Featured Speakers

Dr. Dan Arvizu	Bob Nimocks
Carl O. Bauer	Nadhmi A. Al-Nasr
James W. Bayer	Henry Z. Kister

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Dr. Dan Arvizu
Director, U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Dr. Dan Arvizu became the eighth Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) on January 15, 2005.

NREL, in Golden, Colorado, began operations in 1977 and is the Department of Energy's primary laboratory for energy efficiency and renewable energy research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by Midwest Research Institute (MRI) and Battelle. Dr. Arvizu also is a Senior Vice President with MRI, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.

From 1998 to 2004, Dr. Arvizu was an executive with CH2M HILL Companies, Ltd., headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Federal and Industrial Client Groups, overseeing technology development and acquisitions for seven business groups including energy and power, environmental services, telecommunications, industrial design, and industrial processes with more than $2.5 billion in annual revenue.

Before joining CH2M HILL, he was an executive with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he worked for more than 20 years, and directed Research Centers for Advanced Energy Technology, Material and Process Sciences, and Technology Commercialization. Dr. Arvizu started his career at the AT&T Bell Telephone Labs Customer Switching Laboratory.

In 2004, Dr. Arvizu was appointed by President George W. Bush, and confirmed by the full U.S. Senate, to be on the 24-member National Science Board (NSB), which is the governing board of the National Science Foundation and the national science policy advisory body to the President and the Congress. He serves on the Education and Human Resources and on the Audit and Oversight committees of the NSB.

Dr. Arvizu has served on a number of other boards and advisory committees, including the Secretary of Energy's National Coal Council, Secretary of Defense's Army Science Board, and as an adviser for the Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. From 2000 to 2002, he served on the Technical Advisory Board of the G8 International Renewable Energy Task Force and from 2002 to 2004, Dr. Arvizu chaired a congressionally chartered Blue Ribbon Panel on the Workforce of the Future as part of the Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST) Initiative of the Council on Competitiveness. Presently, he serves on several university advisory boards, on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Engineers National Achievement Awards Corporation, and on the Board of Advisors for the Greater Denver Metro Area Salvation Army.

Dr. Arvizu's awards and distinctions include being named in 1986 the Albuquerque Tribune's "Rising Star in Science," recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus during the 1988 Centennial Celebration at New Mexico State University, earning the 1996 Hispanic National Achievement Award for Executive Excellence, being appointed a Technology Fellow of CH2M HILL in 1999, and being recognized in 2003 and 2004 as "One of the 50 Most Important Hispanics in Business and Technology" by Hispanic Engineer Magazine.

He has a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. Dr. Arvizu and his wife, Patricia, have five children and live in Littleton, Colorado.

Carl O. Bauer
Director, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)

"Our Nation's Energy Challenges: How Will You Respond?"

Carl Bauer is Director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), a national laboratory owned and operated by the U.S. Department of Energy. In this position, he oversees the implementation of major science and technology development programs to resolve the environmental, supply, and reliability constraints of producing and using fossil resources. This includes technologies for—

Advanced coal-fueled power generation and hydrogen production. Carbon sequestration. Environmental control for the existing fleet of coal-fired power plants. Improving the efficiency and environmental quality of domestic oil and natural gas exploration, production, and processing.

Mr. Bauer was appointed NETL Director in August 2005, following six months as Acting Director. From October 2003 to February 2005 he served as NETL Deputy Director. In this position, Mr. Bauer was responsible for NETL’s energy assurance and infrastructure protection activities, and he provided oversight for the Office of Institutional and Business Operations; the Office of Science, Technology, and Analysis; and the Office of Technology Impacts and International Coordination.

Prior to serving as Deputy Director, Mr. Bauer was the Director of NETL’s Office of Coal and Environmental Systems, with responsibility for all of NETL’s activities related to coal and environmental research. Prior to that, he was Director of NETL’s Office of Product Management for Environmental Management, with responsibility for development and demonstration of hazardous- and radioactive-waste cleanup technologies.

Mr. Bauer has more than 30 years of experience in technical and business management in both the public and private sectors. His positions at the Department of Energy Headquarters have included Director of the Division of Work for Other Agencies, Director of the Idaho and Chicago Environmental Restoration Operations Division, Acting Director for the Environmental Management Office of Acquisition Management, and Director of the Office of Technology Systems. He has also served as Director of Engineering Support and Logistics, Naval Sea Systems Command for the U.S. Department of Defense; Vice President and General Manager of Technology Application, Inc.; and Vice President, Ship Systems and Logistics Group, Atlantic Research Corporation.

Mr. Bauer received an M.S. in nuclear power engineering from the Naval Nuclear Power Postgraduate Program in 1972 and a B.S. in marine engineering/oceanography from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971. He has taken additional postgraduate courses at the Wharton School of Business and George Washington University in business administration, finance, and management, and has received additional executive management training at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Mr. Bauer has recently been named Laboratory Director of the Year by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC). This annual award honors directors who have made outstanding contributions supporting technology transfer activities at their laboratories.

James W. Bayer
Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Health, Safety and Environment
Lyondell Chemical Company

James W. Bayer is senior vice president, Manufacturing and Health, Safety and Environment, for Lyondell Chemical Company. He oversees production operations at 22 manufacturing facilities in the United States and Europe.

Appointed to his current position in October 2000, Bayer previously was the vice president for Health, Safety and Environment and Engineering. From December 1997 to July 1999 he was director, Gulf Coast Manufacturing for ARCO Chemical. Prior to December 1997, he served as plant manager of Channelview. He joined the company in 1977 as a process control engineer at the Channelview Petrochemical Complex.

Jim received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1977.

Henry Z. Kister
Fluor Corp. Senior Fellow
Director, Fractionation Technology

Abstract

Henry Z. Kister is a Fluor Corp. Senior Fellow and Director of Fractionation Technology. He has over 30 years experience in troubleshooting, revamping, field consulting, design, control and startup of fractionation processes and equipment. Previously, he was Brown & Root's staff consultant on fractionation, and also worked for ICI Australia and Fractionation Research Inc. (FRI). He is the author of the textbooks Distillation Troubleshooting, Distillation Operation, and Distillation Design, as well as over 80 published technical articles, and has taught the IChemE-sponsored “Practical Distillation Technology” course 300 times. A recipient Chemical Engineering Magazine’s 2002 award for personal achievement in chemical engineering, of the AIChE's 2003 Gerhold Award for outstanding contributions to chemical separation technology, and of the AIChE South Texas Chemical Engineering Practice Achievement Award 2005, Kister obtained his BE and ME degrees from the University of NSW in Australia. He is a Fellow of the AIChE and IChemE, and serves on the FRI Technical Advisory and Design Practices Committees.

Bob Nimocks
President, Zeus Development Corporation

Abstract

Nimocks is the founder of Zeus Development Corporation, a consultancy and publisher that specializes in world gas monetization project development and markets, including gas origination, commercial negotiations, technology assessments, finance, and market optimization. The firm has served a breath of clients including major energy companies, banks, national oil companies, independent E&P, downstream markets, EPC firms, equipment suppliers and major governments. Zeus' extended enterprise includes some 35 staff, executive consultants and independent researchers.

Prior to founding Zeus in 1991, Nimocks was vice president of corporate development for Elders Resources North America, the North American division of Elders IXL, an international energy and natural resources company with substantial natural gas production.

He earned an MBA from Harvard University (1987), served in the management consulting division of Accenture (1981-84) and obtained BS and BBA degrees from Mississippi State University (1981). He is a certified public accountant.

Khalid G. Al-Buainain
Saudi Aramco
Vice President, Engineering Services

Khalid Al Buainain is Vice President, Engineering Services, since March 2007. In addition, he is a Board Member of the Petron Corporation (Manila), Chairman of the Jeddah Oil Refinery Company (JORC) and a member of the Saudi Aramco Executive Advisory Committee.

Khalid joined the company in 1980 as an engineer with Northern Area Oil Operations and later held a variety of supervisory and managerial positions including Producing Operations, Gas Operations, Terminal and Oil Supply Planning. In 1994, Khalid moved to the Far East and led the Sales & Marketing Operations as General Manager of Saudi Petroleum Limited in Tokyo. Upon his return to Saudi Arabia in 1997, he was appointed President & Managing Director of Saudi Shell Refinery Company (SASREF) in Jubail. Khalid was also Chairman of Luberef in Jeddah. In 2000, Khalid was appointed to an executive position heading Saudi Aramco Affairs, and in 2001 he became Vice President of Medical Services. In 2003 he was appointed Vice President of Refining.

Khalid is a graduate of the University of Petroleum and Minerals in Applied Mechanical Engineering. He attended the Executive Program at the Harvard Business School in 1999.

Nadhmi A. Al-Nasr
Interim President, KAUST

Nadhmi A. Al-Nasr is currently Interim President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). He has also worked as the Vice President, Engineering Services as well as having previously worked in Project Management, Corporate Planning and Oil Marketing & Supply Planning.

He has also held the position of Managing Director of Saudi Petroleum Overseas Ltd. (SPOL). This Saudi Aramco subsidiary provides international sales, marketing and shipping services for crude oil, LPG, petroleum products and sulfur destined for customers in Europe, Africa and South America.

During his 26 years with Saudi Aramco, Nadhmi has spent half of the time working with international engineering and consulting firms in the USA, UK, Netherlands and Japan. The other half of his career has been spent in Saudi Arabia, mainly in oil fields such as Ghawar, Safaniya and Shaybah.

Nadhmi graduated in 1978 with a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran.