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.

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.

Nick Turner is a Technical Service Specialist in Honeywell UOP’s RAFT Technology Service group. Based in UOP’s Des Plaines, IL office, Nick is responsible for providing technical support to UOP's FCC, Merox, RTP, MTO, and OCP customers. Nick has been with UOP for 10 years, including 3 years in his current role. He previously spent 6 years in UOP's Field Operating Service department, traveling to customer sites globally to provide commissioning, startup, and troubleshooting support for a variety of UOP technologies. Nick holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University.

Melike Yersiz is a Chemical Incident Investigator at the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Since 2020, she led major refinery incident investigations and supported numerous other investigations across a range of industries, including food production, resin manufacturing, ammonia refrigeration, and specialty chemicals. Ms. Yersiz came to the CSB with 12 years of industry experience at two refineries, with experience in process engineering, hydroprocessing, fluid catalytic cracking, alkylation, economic planning and optimization, turnarounds, and incident investigation. Ms. Yersiz holds a B.S. degree in Chemical-Biological Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California.

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.

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.

Siva is CEO, DeepHow. As a seasoned professional with a passion for innovation, Siva is deeply invested in the potential of Artificial Intelligence and cloud technologies to drive business growth and value creation. With experience in retail, consumer industries, manufacturing, supply chain, cloud technologies, and startups. His areas of expertise include P&L management, go-to-market strategy & execution, and product strategy.

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.

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.

Colin Davis brings over 14 years of experience in fixed equipment engineering, with a strong background in the refining and petrochemical industries. Prior to joining Becht, he spent a decade at ExxonMobil, serving in diverse roles across Research & Engineering, operating facilities, and licensor engagements.

His expertise spans mechanical design, Fitness-for-Service (FFS) assessments, failure investigation, and equipment development. Colin previously led mechanical engineering efforts for a large integrated refining/chemicals complex, where he built a mechanical engineering team from the ground up and established site engineering standards. He later managed ExxonMobil’s global Advanced Analysis Group, overseeing simulation workload, quality, and career development.

He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso, and is a licensed professional engineer in the states of Texas and Colorado.

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.

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.

Andishaeh Dadgar is a Technical Service Engineer for FCC catalyst based in Houston, Texas, USA. He has been with Ketjen for 7 years, starting in process scale up and new product development. He serves as the group fluidization expert and advanced tool developer. He holds a MS and BS in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University with a focus on heterogenous catalysis and photochemistry.

Steve is the FCC Subject Matter Expert for Delek US. He has over 22 years of industry experience, the majority of which has been spent supporting FCC technology.

Steve began his career at a U.S. Gulf Coast refinery as an FCC process engineer. Following his time at the refinery, he worked for a private engineering firm obtaining wide-ranging experience, including turnaround support, unit troubleshooting and benchmarking, process simulation, FEL 1 design, process hazard analysis, and general process engineering consulting. Steve spent the 13 years prior to joining Delek as a Technical Service Manager for a major FCC catalyst manufacturer providing technical support to over 25 FCC units throughout North America.

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.

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.

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.

Ryan Byrne is a thought leader and Client Director for Macedon Technologies and has worked in the process optimization space since 2010. Ryan guides a portfolio of Oil & Gas clients through change management as they embrace new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) to get the most out of their existing technology investments - including extending critical enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to be more user-friendly by leveraging tools such as UiPath and Appian.

Brandon Taylor is the Head of Energy Practice at Flatirons Digital Innovations, where he leads strategic initiatives focused on digital transformation in the energy sector. With a background in operational excellence, asset modeling, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs), Brandon brings a deep understanding of how to drive real-world results through smarter systems and data integration.

Prior to joining Flatirons, he held leadership roles at HF Sinclair and Sinclair Oil Corporation, where he spearheaded enterprise-wide initiatives in process optimization, digital tools, and maintenance strategy. Brandon is passionate about helping energy organizations modernize their operations while maintaining safety, reliability, and efficiency.

Andy Vignes is Manager, Industrial Application at HF Sinclair where he supports applications related to process data and analytics. He has spent the last 25 years in the oil and gas industry, primarily focusing on downstream operations, delivering a variety of applications. After taking a three-year hiatus to study predictive analytics, he spent eight years in the startup world, specializing in collecting and contextualizing process data in the cloud.

Dr. Patrick Robinson is the Senior Director for Advanced Process Control and Operations Technology for PBF Energy. Patrick has 15 years of refining industry experience in the areas of automation, optimization, and leadership. Specific experience includes:
• Refinery Leadership Team’s Technical Manager
• Operations Business Team Leader
• Maintenance Superintendent
• Refinery Digital Business Lead
• Process Controls & Modeling Team Lead
• Economics & Planning LP Models Engineer
• Advanced Process Controls Engineer

Patrick holds Chemical Engineering degrees with a focus on dynamic modeling and control (Lehigh University PhD, Lehigh University MS, and New Jersey Institute of Technology BS).

Amit Gupta holds a BE degree in chemical engineering from the department of chemical engineering and technology, Panjab University, India.
He has more than 28 years of experience in the design/sale of process fired heaters, reformers, cracking furnaces and air-emission reduction systems. He held positions at Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Technip (KTI Corp) before joining Petro-Chem Development CO., Inc., later bought by Heurtey Petrochem which was in turn acquired by Axens in 2017. Mr. Gupta is the Director of Furnace Technology and Sales with Petro Chem Development CO., Inc./Axens

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.

Bridget has been in the refining industry since 2020.

She joined Marathon Petroleum’s Garyville Refinery in 2023, where she is currently the FCC Process Engineer. Prior to Marathon, she worked in Valero Technical Services at the Meraux Refinery.

Bridget has a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University.

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.

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.

Jaxson O’Brien has 12 years of experience in the refining industry. He is a Rotating Equipment Specialist known for his practical, hands-on approach to maintaining and optimizing plant equipment. Jaxson’s background includes over 4 years as a front-line maintenance supervisor, along with hands-on experience as a Plant Machinist and Process Operator of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) and Boiler House units. Before entering the refining industry, Jaxson had 12 years of experience in emergency management, which provided him with the ability to communicate effectively and remain calm in high-pressure situations. Professionally, Jaxson achieved CHS Sense status in LEAN and holds various other industry certifications in maintenance and reliability.

Mark has been with Flint Hills Resources for 32 years, filling a variety of roles in the areas of reliability, maintenance, turnaround, failure/incident analysis and strategic asset management at both their Texas and Minnesota refineries. In his current role of Analytics & Monitoring Leader, Mark leads a team that is focused on transformation of monitoring the health of refinery assets and processes. Mark holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of North Dakota, and has presented several times over the years at AFPM Maintenance and Reliability Conference and at the AFPM/API Operating Practices Symposium.

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.

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.

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.

Ezequiel Vicent is Director of Consulting at OLI Systems, bringing 16 years of experience across the refining, petrochemical, and specialty chemical sectors. He leads global consulting projects that combine deep chemical engineering expertise with digital transformation, helping clients implement predictive models, improve asset reliability, and reduce emissions. Ezequiel has delivered projects across North and South America, Western Europe, the Arabian Gulf region, Southeast Asia, and India. Prior to OLI, he held technical and leadership roles at Chemstations, Baker Hughes, Aggreko, and KBC, where he developed and deployed advanced simulation solutions for utilities, refinery-wide flowsheets, and polymer systems. His work has supported margin capture, pinch analysis, hydrogen balancing, and digital twin initiatives across diverse industrial environments.

I am a Technical Service Engineer at Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay Refinery, where I have worked since September 2024. My primary focus is on HF alkylation operations, supporting optimization, reliability, and safety initiatives. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and I am certified as an Engineer-in-Training (EIT) after passing the FE exam. Outside of work, I am a running enthusiast and an amateur salsa dancer.

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.

After serving in the US Navy nuclear power field, Jay Egg began a career in mechanical design engineering & contracting. Now, as an expert consultant, Jay sits on several technical code committees internationally; notably the technical committee for the IAPMO Uniform Mechanical Code. Jay serves on the Board of Directors for Geothermal Rising. Jay has co-authored two McGraw-Hill Textbooks focused on geothermal HVAC technologies and continues to write curriculum and lecture on the merits of Clean Heating and Cooling technologies.

Mimi Egg is the Social Media & Marketing Director for Egg Geo. Mimi is focused on building online connections and educating on social media platforms. Her desire to educate the rising generation about green, sustainable living is a major focus in her career.

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

Jeremy Meadows is the Director of Aftermarket and Field Service for TapcoEnpro and DeltaValve. A Mechanical Engineering graduate of Texas A&M University, he brings over two decades of global experience supporting Delayed Coking and Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) units. He specializes in hydraulic systems, actuation, controls, and purge technologies, and has led aftermarket, engineering, and R&D initiatives that enhance reliability and performance in severe service valve applications.

Jason Saltzman
• ExxonMobil Beaumont Instrument Engineering Group Lead
• 20 years ExxonMobil
• 7 Years Dupont Sabine River Works
• Graduated Lamar University Beaumont 1999
• Love anything with an engine
• Hobbies are Off-roading, Camping and Hot rodding

President and owner of Stinson Valve-Actuation LLC (since 2004), a company focused on FCCU T/A maintenance, service, and reliability of valve-actuators and hydraulic systems. He has also been responsible for many design and design improvements of FCC valves, actuators, and hydraulic systems. Wally has strived to improve customer education and understanding of this unique equipment. He has USA patents on FCCU Slide Valve and Control System designs.
Wally is also chairman of ISA subcommittee ISA96.04.01 that developed and recently completed the ISA “Standard for Linear Hydraulic Actuators”. He has over 40 years of experience in the refining service industry.

Luke Sutcliffe is a Mechanical Engineer on FC/Alky/Aromatics business team. He is currently on a short-term secondment, where he is leading the development of all high-level FCC RX RG scopes that have the potential to exceed turnaround (TA) duration. His work is instrumental in shaping long-term reliability and planning strategies for the business.
Luke began his career as an Inspector across various units, gaining hands-on experience that laid a strong foundation for his transition into engineering. He graduated from the University of Hull in 2014 while working full-time and achieved Chartered Engineer status in 2020.
Outside of work, Luke is a dedicated family man with three young children. He’s also a passionate triathlete, having completed four full-distance Ironman events—a testament to his discipline and endurance both professionally and personally.

Tim Oubre is the Manager of the Downstream Technical Group with Halliburton | Multi-Chem based near Houston, TX. He is responsible for managing a group of process and industrial water experts which support our service teams at customer locations with detailed product and applications knowledge. The majority of Tim's experience is in desalting and corrosion control but he has supported many refinery and chemical process applications. He still supports the field with process technology and training of our field services teams. 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 25 years of experience in the refining and petrochemicals industries.

Jeff is EVP, Operations & Technology at TotalChem. He has a BE - CHE degree from Stevens Institute of Technology. Throughout his career, Jeff has authored several papers, articles, and speaking engagements around refinery and gas processing chemical treatment performance.

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.

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.

Jon Keuler is a Principal Technology Service Specialist in the RAFT Technology Service Department of UOP in Des Plaines, Illinois. He is responsible for technical support for UOP-licensed HF Alkylation, ISOALKY, and FCC units, as well as supporting UOP’s FCC Biofeed Co-Processing technologies.
 
Jon has been with UOP for 13 years, including 7 years in his current role. Previous positions at UOP include five years in UOP’s Field Operating Service department, working alongside refiners on projects such as grassroot refinery complex commissioning, revamp projects, and troubleshooting several different UOP technologies. Jon also spent a year working in UOP’s FCC pilot plant facilities.

Jon holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Mark Rasmussen is a Senior Technology Expert in Alkylation for Chevron, supporting all alkylation and similar technologies throughout their refining system. Mark is responsible for driving improvements in safety, reliability and profitability of alkylation units for Chevron. He has experience in Process Engineering, Operations Leadership, Turn-Around Maintenance Management and Capital Projects for Alkylation, FCC, Hydroprocessing and Hydrocracking, Reforming, Isomerization and Gasoline Blending. For the last 13 years he has been involved in bringing Chevron and UOP jointly developed ISOALKY technology to commercialization at Chevrons Salt Lake City Refinery by converting their 50-year-old HF Alky unit to the world's first operation ISOALKY plant.

Mark earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah in 1998 and has worked for Chevron for the following 27 years.

Nandita Akunuri is a Principal Technology Engineer for Axens North America at the Houston office responsible for Prime-G+®, Naphtha Hydrotreating, and Benfree® technologies. She has more than 16 years of experience in Process unit monitoring, Unit optimization, process simulation and modeling, Client training and unit troubleshooting.

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.

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.

Jessy Trucko is a Fellow specializing in Technology Services for the Merox Treating and adjacent areas such as Amine Treating and Sulfidic Oxidation. He specializes in root cause analysis, optimization, training, design, and development for technologies removing and converting sulfur for the Midstream, Refining, and Petrochemical industries. He is a global resource for UOP sales support, technology design, development, and troubleshooting.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and has been with Honeywell UOP for 26 years where he was awarded 9 patents and multiple trade secrets. He has authored multiple publications and coordinated the Merox Technology Conference for over 12 years.

Nikolas Larsen is FCC & Alkylation Technology Manager and a Cat Cracking subject matter expert for Marathon Petroleum Company located in Findlay, Ohio. As a corporate technologist he provides technical/operational expertise and support for Marathon’s thirteen FCC units. Nik has also held a variety of other technical and supervisory positions within Marathon at different refinery locations. Nik holds a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and has nearly 20 years of experience in the refining industry.

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.

Jacob Young is the General Manager at Petroval for North America responsible for supporting refinery end-users through reactor-based technologies and services to increase safety and reactor performance while reducing turnaround timelines. Jacob has almost 20 years of experience providing custom designed technologies and solutions for the Oil/Gas/Petrochemical market across downstream, midstream, and upstream sectors. Jacob earned his BS degree from the University of Houston.

Mark Cox is a Crude/Vacuum Unit Technologist for Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He is responsible for providing technical support for refinery operations and capital projects in Crude/Vacuum Units. He has experience in Process Engineering, Process Design and Capital Projects in the areas of Crude/Vacuum Distillation, Hydroprocessing, FCC and Renewables. Mr. Cox holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University and has 19 years of experience.

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.

Technical Services Manager at HF Sinclair’s El Dorado Refinery, leveraging 21+ years of leadership in petroleum refining, with expertise spanning operations, process optimization, and technical services. In his current role, he oversees Process Engineering, Advanced Controls, and Laboratory teams, spearheading strategic initiatives in unit optimization, energy efficiency, process safety, and operational excellence. As a key member of the refinery leadership team, he aligns technical innovation with business goals, fostering cross-functional collaboration, mentorship, delivering measurable improvements in reliability, profitability, and regulatory compliance.

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.

As Director of APC, Blending and Optimization at Phillips 66, Sriram significant contribution is through innovative thinking, technologies (AI/ML, Analytics), changing the status quo mindset and driving the adoption of cutting-edge AI technology for real-time Process Optimization. Sriram hold a Ph.D. from the University of Louisville and MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Joe is a process controls technologist for Marathon Petroleum Corporation LP, Canton, Ohio where his primary focus is on optimization technology and HMI for all of MPC refinery operations. He has 30 years' experience with process controls and 23 years in refining. While he had some operations experience, most of his time in refining was spent as the process controls supervisor for the Canton Refinery. Prior to Marathon, Joe worked for the Foxboro Company for 5.5 years and Aspen Technology for 1.5 years. Joe Received his bachelor’s and master's in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.

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.

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.

Tyner Devine is a Process Technology Lead for Flint Hills Resources. He is responsible for process technical support of refinery operations and capital projects in the FCC and Alkylation Units. Mr. Devine holds B.S. and M. Eng. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and has 17 years of experience in the refining industry.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Jacob Young is the General Manager at Petroval for North America responsible for supporting refinery end-users through reactor-based technologies and services to increase safety and reactor performance while reducing turnaround timelines. Jacob has almost 20 years of experience providing custom designed technologies and solutions for the Oil/Gas/Petrochemical market across downstream, midstream, and upstream sectors. Jacob earned his BS degree from the University of Houston.

Mark Cox is a Crude/Vacuum Unit Technologist for Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He is responsible for providing technical support for refinery operations and capital projects in Crude/Vacuum Units. He has experience in Process Engineering, Process Design and Capital Projects in the areas of Crude/Vacuum Distillation, Hydroprocessing, FCC and Renewables. Mr. Cox holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University and has 19 years of experience.

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.

Technical Services Manager at HF Sinclair’s El Dorado Refinery, leveraging 21+ years of leadership in petroleum refining, with expertise spanning operations, process optimization, and technical services. In his current role, he oversees Process Engineering, Advanced Controls, and Laboratory teams, spearheading strategic initiatives in unit optimization, energy efficiency, process safety, and operational excellence. As a key member of the refinery leadership team, he aligns technical innovation with business goals, fostering cross-functional collaboration, mentorship, delivering measurable improvements in reliability, profitability, and regulatory compliance.

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.

Dr. Patrick Robinson is the Senior Director for Advanced Process Control and Operations Technology for PBF Energy. Patrick has 15 years of refining industry experience in the areas of automation, optimization, and leadership. Specific experience includes:
• Refinery Leadership Team’s Technical Manager
• Operations Business Team Leader
• Maintenance Superintendent
• Refinery Digital Business Lead
• Process Controls & Modeling Team Lead
• Economics & Planning LP Models Engineer
• Advanced Process Controls Engineer

Patrick holds Chemical Engineering degrees with a focus on dynamic modeling and control (Lehigh University PhD, Lehigh University MS, and New Jersey Institute of Technology BS).

GT McDaniel is Process Control Manager, Marathon Petroleum Corporation. As a seasoned Chemical Engineer with over 20 years of experience in manufacturing, He excels in the intricacies of Process Automation, Optimization, and Problem Solving complemented by a passion for building resilient multi-disciplinary teams and navigating the relationship aspect of challenges.

Chuck Johnston is the Advanced Process Control Technologist for Marathon Petroleum. Chuck started his career with Dynamic Matrix Control Corporation (DMCC) and was involved in the development of the well-known Dynamic Matrix Control technology. Following the purchase of DMCC by Aspen, Chuck worked at Aspen Technology, Control Consulting Inc., Cutler Technology, and Mustang Engineering. Chuck holds an MS degree in Mathematical Sciences from Rice University, Houston, TX.

As Director of APC, Blending and Optimization at Phillips 66, Sriram significant contribution is through innovative thinking, technologies (AI/ML, Analytics), changing the status quo mindset and driving the adoption of cutting-edge AI technology for real-time Process Optimization. Sriram hold a Ph.D. from the University of Louisville and MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School.

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.

Chad Asmus graduated from Kansas State University with a B.S. in Agronomy in May 1996. He spent thirteen years as a crop consultant in southwest Kansas with Servi-Tech, Inc., where he advised farmers on how to manage their irrigated and dryland crops. In 2009, Chad earned an M.S. in Agronomy from KSU where his thesis focused on the impact of a single tillage event on sequestered soil carbon. He then joined BASF and since has held various roles within Technical Services and Marketing. He currently is a Sustainability Market Development Manager where he helps to develop new products and business models that can bring increased value to farmers who seek to expand their sustainable farming practices. Chad is a Certified Professional Agronomist (CPAg) and holds CCA specialist certifications in 4R Nutrient Management, Resistance Management, and Sustainability. He currently resides in Wake Forest, NC, with his wife and three sons.

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 Hydroprocessing Advisor and Senior Process Modelling Specialist with Flint Hills Resources. She has extensive experience in process and operational roles primarily in Hydroprocessing in areas of process safety, damage mechanism understanding, process design, and operating envelope improvements, catalyst selection, reaction kinetics understanding improvement, and other large capital improvements. Current roles include Hydroprocessing mentoring / training as well as building digital modelling and decision support tools to aid in improvements in safe, reliable, and value-added operation across multiple sites. 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.

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 Technical Safety Engineering Manager for Chevron's Operations Performance Technical Organization supporting Chevron's Downstream, Midstream and Chemicals businesses. Eric is based 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.

Stephanie Hadden is a Process Engineer for Chevron supporting the Geismar Renewable Deisel Facility. She is responsible for oversight of the Safety Instrumented System including process design and capital project execution. She has experience in Process Engineering and Capital Projects in the areas of Delayed Coking Technology, as well as a subject matter expert in distillation/separation equipment in the field of Crude/Vacuum, Alkylation, Gas Processing and various Chemical Applications. Mrs. Hadden holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and has 17 years of experience in the industry.

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.

Maggie McDaniel is currently the Operations Manager for the Montana Renewables assets at Calumet’s Great Falls refinery. She has a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Auburn University. Prior to moving to Great Falls in May of 2024, Maggie spent most of her career working for Calumet in northwest Louisiana serving in various engineering and operations leadership roles. Maggie’s technical expertise lies within the base oil and wax processing technology, but she is enjoying being immersed in learning the renewable fuels industry!

Jaxson O’Brien has 12 years of experience in the refining industry. He is a Rotating Equipment Specialist known for his practical, hands-on approach to maintaining and optimizing plant equipment. Jaxson’s background includes over 4 years as a front-line maintenance supervisor, along with hands-on experience as a Plant Machinist and Process Operator of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) and Boiler House units. Before entering the refining industry, Jaxson had 12 years of experience in emergency management, which provided him with the ability to communicate effectively and remain calm in high-pressure situations. Professionally, Jaxson achieved CHS Sense status in LEAN and holds various other industry certifications in maintenance and reliability.

Duane Serate is Suncor Energy Inc.'s corporate network lead and Technical Authority 1 in Pressure Equipment Integrity (PEI) Inspection and Materials. He has been in the refining, petrochemicals, unconventional gas and heavy oil specialized in Materials, Corrosion, Inspection, and Mechanical Static for about 30 years.

He has a bachelors degree in Metallurgical Engineering, MSc degree in Materials Science and Engineering, and another MSc degree in Corrosion Control Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK.

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 Hydroprocessing Advisor and Senior Process Modelling Specialist with Flint Hills Resources. She has extensive experience in process and operational roles primarily in Hydroprocessing in areas of process safety, damage mechanism understanding, process design, and operating envelope improvements, catalyst selection, reaction kinetics understanding improvement, and other large capital improvements. Current roles include Hydroprocessing mentoring / training as well as building digital modelling and decision support tools to aid in improvements in safe, reliable, and value-added operation across multiple sites. 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.

Justin Irick is currently a business development manager for Veolia North America in the Sustainable Industries and Buildings team. Prior to that He was the specialty chemicals Area Manager at Monroe Energy’s Trainer Refinery. In that role he worked on all process chemicals, fuel additives, boiler water, cooling water, and waste water chemical additives. He has worked on the NHT problem discussed here with multiple engineers for approximately 10 years. Justin holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and a MBA from Villanova University.

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.

Rob Confair is an APC Technologist at Marathon Petroleum Corporation. He is responsible for the technical support of Advanced Process Control applications across multiple sites and is evaluating Artificial Intelligence within APC. He has worked in refining and chemical plant roles as a Process Engineer, a Process Design Engineer, an Equipment Team Lead, and mostly as a Process Control Engineer. He has been a key contributor on several grassroots and brownfield construction projects and has developed and implemented dozens of successful Advanced Control Applications. Robert holds a BSChE from The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has a PE in the state of Texas, and has over 32 years of experience in refining and chemicals.

Manoj Shouche is currently a Senior Director of Product Management at Aspen Technology where he is leading the product roadmap and executing the product strategy for Aspen DMC3 and Dynamic Optimization software, Aspen GDOT. He has over 27 years of experience implementing Advanced Process Control (APC) and Real-Time Optimization solutions in the petrochemical industries. Before joining Aspen Technologies, Manoj worked for LyondellBasell and INEOS where he demonstrated a strong commitment to driving energy efficiency, production optimization, and achieving sustainable results. Manoj holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and MBA from Temple 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.

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.

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.

Liza Pacheco is a corporate Sulfuric Alkylation Technologist for Marathon Petroleum Corporation based in Denver, CO. She provides technical and operational expertise across Marathon’s sulfuric alkylation units. Liza previously worked at Elessent-Stratco in a variety of assignments including alkylation unit grass roots/revamp designs, unit startups, troubleshooting and optimization. Liza holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico and MS in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University and has over 18 years of experience in the refining industry.

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.

Joined John Zink in 2015
>> o Graduated from the University of Tulsa with a MSc in Mechanical Engineering
>> o Over a decade of experience with process heating and advantaged combustion technologies
>> o Areas of expertise: Process burner design and real scale testing, R&D development, combustion system development, application of data analytics for combustion solutions, fired heater optimization in the refining, reforming and petrochemical industry.
>> o Active on API equipment standards committees: API 535,556, 560 and 561.

o Joined John Zink in 2012
o Prior employed by ExxonMobil
o Decades of industry experience
o Areas of expertise Process Safety, Equipment Reliability, Process Operations, Combustion Equipment: Process burners, flares and thermal oxidizers
o Certifications include Incident Response, Unified Command, Reliability Centered Maintenance Facilitator, US DOE PHAST
o Active on API equipment standards committees: API 535,556, 560 and 565.

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 Technical Safety Engineering Manager for Chevron's Operations Performance Technical Organization supporting Chevron's Downstream, Midstream and Chemicals businesses. Eric is based 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.

Stephanie Hadden is a Process Engineer for Chevron supporting the Geismar Renewable Deisel Facility. She is responsible for oversight of the Safety Instrumented System including process design and capital project execution. She has experience in Process Engineering and Capital Projects in the areas of Delayed Coking Technology, as well as a subject matter expert in distillation/separation equipment in the field of Crude/Vacuum, Alkylation, Gas Processing and various Chemical Applications. Mrs. Hadden holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and has 17 years of experience in the industry.

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.

Maggie McDaniel is currently the Operations Manager for the Montana Renewables assets at Calumet’s Great Falls refinery. She has a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Auburn University. Prior to moving to Great Falls in May of 2024, Maggie spent most of her career working for Calumet in northwest Louisiana serving in various engineering and operations leadership roles. Maggie’s technical expertise lies within the base oil and wax processing technology, but she is enjoying being immersed in learning the renewable fuels industry!

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.

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.

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.

Karly Moore is the Corporate Metallurgist for PBF Energy. She has 20 years’ experience in refining and is a recognized expert in corrosion, materials, welding, and mechanical integrity. Karly is actively involved in industry groups such as the API subcommittee for corrosion and materials, and was formerly the chair of the refining corrosion group under AMPP (formerly NACE).

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.

Troy has been with Motiva Port Arthur for 35 years, working in operations and projects before becoming our Alarm Management Team Leader. He brings 20 years of experience in Alarm Management to his role at the Port Arthur facility.

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.

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.

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.

Mr. Moreaux holds a B.S in Chemical Engineering from Lamar University and has been with LyondellBasell for over 20 years in various roles of increasing responsibility in the manufacturing organization. Through multiple assignments in Channelview, Corpus Christi, Bayport and Chocolate Bayou, Lawrence has gained broad knowledge and experience in Olefins, Intermediates and Derivates and Polymers. He is also a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Council and chair of the American Fuel and Petrochemicals Manufacturers Walk the Line group. Mr. Moreaux is now the Director, Digital Technology Integration for LyondellBasell.

Vince Deckard is the Safety Systems Improvement Leader at Flint Hills Resources Corpus Christi Refinery, where he leverages his experience in safety and operations. He began his career as a contractor, progressed to Refinery Operations, and has held various Safety leadership roles across multiple sites. Vince's diverse expertise underscores his commitment to enhancing safety protocols and fostering a secure working environment.

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 Technical Safety Engineering Manager for Chevron's Operations Performance Technical Organization supporting Chevron's Downstream, Midstream and Chemicals businesses. Eric is based at Chevron's Richmond Refinery in Richmond, CA.

Ramin Abhari is a Senior Staff Research Engineer at Chevron Innovation, with over 35 years of experience in the chemical process industries. He specializes in hydrogenation, polymerization, and synthetic fuel technologies. Abhari has held engineering positions at W. R. Grace, General Electric, and ExxonMobil. He is named as an inventor on over 58 U.S. patents and has co-authored several peer-reviewed technical papers on bio-based chemical processes, renewable energy, and fuels. Additionally, he has written and illustrated several graphic novels with industrial safety themes and serves on the editorial panel of the IChemE Loss Prevention Bulletin. Abhari holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the City College of New York and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the College of Wooster. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Oklahoma and a senior member of AIChE.

Dan Carlson is the Vice President, Strategy & Development for Montana Renewables, LLC. In this role he has been part of design and start-up of the first feed pretreatment unit designed with ARA’s HCU technology and is presently coordinating the front end engineering for the MaxSAF™ project. He has over 4 decades of experience in design, operation and optimization of petroleum refineries and transportation fuels production facilities. Prior roles have included Vice President Optimization, Vice President and Refinery Manager, operations manager, technical manager, and numerous other operations and technical roles. He has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Saint Mary’s University. He is a registered professional engineer in California.

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.  

Dan Wood is a graduate from Oklahoma State University with a BS in Chemical Engineering. He works at HF Sinclair at their El Dorado, Kansas facility as a unit process engineer over the Crude, Vacuum, and Isotherming hydrotreater. He has 5 years of experience across platformers, light and heavy hydrotreating, and a variety of distillation/separation units.

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.

Drew Ashcraft is Vice President of Health, Safety, Environmental, & Quality at the Brock Group. He brings over 18 years of experience as an HSE professional in the oil and gas industry. Drew started his career as an Area Safety Manager and has worked to become the organization's VP of Health, Safety, Environmental, and Quality.

David Folmar is the Director of Safety for Starcon, La Porte, TX. He has been with Starcon for 9 years and has over 19 years of experience in the industry.

Benjamin Way is the Global Manager of Occupational Safety and Programs for Phillips 66. Throughout his 27 year career he has held various positions in Operations and HSE and has worked in multiple locations across the lower 48, Canada and Alaska.

Vince Deckard is the Safety Systems Improvement Leader at Flint Hills Resources Corpus Christi Refinery, where he leverages his experience in safety and operations. He began his career as a contractor, progressed to Refinery Operations, and has held various Safety leadership roles across multiple sites. Vince's diverse expertise underscores his commitment to enhancing safety protocols and fostering a secure working environment.

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.

Ben Krueger is a Corporate Reliability Engineer for LyondellBasell at its Houston Engineering Center in Texas. Ben has been with LyondellBasell for over 16 years. Ben started his career as an instrument engineer, subsequently taking positions as a Reliability Instrument Engineer and Team Lead before transitioning to his current role. Ben graduated with an electrical engineering degree from Lamar University in 2009.

Sarah Peery is the Operations Area Team Manager for Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) at the Mandan, North Dakota Refinery. With 11 years of experience at MPC, Sarah began her career as a process engineer at the Robinson, Illinois Refinery. She then served as the operations superintendent at both the Robinson, Illinois and Galveston Bay Refineries, supporting various processing areas before transitioning to her current role. Sarah holds a chemical engineering degree from Purdue University.

Shannon McAvoy is currently the Technical Director for ReNu Technologies and is responsible for the technical evaluations for air-cooled heat exchanger (fin-fan) cleanings and customer engagement. This includes KPI reporting, data analysis/reconciliation, and economic value. Before joining ReNu Technologies, Shannon served the downstream market as a hydrogen catalyst technical engineer, performing technical evaluations and providing onsite customer support. Prior to that, she spent six years as a process engineer. Shannon holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biochemical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.”

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.

Herb Telidetzki has been involved in refining his entire 44 year career and is currently an associated with Becht for FCC and Alkylation. Prior to Becht Herb was with Tesoro for 14 years as their FCC and Alkylation specialist involved in all aspects of their operation. Herb has also held roles with KBC Advanced Technologies for 11 years involved in modelling and processing optimization. Prior to those positions Herb was with Hess Refining and Esso Canada in various roles.

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.  

Stategic leader with 25 years of experience in the Downstream Energy market. Technical experience within refining, chemical manufacturing, and renewables. Current focus is developing long term partnerships with global organizations to develop solutions to meet Reliability, ESG, Digital, and Business aspirations.

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

Sterling Gregg is the Tank Program Manager at Motiva. He has served over 17 years in various assignments including Turnaround Area Execution Manager, Catalyst Team Supervisor, and operations leadership roles. Sterling participates in serving the community through Motiva and enjoys mentoring younger generations.

Adam Martin is the CEO and founder of Allstream Services and Rental, a leading industrial rental and services company based in Houma, Louisiana. Drawing on his military discipline and entrepreneurial spirit, Adam has established Allstream to deliver new age economical and efficient coatings removal solutions for clients across the energy, petrochemical, and industrial sectors. Under his leadership, the company has become known not only for its advanced robotic technologies but also for its commitment to both measurable performance results and long-term strategic value for asset owners and contractors alike.

Marshall Rayborn serves as the Senior Director of Business Operations at Specialty Tank Services (STS), a subsidiary of Stronghold Companies. Since joining the organization in 2008, he has played a pivotal role in the strategic development and operational leadership of STS. Marshall oversees all aspects of business operations and provides direction to both the project management and engineering teams, driving sustained growth for the company and its clients.

With over 25 years of experience in the API 650 and 653 storage tank industry, Marshall brings comprehensive expertise across the full project lifecycle—from drafting and estimating to execution and management. His deep industry knowledge and leadership have been integral to STS’s continued success and reputation for excellence.

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.

Scott McArthur is a Senior Hydroprocessing Engineer working for Phillips 66 from the central Refining Business Improvement group in Houston. He provides technical support to numerous Hydroprocessing units and Hydrogen Plants across Phillips 66’s eleven refineries. He has several years of experience in operations and support roles – primarily in the hydroprocessing area. He holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arizona, and has 33 years of experience in the refining industry.

Edgar Julian Remedios, Head of Global Solutions at Foerster - is a Mechanical and Materials Engineer with over 35 years of experience in Inspection Engineering, and specifically in the Integrity and Reliability of Process Plants.  He has spent more than 25 years working in Ammonia Plants worldwide and has spent two years in a research project involving Material Performance Analysis of Beryllium.  He has been with Foerster for over 10 years specializing in the testing of Steam Methane Reformers for Ammonia / Methanol / Hydrogen / and Direct Reduction Iron Plants.  As Head of Global Solutions, Mr. Remedios is currently involved in Business Development and Technical Consultancy for Foerster. He resides in Katy, Texas.

Oliver J. Smith IV is currently the Chief Operations Engineer for Air Products and Chemicals. He is the senior technical resource supporting the company’s global operating fleet of 75 Hydrogen, Syngas, Coal and Liquid Gasification plants that together produce ~4500 MMSCFD of hydrogen and syngas. He also supports development of the future facilities.

With over 34 years of experience at Air Products in plant design and asset optimization, for the past 15 years, Oliver has specialized in supporting cost of non-conformance (CONC), productivity, reliability, and catalyst issues for these plants. His innovative technical solutions across Air Products' businesses have led to the issuance of over ten patents and trade secrets.

Oliver holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Delaware and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.