Management
Get to know our highly educated, distinctly experienced management team.
Dan Sceli was appointed Chief Executive Officer in January of 2024. Mr. Sceli’s distinguished 37-year career in the global manufacturing sector marks him as a visionary leader, whose strategic acumen and commitment to excellence have propelled companies to new heights.
Known for his considerable operational expertise, he has a proven track record of driving profitable growth and enhancing productivity through adept utilization of technology and manufacturing excellence.
In his most recent position as Board Member and CEO of Cadillac Products Automotive Company, an international leader in the plastics converting industry, he demonstrated visionary leadership, diversified the product portfolio, and successfully expanded into new markets.
Prior to this, Mr. Sceli spent 12 years as Chief Executive Officer at Peterson American Corporation, the largest privately held spring manufacturer in North America. His transformative leadership led the company through strategic overhauls, resulting in significant and sustainable growth.
He also spent 22 years in ever-expanding leadership roles at The Woodbridge Group, a provider of material technologies for automotive, commercial, recreational, packaging, healthcare, and building product applications — including several years in Europe running their European business.
Mr. Sceli’s thought leadership extends beyond corporate walls; as past chairman and member of industry supplier associations Original Equipment Suppliers Association and Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, he has shaped industry standards and practices.
Elizabeth Owens was appointed Chief Financial Officer in August of 2025. Her experience spans a diverse set of multinational corporate environments in a range of large publicly held companies.
Over the last 20 years, Ms. Owens has served in management and leadership roles across various industries in the automotive, telecommunications, aviation and chemical manufacturing sectors. She brings extensive experience in leading global teams in tax, finance and accounting as well as broad experience in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Her effective leadership and financial expertise has been crucial in steering companies through both prosperous and challenging times.
Ms. Owens has been with Westport for 10 years and most recently, served as Vice President, Finance and Tax for the Westport group. She joined Westport in August 2015 as Director of Tax and has worked in progressively senior roles at the Company, her most recent position having responsibility over the corporate finance functions as well as having a key role in the successful execution of a number of the Company’s transformational initiatives including the establishment of our joint venture relationship with a major OEM.
Ms. Owens began her career as a CPA, CA with Deloitte and holds a B.Comm with a major in Accounting from the University of British Columbia.
Lance Follett is Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President overseeing Corporate Development, Legal, Government Relations and Intellectual Property. He joined Westport Fuel Systems in 2001 as intellectual property counsel and has worked in a variety of capacities including Vice President of Licensing, Vice President of European Partnerships, and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Intellectual Property. He assumed his current role in 2017.
Mr. Follett has an extensive background in market development, intellectual property protection and licensing, mergers and acquisitions, and structuring and negotiating international technology deals in the energy, high tech, alternative energy, and automotive space. He is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and a registered Patent Agent.
Mr. Follett holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree from the University of British Columbia and a J.D. from the University of Victoria. He has also completed executive programs at Harvard and INSEAD. Prior to joining Westport Fuel Systems, he practiced law at one of Canada’s national law firms, focusing on intellectual property litigation.
Before his legal career, he also had a successful career as an acquisition geophysicist based in Southeast Asia.
Mr. Follett has lived and worked extensively in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.
Board of Directors
Meet our diverse team of strategic thinkers and policymakers.
Daniel M. Hancock was appointed to the Board in July 2017, having previously joined the Company's Advisory Board in March of 2017, and appointed Chair of the Board of Directors April 2020. Mr. Hancock is currently President of DMH Strategic Consulting LLC and also serves on the board of directors of Cryoport Systems, Inc., a U.S. headquartered company listed on the NASDAQ.
Mr. Hancock retired from General Motors ("GM") in 2011, after 43 years of service in GM's powertrain engineering and general management functions. His last position with GM was Vice President, Global Strategic Product Alliances. During this period he served as Chairman of GM's DMAX and VM Motori diesel engine joint ventures with Isuzu and Fiat, respectively.
Mr. Hancock's previous appointments at GM included: Vice President, Global Powertrain Engineering; CEO, Fiat-GM Powertrain; and President, Allison Transmission Division. In these positions he was responsible for providing powertrain products that enabled regulatory dynamometer and vehicle certification and compliance, primarily on emissions and fuel economy. Given the global footprints of these organizations, he was responsible for assuring compliance with multiple, diverse national legal entity regulations and requirements.
He now serves in board and advisory positions with several organizations focusing on new powertrain technologies and STEM ("Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics") education. He was President of SAE International in 2014 and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
He received a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree also in mechanical engineering from General Motors Institute (now Kettering University), Michigan.
Michele J. Buchignani was appointed to the Westport Fuel Systems Board in March, 2018. Ms. Buchignani brings experience as a strategic business leader with extensive senior level expertise in law, finance, private equity, strategy, governance, compliance, risk management, and compensation.
Ms. Buchignani is currently Chief Executive Officer of McLean Drive Consulting Ltd., a consulting firm to private equity owned and growth companies and also serves as Managing Partner of McLane Drive Holdings LP., a U.S. real estate holding company. She serves on various board and advisory roles across corporate, investment committee, and not-for-profit organizations, including Paladin Energy Ltd (a TSX listed company), TSX Trust Company (a federally regulated trust company), CAI Capital Partners V LP, and the RCF Jolimont Innovation Fund II.
Her depth of Board experience includes serving as Chair of the Board of Directors, Chair of Governance and Human Resources committees as well as serving on Audit and Corporate Responsibility committees. Previously, Ms. Buchignani held executive positions including as a Director with Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in Toronto from 2005 to 2009; Managing Director and Head of the Private Equity Funds Group at CIBC Capital Partners in Toronto and New York from 1999 to 2003; and Managing Director, Canadian General Counsel and Head of Compliance for CIBC World Markets from 1996 to 1999.
From 1989 to 1996, she practiced corporate law in Toronto and London at Stikeman Elliott and was elected as a partner in 1995. Ms. Buchignani holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Ms. Buchignani holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in English from the University of British Columbia and a JD from the University of Toronto. She has also completed the Stanford Executive Program at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
Tony Guglielmin served as Interim Chief Executive Officer of Westport Fuel Systems for the period of August 2023 through January 2024 when Dan Sceli was appointed as permanent Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Guglielmin joined the Board in January 2021, prior to that he served as SVP and Chief Financial Officer with Ballard Power Systems located in Vancouver, a global leader in clean energy fuel cell products and services, having joined Ballard in June 2010.
Mr. Guglielmin previously served as SVP Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (“Canada Line”), a $2 billion rapid transit project connecting the Vancouver International Airport, City of Richmond and downtown Vancouver, BC. Prior to joining Canada Line, Tony held senior management roles in treasury, capital markets, investor relations, corporate development and strategic planning at both Finning International Inc. and British Columbia Hydro in Vancouver, and the Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto.
Mr. Guglielmin holds a BA in Economics and Political Science and an MBA from McGill University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the Financial Executives Institute.
In addition to his work on Westport’s Board he also serves on the Board and is Chair of the Audit Committee of Information Services Corporation (ISV.TO), a TSX listed company located in Regina, Saskatchewan, as well as on the Board of several private and not-for-profit organizations. He was also awarded the Business in Vancouver 2017 CFO of the year in the Transformation Agent category.