Iain Baxter, director of business development, CompactGTL

25 years experience in engineering and general management roles with SME's in the process and energy sectors worldwide, particularly in the Far East and the Americas. Iain has led technology development and commercialisation initiatives engaging multiple world-class partner companies, with revenues and investment levels up to $50million. Project clients include BP, Shell, BG, Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, Eni, Centrica, Burlington Resources, PDO Oman, Petrobras. At CompactGTL, Iain heads up business development for all client engagement and strategic partnering activity, having been with the company since 2006. Prior to that he was Business Director with Advantica Limited (formerly British Gas) where he ran the Upstream Asset Performance group including LNG consultancy, gas processing, rotating machinery and technology licensing areas. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Loughborough University, is co-inventor on five patents and has presented and published papers at numerous international oil & gas industry conferences.

Mitch Hindman, licensing technology manager, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company

Mitch started his career with Exxon U.S.A. at the Baton Rouge LA Refinery in 1980. After positions in projects, operations support and maintenance he transferred to Exxon's Lubricants and Petroleum Specialties division in 1989 and held a number of sales and marketing staff positions. Following the ExxonMobil merger in 2000, he held positions as Petroleum Specialties Sales Manager and Lube Basestocks and Wax Supply Manager for the Americas Region. In 2008 Mitch transferred to ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company as a Licensing Manager in the Technology Sales and Licensing Department.

Mitch graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering

Jeff McDaniel, business development director, Velocys

Mr. McDaniel leads the company’s sales, marketing and business development activities for microchannel reactors and catalysts.  As one of the founding members of Velocys, he has formed technology collaborations with leading industrial partners and government agencies, including Toyo Engineering, Petrobras, SGC Energia, PTT and Department of Energy.  Through these programs and related efforts, Velocys/Oxford Catalysts has invested over $200 million into its core technologies and is beginning commercial deployment. Jeff holds eight U.S. patents and has authored/co-authored over three dozen papers and presentations on microchannel technology.  He has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University, and an M.B.A. and an M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Michigan.

Robert M. Nimocks, president, Zeus Development Corp

In 1991, Nimocks founded Zeus Development Corporation to provide information and analysis to clients competing in world gas trade and development. Since the founding, the company has expanded its areas of expertise to include the monetization of other hydrocarbons, such as coal, tar sands and biomass and the commercialization of new technologies to upgrade undervalued hydrocarbons into premium fuels and products. The firm serves some 2,000 customers and clients, including major energy companies, governments, oilfield services firms, etc.  Zeus' extended enterprise includes about 35 staff, executive consultants and independent researchers. Nimocks assists clients in four broad areas:

1. Natural gas supply: For three large gas-import markets, Chile, Israel, and Italy, Nimocks has assisted utilities and governments identify, assess and negotiate gas supply as well as the construction of infrastructure necessary to import volumes of gas up to 5 billion cubic meters per year (500 million cubic feet per day). 
2. Feasibility: Nimocks specializes in assisting developers maximize returns on prospective capital projects while preparing feasibility documents that accurately communicate the investment opportunity to banks and third-party investors.
3. Business expansion: Nimocks has assisted more than 20 manufacturers, process licensors, EPC firms, and investors evaluate and set strategies for growth in the gas-monetization industry.
4. Investment assessment: Nimocks has assisted numerous institutional investors evaluate equity investment and trading strategies concerning publicly traded competitors in the LNG, gas conversion and E&P industries. He also has assisted banks conduct due-diligence investigations of borrower capital projects, including bond investments.

Edward Peterson, chief engineer, Synfuels International

As Chief Engineer for Synfuels International, Ed is responsible for leading Synfuels International’s technology development programs which include natural gas conversion, natural gas transport and alcohol based biofuels.  Ed applies valuable experience gained in R&D as well as traditional Process Engineering at Shell Development Corporation, GE Energy, KBR, S&B and Dow Chemical to improving Synfuels’ technology portfolio and assisting Synfuels’ international marketing team. Ed has 16 US patents of which 13 were developed for Synfuels. He took his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State, his MS from Rice and a BS in Chemistry.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in Texas.

Mark Schnell, director new business development, Sasol North America

Mark was educated at the University of Natal, South Africa, where he received a B.Sc degree in Chemical Engineering in 1983.

Mark joined Sasol in 1984, and in the earlier part of his career held various positions in process development, operations, process design, and marketing.

In 1998 Mark became involved in Sasol’s Gas-To-Liquids (GTL) initiative, initially with Sasol Synfuels International, and subsequently with Sasol Chevron, Sasol’s GTL joint venture with Chevron. As Global Marketing Manager he developed and implemented a strategy for marketing of products from GTL ventures, leading a team that took Sasol’s first international GTL venture, the Oryx GTL plant in Qatar, successfully into market in 2007.

In 2008 Mark was appointed Chief Executive of Sasol Chevron. With the decision by the shareholders to pursue their GTL aspirations independently, Mark moved to India in 2010 as Sasol’s Country President, to advance a 100,000 bpd Coal-to-Liquids project through a joint venture with the Tata group. Having led the project through its prefeasibility phase, Mark was appointed to his current position in the USA towards the end of 2011.

As Director, New Business Development at Sasol North America Mark is responsible for leading two large projects, both of which are currently in their feasibility phases. A Gas-To-Liquids project will have a capacity of 2 to 4 million tpa and could amount to investment of up to US$ 10 billion, and a world scale Ethylene Cracker with derivatives could amount to a US$ 2.5 billion to US$ 3.5 billion investment. Mark is based in Houston, USA.

Mike Schultz, vice president of engineering, LanzaTech

Dr. Mike Schultz directs engineering activities for LanzaTech. This group is responsible for delivering LanzaTech technology to the market, with functions such as engineering development and scale-up, techno-economic analysis, process design, and plant startup and support. Mike joined LanzaTech from Battelle Science and Technology Malaysia, where he worked closely with industrial partners to define strategic R&D objectives for a renewable technology portfolio. Prior to Battelle, Mike was a Lead Research Engineer at UOP LLC, managing technology development through internal R&D and collaboration with external research groups. Mike holds a B.S. in Chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He was the Co-recipient of the 2005 Hadan Freeman Award for Engineering Excellence, presented by the Institution of Chemical Engineers and is the recipient of more than 20 US Patents.