Army pilot in Vietnam and was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism in combat. In 1973, he became Lieutenant Commander of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard. During his tenure there, he led the development of the first national (state-owned) helicopter unit in Trinidad and Tobago, which was launched in support of the Defence Force and Police. The unit was later transformed into National Helicopter Services Limited (NHSL).
Commander McIntosh graduated Magna cum Laude with a degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and did post-graduate work at Temple and George Washington Universities. He went on to hold several positions at Boeing Defence and Space Group, Rotorcraft Division, including Manager for Integrated Logistic Support on the US Army Special Operations Chinook Program, and Production Test Pilot on the Royal Air Force Chinook Program.
More recently, he was the Program Manager for the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard’s AW139 Helicopter Program. He was appointed as a Chairman on the Board of National Helicopter Services Limited in February 2017.
Mrs. Jennifer Boucaud-Blake
Mrs. Jennifer Boucaud-Blake is a retired career public officer whose service spanned administrative, technical, managerial and leadership positions, culminating in that of Permanent Secretary which she held for the last nine years of her career.
Having mastered the fundamentals of public service operations in her early career, augmented by university training and qualifications, she launched into management consultancy with a focus on transformation activities across the public service. Her specialization further expanded when she was promoted to the position of Senior Human Resource Officer in the Ministry of National Security and steadily elevated to portfolios of Director Human Resources, Deputy Permanent Secretary and Permanent Secretary. In this last position she provided strategic and administrative leadership in one of the largest and most complex ministries in Trinidad and Tobago, encompassing military, quasi-military and civilian operations.
At the culmination of her career in 2014, she was honored with a National Award – Public Service Medal of Merit (gold). She was appointed as Director on the College of Science Technology & Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) Board of Trustees in June 2016. In February 2017, she was appointed as a Director on the Board of National Helicopter Services Limited.
Hayden Manzano
Mr. Hayden Manzano is currently the Acting Executive Director, Investment/ Divestment, Investments Division and holds the substantive position of Director, Economic Research and Policy Coordination of the Ministry of Finance since August 2015. He was also appointed a Director of the Trinidad and Tobago Racing Authority and the Board of the Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Mr. Manzano holds a Master’s Degree in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University in the City of New York, USA and a Bachelor of Sciences Degree (Hons.) from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.
Mr. Manzano has served on a number of Technical Groups and Committees including the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Food Prices and inflation, the Food Prices Council; the Inter-Ministerial Working Committee for Poverty Alleviation; the Technical Team for the Restructuring of the Central Statistical Office and the Local Government Reform Task Force. He also represented Trinidad and Tobago at several international fora and served on a number of CARICOM task forces to promote Caribbean Integration. He was appointed as a Director on the Board of National Helicopter Services Limited in August 2018.
Captain Roderick CW Spicer
As a qualified pilot, Captain Spicer flew with the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard (AIRWING) and the national airline (BWIA and CAL) for twenty years combined; he is also the holder of a Master of Science degree in Aviation Management from the University of the West Indies (UWI), and a BBA in Management Information Systems from Howard University, Washington D.C., and has also obtained a programme certificate in Aviation Safety and Security from the University of Southern California.
In addition to his professional aviation portfolio, Captain Spicer has also gained valuable experience, since 2011, as a lecturer in Airline Operations Management and, Quality Management in Airline Operations in the MSc programme at UWI.
Captain Spicer has broad knowledge and experience in flight operations and airline safety. He was appointed as a Director on the Board of National Helicopter Services Limited in August 2018.
Leighton Goodridge
Mr. Leighton Goodridge is an accomplished and dedicated Aircraft Engineer with a wealth of experience in both the Commercial and Private Aviation industry having worked with the then BWIA West Indies Airways for over 15 years. The holder of Mechanical Engineering Diploma from John Donaldson Technical Institute and an Airframe and Power Plant Mechanic Diploma from the Teterboro School of Aeronautics, New Jersey, Mr Goodridge subsequently joined GHL Star Aviation. In his current capacity as a Ground Engineer, he has the overarching responsibility for Certification and Maintenance of aircrafts for flights within Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
He was appointed as a Director on the Board of National Helicopter Services Limited in August 2018.
Dr. Joseph Ishmael Khan
Dr. Joseph Ishmael Khan is an international project management practitioner with more than 20 years of consulting, facilitating and lecturing experience. Dr. Khan commenced his career as a Mechanical Engineering Technician and Mechanical Inspector with several industrial process plants in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.
Dr. Khan presently leads and collaborates on development projects in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, Belize, Bahamas, Grenada, Suriname and Germany, France and Spain for private and public sector organisations and international agencies such as the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB), Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and Organisation of American States (OAS/CICAD), among others. Dr. Khan is also intimately involved in the evaluation of renewable energy projects relating to geothermal, solar and wind energy sources in the Caribbean Region.
Dr. Khan is an adjunct faculty with the Project Management Department, Faculty of Engineering and Department of Creative and Festival Arts, Faculty of Humanities and Education, University of the West Indies, and the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business.
Dr. Khan holds a Doctoral Degree (DBA) in Management with the Australian School of Business, Adelaide, South Australia; a Master of Business Management degree and Post Graduate Diploma from the Henley Management College/University of Reading, UK; Certified Associate Welding Inspector (CAWI) with the American Welding Society; and the Mechanical Engineering Technician’s Diploma from the San Fernando Technical Institute. Dr. Khan is also a Project Management Professional® (PMP®), Certified Project Consultant, Certified PROSCI Change Management Practitioner, and an active Certified Agile Scrum Master.
In June 2012, Dr. Khan was appointed as a Director on the Board of National Helicopter Services Limited.
Dr. Vernon Paltoo
Dr. Vernon Paltoo is an accomplished professional, who currently holds the position of President of National Energy Corporation. He has been instrumental in leading an extensive team of highly skilled and motivated staff in driving National Energy towards its mission of contributing to the development of sustainable energy-based industries. He has also played a pivotal role in promoting regional collaboration, resulting in numerous state-to-state engagements.
Dr. Paltoo possesses a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Process Engineering from the University of the West Indies. He maintains professional affiliations as a senior member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and has served on several State Boards, as well as the Board of the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago.
In June 2012, Dr. Paltoo was appointed as a Director on the Board of National Helicopter Services Limited.