Agenda

Chet Thompson is president and CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the trade association representing over 300 member companies that encompass virtually all U.S. refining and petrochemical manufacturing capacity. He became AFPM’s president and CEO in 2015.
Prior to joining AFPM, Thompson was a partner at Crowell & Moring LLP, where he was chairman of the Environment & Natural Resources Group. He previously served as deputy general counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the George W. Bush Administration. Before joining EPA in 2004, he spent 10 years at Collier Shannon Scott PLLC.
In October 2015, The Hill named him as one of Washington’s Top Lobbyists. He has also been recognized as one of the leading lawyers in the United States by Chambers & Partners. Thompson holds a B.A. in Political Science from Boston College and a J.D. from the Catholic University Columbus School of Law.

Bruce is an experienced executive professional with more than five decades of experience defining, developing, and implementing innovative solutions utilizing leading edge technologies. Recognized for his innovative approaches, he always focuses on delighting the user community with common sense capabilities that fundamentally transform and enable front-line organization to achieve and sustain ever improving levels of operational excellence.

Beginning his career with NASA supporting the Apollo and other space-based programs, transitioning to holding leadership positions with recognized leading industry vendors, Bruce retired from Suncor Energy in 2015 as Manager, Business Process Integration. After which he then completed another 5 years as Director, Digital Transformation for Sinclair Oil. Most recently his work was recognized and honored with the AFPM 2021 Peter G. Andrews Lifetime Service recognition. Bruce remains active as a enterprise technology SME, influencer and industry consultant.

Holly Fitch is a process engineer at the Marathon Petroleum Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, TX. She recently joined the corporate Refining Analytics team with goals to improve asset health monitoring and develop analytical tools for engineers. Holly previously supported the HF Alkylation and Cyclic Reforming units as a process engineer, responsible for daily operations and troubleshooting, optimization, and project development. Prior to that, she worked as a process controls engineer supporting the Crude, Coker, and Tank Farm/Blending units. Holly holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX and has 7 years of experience in the refining industry.

Bobby Hammer is the Operations Supervisor at Big West Oil LLC in North Salt Lake City, Utah. Over the past few years, he has taken a lead role in Big West's implementation and roll out of Closed Loop AI Optimization (AIO) technology. Bobby is passionate about the incorporation of technology in operations work practices and in his role at Big West, he's worked to position AI as a means for upskilling rather than a replacement.

Brent is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company. He has 21 years' experience at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company in various departments: Information Technology (software development, project management), Commercial Lines (sales and operations planning), Supply Chain (managing warehousing, packaging, drayage), and Analytics (business intelligence and data science). His passion is to help organization make more intelligent decisions using the valuable data in their enterprise with the power of Analytics & AI.

Jeffrey Sexton is the Refining Technology Director for Marathon Petroleum Company located in Findlay, Ohio. He directs the efforts of 40 subject matter experts to provide technical and operational expertise and support to Marathon’s downstream organization while working closely with the refining Technical Services departments. Jeff also has responsibility for Virent. This is a technology company based in Madison, Wisconsin that produces transportation fuels from corn sugar. Jeff previously worked for UOP in a variety of assignments and has worked in over 64 different refineries around the world. Jeff was previously the FCC & Alky subject matter expert for Marathon responsible for unit technical and operating performance and Operations & Training Director. He has authored over 30 technical papers, holds 8 patents and made several presentations at the AFPM and other industry forums. Jeff has been chairman of the U.S. EPA Consent Decree FCC Technical Team, PSRI Technical Advisory Committee and is an AFPM Summit Steering Committee member. Jeff holds a BS in chemical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

John R. Auers is the Managing Director of Refined Fuels Analytics (RFA), the downstream petroleum consulting arm of RBN Energy LLC, an industry leading energy market analytics company. Prior to forming RFA in July 2022, Mr, Auers was the Executive Vice President of Turner, Mason & Company (TM&C), where he spent 35 years beginning in 1987. Mr. Auers began his career in the petroleum refining industry with Exxon Corporation in 1980, with which he held various positions at its Baytown, TX refinery.

Robert is RBN – RFA’s primary refinery modeler and refined fuels market analyst. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2013 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Robert is an active CFA Charterholder. Robert has nine years of total industry experience split between Western Refining’s El Paso Refinery (now owned by Marathon) and Turner, Mason & Co. He is experienced in petroleum refining and renewable diesel economics, process engineering, process design, and HazOp review.

Javier Rios is a Principal Technical Service Specialist at Honeywell UOP and he is responsible for supporting UOP FCC and Merox operations worldwide. Over the past 17 years Javier has worked in the Field Services and Technology Services groups. As a Field Service Advisor he provided on site guidance and expertise during new unit commissioning, startup, and troubleshooting for Hydro-treating/Hydrocracker, Molex, Fix Bed Platforming, and Merox technologies at multiple refineries throughout the world. In his current role, Javier specializes in FCC and Merox technologies, providing troubleshooting, optimization and operational assistance for over 15 FCC and over 300 treating units as well as supporting internal FCC and Merox technology development teams for UOP FCC R&D and Engineering. He has been awarded 4 patents on UOP Technologies, 3 trade secret for improvements in treating technologies and published 2 articles. Javier earned his B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Optional: He enjoys to play soccer, Karaoke and his favorite team is America (Mexico) – Barcelona (Spain).

Ryan Brown is a Process Design Engineer at Marathon Petroleum Company’s refinery in Robinson, IL. He has been with MPC for 5 years, including 1 year in his current role. Ryan previously spent 2 years as a Data Validation Engineer at Marathon’s corporate headquarters and 2 years as Robinson’s FCC Process Engineer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Michigan State University.

Michael is a Technical Service Specialist for BASF’s refining catalyst business and is based in Chicago, Illinois. He provides technical service and FCC kinetic modelling support for North American accounts. Prior to joining BASF, Michael worked at UOP for over 13 years in multiple technical functions related to FCC, Alkylation, and Treating technologies. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

Bruce is an experienced executive professional with more than five decades of experience defining, developing, and implementing innovative solutions utilizing leading edge technologies. Recognized for his innovative approaches, he always focuses on delighting the user community with common sense capabilities that fundamentally transform and enable front-line organization to achieve and sustain ever improving levels of operational excellence.

Beginning his career with NASA supporting the Apollo and other space-based programs, transitioning to holding leadership positions with recognized leading industry vendors, Bruce retired from Suncor Energy in 2015 as Manager, Business Process Integration. After which he then completed another 5 years as Director, Digital Transformation for Sinclair Oil. Most recently his work was recognized and honored with the AFPM 2021 Peter G. Andrews Lifetime Service recognition. Bruce remains active as a enterprise technology SME, influencer and industry consultant.

Dean Roberts is the Ergon-West Virginia (EWV) Business Coordinator working Jackson, MS. He is responsible for coordinating strategic initiatives and priorities between the refinery and all other Ergon entities associated with EWV. He has 33 years of experience in Engineering, Maintenance and Capital Projects in the lube and oil refineries, as well as natural gas processing. He has provided engineering, maintenance and operations support on large grassroots construction and major revamps in these industries.

Mr. Hoffman has over 50 years of domestic and international engineering and management experience in the refining, petrochemical and synthetic fuels industries. His experience includes plant design, construction, start-up, maintenance and reliability management. He has experience as an expert witness and has conducted numerous due diligence, maintenance and reliability assessments.

Montri Vichailak is Hydroprocessing Technologist at Marathon Petroleum Corporation HQ in Findlay, OH. He is responsible for providing leadership on hydroprocessing and hydrocracking technical and operating performances across Marathon’s refining system. Montri holds a Doctorate degree in Chemical Engineering from Lamar University and has more than 23 years of experience in oil and gas industry.

Andres Barrios graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University in May 2018. He has accumulated diverse experience in engineering roles across various sectors.

For the past 3 years, Andres has been an Applications Engineer at Filter Resources LLC, where he provides technical support to customers in the Gulf Coast region and collaborates with the production team on the manufacturing and design of specialty custom filter products. Previously, he worked as a Design Engineer at BD Energy Systems LLC for 3 years, focusing on revamp projects for reformers and fired heaters in the petrochemical industry. He also spent 1 year at H+M Industrial EPC as a Pipe Design Engineer, specializing in 3D modeling of mechanical equipment and pipe routing projects in the midstream industry, along with field and procurement experience in construction for a piping midstream project. Additionally, Andres has 9 months of experience as a Product Development Engineer Co-op at Ingersoll Rand, where he contributed to the outdoor engineering team in developing residential air conditioner and heat pump products.

Sidney Mondin holds a bachelor's degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M University. With over two decades of diverse experience, Sidney has worked extensively in the filtration and oil and gas industries.
Sidney spent 16 years outside the Oil and Gas industry before transitioning to PECO (Perry Equipment Company), where he serviced the filtration needs of the midstream gas market for 5 years. He then worked with WACO filters for 2 years, addressing the filtration needs of the petrochemical market in the Gulf Coast. His experience also includes 2 years as a mud engineer with Halliburton in the Eagleford shale and 2 years with PALL Corp as a filtration solutions provider in the Permian basin and Eagleford shale. Currently, Sidney is the Regional Manager at Filter Resources, LLC, a position he has held for 7 years, following his tenure at Parker Hannifin and MCE.

Brian Noto holds a bachelor's degree in economics and finance from Nichols State University. He has over four decades of experience in the industrial and filtration solutions sectors.
Brian spent 8 years at Hydrochem (HPC Industrial), providing industrial cleaning services in the downstream Oil and Gas market in Houston. For the past 34 years, he has been a Territory Manager at Filter Resources LLC, delivering filtration solutions to refineries, petrochemical plants, and offshore production companies in south-central Louisiana.

Christina Rasmussen is a Process Engineer at Marathon Petroleum, currently working at the Los Angeles refinery. In her role, Christina supports Operations and drives optimization projects with a strong focus on safety, reliability, and performance improvements.

Christina graduated from Texas A&M University in 2020 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. Over the past five years at Marathon Petroleum, she has gained experience in multiple technologies, including wastewater treatment, tank farm operations, hydrotreating, and hydrocracking.

Tiffany Clark is a corporate FCC Technologist with Marathon Petroleum Company. Tiffany has spent over half of her twenty-year refining career supporting FCC Operations in Technical Services, Operations and FCC Catalyst roles, in addition to various roles in Process Engineering, Operations, Refinery Economics, Planning and Scheduling. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and MBA from the University of Houston.

Bill Clark is the Director, Reliability for Phillips 66, responsible for reliability excellence programs across the Refining organization. Bill has worked for Phillips 66 and its heritage companies for over 30 years, including time spent at multiple refineries and the company’s headquarters office. He has held leadership positions in maintenance, reliability, turnaround, operations, and process safety. Bill holds an Electrical Engineering degree from California State University, Fullerton and an MBA from California State University, Long Beach.

Mark Galley is the President of ThinkReliability. He developed his practical experience in risk cause analysis and work process reliability during nearly nine years at Dow Chemical Company. Since co-founding ThinkReliability, Mark has focused on equipping organizations with the tools and training they need to effectively identify and address root causes. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and became a Certified Reliability Engineer through the American Society for Quality.

Jeff Johns has over 37 years’ experience in the petroleum refining industry and currently works for Becht as a Hydroprocessing Advisor and Trainer. He was honored to be named a Chevron Hydroprocessing Fellow (Chevron’s highest technical recognition) for contributions to Chevron and to the industry. Jeff has expert knowledge of hydrocracker and hydrotreater design/operation, optimization, and troubleshooting, and has substantial experience in other key refinery processes. Jeff managed hydrocracking and hydrotreating technology in Chevron’s refineries worldwide where he developed and implemented best practices and projects to improve safety, reliability, and profitability. One of his special interests as a technology mentor was developing and delivering training. For 20 years, Jeff led an ad hoc Industry Committee of hydroprocessing experts dedicated to sharing safety and reliability information among North American Refiners. He was a member of the AFPM Q&A Panel in 2004 and directed multiple technology seminars as a member of the AFPM Q&A screening committee. Jeff served on the Board of Directors for Advanced Refining Technologies (ART). Jeff holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah. He holds six patents in hydroprocessing technology.

Greg Mullek has 24 years of experience working for Chevron, during which he has held various roles including Process Engineering, Operations, and Maintenance. He is currently a Hydroprocessing Subject Matter Expert supporting Chevron Refineries. Greg is based at the Pascagoula, MS Refinery. He is married and a proud father of two boys, aged 7 and 9. Greg enjoys spending time with his family and indulging in hobbies such as camping, fishing, and anything boating-related.

Steve is responsible for the overall management of the Refining Technology department, providing oversight for licensing, projects, proposals and technology development programs. He has over 25 years of experience in refining process design and licensing. Steve holds a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Houston and a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Oklahoma.

Alan Kramer is the Global FCC Modeling Advisor for Albemarle. He is responsible for development and support of the kinetic cracking models used by Albemarle. In his seven years as a modeling advisor, Alan has modeled over 120 FCC units across the globe. He has been a presenter at numerous industry conferences and has had authored over two dozen papers or articles on FCC.

Alan earned a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA from Loyola University in Maryland. He has over 24 years of experience in FCC.

Liana Siegel is the HF Alkylation Technologist for Marathon Petroleum Company. She has 18 years of refining experience with positions held in Technical, Economics and Planning, and Major Projects Departments with 7 years of experience directly in HF Alkylation.

Sam is a recognized industry expert and has over 45 years’ experience in refinery process chemistry/chemical treatments, opportunity crude processing and crude desalting. During his 45 years of corrosion / refining / petrochemical experience, he has been involved in all aspects of managing risk due changing crude slates and process conditions; including corrosion prevention, fouling prevention and control, failure analysis, and crude desalting.

Sam is active in AMPP, Crude Oil Quality Association (COQA) and the Opportunity Crude Conferences presenting on a wide variety of topic regarding crude oil processing, corrosion control, desalting, and fouling. He is an active member of and American Fuels and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM). At AFPM was a member of the 2002 AFPM Q&A Panel, worked on the screening committee (>20 years) and received the 2016 AFPM Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sam is currently an Advisor for Becht.

Gary Gianzon is currently a Heavy Oil Advisor at Becht, providing technical consulting in delayed coking, solvent deasphalting (ROSE), and resid hydrotreating/hydrocracking (LCFining).
He previously retired as Heavy Oil Technologist at Marathon Petroleum Company (MPC), the largest U.S. refiner, where he served as Subject Matter Expert (SME) for 17 heavy oil units. In this role, he focused on developing unit engineers through mentoring, knowledge sharing, and structured training. He authored key company standards and procedures for unit startup, shutdown, safety, and operations, including MPC’s coker safety standard and technical training materials for coker, ROSE, and LCFiner units.
Gary supported major projects across MPC, including grassroots cokers in Detroit and Garyville, a coker heater replacement in Detroit, interlock upgrades in Galveston Bay, and the SDA expansion in Catlettsburg. Earlier, he served as lead process engineer for the 45 MBPD coker in the Garyville Major Expansion, overseeing design, reviews, operator training, commissioning, and startup.
He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, graduating magna cum laude in 1992.

Heather Blair is an FCC Technical Service Engineer for Johnson Matthey. She is responsible for analysis, recommendations, and customer interface in the FCC additives business. She started her career with HollyFrontier in Cheyenne, Wyoming and held several different process engineering roles there.

Heather holds a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wyoming.

Jessica Boyce is a FCC Process Engineer at the HF Sinclair Puget Sound Refinery. With 10 years of process engineering experience, she has contributed to optimizing FCC unit operations, enhancing catalyst and additive performance, and improving overall refinery efficiency. Jessica holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Washington State University.

Disha Sharma is an FCC Strategic Marketing Manager for WR Grace. She is responsible for FCC environmental additives portfolio—including CO Promoter, Gasoline Sulfur Reduction, and NOx reduction—while also driving digital innovation across commercial platforms to enhance sustainability and market differentiation. She has held a variety of roles in supply chain and IT across the industry, including positions at Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell.
Disha holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and MBA from Central Michigan University, Michigan.

Alex currently serves as a Development Manager at Nalco Water across the North American Midstream and Downstream markets. Major operational areas include transitioning accounts from incumbent suppliers into Nalco Waters holistic solutions—or designing/building/operating water reduction projects across refineries operations from a process improvement perspective.

This change leadership often includes managing change of processes, procedures and implementing change of people’s day-to-day operations. Over a decade ago Alex started his career in upstream drilling (Mudlogging) for Offshore US & Guyana operations in ultra-deepwater operations. Alex received an opportunity to start-up a R&D center in Germany working on Gas Analyzers for organic & inorganic gasses on drilling rigs while Alpha & Beta testing this technology into the field to obtain real-time tweaks to the final commercialized portfolio of solutions. Moving back to his operational roots—Alex ran global operations before moving out to the Permian Basin to start-up a reservoir consulting group and eventually running the Sales and Commercial group for a Chemical Supplier in the Basin.

After leaving the Permian—Alex joined Flint Hills Resources as a Strategic Portfolio Manager on Water Reduction projects related to the risks of water consumption within their downstream operation in Minnesota. Before his industrial career, Alex earned a B.S. in Analytical Chemistry from Northland College before attending Michigan Tech for a Masters in Environmental Engineering focused on Biogeochemistry of invasive species within Lake Superior Watershed working across industrial partners, NGO’s and State/Federal agencies.

Currently Alex lives in St. Paul Minnesota and enjoys the 2 months of nice Minnesota weather when he isn’t traveling for work. He and his wife enjoy their downtime and annual trips to Europe for exploration and relaxation. One of his favorite hobbies is listening to podcasts while on a run and getting lost in the data of “The Indicator”, or “Business Wars” and taking lessons from thought leaders and letting his natural curiosity wander.

Ziad Jawad is the Director of FCC Technology at Phillips 66 in Houston TX where he supports Fluidized Catalytic Cracking operations to deliver a competitive advantage. He is responsible for setting technical strategy via catalyst selection, capital projects / improvement opportunities, and implementing best-practices across the organization. He supports plant operations, focuses on improving process-safety and assuring regulatory compliance. Prior to joining P66 Ziad was Director Catalytic Cracking Technology at Technip Stone & Webster Process Technology and Vice President / General Manager Houston at Emtrol LLC. Ziad holds a BSChE from the Virginia Tech University and has over 26 years of experience in the refining industry.

Virgilio (Virgil) Guzman is a Mechanical Engineer who graduated from Universidad Tecnologica del Centro (UNITEC) in Venezuela. He joined TapcoEnpro in 2020, taking on the role of Sales Director for the Americas region. With a career spanning over a decade, Virgil has specialized in critical service valves application for various units, including FCCU, Delayed Coker, Steam cracking units, and petrochemical applications

Tim Oubre is a Senior Technical Specialist with Athlon, a Halliburton Service based near Houston, TX. He is responsible for process technical support and training of our field services teams as well as managing others in the same capacity. The majority of Tim's experience is in desalting and corrosion control but he has supported many refinery and chemical process applications. He started his career as a process engineer at a major Gulf Coast refiner and after 5 years transitioned to the specialty chemical supplier industry where he has worked for several companies since 2004.

Tim holds a BSChE from Lamar University in Beaumont, TX and has over 22 years of experience in the refining and petrochemicals industries.

Jeff is VP Technology at TotalChem. He has a BE - CHE degree from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Bill Clark is the Director, Reliability for Phillips 66, responsible for reliability excellence programs across the Refining organization. Bill has worked for Phillips 66 and its heritage companies for over 30 years, including time spent at multiple refineries and the company’s headquarters office. He has held leadership positions in maintenance, reliability, turnaround, operations, and process safety. Bill holds an Electrical Engineering degree from California State University, Fullerton and an MBA from California State University, Long Beach.

Atique Malik PhD has over four decades of experience in applying APC and AI at refineries and petrochemical plants in Europe, Canada and the US. Atique has worked for GEC, Esso Chemical, Amoco Oil, Air Products and Phillips 66 in applications and supervision. Atique’s current interests lie in the complementary nature of applied model predictive control and applied Reinforcement Learning. He has BSc, MPhil and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Leeds, England.

Scott Flanagan is Marathon Petroleum Company’s Controls Technology Director leading a team of Control Technologists that support refinery control systems, control projects, and advanced applications across the company. Scott has 38 years of experience in the refining and petrochemical industry with 31 years supporting Process Control including Multivariable Controls. He has also held leadership roles in Operations and Process Engineering supporting the areas of FCC, Alkylation, Sulfur Recovery, and Oil Movements. Mr. Flanagan holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University and is a registered professional engineer in the state of Texas. He is officed at the Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, TX.

Johnny is the Process Controls & Modeling Team Lead at Phillips 66 Bayway Refinery, Linden, NJ. He has 10 years of experience which includes roles in process control engineering, LP Modeling/Planning & Economics & Digital Business Lead.

Matt Goodman is the Manager of Renewables and Emerging Energies at Marathon Petroleum Company based in Findlay, Oh. where he and his team are responsible for evaluating and supporting new technologies across the renewables and emerging energies platforms. He is an experienced Chemical Engineer with 25 years of industry experience. He has a vast background in the Refining and Chemicals markets, with multiple roles including process engineering, project management, commercial sales, commercial account management, technology development and licensing, business development, and strategy.

John Howard is Director of Product Management for Experian Automotive. In this role, he and his team conduct industry and automotive data consulting as well as oversee customer success programs around the business’s market intelligence platform, VelocitySM, which serves as a reporting tool for new and used vehicle registration statistics, vehicles in operation, owner loyalty data, and automotive financial and lending metrics. Additionally, Howard performs a number of industry analyses designed to help clients improve profitability and uncover growth opportunities by providing a better understanding of the automotive landscape.

The majority of Howard’s career has been served within the automotive industry. Prior to joining Experian in February 2014, Howard spent 17 years in a variety of product leadership roles at ADP Dealer Services (now known as CDK Global). His positions with ADP Dealer Services have allowed him to become familiar with the data and analytics needs of both the retail and manufacturing sides of the automotive business.

Howard holds a Master of Science in business administration from Roosevelt University in Illinois as well as a Bachelor of Science in business management.

Nandita Akunuri is a Senior Advanced Applications Engineer for Axens North America at the Houston office. She is responsible for developing and implementing the Connect'In process monitoring interface and also works on operator training programs using dynamic process simulators. She has more than 13 years of experience in using process simulation tools with extensive experience in implementing process model-based solutions for refineries for productivity improvement and techno-economic evaluation of process technologies. Ms. Akunuri holds Masters degrees in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering from North Carolina State University and BITS Pilani, India, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Texas.

Amanda Cavazos works as a Technical Service engineer at the Marathon refinery in Anacortes, Washington. In her role as an engineer, she supports daily operations and long-term initiatives in the Naphtha Hydrotreater, Catalytic Reformer, and C5/C6 Isomerization units. Amanda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering with a Safety certificate from Texas A&M University.

Leslie Johnson is the Technical Service Manager at Crystaphase. She has 17 years of experience in process engineering, technical service, and product stewardship. Leslie began her career at Union Carbide as a Process Engineer, where she managed production, developed operating procedures, conducted audits, and oversaw catalyst change-outs. She later dedicated time to raising a family and volunteering in her community—roles that strengthened her skills in project management, strategic planning, and team leadership. In 2016, she brought this deep technical expertise and broad leadership experience to Crystaphase. Since then, Leslie has worked closely with customers to evaluate operational data, design customized systems, and optimize process performance. In her current role, she leads a team of 11 technical service representatives, driving innovation, customer support, and operational excellence. Leslie holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Mississippi State University.

Liana Siegel is the HF Alkylation Technologist for Marathon Petroleum Company. She has 18 years of refining experience with positions held in Technical, Economics and Planning, and Major Projects Departments with 7 years of experience directly in HF Alkylation.

Bill Clark is the Director, Reliability for Phillips 66, responsible for reliability excellence programs across the Refining organization. Bill has worked for Phillips 66 and its heritage companies for over 30 years, including time spent at multiple refineries and the company’s headquarters office. He has held leadership positions in maintenance, reliability, turnaround, operations, and process safety. Bill holds an Electrical Engineering degree from California State University, Fullerton and an MBA from California State University, Long Beach.

Dean Roberts is the Ergon-West Virginia (EWV) Business Coordinator working Jackson, MS. He is responsible for coordinating strategic initiatives and priorities between the refinery and all other Ergon entities associated with EWV. He has 33 years of experience in Engineering, Maintenance and Capital Projects in the lube and oil refineries, as well as natural gas processing. He has provided engineering, maintenance and operations support on large grassroots construction and major revamps in these industries.

Lon received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1995 and a Master’s of Science in Engineering in 1998 from Kansas State University. Upon completion, Lon began his professional career in environmental engineering and held several positions within an inorganic chemical manufacturing complex. In 2006, Lon received his MBA from Newman University. In 2007, he joined CHS refinery at McPherson, Kansas. Lon is currently a Process Engineering Supervisor serving as process engineer for the Hydrocracker, Hydrogen Plants, FCCU, Gas Complex and Merox units. He serves as the site SME for hydroprocessing and hydrocracking.

Delbert Grotewold is a Renewable Fuels SME with Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions. He has held roles in research, process engineering, operations management, technical marketing, strategic product development and commercial operations. Delbert’s areas of expertise are in refinery process design, unit operations troubleshooting, membrane separation technologies, heavy and tight oil processing, advanced modeling, statistical process control, data management and water reuse. He holds 5 patents in the refining industry including applied artificial intelligence modeling and refinery process control.

Mr. Grotewold holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering, a BSc in Petroleum Refining Engineering and a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from the Colorado School of Mines. He is a registered Professional Engineer with 41 years of experience with operating companies and refinery treatment providers.

Wendy Wildenberg is the Flint Hills Hydroprocessing Lead and has worked primarily in Hydroprocessing in areas of process safety, damage mechanism understanding, design, and operating envelope improvements, catalyst selection, reaction kinetics understanding improvement, and other large capital improvements. Wendy holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked in various process and operational roles for FHR since 1992.

Carson Wright is a Process Engineer at Flint Hills Resources’ Corpus Christi Refinery, with experience in Xylene Separation/Isomerization, Hydrotreating, and Hydrocracking. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University–Kingsville in 2022. Prior to entering manufacturing, Carson held multiple research and development roles focused on aerospace and hydroprocessing technologies.

Mike DeHart is Executive Director of Maintenance Excellence for Valero Energy. He is responsible for developing and implementing best practices to support routine and turnaround maintenance across Valero’s refineries. Mike has experience in Fixed Equipment Reliability, Inspection, Turnarounds, Maintenance, Operations and Refinery Optimization. He has provided leadership in these areas in refineries and in a corporate capacity.

Tom Golden is Director of Global Maintenance for LyondellBasell Industries, at their Houston Engineering Center. He has 36+ years of experience in the refining and petrochemical industry and is responsible for the corporate-wide maintenance workflows, processes and software tools. He has experience in Maintenance, Reliability, Capital Projects and Turnarounds and has worked in multiple facilities throughout LyondellBasell. Mr. Golden has a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

John Duenckel is Director Technology for Valero Energy at the company headquarters in San Antonio, TX. He is responsible for leading the development and implementation of routine maintenance best practices company wide. He has 16 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. In refining, he has experience implementing comprehensive preventive maintenance programs for electrical power systems as an engineer and managed a team responsible for overall equipment reliability in the technical areas of electrical power distribution, process controls, and plant instrumentation. In his current role, he works with internal stakeholders on initiatives to improve and optimize the routine maintenance work process. He also develops and analyzes key performance indicators for tracking maintenance efficiency and effectiveness. John is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas and Oklahoma.

Atique Malik PhD has over four decades of experience in applying APC and AI at refineries and petrochemical plants in Europe, Canada and the US. Atique has worked for GEC, Esso Chemical, Amoco Oil, Air Products and Phillips 66 in applications and supervision. Atique’s current interests lie in the complementary nature of applied model predictive control and applied Reinforcement Learning. He has BSc, MPhil and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Leeds, England.

Liana Siegel is the HF Alkylation Technologist for Marathon Petroleum Company. She has 18 years of refining experience with positions held in Technical, Economics and Planning, and Major Projects Departments with 7 years of experience directly in HF Alkylation.

Alex Kniuksta is a Principal Technology Specialist in the Gasoline Technology Services group at Honeywell UOP. Alex has spent 18+ years with UOP focusing on reforming, isomerization, and naphtha hydrotreating technologies.

Alex has held roles within UOP in field service, sales support, service manager, and technology service. In his current role, Alex supports a global customer base with unit operation, optimization, turnarounds, training, and troubleshooting to keep units operating reliably and efficiently.

Scott Wozniak, P.E., is a distinguished thought leader in process safety, hydrogen, carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), and environmental sustainability at Honeywell UOP. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from DePaul University. With over 40 years of experience in the petrochemical and refining industries, Scott has conducted more than 100 process safety studies and global site assessments across 50 countries. He has authored over 50 industry papers and collaborated on significant process safety and environmental projects with high-profile clients like ExxonMobil, Chevron, Pertamina, Petronas, and Saudi Aramco.

As an active member of organizations such as API and AFPM, Scott plays a key role in influencing standards in process safety and environmental practices while fostering low-carbon business ventures and circular economy initiatives. He served as the API Safety and Fire Protection Chair during the Deepwater Horizon spill, an experience that deepened his commitment to safety and environmental stewardship. Having trained over 40,000 professionals, Scott reinforces the integration of safety and sustainability in operations, reflecting his unwavering dedication to tackling the pressing challenges in the energy sector.

Specializing in the application emerging technology by combining custom software and off the shelf solutions to plan, deliver, and support motivational training and educational XR interactions.

As a key creative design member of collaborative international teams, I leverage learning theories and research methodologies to derive strategies for adoption, scale, and production of immersive technologies (AR, VR, MR, 3D) at the enterprise level.

As an altruistic and skilled leader, my entrepreneurial skills and knowledge helped to identify, develop, and grow internal service lines at the fortune 5 level, while my extensive cross industry experience promoted collaboration with global teams as a subject matter expert in learning technologies, data, and analytics.

As an impactful design leader, I helped to deliver award winning, innovative global software with growth-oriented industry disruption by developing influential partnerships with internal and external senior executives and government officials.

My educational and growth mindset paired with over 25 years of design experience in entertainment, education, and enterprise has developed a deep foundation of skills in user centered design best practices in which I am able to deliver high impact, motivational learning and extraneous cognitive load reducing software and hardware solutions within enterprise level organizational budgets.

Through my expertise in digital production and XR development, I have saved lives by solving real world business training problems. My unique hybrid of multidisciplinary knowledge results in positive ROI for metaverse focused roadmap challenges.

Cheryl Gonzalez is the Enterprise Training Manager at Cheniere Energy and is responsible for corporate training initiatives throughout the company. Cheryl has over 27 years of experience that started in the industry where she began her career as a plant operator. She found her passion for training after taking a position as an Operations Training Coordinator. After 16 years in refining, she held positions of increasing responsibilities navigating the upstream, petrochemical and LNG areas of the industry. Over her career she has collaborated and partnered with sites and colleagues throughout the United States coaching and providing sustainable learning solutions. Cheryl holds a Master of Science in Instructional Design and Technology from Purdue University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Training and Development from Fort Hays State University.

I am Regina Eiford, a Senior Advisor for Process Optimization with HF Sinclair who loves identifying and evaluating process improvement opportunities. I have over 20 years in the refining industry, holding various positions in projects, process engineering, economics & planning, supply & trading and in operations. Over the last 20 yrs, I have worked at Anvil, BP, Shell and now HF Sinclair. I have a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington. When I am not at work, I’m spending time with my family at our cabin on Orcas Island.

Bob Graham is a Process Technology Specialist with HF Sinclair Corp in their Corporate Engineering Group. He is responsible for providing technical support to refinery operations for Crude/Vacuum and SDA process units at the 7 HF Sinclair refineries. Bob previously held positions with UOP, Murphy Oil USA and Jacobs Consultancy where he had experience in Refinery Operations Management, Process Engineering, New Unit Commissioning (including 4 Grass Roots Refineries), Planning and Economics, Technical Services, Process Consulting and Managing Profit Improvement Programs. Mr. Graham holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, an MBA from Northwestern University and has 45 years of experience in the petroleum refining industry.

Delbert Grotewold is a Renewable Fuels SME with Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions. He has held roles in research, process engineering, operations management, technical marketing, strategic product development and commercial operations. Delbert’s areas of expertise are in refinery process design, unit operations troubleshooting, membrane separation technologies, heavy and tight oil processing, advanced modeling, statistical process control, data management and water reuse. He holds 5 patents in the refining industry including applied artificial intelligence modeling and refinery process control.

Mr. Grotewold holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering, a BSc in Petroleum Refining Engineering and a BSc in Mathematics and Statistics from the Colorado School of Mines. He is a registered Professional Engineer with 41 years of experience with operating companies and refinery treatment providers.

Wendy Wildenberg is the Flint Hills Hydroprocessing Lead and has worked primarily in Hydroprocessing in areas of process safety, damage mechanism understanding, design, and operating envelope improvements, catalyst selection, reaction kinetics understanding improvement, and other large capital improvements. Wendy holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked in various process and operational roles for FHR since 1992.

I am a Site Manager for SUEZ WTS handling all process, fuel additive, boiler, cooling, and waste water chemical needs. I have an deep interest in all aspects of the refining industry and fuel production.

Eric Legare is a Chemical Engineer from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has over 30 years in industry with a background in Operations and Technical Services. He is currently the Team Lead, Refinery Systems and Sustainability at Chevron's Richmond Refinery in Richmond, CA.

Have forty-two years domestic and international refining experience in project development, process design, project engineering, and technical management roles. Currently responsible for vetting new and emerging renewables and sustainability technologies for potential application to facilitate strategic investments that produce renewable fuels, lower carbon intensity, improve energy efficiency, and meet sustainability objectives. Integrate involvement across the enterprise to develop the business case and initiate the conceptual studies that result in renewable and sustainability capital projects. Have BS ChE 1981 from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY.

Kamyar Keyvanloo is a Senior Hydroprocessing Engineer at Phillips 66 with a career spanning 9 years in the refining industry. In his current role, he provides essential support to Phillips 66 refineries, specializing in both fossil and renewable hydroprocessing units. Notably, he played a significant role in the commissioning and operation of the renewable hydroprocessing unit at the San Francisco refinery. With a comprehensive background in industrial catalysis research, Kamyar's expertise has driven refinery performance optimization and profit maximization. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from BYU.

Yugender Chikkula is Manager of Technology-Advanced Process Control & Digitalization with Motiva Enterprises and is responsible for scouting, evaluation and deployment of innovative technologies that can make a difference. Yugender holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University.

Abhay is the Team Lead for the APC, optimization, base layer support, and process modeling team at Motiva’s Port Arthur refinery. He has19-years of work experience in Advanced Process Control (APC), inferential modeling, blend property control and base layer control.

Bill Clark is the Director, Reliability for Phillips 66, responsible for reliability excellence programs across the Refining organization. Bill has worked for Phillips 66 and its heritage companies for over 30 years, including time spent at multiple refineries and the company’s headquarters office. He has held leadership positions in maintenance, reliability, turnaround, operations, and process safety. Bill holds an Electrical Engineering degree from California State University, Fullerton and an MBA from California State University, Long Beach.

Clayton Daigle is the Senior Rotating Equipment Specialist for Phillips 66 in Houston, TX. He serves as the lead mechanic for Phillips 66 Refining, responsible for providing practical technical assistance and guidance throughout the rotating equipment lifecycle. He has 21 years of experience in the oil and petrochemical industry as a drilling floorman, millwright/machinist, craft supervisor, project PTO lead, turnaround execution lead, and site/corporate subject matter expert in rotating equipment.

Atique Malik PhD has over four decades of experience in applying APC and AI at refineries and petrochemical plants in Europe, Canada and the US. Atique has worked for GEC, Esso Chemical, Amoco Oil, Air Products and Phillips 66 in applications and supervision. Atique’s current interests lie in the complementary nature of applied model predictive control and applied Reinforcement Learning. He has BSc, MPhil and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Leeds, England.

Rajeev is Director, Advanced Operations Solutions based in Houston, TX and heads the Linde’s business focusing on the development and deployment of technologies that enable autonomous plant operations, enhance profitability, and improves process safety. With over 30 years of experience in process control and automation and is recognized for his expertise in functional safety and has spearheaded the implementation of Safety Instrumented System (SIS) lifecycle standard in Linde Americas, reinforcing the company's commitment to operational integrity. His business unit implements latest automation technology using Industry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Linde Gas plants as well as for third party customers in various industry sectors to transform these plants to the assets of future. Rajeev holds a master's degree in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay India and an MBA from the University of Houston. He is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in Texas.

Lena Tetampel is Advanced Process Control Engineer at Linde Engineering where she focuses on Artificial Intelligence Plant Control (AIPC) development and implementation work. She has 7 years’ experience at Linde Engineering, mostly in the field of air separation plants, and in the last 3 years has been fully involved in deployment and supporting the development of AIPC. Lena is based in Munich Germany and holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering.

Bob Graham is a Process Technology Specialist with HF Sinclair Corp in their Corporate Engineering Group. He is responsible for providing technical support to refinery operations for Crude/Vacuum and SDA process units at the 7 HF Sinclair refineries. Bob previously held positions with UOP, Murphy Oil USA and Jacobs Consultancy where he had experience in Refinery Operations Management, Process Engineering, New Unit Commissioning (including 4 Grass Roots Refineries), Planning and Economics, Technical Services, Process Consulting and Managing Profit Improvement Programs. Mr. Graham holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, an MBA from Northwestern University and has 45 years of experience in the petroleum refining industry.

Eric Legare is a Chemical Engineer from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has over 30 years in industry with a background in Operations and Technical Services. He is currently the Team Lead, Refinery Systems and Sustainability at Chevron's Richmond Refinery in Richmond, CA.

Have forty-two years domestic and international refining experience in project development, process design, project engineering, and technical management roles. Currently responsible for vetting new and emerging renewables and sustainability technologies for potential application to facilitate strategic investments that produce renewable fuels, lower carbon intensity, improve energy efficiency, and meet sustainability objectives. Integrate involvement across the enterprise to develop the business case and initiate the conceptual studies that result in renewable and sustainability capital projects. Have BS ChE 1981 from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY.

Kamyar Keyvanloo is a Senior Hydroprocessing Engineer at Phillips 66 with a career spanning 9 years in the refining industry. In his current role, he provides essential support to Phillips 66 refineries, specializing in both fossil and renewable hydroprocessing units. Notably, he played a significant role in the commissioning and operation of the renewable hydroprocessing unit at the San Francisco refinery. With a comprehensive background in industrial catalysis research, Kamyar's expertise has driven refinery performance optimization and profit maximization. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from BYU.

Melike Yersiz joined the U.S. Chemical Safety Board as a Chemical Incident Investigator in March 2020. Prior to joining the CSB, she developed 12 years of industry experience at two refineries. Ms. Yersiz has a B.S. in Chemical-Biological Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

James Esteban is the Senior Technical Manager for Unicat Catalyst Technologies, Inc. His past experience includes operations, engineering and project management with Suncor Energy at the Commerce City Refinery. As well James served as a Senior Technical service Engineer with Criterion Catalysts and Technologies before joining Refined Technologies and ultimately Unicat Catalyst. He specializes in reactor engineering and catalysis with a strong emphasis on hydroprocessing applications.

Breanna Busker serves as Hydroprocessing Technologist for Refined Technologies. She is accountable for the integration of new processes and technologies for all RTI reactor applications. She also provides technical support for reactor and reactive chemistry projects. She has 11 years of refining experience in process engineering and asset management in the areas of Crude Distillation, Delayed Coking, FCC, Alkylation, Hydroprocessing and Reformation. She specializes in operations optimization and asset risk evaluation and management. Busker earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University.

Kendal Williams is a Sr. Director of Turnaround Consulting at CruzAlta, where he leads the Operations Team. Since joining CruzAlta in 2021, he has brought over 25 years of industry experience to the organization, with a career spanning operations leadership, turnaround execution, and strategic consulting across the petrochemical and refining sector.

Kendal began his career with Dupont, and following its acquisition by Invista, he continued in operations roles at the same facility for a total of 16 years. During this time, he worked in progressive operations roles, including Maintenance Coordinator, Production Coordinator, Unit Supervisor, and ultimately as the sites Operations Turnaround Manager. In 2016, Kendal joined Refined Technologies, where he quickly advanced to Director of Operations. In this role, he led key performance improvement initiatives and developed a solid understanding of diverse refinery and petrochemical processes through extensive fieldwork across North America.

Over the course of his career, Kendal has planned, executed, and consulted on more than 100 turnarounds. His depth of experience as both an owner/operator and a consultant give him unique insight into effective operations leadership. He is known for his strong commitment to the fundamentals of operations turnaround planning and execution, while consistently applying proven event command work processes to ensure safe, aligned, and effective operations involvement.

Eric Legare is a Chemical Engineer from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has over 30 years in industry with a background in Operations and Technical Services. He is currently the Team Lead, Refinery Systems and Sustainability at Chevron's Richmond Refinery in Richmond, CA.

Bill Clark is the Director, Reliability for Phillips 66, responsible for reliability excellence programs across the Refining organization. Bill has worked for Phillips 66 and its heritage companies for over 30 years, including time spent at multiple refineries and the company’s headquarters office. He has held leadership positions in maintenance, reliability, turnaround, operations, and process safety. Bill holds an Electrical Engineering degree from California State University, Fullerton and an MBA from California State University, Long Beach.

Carlos Acosta is a Senior Rotating Equipment Engineer in the Reliability and Operational Excellence department at Phillips 66 with over 15 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, specifically in machinery reliability. Carlos holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering with a focus on vibrations, which has equipped him with advanced knowledge and skills in equipment diagnostics, maintenance strategies and reliability. His expertise in vibrations has been instrumental in developing innovative solutions to enhance the reliability and operational excellence of Phillips 66's operations.

After completing a Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Houston, Oscar started his career at Albemarle Catalysts in 2006. He began his tenure at Valero in 2010 in the Refinery Modeling group in San Antonio and progressed through engineering and operations positions at the St. Charles and Port Arthur refineries. He currently is subject matter expert for hydroprocessing at Valero.

Anthony Galando has over 27 years of engineering experience with Chevron. He spent 11 years at Chevron’s Richmond Refinery, working at hydrocracking and base oil dewaxing/hydrofinishing units for the majority of that time. He has over 16 years of experience supporting CLG licensing and catalyst refill business, with a focus on hydrocracking and lubes technologies.

Jacob Lundmark is the System Technology Lead for Hydroprocessing at Flint Hills Resources, a role held for one year. Previously, he spent seven years as System Technology Lead for Sulfur Systems, focusing on process safety, emission reduction and reliability in sulfur recovery processes. He has led and supported numerous capital and optimization projects, applying technical expertise in process design, safety, and execution. A strong advocate for technical development, Jacob mentors early-career engineers and drives knowledge sharing across teams. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Alberta Sulphur Research and sits on Brimstone Conference Committee. Jacob holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University.

Krishnan Vaidyanathan is a Senior Hydroprocessing Specialist in UOP's Hydroprocessing & Renewables Technical Services group with close to 20 years in the technology. He has worked for UOP since 2008 on hydroprocessing, renewables and heavy oils technologies. In his current position, he is accountable for startups, optimization, and troubleshooting. Krishnan has a Bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Calicut, India.

Diana Cheek is a senior technical advisor focusing on Crude Units/Distillation in Chevron’s Process Technology group. She has 24 years of experience in the refining industry, with a diverse background spanning several different aspects of the business. Diana has held roles in process and design engineering, process controls, project development, strategic planning, laboratory management, and supervision. Prior to joining Chevron in 2017, Diana worked for two other US refining companies. She has Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences from Wellesley College.

Katie Marshall serves as Senior Technologist for Refining with Refined Technologies, Inc. (RTI) where she leads a team of engineers accountable for the integration of new processes and technologies for all RTI chemical applications. She has 15 years of refining experience beginning as a process engineer in the areas of Crude Distillation, Hydroprocessing, Hydrogen production, and Reformation. In addition to process engineering, she held roles as a front-line shift supervisor and the refinery scheduler in the economics and planning department prior to moving to RTI in 2019.  Katie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical and biological engineering from Colorado State University and an MBA with specialization in Risk Management from the University of Colorado.  

Keith A. Couch is Vice President of Business Development within UOP’s Process Technologies (UPT) business. In this role, keith is accountable for leading UOP’s global Business Development function. The focus of the organization is to drive improved client value creation for projects ranging from single process units to fully integrated industrial mega-projects.
Since joining UOP in 1990, Keith has held numerous domestic and international positions across a broad range of manufacturing, R&D, service, and business management roles. He is recognized as an author with over 20 industry publications, presenter at over 60 global events and an innovator with 33 U.S patents.
He has a strong background in both Refining and Petrochemicals and is driving UOP’s thought leadership for the Refinery of the Future.
Keith holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University, and a Master of Business Administration with a Concentration in Strategy from the University of Chicago - Booth School of Business.
He is based in Des Plaines, Illinois, USA.

Background in E/I, Front Line Leader, Reliability, Planning & Scheduling,
Maintenance Manager (Excellence, Contract Manager, Mechanical)

Diane is the commercial manager at Johnson Matthey responsible for the Refinery Catalysts and Purification team and has worked in Oil & Gas for 34 years. She started her career at UOP, where she specialized in isomerization and hydroprocessing. She joined JM in 2005 as a Technical Service Engineer supporting the hydrogen market. She has held a variety of commercial roles since 2012, and has been managing the Americas team since early 2023.

Liz Manning works in Process Safety for Cheniere Energy. In her twenty plus years in energy, refining, and petrochemicals, Liz has served in a variety of technical and leadership roles, including roles in Process Engineering, Performance Improvement, Engineer Development, Process Safety, and Operational Excellence. Liz has a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Diana Cheek is a senior technical advisor focusing on Crude Units/Distillation in Chevron’s Process Technology group. She has 24 years of experience in the refining industry, with a diverse background spanning several different aspects of the business. Diana has held roles in process and design engineering, process controls, project development, strategic planning, laboratory management, and supervision. Prior to joining Chevron in 2017, Diana worked for two other US refining companies. She has Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences from Wellesley College.

Katie Marshall serves as Senior Technologist for Refining with Refined Technologies, Inc. (RTI) where she leads a team of engineers accountable for the integration of new processes and technologies for all RTI chemical applications. She has 15 years of refining experience beginning as a process engineer in the areas of Crude Distillation, Hydroprocessing, Hydrogen production, and Reformation. In addition to process engineering, she held roles as a front-line shift supervisor and the refinery scheduler in the economics and planning department prior to moving to RTI in 2019.  Katie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical and biological engineering from Colorado State University and an MBA with specialization in Risk Management from the University of Colorado.  

Todd Hochheiser is Global Technical Service Manager at Johnson Matthey. He leads a team responsible for technologies including FCCs and hydrogen plants. Todd obtained his Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware and Master of Business Administration from the University of California Irvine. Prior to joining Johnson Matthey, Todd held engineering, operations, and planning & economics positions with Valero Energy and ExxonMobil.

Nate Hager is a process engineer at the Cenovus Lima Refinery with 5 years of experience at the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit. During his time at the FCC, he was involved with the startup of a new selective catalyst reduction unit, wet gas scrubber, and preheat furnace as well as a turnaround to replace the regenerator head, cyclones, and air grid. Prior to the FCC, he spent 1 year at Lima’s water reuse units which treat refinery wastewater to be used for boiler feed water. Nate is a graduate of The Ohio State University and is married with two children.

Clifford Avery is the Global FCC Process Advisor for Albemarle Corporation, Houston, Texas. In this role, he leads the global FCC effort in training, troubleshooting and performing unit health checks for Albemarle’s FCC customers and sales teams. Previously he has held positions in Business, Technical Services (FCC) and Sales (Hydroprocessing and FCC). He has experience in working with FCC units globally, especially in the North American and Asia Pacific regions.

Cliff received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach and has over 38 years of experience in the FCC/hydrocarbon processing industry.

Dean Roberts is the Ergon-West Virginia (EWV) Business Coordinator working Jackson, MS. He is responsible for coordinating strategic initiatives and priorities between the refinery and all other Ergon entities associated with EWV. He has 33 years of experience in Engineering, Maintenance and Capital Projects in the lube and oil refineries, as well as natural gas processing. He has provided engineering, maintenance and operations support on large grassroots construction and major revamps in these industries.

Adrián Azpilicueta works for Nalco Water as Sr Industry Technical Consultant. He has over 38 years of experience in Refinery operations, both in Argentina and USA. He worked his first 26 years for ExxonMobil in Operations, Technical, Maintenance and Projects. The last 12 years he has been with Nalco Water, starting in the Sales organization and moving to Marketing 6 years ago as Sr Industry Technical Consultant with special focus on Process Operations. Adrian is an active member of AFPM Hydroprocessing Committee where he presented several topics as well as in the AMPP (ex-NACE) and LRGCC (Laurence Reid Gas Conditioning Conference). He is a Chemical Engineer from the Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina) and has an M.B.A. from the Universidad Católica Argentina (Buenos Aires).

Alex Kniuksta is a Principal Technology Specialist in the Gasoline Technology Services group at Honeywell UOP. Alex has spent 18+ years with UOP focusing on reforming, isomerization, and naphtha hydrotreating technologies.

Alex has held roles within UOP in field service, sales support, service manager, and technology service. In his current role, Alex supports a global customer base with unit operation, optimization, turnarounds, training, and troubleshooting to keep units operating reliably and efficiently.

Thomas Porritt is a Business Improvement Network leader focusing on Reforming and Isomerization technologies. He sits in Pascagoula, Mississippi and supports all the domestic refineries and the three international joint venture refineries. He has 24 years of industry experience, 17 of those working for Chevron. He's held positions in operations, major capital project, and technical services. He supports various technologies including Reforming (semi-regen and CCR), Isomerization, Relief Systems, Utilities, Sulfur, and Gas Treating. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

Liz Manning works in Process Safety for Cheniere Energy. In her twenty plus years in energy, refining, and petrochemicals, Liz has served in a variety of technical and leadership roles, including roles in Process Engineering, Performance Improvement, Engineer Development, Process Safety, and Operational Excellence. Liz has a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dan is a Senior Technical consultant at Veolia with 27 years of refining chemical treatment experience. He has successfully treated all aspects of refinery chemical applications including process side antifoulants, corrosion inhibitors, desalters, fuel additives, cooling towers, steam systems, as well as primary and secondary wastewater treatment. Dan is the co-Author of numerous published papers on topics such as reactor bed fouling treatment, successful treatment of cooling towers using reclaimed water, development of new cooling tower corrosion inhibitors, and heat exchanger monitoring.

Angela is a process engineer at the Chevron El Segundo Refinery. She graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2023 with a BS in Chemical Engineering and began with Chevron later that year. During her first refinery rotation, she supported the effluent treatment plant, utilities systems, and cogeneration units with day to day support, troubleshooting, and optimization. Currently, Angela is supporting a vapor gas oil hydroprocessing unit along with a naphtha hydrotreater at El Segundo.

Kai Zhang is a Senior Process Engineer at Chevron’s corporate HSE function located in Houston, TX. Kai provides technical support to Chevron refinery’s Effluent Treatment Plant routine operations as well as long-term improvement projects. Kai received his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Biotechnology at the University of Cincinnati. He has 17 years of experience, most of which was in industrial wastewater treatment, including oil & gas, chemicals, food & beverage, and mining.

Graylon Williams is a Sr. Industry Technical Consultant with Nalco Water, an Ecolab Company. He provides process technical support to customer refineries, specializing in crude quality and desalting. He has experience in crude oil assay and contamination testing, interface and emulsion research, multiple spectroscopic and thermal analysis techniques, and lubricants R&D. He has 13 years of experience in the petroleum industry and holds BS (University of Central Oklahoma), MS, and PhD (University of Delaware) degrees in chemistry.

Adrián Azpilicueta works for Nalco Water as Sr Industry Technical Consultant. He has over 38 years of experience in Refinery operations, both in Argentina and USA. He worked his first 26 years for ExxonMobil in Operations, Technical, Maintenance and Projects. The last 12 years he has been with Nalco Water, starting in the Sales organization and moving to Marketing 6 years ago as Sr Industry Technical Consultant with special focus on Process Operations. Adrian is an active member of AFPM Hydroprocessing Committee where he presented several topics as well as in the AMPP (ex-NACE) and LRGCC (Laurence Reid Gas Conditioning Conference). He is a Chemical Engineer from the Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina) and has an M.B.A. from the Universidad Católica Argentina (Buenos Aires).

Andrew Jakubowski is the Turnaround Director for Flint Hills Resources at the Minnesota, Pine Bend Refinery. During his 19-year career, he has held roles in project engineering, maintenance, operations, tanks and turnarounds at various Flint Hills' sites both large and small. Andrew holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Gregory Alan Marshall, P.E., is a Catalytic Reforming Technology Advisor at Becht with extensive experience spanning over 45 years in the refining industry. Prior to his consulting career, Greg held various influential roles at Exxon USA as well as ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, contributing to technology transfer, process optimization, and training for refineries across the Americas. His work has significantly impacted refining operations worldwide, leveraging his expertise in Cyclic Powerforming and as a facilitator for ExxonMobil’s reforming technology.

Alex Sabitov holds position of Director, Reforming and Isomerization and Aromatics with Phillips 66 Refining Business Improvement group. His focus is on providing day to day technical support to the existing reforming and isomerization process units at Phillips 66 refineries and development of optimization and project opportunities for maximizing returns from naphtha processing assets.

Alex started his career with UOP as a Development Engineer in 1996 after graduation with Master Degree in Chemical Engineering from Ufa Oil Technological University in Russia. He worked in various functions with UOP Technical Services and Naphtha Technology Business Development departments until joining Phillips 66 in 2015.

Karen Green is the Corporate Sustainability Technologist at Marathon Petroleum and is based at their Los Angeles refinery, California. Karen is responsible for the company’s Energy and Water efficiency management programs across MPC’s 13 petroleum refineries. Karen has previously held the position of Waste Water Technologist for Marathon Petroleum and has experience leading multifaceted programs requiring robust, sustainable and effective solutions.

Karen holds a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Birmingham, England and a Bachelor Science in Chemistry from the University of Liverpool, England. Karen has 30 years of experience in the refining industry.

Vidya Kuppuraj is corporate APC engineer with Marathon Petroleum Corporation, Galveston Bay Refinery, Houston, TX. He is responsible for mentoring junior APC engineers, developing and maintaining APC program in multiple Marathon sites. He also evaluates new technologies and leads optimization projects involving the latest technologies like deep learning controllers. He has 14 years of experience as an APC engineer and has worked several refining processes including FCC, hydrocracker and delayed coker. He holds PhD in chemical engineering from Texas Tech university.

CJ has 33 years of refining experience, starting with a major refining organization as a process engineer in 1990. CJ started FCC process engineering in 1991 and continued for the next 6 years before joining one of the major FCC technology licensors for the next 5 years, traveling the world, performing service and design work on many grassroots and revamped FCCUs. In 2001, he joined a global FCC catalyst supplier where he was ultimately the global technical service and marketing manager. He became an independent consultant in 2008.

Alexis Shackleford is an Executive Account Manager for BASF based in Metro-Detroit. She provides technical and commercial support for FCC units around the area. She joined BASF’s Refining catalyst division in 2009 and held a variety of roles including technology specialist, marketing specialist, and technical service engineer. She has authored many oil and gas publications. Prior to BASF, Alexis worked at Shell Oil Company’s Deer Park Refinery.

Alexis has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University with a minor in Biomedical Engineering.

Tim Olsen is an AIChE Fellow with 35 years of experience in the refining industry mostly as a consultant, 27 years have been with Emerson Automation Solutions. Previously, Tim was with UOP for 8 years as a Technical Advisor on refinery startups around the world.

Tim is Vice-Chair for Associate Members on AFPM’s Automation and Operations Technology Committee, an active member of AFPM’s Steering Committee, and he leads the abnormal situation management programming which includes alarm management. Tim is also a member of the ISA 18.2 Alarm Management Standards Committee.

Stephen Gill is the Process Safety Director for HF Sinclair with corporate responsibility for process safety across refining, renewable fuels, and midstream assets. He has 30 years' experience in chemicals and refining with roles in process design, operations, and technology management as well as process safety.

Cristina Pirataie currently leading the Advanced Automation Services Team at Puffer Sweiven in Houston focusing on Operations Effectiveness in the areas of Alarm Management, High Performance Graphics, Operator Training Simulations and OT Cybersecurity while simultaneously advancing her expertise as a candidate for an MS in Cybersecurity Policy from Georgia Tech.

Cristina is a seasoned chemical engineer with over 22 years of experience in project, product, and process engineering design, control, and management within the ICS/OT space. She has worked with both national and global corporations across diverse industries, including roles at Goodyear, Ethyl Corp, and Afton Chemical, where she led Six Sigma and ISO certification efforts and managed various capital projects.

Bruce is an experienced executive professional with more than five decades of experience defining, developing, and implementing innovative solutions utilizing leading edge technologies. Recognized for his innovative approaches, he always focuses on delighting the user community with common sense capabilities that fundamentally transform and enable front-line organization to achieve and sustain ever improving levels of operational excellence.

Beginning his career with NASA supporting the Apollo and other space-based programs, transitioning to holding leadership positions with recognized leading industry vendors, Bruce retired from Suncor Energy in 2015 as Manager, Business Process Integration. After which he then completed another 5 years as Director, Digital Transformation for Sinclair Oil. Most recently his work was recognized and honored with the AFPM 2021 Peter G. Andrews Lifetime Service recognition. Bruce remains active as a enterprise technology SME, influencer and industry consultant.

Sarah Gall is the Remote Operations and Optimization Manager for Phillips 66. She leads a cross-functional operations, engineering and technology team responsible for P66 Midstream regulated control centers, operations collaboration center and SCADA/Automation technologies.

With more than 18 years of experience in the energy industry including 13 years of leadership experience, Sarah began her career with BP as a process/facilities engineer before joining DCP in 2012 that was acquired by P66 in 2023. She has held positions of increasing responsibility at P66 and DCP, including process and project engineering roles, supervision of natural gas processing and gathering operations in the Permian Basin, development of DCP’s 2.0 technology transformation program, and management of commercial and business development activities in the Mid-Continent region.

Sarah has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

Craig Harclerode is the CEO of PI AF Consulting. He has recently retired from being Global O&G and Industrial Chemicals Industry Principal at AVEVA (acquired OSIsoft n 2021) where he consulted with companies on how the PI System and the AVEVA digital framework can add value to their organizations as a strategic OT real-time integration, applications, and analytics infrastructure.

Craig has focused on digital enabled business transformation addressing the dimensions of people/culture and process reengineering leveraging the PI System in the areas of IIOT/edge, PI AF digital twins, layers of analytics, and “big data” to deliver transformative business value.

Craig’s 38 year career has included engineering, operations, and automation in supervisory, executive management, and consultative roles at Amoco Oil/Chemicals (16 yrs - CAO) and solutions providers Honeywell (6 yrs - VP SW Ops) and AspenTech (6 yrs – Director, OpEx).

He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University, an MBA from Rice University, and is a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Richard Grove is an FCC Subject Matter Expert with the Chevron Global Manufacturing Process Technology Team (retired). Richard received B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama (Roll Tide). Prior to assuming his current position at Chevron in 2007 Richard worked as the West Coast Regional Manager for GRACE Davison. Richard worked as the FCC Process Engineer at Chevron Pascagoula refinery before his employment at GRACE Davison. Richard has given many presentations on the wonderful aspects of FCC Units and loves bringing new people into the FCC family.

Dan is a Senior Technical consultant at Veolia with 27 years of refining chemical treatment experience. He has successfully treated all aspects of refinery chemical applications including process side antifoulants, corrosion inhibitors, desalters, fuel additives, cooling towers, steam systems, as well as primary and secondary wastewater treatment. Dan is the co-Author of numerous published papers on topics such as reactor bed fouling treatment, successful treatment of cooling towers using reclaimed water, development of new cooling tower corrosion inhibitors, and heat exchanger monitoring.

Johnny Dorminey is a licensed professional engineer with 25 years of industrial experience in operations management, unit operations, optimization, process design, research and development, and economic analysis in the refining, chemical, and power industries. In his current role with Chevron, he provides technical, operations, and reliability support for utilities technologies in refineries, complex processing facilities, and specialty chemical plants.

Tim Olsen is an AIChE Fellow with 35 years of experience in the refining industry mostly as a consultant, 27 years have been with Emerson Automation Solutions. Previously, Tim was with UOP for 8 years as a Technical Advisor on refinery startups around the world.

Tim is Vice-Chair for Associate Members on AFPM’s Automation and Operations Technology Committee, an active member of AFPM’s Steering Committee, and he leads the abnormal situation management programming which includes alarm management. Tim is also a member of the ISA 18.2 Alarm Management Standards Committee.

Vance Flosenzier is Global Process Control Leader at INVISTA. He is responsible for building console operator capability across INVISTA's operating sites. A chemical engineer, Vance has over 30 years of industry experience in operations, process engineering, process control, quality systems, and process safety management. He's been active in the Center for Operator Performance since 2014 and was chair from 2019 to 2022.

David is President of User Centered Design Services, an operator performance consultancy. He is responsible for day-to-day operations of the company as well as providing operator performance consulting services to clients. He is a recognized SME in HMI, alarm management system and control room design working with clients to improve operator situation awareness. David spent the first half of his 40-year career in the chemical industry in various roles including automation and controls, project management and operations management. Since 2007 he has been an operator performance consultant working across many industry segments across the globe. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and is a Chartered Chemical Engineer. He is also involved in standards development for ISA and IEC and is currently a member of ISA's Executive Board.

Thomas Porritt is a Business Improvement Network leader focusing on Reforming and Isomerization technologies. He sits in Pascagoula, Mississippi and supports all the domestic refineries and the three international joint venture refineries. He has 24 years of industry experience, 17 of those working for Chevron. He's held positions in operations, major capital project, and technical services. He supports various technologies including Reforming (semi-regen and CCR), Isomerization, Relief Systems, Utilities, Sulfur, and Gas Treating. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

Sylvain has for the last 42 years held various research, technical, sales and sales management positions where his responsibilities included servicing, product line management, new product development, marketing, and field sales support for cooling & boiler water, wastewater, emulsion breakers, antifoulants and corrosion control chemistries to the refining processing industry. Sylvain currently provides global technical support to the refining processing industries, with a principal focus on crude units; desalting, phase separation, antifoam and solid settling best practices, knowledge management, and technology development. He holds a BSc (Biology) degree from Sherbrooke University, Québec Canada.

John Bigham is the Refining Environmental Director for Marathon Petroleum Company covering wastewater, waste, and PFAS. During his thirty years with Marathon, John has served as a unit process engineer, an operations area team leader, optimization engineer, and as a project engineer for major projects. As the Refining Environmental Director, John leads a team that is responsible for providing technical, regulatory guidance and knowledge for wastewater and waste issues. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Alabama. He is located at the Galveston Bay Refinery.

Todd Kato is a Key Account Manager for Veolia ES Technical Solutions. Todd works with refineries, petrochemical companies, and other specialty chemical companies on assisting with the disposal management of complex wastestreams including liquid and solid containing PFAS wastes and their associated disposal options. He also works with his clients to assist in obtaining their sustainability goals with regards to disposal technologies. He has extensive RCRA and DOT knowledge and is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM). Mr. Kato holds a BS Degree in Environmental Science from Rutgers University and has over 30 years of experience in Environmental Programs and Hazardous Waste Management.

Sergio A. Robledo, is a Senior Technical Manager for Unicat Catalyst Technologies, LLC in the Americas. He is responsible for developing catalyst business opportunities and provides expert technical advice relating to selection, use and operation of catalysts and technologies. He has over 20 years of refining experience, 8 of which are working directly for an owner/operator. He holds a BE in Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.

Nels Erickson is an Operations Engineer with Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend Refinery in Minnesota. He is primarily responsible for the gasoil hydrotreaters and distillate hydrocracker, as well as providing turnaround support for various hydrotreating units. Nels holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining FHR, Nels held several roles supporting polymers manufacturing at various points in the value chain.

Megan is the Operations Area Team Manager at Marathon Petroleum's Detroit Refinery, bringing 8 years of experience in process unit and design engineering. Her background is predominantly in the hydroprocessing and renewable hydrotreating sectors, including the design and startup of a new renewable diesel facility. In her current role, Megan oversees operations for an area that includes multiple hydrotreaters and other advanced technologies. She also has extensive experience leading several turnarounds and catalyst changes.

Franz Petzold is Clariant’s Senior Sales Manager for Syngas Catalysts – Hydrogen for the North America region. He has been with Clariant for over 14 years, when he started in R&D at their Louisville, KY facilities. Franz received a Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering in 2011 from J.B. Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville. In the fall of 2019, he relocated with his Family to Houston to join Clariant’s Syngas Group. His current responsibilities cover conventional hydrogen for refineries and chemicals production, engineering partners, and industrial gas suppliers, as well as ‘Blue’ molecules production.

Matt is Process Engineering Superintendent at the Valero Port Arthur Refinery. His team provides technical support for all of the site’s hydroprocessing, alkylation, and reforming units. He earned a Chemical Engineering degree from BYU and joined Valero in 2019. Matt previously held roles in process engineering, relief system design, and crude supply logistics.

Matt is Process Engineering Superintendent at the Valero Port Arthur Refinery. His team provides technical support for all of the site’s hydroprocessing, alkylation, and reforming units. He earned a Chemical Engineering degree from BYU and joined Valero in 2019. Matt previously held roles in process engineering, relief system design, and crude supply logistics.

Andrew Jakubowski is the Turnaround Director for Flint Hills Resources at the Minnesota, Pine Bend Refinery. During his 19-year career, he has held roles in project engineering, maintenance, operations, tanks and turnarounds at various Flint Hills' sites both large and small. Andrew holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Russ Wiltse is a Director of Technology in the Process Optimization and Support Group at Valero. Russ is responsible for several process areas at Valero’s refineries including: catalytic reforming, benzene saturation, isomerization, mercaptan removal/sweetening, and hydrogen. Russ began his career in 2007 at UOP LLC in naphtha hydrotreating and catalytic reforming. At UOP he worked in both the Field Operating Services and Technical Services groups. Russ has a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.

Alex Kniuksta is a Principal Technology Specialist in the Gasoline Technology Services group at Honeywell UOP. Alex has spent 18+ years with UOP focusing on reforming, isomerization, and naphtha hydrotreating technologies.

Alex has held roles within UOP in field service, sales support, service manager, and technology service. In his current role, Alex supports a global customer base with unit operation, optimization, turnarounds, training, and troubleshooting to keep units operating reliably and efficiently.

Thomas Porritt is a Business Improvement Network leader focusing on Reforming and Isomerization technologies. He sits in Pascagoula, Mississippi and supports all the domestic refineries and the three international joint venture refineries. He has 24 years of industry experience, 17 of those working for Chevron. He's held positions in operations, major capital project, and technical services. He supports various technologies including Reforming (semi-regen and CCR), Isomerization, Relief Systems, Utilities, Sulfur, and Gas Treating. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University.

Alex Sabitov holds position of Director, Reforming and Isomerization and Aromatics with Phillips 66 Refining Business Improvement group. His focus is on providing day to day technical support to the existing reforming and isomerization process units at Phillips 66 refineries and development of optimization and project opportunities for maximizing returns from naphtha processing assets.

Alex started his career with UOP as a Development Engineer in 1996 after graduation with Master Degree in Chemical Engineering from Ufa Oil Technological University in Russia. He worked in various functions with UOP Technical Services and Naphtha Technology Business Development departments until joining Phillips 66 in 2015.

Andrew Jakubowski is the Turnaround Director for Flint Hills Resources at the Minnesota, Pine Bend Refinery. During his 19-year career, he has held roles in project engineering, maintenance, operations, tanks and turnarounds at various Flint Hills' sites both large and small. Andrew holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Bruce is an experienced executive professional with more than five decades of experience defining, developing, and implementing innovative solutions utilizing leading edge technologies. Recognized for his innovative approaches, he always focuses on delighting the user community with common sense capabilities that fundamentally transform and enable front-line organization to achieve and sustain ever improving levels of operational excellence.

Beginning his career with NASA supporting the Apollo and other space-based programs, transitioning to holding leadership positions with recognized leading industry vendors, Bruce retired from Suncor Energy in 2015 as Manager, Business Process Integration. After which he then completed another 5 years as Director, Digital Transformation for Sinclair Oil. Most recently his work was recognized and honored with the AFPM 2021 Peter G. Andrews Lifetime Service recognition. Bruce remains active as a enterprise technology SME, influencer and industry consultant.