Houston Branch Conference 2023

John Cornyn

United States Senator

Senator Cornyn’s leadership spans across industries in sponsorship of the LEADING Act which incentivizes research and development of carbon capture technology. His work also advances hydrogen infrastructure through the Hydrogen Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, Hydrogen for Ports Act, and Hydrogen for Industry Act, all of which demonstrates his commitment to an environmentally sound energy supply, and a compelling vision for a clean and innovative energy future.

Find out more:

https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/about/ 

https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/key-issues/energy-environment/ 

Dr Bashir Yusuf Jamoh OFR

Director General/CEO, NIMASA

Bashir Yusuf Jamoh (Ph.D), the Director General, NIMASA has over 29 years of public service experience. He had served in the Kaduna State Government before transferring his services to the then National Maritime Authority (NMA) in 1994.

Dr. Jamoh was until this appointment the Executive Director, Finance & Administration in NIMASA. Prior to that, he was the Assistant Director in NIMASA in charge of Training and Development. He had the privileged experience of serving not only in executive management, but also in the operations and administrative departments in NIMASA at management level and brings this knowledge to bear on his new assignment. He is the author of the book, "Harnessing Nigeria's Maritime Assets - Past Present and Future".

Dr. Jamoh holds a Ph.D in Logistics and Transport Management from the University of Port Harcourt, a Master’s degree in Management from the Korea Maritime and Ocean University in South Korea, an Advanced Diploma in Management from the Bayero University Kano, a Professional Certificate in Materials Management from the Institute of Logistics in the UK and a Diploma in Accounting from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

Dr Nimi Abili PhD, MBA, CEng, CMarEng, FIMarEST

Chairman, IMarEST Houston (US Gulf Coast) Branch, IMarEST

Dr. Abili is an Internationally Experienced Chief Technology Officer, Energy Transition Leader, Digital Technology Strategist and Management Advisor, accomplished in operating commercially within the Energy, Marine and Digital industry. He is a dynamic and proactive Energy Transition Adviser and Engineering Project Consultant, who excels at developing low carbon solutions to accelerate clean energy adoptions and commercial evaluations, with more than 2 decades of leadership experience on project value drivers across the value chain. Prowess in minimizing project costs while delivering results in advance of scheduled deadlines. Dr. Abili is actively involved in decarbonization projects, new energies, offshore & Onshore renewable wind, deepwater field developments, intelligent operations, cutting-edge green technology innovations, value engineering, digital and techno-economic enablement, strategic business development, financial risk management, policy formulations, and management of multi-disciplinary teams in the Energy Industry. Throughout his career, he has overseen the completion of multiple CAPEX projects valued at over $12 billion in growth opportunities and cash flow.

Dr. Abili holds a PhD in Energy & Power and MSc in Subsea Engineering from a prestigious school at Cranfield University, England; an MBA in Energy at Middlesex University London, England; and a BEng in Electronic & Electrical Engineering (Hons) at the University of Sunderland, England. He has working experience with Major IOCs, including Shell, Eni International, Schlumberger, and top management consulting, as a Chief Advisor, covering several Oil & Gas, FPSO, Offshore Renewables, CCUS, hydrogen, Smart Grid, LNG and FLNG development projects, etc. Dr. Abili is well-travelled internationally on energy development projects with regional executive experiences across UKCS, Norway, Germany, Italy, France, Americas, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa (East & West Africa), particularly on Greenfield, Brownfield, Marginal field developments in onshore and offshore energy assets, and digital enablement across the enterprise ecosystems.

Dr. Abili is the Chairman of IMarEST Houston (US Gulf Coast) Branch and Offshore Oil & Gas Special Interest Group (OOGSIG). He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Marine Engineer (CMarEng) and a Fellow of the Institute of Marine, Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST). Dr Abili is a Council Member, Board of Trustee & Membership Committe with the IMarEST UK, charged with governance, leadership, assessment of membership, Chartered Engineers, Chartered Scientists and Fellows through the Institute’s Royal Charter, the UK Engineering and Science Council. He has published several international journals and made major international oil and gas conference presentations, such as in Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC), Deep Offshore Technology (DOT) International Conference, Offshore West Africa (OWA) Conference and Subsea UK, as a Thought-Leader and Speaker, where he bagged 3 international industrial 'Best Awards', and has been a reviewer for top international journals, including Journal of Marine Engineering & Technology (JMET) of the IMarEST. Dr. Abili has a passion for executive coaching, mentorship, and distinctive leadership development with transferable skills.       

                   

Meg Dowling

ABS Corporate Technology Engineer, Nuclear Programs Lead, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Meg Dowling is an Engineer in the Machinery, Electrical and Systems Engineering Department of ABS Technology. Meg joined ABS in 2019 as an Aspire Rotational Engineer, where she gained company-wide experience with sustainability projects, transfer of class, risk-based inspection, alternative fuels, offshore structures engineering, and mooring arrangement review. She now leads the Nuclear Programs at ABS Corporate Technology, among other subjects related to sustainable shipping initiatives and alternative power options such as hydrogen, ammonia and biofuels. Meg received her BS in Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Chase Dwyer

Co-Founder and CEO, Carbon Ridge, Inc

Chase Dwyer is the Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon Ridge, Inc., a Los Angeles and Houston based developer of modular, second generation carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions for the maritime and offshore industries. Prior to founding Carbon Ridge, Chase was an Associate at B2U Storage Solutions, a California-based battery storage and solar developer where he led the companies Series-A Funding efforts, as well as the development of their battery sourcing supply chain. Chase also worked as an Associate at Cohn Reznick in their Transaction Advisory and Project Finance practices, as well as an Analyst at private equity firms Graham Partners and Search Fund Accelerator. Chase is an avid and former collegiate skier and received his BA from Babson College where he studied entrepreneurship and environmental sustainability”.

Peter Fitzpatrick

VP Shipping, NextDecade

Peter has more than 30 years of experience as an LNG ship owner and charterer in the LNG shipping industry, having worked for Classification Societies and BG Group both as an owner and subsequently as a Charterer. He has been involved in industry activities from SIGTTO and Owners Groups where he helped update industry requirements and best practices.

Whilst Peter worked at BG Group (2004 to 2016) he led a team that helped transition and modernize the company’s LNG fleet from steam propulsion to Dual Fuel diesel Electric (DFDE) and finally to the slow speed 174,000 m3 LNG size vessel we see today, which has become the industry standard. These changes were driven by an LNG trading model that transitioned from a point-to-point trading mindset to a more flexible global LNG portfolio approach. This approach looked at total costs, including emissions and fuel reductions.

In his current role at NextDecade, Peter is again looking to put in place structures and process to move the company’s LNG shipping needs forward, all in the backdrop of an immense period of industry and global change, especially around environmental requirements.

Thomas Johnson

Former Board Chairman, Houston Maritime Center

I am both proud and fortunate to have participated in and enjoyed many aspects of the maritime industry in my 40+ years of continuous service.  My initial general marine engineering education and early hands on sea going service enabled my participation in various sectors of the marine industry from vessel operations, ship building, ship repair, propulsion machinery and control systems engineering application and sales, vessel sales and chartering and regulatory compliance.

I am an articulate and presentable speaker with moderate experience in mid level engagements including over the years presentations to the Kings Point Association, the Marine Insurance Underwriters Association, NAMEPA, Marine Innovations Singapore and a few other organizations and events.

My unusually broad and diverse industry interface and experience was not a planned professional path but a result of good luck navigating the progressive shrinkage and consolidation of the domestic marine industries over my professional life.  I am on a first name basis with many senior marine industry leaders inclusive of the legal, technical, regulatory and commercial community.   

My unusual span of industry technical and commercial knowledge ranges from marine LNG, dredging, ice class technology and offshore wind energy sectors to MARAD (assets and projects), MARAD Title 11 protocols to diverse aspects of the JONES ACT. 

Nick White

President/co-founder, ezNG Solutions

Nick White, ezNG Solutions’ President/co-founder, is a Naval Architect (UMich’75) with a Mechanical Engineering Masters (UH’83). Past regional chairman SNAME. Nick worked for major oil companies for over 20yrs as a project manager and deepwater technology leader. Since 2000, he has worked primarily on deepwater and natural gas industry projects and technology development.  Chuck has led several large joint industry projects as well as the API global task forces in writing the FPS and riser design RPs.  He co-chaired creation of the first probabilistic riser design code and helped ABS, DNV, and BV write codes for shipping pressurized gas cargos. He holds multiple US and international patents.

Mejdi Kammoun

Principal Engineer, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Mejdi is a Principal engineer joined ABS in August 2019 as a Senior Engineer in the Ship Equipment Department. He conducted design reviews of life-critical systems, including manned underwater vehicles, launch and recovery systems, lifting appliances, PVHOs, pressure vessels, general cargo containers, MEGCs, and portable tanks. With seven years of battery-related experience, Mejdi is trained in both experimental and computational research.

Mejdi received his bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the National Engineers School in Tunis, a Master's degree in Engineering in Computational Mechanics from the Tunisia Polytechnic School, and a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston (TX, USA)

Mejdi is now joining Corporate Technology as a part of the Machinery, Electrical and Systems Engineering Group in Corporate Technology.

Rajnish Kelkar CEng, FIMarEST

Vice Chair, IMarEST Houston (US Gulf Coast) Branch

Rajnish Kelkar is a Houston, TX based Maritime executive. He has international experience in management, operations, assurance and safety roles in Oil, Gas, Energy and Maritime industries. He is currently the Global lead for Environmental, Energy and Regulatory Programs at Excelerate Energy, Texas, USA, where he is engaged in various new FSRU terminal development projects and in managing environmental, energy management & global maritime regulatory compliance programs and initiatives in the FSRU fleet and Regas Terminals.  Prior to this he was the Marine Projects Manager for the Jordan Cove LNG Marine export terminal in Coos Bay Oregon.  His main accountabilities were to lead the marine team and manage the JCLNG project marine interfaces and budget by working with the EPC contractor, the local, National & International stakeholders, Government Agencies, LNGC Owners/Operators, and other contactors.

After completing his Marine Engineering training at the Indian Maritime University, Rajnish served on large ocean going tankers, initially with Chevron Shipping Corporation, USA before joining Vancouver based Teekay Shipping Ltd., where he rose to the rank of a Chief Engineer. In his career till 2009 with Teekay, he also served in various management roles ashore in Teekay’s Vancouver (Canada) based headquarters. During this time, he was accountable for Fleet Performance Management, Maintenance Management, Condition, Risk and Reliability Improvement programs, Maritime Safety and Legislation, Oil Spill and Emergency Response and various Safety, Quality and Environmental programs, projects, and budgets for a fleet of over 150 vessels (oil, product, and LNG).

From 2009 to 2016 Rajnish was the Director, Maritime and Global Shipping HSSE, Asset Integrity and Risk Management at BG Group in Houston, TX. In this role he was the Functional Head of Maritime, HSSE, and process safety disciplines, with an accountability to provide leadership, SME input and assurance for all maritime activity across BG Group globally. This role spanned over marine operations in 10 different BG locations, projects and countries and covered ~150 different sites/assets including 28 LNG Carriers, 8 terminals, 10 oil and DP Shuttle tankers, 100+ offshore vessels including LSVs and tugs/barges.

Rajnish is a Chartered Engineer and holds a Class 1 Marine Engineering Officer international license equivalent to a BS degree in Marine Engineering. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (FIMarEST-UK) and the Vice Chair of its US Gulf Coast Branch. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (FIE) and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in business administration (project management) from the Henley Business School, Oxfordshire, UK.

His passions outside of work include travel, raising funds for local charities, theatre, and music.

Ramanan Krishnamoorti

Vice President of energy and Innovation, University of Houston

Ramanan Krishnamoorti is the vice president of energy and innovation at the University of Houston.  He is also a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UH.  He leads UH’s pre-eminent energy focused research, technology advancement and multi-disciplinary education programs. Ramanan obtained his bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and doctoral degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University in 1994.

Find out more:

https://www.chee.uh.edu/faculty/krishnamoorti   

https://uh.edu/uh-energy-innovation/uh-energy/energy-research/faculty-research/faculty/krishnamoorti-ramanan 

Thalía Krüger

Senior Business Development Manager, Principle Power

Thalía Krüger, SNAME Fellow, Naval Architect and Marine Engineer serves as Senior Business Development Manager at Principle Power (www.principlepower.com) responsible for the Americas.
Thalía earned her MSc degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the Gdansk Technical University Shipbuilding Institute. She has a long Marine and Offshore sectors experience of more than 20 years, honing her technical skills and taking on strategic account management and business development responsibilities. She began her career as a programmer and designer, advancing to the positions of shipyard project engineer, marine inspections chief surveyor, technical superintendent, entrepreneur, principal engineer, project manager, global offshore account manager, and senior marine/offshore consultant.
Now, a committed participant in the energy transition, Thalía is focusing her energy and talent on offshore wind energy as part of a group of creative problem-solvers dedicated to providing the most competitive, safe, reliable, and environmentally friendly offshore floating wind solution.
She is an engaging mentor with a passion for the promotion of education specially empowering women in STEM careers, particularly in the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering fields.

Juha Laukka

Product Director, Rotoboost

Juha Laukka is Product Director of Rotoboost. Rotoboost is hydrogen technology company focusing on industrial decarbonization through converting hydrocarbon gas (such as natural gas or bio methane) into low-carbon (turquoise) hydrogen and valuable solid carbon. 

Juha Laukka joined Rotoboost in 2020 to guide the research activities in developing the core technology and today he is focusing on the numerous customer applications where decarbonization can be achieved profitably with solutions that utilize the unique Rotoboost technology. 

Previously Juha Laukka served Valmet where he led the development of marine emission control business from scratch into a new branch with $150m annual turnover. He has also served companies like Metso and Kvaerner, where he has always been involved in designing and building something new for the very first time on industrial scale. Juha Laukka has M.Sc. degree from Helsinki University of Technology and he has received several awards for innovation.

Shilpa Mesineni

Senior Engineer II, Technology, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Shilpa is an Electrical Engineer with over 10 years of experience. She has worked in Automotive, Drilling, Marine and Offshore Industries.

She currently serves as a Senior Engineer in ABS Corporate Technology Global Simulation team and is responsible for leading efforts in System Simulation, digitalization and decarbonization initiatives in the maritime industry.

Prior to this role, she worked as a senior Electrical and control systems engineer for drilling systems at Nabors industries. During her tenure at Nabors, Shilpa’s contributions were integral in optimizing and testing drilling operations for efficiency and safety.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in India and a Masters degree from University of New Orleans, Louisiana, US.

Subrat Nanda

Chief Data Scientist, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

SUBRAT NANDA is the Chief Data Scientist at the American Bureau of Shipping in Houston and leads data science and advanced analytics efforts. Subrat has 19+ years of experience in applying Artificial intelligence to industrial problems in the broad areas of asset condition-based maintenance (CBM), prognostics & health management (PHM), reliability engineering, statistical risk assessment and service performance enhancement. He has successfully developed and deployed over 100 applications using machine learning, artificial intelligence & data science technologies in diverse domains such as marine, offshore drilling, gas turbines, wind turbines, financial risk, inspection and marketing. Subrat believes that fusing domain knowledge, data and data science are the key elements for impactful and scalable industrial analytics. Subrat holds a Master’s degree from the University of Exeter, England in Autonomous Systems and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from University of Nagpur, India. He has filed 15 US patents, holds 6 trade secrets and has authored more than 40 publications and/or conference publications in the area of asset health management and risk assessment.

Peter Noble

President & Senior Advisor, Noble Associates Inc.

Peter Noble is naval architect and ocean engineer with a wide range of global experience across many sectors within the marine and offshore industries.

He started his career as an apprentice with a Clyde-side shipbuilder, while attending the University of Glasgow studying naval architecture.

His career has included positions with shipyards; ship and offshore design consultants; marine R&D development companies; major classification societies; and with an international oil company. Peter is a past Vice President of IMarEST and past president of SNAME.

Peter currently based in Texas where his work includes advising on a range of subject matter including ocean renewable energy and future marine fuels.  He continues to support student and young professional activities in naval architecture and ocean engineering through mentoring, serving on advisory boards and advising on capstone projects.

Joseph Rousseau

Director – Offshore Technology, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Joseph (Joe) Rousseau is Director – Offshore Technology at ABS, where he directs Research and Development activities for offshore technologies in areas such as alternative energy, carbon capture, oil and gas, and subsea mining.                                                                  

Rousseau has held various leadership roles with ABS in Houston, Singapore, London, and Ottawa. He started his ABS career in the Houston office, working in the Offshore Engineering department after joining the organization in 1998. Prior to joining ABS, he was a Naval Architect at several ship design companies in Canada.

Rousseau holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Naval Architecture from Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Canada, and a Master of Business Administration from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and a Fellow of Engineers Canada.

Altaf Shaik

Principle Engineer, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Altaf is a Marine Engineer with over 15 years of experience. He currently serves as a Principal Engineer in ABS Corporate Technology Department and is responsible for developing requirements for emerging technologies in the maritime industry that includes Onboard Carbon Capture, Kinetic Energy Storage Systems, Liquefied Carbon Dioxide Carriers.

Prior to this role, he was in ABS Engineering department conducting plan reviews for different types of vessels such as LNG carriers, Offshore supply vessels, Yachts, High Speed Crafts and Barges. During this time, he became an SME for Ballast Water Treatment Systems. As part of the USCG Type Approval of BWTS, he worked closely with the Independent laboratories and helped clients get the USCG Type Approval for their systems.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering from Andhra University in India and an MBA degree from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, US. Prior to joining ABS, he spent few years sailing on Tankers.

Dr Ram Shenoy

CEO, RBR Group

Ram Shenoy has 24 years experience in upstream oil & gas, holding a variety of roles around technology development, management and marketing.

He spent 20 years with Schlumberger, starting as a research scientist, and completed a series of assignments of increasing responsibility, culminating in his last position with Schlumberger as Vice-President of Research, managing Schlumberger global corporate research laboratories.

He subsequently became Chief Technology Officer of ConocoPhillips, a position he held for 4 years.   He currently advises venture capital and private equity companies on matters of technology strategy and due diligence in the energy sector.  He also serves on a number of advisory boards, most notably the US Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, and the Project Production Institute.

Anthony Teo

Head of Americas – Vice President, Rightship

Anthony brings more than 25 years of maritime experience in project management, business development, strategic innovation and alternative technology/ fuel.

He completed a Naval Architecture (Hons) degree at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow) in 1998. Prior to joining Rightship in May 2021, he worked in DNV for 19 years and held several technical and management positions around the world. In his position at RightShip, Anthony oversees a strategic market approach that supports a long-term vision for improved safety and decarbonization in the maritime sector.

Jennifer Trageser

Vice President, Product Development, ABS Wavesight

In her role, she leads the product management and user experience team. Jennifer’s primary focus is on product strategy, roadmap development and maintenance, and intuitive user design, as well as ensuring the delivery of best-in-class products and services to the market.

Prior to joining ABS Wavesight, Jennifer has held product leadership positions in a variety of industries including digital health, supply chain risk management, and customer relations management. Jennifer graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in Marketing, and she serves on La Tech’s College of Business Marketing Advisory Board and volunteers in their mentor program.

Greg Trostel

Global Industry Development Manager, Rockwell Automation

Greg has over thirty years of experience in the energy industries and is currently a global industry development manager for Rockwell Automation, leading the Floating Production Initiative for both Rockwell and Sensia.

Greg started his career as a coop student with MW Kellogg based in Houston, and spent a combined 13 years with Kellogg/KBR in several engineering disciplines before moving into international sales.  His time there was marked by several international assignments with a focus on joint venture partner development.

Greg also spent significant time in technology & software development within the industry, which include sales development work at Aspen, AVEVA, Meridium and PAS. 

Before joining Rockwell, Greg was involved in global project pursuit and strategic account management with Puffer/Emerson, including an international assignment covering the Middle East / Africa world area.

Greg has a Chemical Engineering degree from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Houston.

Shankar Vaidhyanathan

Senior Engineer, Global Sustainability Center – Houston

Shankar Vaidhyanathan is a senior engineer at Global Sustainability Center – Houston.

He is a Senior Sustainability Professional with more than 12 years of experience running Global Scale Carbon accounting projects for shipping and onshore/offshore oil and gas companies. He was also the lead author on two ABS publications on “Green Shipping Corridors” and is considered an expert in this subject.

Shankar holds a bachelor’s (National Institute of  Technology, Durgapur, India) and master’s (University of Texas at Arlington) degree in civil engineering (Specialty: Environmental Engineering), and recently completed additional graduate-level course work at Colorado School of Mines with a Focus on Climate Change and Sustainability, Political Economy of Energy Transition and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage.

Sharat Valluri

Director, Technology - Data and Digital Applications, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)

Sharat Valluri has worked in the maritime and offshore industries for 25 years in various roles, including ship operation and maintenance, structural design, strategic business planning, digital technology qualification, and digital processes, tools & product development.

He has worked in the Ship Engineering, International Government and Strategic Business Planning departments at the American Bureau of Shipping's world headquarters in Houston. He is currently the Director of Technology – Data and Digital Applications group. Here, he leads maritime digital transformation by developing and qualifying cutting-edge technologies such as structural and machinery Digital Twins, human-in-the-loop Smart functions, Structural Health Monitoring, Asset Integrity Management, Predictive Analytics, and condition-based programs.

Sharat is an ex-chief engineer with 10 years of international sea-going experience on board oil tankers and product carriers prior to joining ABS. Sharat Valluri holds an MS in Ocean Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Guillaume Vileyn

Senior Electricity and Fire Safety Surveyor, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore

Guillaume Vileyn has been with Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore since 2006. He is the Senior Electricity and Fire Safety Surveyor at the BV Houston Plan Approval Office. Guillaume is responsible for design reviews related to implementing battery systems onboard new-built and existing ships, whether on the electrical and automation aspects or the fire and safety aspects. Guillaume is also responsible for design reviews related to the Type Approval Certification of battery systems manufactured in North America. Guillaume holds a bachelor's degree from the French School of Electrical Engineers (ESIGELEC).

Peter Wallace PE, CEng, CMarEng, FIMarEST

Principal Engineer, Lloyds Register

Peter Wallace, PE, CEng, CMarEng is Principal Engineer in the Maritime Performance Services--Applied Technology Group of Lloyd’s Register, based in Houston Texas.  He is a practicing naval architect working in the technology development, risk, and regulatory spaces in maritime and offshore in such topics as decarbonization, dynamic positioning, and structural digital twins.  Peter holds a BSc in naval architecture and marine engineering from Webb Institute of Naval Architecture and an MBA from Tulane University.  Peter is a Member of Corporation at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and an Executive Committee member of the IMarEST Gulf Coast Branch.