About Us

John Adamiak

John Adamiak is President and Founder of PGS Energy Training and an expert in energy derivatives and electric power markets. Mr. Adamiak is a well-known and highly effective seminar presenter who has over 20 years experience in the natural gas and electric power industries. His background includes 15 years as a seminar instructor, 9 years of energy transaction experience, and 6 years of strategic planning and venture capital activities. John's academic background includes an M.B.A. degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Soli Forouzan

Soli Forouzan is President of Mind Span, Inc., an Asset Optimization and Trading Risk Management consulting firm. Prior to holding this position he was the Chief Risk Officer for PG&E Energy Trading, overseeing all trading in electric power, natural gas and other fuels for the third largest energy trading organization in North America. In that capacity he oversaw the integration of 5,100 megawatts of acquired power generation capacity into PG&E's risk portfolio and was responsible for internal transfer pricing, risk methodology & architecture, and performance benchmarking. Soli's career spans over 20 years in the energy industry, during which time he traded one of the largest natural gas storage asset portfolios in the industry. Mr. Forouzan has been a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) since 1987 and is a frequent speaker at energy industry forums on the subjects of trading risk management and asset optimization.

Peter C. Fusaro

Peter C. Fusaro is Chairman of Global Change Associates in New York and is the best selling author of What Went Wrong at Enron. He has been actively engaged on energy and environmental issues for 34 years and has taught his popular "Introduction to Carbon Trading and Finance" course to over 900 people. Peter is an energy industry thought leader noted for his keen insights in emerging energy and environmental financial markets. He has been on the forefront of energy and environmental change for over 30 years focusing on. oil, gas, power, coal, emissions, carbon trading and renewable energy markets. Peter is currently advising in the clean energy technology arena. Peter has been selected for Who's Who in America and Who'sWho World. Peter coined the term "Green Trading" and "Green Finance," and holds the annual Wall Street Green Trading Summit in New York each spring (www.wsgts.com). In 2004, he co-founded the Energy Hedge Fund Center LLC (www.energyhedgefunds.com). He has authored 15 books on energy and environmental trading. His three most recent books have been Cut Carbon, Grow Profits; Energy & Emissions: Collision or Convergence; Energy & Environmental Hedge Funds: The New Investment Paradigm. Peter graduated with an MA in International Relations from Tufts University and a BA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Greg Peters

Greg Peters has over 25 years of energy industry consulting and management experience and is an expert in energy products and services marketing, and supply planning, procurement and energy management. Mr. Peters' consulting experience includes several years as Manager of Price Waterhouse's National Public Utilities Consulting Services and currently as President, Envision Energy Solutions Company. Envision provides gas, electric and fuel management consulting services to a wide range of industrial, commercial and municipal end-users. Previously, Mr. Peters has had fuel procurement, fuel management and planning responsibilities for Columbia Energy Services Corporation, Equitable Gas Company, and The Peoples Natural Gas Company.

Kenneth Skinner, Ph. D.

Dr. Skinner is Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Integral Analytics (IA), an analytical software and management consulting firm focused on operational, planning, and market research solutions. Reaching every aspect of the energy industry, the IA proprietary analytical, programming and statistical methods allow clients more precise valuation, faster and more affordably. Dr. Skinner has over 15 years of energy industry experience including 5 years as the Derivative Structuring Manager for Sempra Energy Solutions, a national energy supplier, focused on developing retail commodity supply strategies including portfolio risk management, hedging strategy, and least-cost supply opportunities. Having worked with several energy consulting companies including Summit Blue Consulting, RDI Consulting and PHB Hagler Bailly, Dr. Skinner has significant experience in economic analysis and modeling of energy assets including development of portfolio VaR models, structured valuation of distributed generation and electricity and natural gas commodity transactions, financial risk assessment and valuation of energy hedging strategies.

Jim Crist

is President of Lumen Group, Inc. headquartered in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. He has over 27 years experience in the energy industry covering coal, gas, oil, propane, and electricity. Jim has conducted many strategic studies of the industry and prepared market and business assessments for several large energy companies. Before founding Lumen Group in 1996, Jim spent 20 years working for major energy companies in engineering, technology development, rate and regulatory policy development and marketing. He served as marketing vice president in both regulated and deregulated entities. His consulting practice provides strategic planning, marketing and business development, and rate and regulatory consulting, along with serving as an expert witness in regulatory proceedings in several jurisdictions.

Andy Weissman

Andy Weissman is a Partner in the Wall Street law firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn LLP and Editor-in-Chief of Energy Business Watch, one of the premier energy market advisory services in the country.

He has more than three decades of experience providing strategic advice and counseling to major electric utilities, independent power producers, natural gas and coal producers, large energy users, hedge funds and other major financial institutions and retail and wholesale energy marketers.

During the past decade, he repeatedly has been among the first to spot major price trends in the electricity, natural gas and coal markets. Earlier in his career, he helped to pioneer the use of emissions trading in the U.S., structuring nearly all of the early transactions under Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which established a "cap and trade" program for precursors of acid rain.

Jason Makansi

Jason Makansi is an independent consultant in the power generation industry with over 30 years of experience analyzing the technological, business, environmental and regulatory issues in electricity production and delivery. He is also a prolific author, respected industry thought leader, and sought-after communicator. His third book, Lights Out: The Electricity Crisis, the Global Economy, and What It Means to You, was called a "must read for anyone even slightly interested in the adequacy of the U.S. power sector and what the future may hold," and received glowing reviews from industry observers and critics in the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the St. Louis Post Dispatch to name just a few. Mr. Makansi has appeared on CNBC and TheStreet.com, and has been interviewed for NPR, The New York Times, Forbes, Newsweek, and CFO magazine, and his byline has appeared countless times in the most respected industry journals. He earned his Chemical Engineering degree from Columbia University.

Dr. Mazie Leftwich Psy. D.

Dr. Mazie Leftwich Psy. D. is a nationally known presenter and corporate trainer in the energy industry who has 20 years of executive experience in the right of way and land management consulting business. Dr. Leftwich serves as Director of the CLS Professional Development Institute and has been the catalyst behind CLS's extensive employee training, project training, and team-excellence programs.

Alex Polonsky

ALEX POLONSKY
Alex Polonsky is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Energy Practice, focusing on energy and environmental law. His energy practice includes advising on all aspects of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing and litigation, including license renewal, power uprates, license transfers, decommissioning, enforcement proceedings, and whistleblower investigations. He is also an experienced litigator before the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Boards. Some of the cases he has defended in litigation before ASLBs include the construction application for a mixed-oxide fuel fabrication facility, the license renewal application for Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, the license application for Yucca Mountain, the decommissioning plan for a former nuclear materials facility, and license transfer applications for nuclear plants. Mr. Polonsky is the co-author of the textbook Fundamentals of Nuclear Regulation in the United States. He also is an instructor for "Nuclear Regulation 101" training sponsored by Electric Utility Consultants Inc. (EUCI). Finally, Mr. Polonsky advises clients in nuclear export-related matters before the NRC, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Department of Commerce.

Mr. Polonsky's environmental law practice includes advising energy clients on shale gas development, including water use restrictions and hydraulic fracturing regulation, and advising chemical industry clients on CERCLA, RCRA, and NEPA implementation. He provides environmental due diligence support on energy transactions and in-depth technical reviews of soil and groundwater data to assist clients facing CERCLA and RCRA enforcement and litigation.

Mr. Polonsky also helps clients navigate investigations, whether from Congress, the NRC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He currently is representing one energy client before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and another before the FERC and CFTC.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Polonsky clerked for the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (ASLBP). He also worked for ICF Kaiser Engineers for five years, consulting with the government and corporations on CERCLA, RCRA, TSCA, and other environmental statutes and regulations. He has authored over 30 Phase I Environmental Assessments for government, industrial, and commercial properties located throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and conducted more than 20 Phase II Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies. As part of these studies, Mr. Polonsky supervised geologic assessments, characterization of surface soils, and delineation of contaminant plumes in soil and groundwater.

Mr. Polonsky is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York.

Lawrence J. Chandler

Lawrence J. Chandler is senior counsel in Morgan Lewis's Energy Practice. Mr. Chandler's practice focuses on representing clients before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on all aspects of nuclear reactor and materials licensing and regulation pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy Reorganization Act; the National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental statutes; the Energy Policy Acts of 1992 and 2005; and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Chandler had been, since 1998, the Associate General Counsel for Hearings, Enforcement, and Administration at the NRC. Before that, he had served, since 1972, in various senior executive and staff positions in the NRC's Office of the General Counsel and Office of the Executive Legal Director, as well as in the Office of the General Counsel of the NRC's predecessor, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Over his 35 years of service at the NRC and AEC, Mr. Chandler was responsible for providing legal advice and representation on all aspects of nuclear reactor licensing and regulation regarding the current fleet of operating reactors as well as with respect to new reactors, including license renewal, license transfers, and other licensing actions (under the provisions of 10 CFR Part 50), and early site permits, combined licenses, and standardized design certifications (under 10 CFR Part 52). He also was responsible for legal advice and representation in NRC proceedings concerning the licensing of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials, including fuel cycle and enrichment facilities, the licensing of spent fuel storage facilities (including away-from-reactor facilities), and the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. In addition, Mr. Chandler provided advice regarding the NRC's enforcement program, and representation in all enforcement matters related to reactor and materials licensees.

High-profile matters on which Mr. Chandler provided advice and representation while at the NRC and AEC included the licensing of Diablo Canyon, San Onofre, Comanche Peak, Limerick, Three Mile Island Unit 2 (including post-accident licensing and regulatory matters), the Private Fuels Storage away-from-reactor spent fuel storage facility, the LES and USEC uranium enrichment facilities, the issuance of Early Site Permits for Clinton, Grand Gulf, and North Anna, enforcement actions regarding Davis-Besse, Peach Bottom, Indian Point, Millstone, Pilgrim, Watts Bar, the suspension of the San Onofre Unit 1 operating license, the shutdown of the Shoreham and Rancho Seco facilities, the General Electric Test Reactor, and the imposition of security measures on reactor and materials licensees after 9/11.

From 1970 to 1972, Mr. Chandler was an attorney-advisor in the Office of the Hearing Examiners at the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Mr. Chandler received his J.D. from George Washington University National Law Center in 1969 and his B.A. from Boston University in 1966.

Mr. Chandler is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Mr. Dale Veres

Mr. Dale Veres is the President / Principal Consultant of Trailblazer Strategies Group LLC. Trailblazer is a Management Consulting firm focusing on strategy development, business planning, business opportunity assessment, performance management, identifying and eliminating unwarranted costs, asset optimization, change management, implementing enterprise solutions, process-systems alignment, and competitive intelligence.

Dale's professional career spans 29 years with over 25 years of US energy industry experience. He has broad-based industry knowledge including that for energy, utilities, wind energy, consulting, commercial real estate, and information technology.

Most recently Dale has been involved directly in the wind power industry through his consulting work for the US operations of an international wind energy developer as well as by serving as Vice President Finance & Strategic Planning for a start-up wind turbine manufacturing firm. Prior to those positions, Dale professional career includes three-years of consulting with a Fortune 5 company as well as a 20-year career with a major US integrated natural gas corporation and its largest operating gas utility.

He has served Notre Dame College of Ohio as an Instructor on Business Analysis and Decision-Making. Dale has produced and delivered numerous webinars on wind energy, and has spoken nationally and internationally on the topics of tactical competitive intelligence and on business transformation. He is a Certified Toastmaster and has also served four years as the Chapter Coordinator for the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals.

Ed Tweedy

Ed Tweedy is an experienced physical and financial energy trader with over 30 years experience in trading, risk management, shipping and consulting. Recently, Ed was Senior Managing Director of Energy Arbitrage Management an affiliate of MD Sass, a 35 year old +$12 billion multi-strategy hedge fund. He presently is the Principal of Tweedy Associates, an independent consultancy in the energy fields of petroleum, natural gas, shipping, coal, emissions markets and electricity. As a Petroleum, Electricity, Natural Gas Trader at Louis Dreyfus Energy Corp, he devised fully hedged merchandising strategies to support commodity and forward physical (cash) markets trading with refiners, end users, wholesalers and suppliers in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, Europe, South America and Asia . Ed set up fully hedged and integrated physical merchant energy desks in Europe, North American and Central America for petroleum, natural gas/LNG, electricity, freight and coal. Other work experience includes Vice President/Head Trader-Dealer, Sithe Energies: Responsible for establishing Asset Optimization/Proprietary Trading Department following Sithe's $2.2 Billion acquisition of over 40 generation plants from Boston Edison and GPU fleets, including developing and managing the entire merchant energy/emissions function, Senior Energy Trader and Structured Dealer, Citizens Power, Senior Energy Trader, NorAm Energy/Houston Industries/Reliant Energy and Senior Merchant. Ed brings his trading experiences to the emerging emissions markets and offers timely insights into how to trade emissions while managing emission/fuel risks.

Mr. Miki Kolobara, Esq.

Mr. Miki Kolobara, Esq. is a commodities and derivatives trading attorney, primarily focused on energy trading, risk management, and compliance. Mr. Kolobara has spent 14 years working for several large energy companies where he was responsible for creating and implementing trading policies and procedures, drafting standard trading and credit documentation, advising senior management about energy trading matters, and training front and middle office personnel about legal and contractual aspects of energy trading. He has negotiated hundreds of master agreements and documentation for physical and financial transactions, as well as structured transactions for natural gas, electricity, coal, crude oil, and emissions allowances.

Mr. Kolobara serves on the Futures and Derivatives Law Committee of the American Bar Association, as well as the North American Energy Standards Board's contracting committee where he participated in drafting the NAESB standard master agreement for natural gas trading. Mr. Kolobara also serves on the Finance and Transactions Committee of the Energy Bar Association. As a member of the WSPP contracting committee, Mr. Kolobara participated in drafting of the WSPP standard master agreement for electricity trading. Additionally, Mr. Kolobara is active in the International Energy Credit Associations' Contracts and Legal committee as well as its Dodd-Frank working group.

Mr. Kolobara is a frequent speaker on topics related to energy trading, hedging, risk management, and compliance.

Cynthia Kase

Cynthia traded physical energy as well as commodity derivates before launching the firm in 1992. She is a Chartered Market Technician and member of the Market Technicians Association, and Master of Financial Technical Analysis, awarded by the International Federation of Technical Analysts and the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts. Her work has won numerous awards from both the energy and technical analysis communities and she is widely published. Her technical trading algorithms are carried by a wide rang of trading platforms.

P. Dean Rogers, AP

Dean Rogers, AP, is Kase's Managing Director. Dean has been with Kase since 2000, is a member of the Market Technician's Association and oversees all of the firm's daily technical analysis work. Dean consults with clients on trading and hedging strategies, writes market analyses for oil and gas, provides training on Kase's computer trading and hedging models, teaches technical analysis and risk management courses, and is responsible for software and quantitative analytics research and development.

Joey Lee Miranda

Joey Lee Miranda is a Partner in the Environmental and Utilities Practice Group of Robinson & Cole LLP. Ms. Miranda's practice focuses on energy and utilities matters including regulatory representation, litigation, transactional representation and counseling. Ms. Miranda also regularly publishes and presents on matters of interest to the energy industry. Recently, she edited the book Capturing the Power of Electric Restructuring.

Ann O'Hara

Ann O'Hara has 28 years experience as an attorney, focusing on energy law since 1988. She gained the majority of her energy experience as senior counsel for Aquila Energy Corporation in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1995, O'Hara began her own law practice and currently practices energy transactional law with an emphasis on over the counter derivative documentation. In 2000, O'Hara wrote her first book, "A Practical Guide to Gas Contracts" published by PennWell Publications. She is currently working on a second book, "OTC Energy Derivatives and the ISDA Documentation" which includes a study of the 1992 and 2002 ISDA Master Agreements, the 2005 ISDA Commodity Definitions, and accompanying credit documents. In addition to her law practice, O'Hara is a frequent lecturer on energy risk management issues and ISDA documentation. She has presented seminars and workshops throughout the United States and Canada on the 1992 ISDA Master Agreement, the 1994 ISDA Credit Support Annex, the 2002 ISDA Master Agreement, Master Netting Agreements, the NAESB Base Contract and the GISB Base Contract.

Larry G. Berg, PMP

Larry Berg is President of BERG LLC and has over 29 years of electric industry strategy, management and consulting experience. He has authored articles for industry periodicals on proposed climate change legislation as it specifically affects electric utilities. Mr. Berg spent most of his professional career at El Paso Electric Company (before retiring in February 2010), where he held a number of key strategic roles, including Director of Forecast & Planning and Director of Corporate Projects. He also served the company as a Power Consultant, Principal Project Manager, Technical Assistant (to the CEO) and as the company's Y2K Program Director in 1999-2000. Mr. Berg is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and is a Project Management Professional (PMP) as certified by the Project Management Institute.

Peter Beutel

Peter C. Beutel is president and founder of Cameron Hanover. He is chief editor of the firm's Daily Energy Hedger, and author of "Surviving Energy Prices". He started Cameron Hanover with a simple energy newsletter in 1989. It has grown to over 500 clients at 150 firms worldwide.

Prior to starting Cameron Hanover, Peter worked on Wall Street as a research analyst at several major brokerage firms, among them Merrill Lynch and DL &J. He is seen regularly on CNN, CNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC and Bloomberg.

Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Brown is an energy economist and 30+ year veteran of the energy industry. He began his career evaluating the economics of oil and gas prospects during the growth years of exploration in the North Sea, Persian Gulf, Africa and Far East. Over the years, he has been responsible for evaluating the risk and return of exploration projects in the Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent, Permian Basin, Gulf Coast and Appalachian petroleum provinces. Mr. Brown has been both a decision maker and advisor to senior executives on exploration strategy as well as directly operated producing properties. In this webinar he blends a high level perspective with detailed practical experience in field operations. Mr. Brown has worked extensively in midstream gathering and processing as well down stream pipeline and distribution businesses and has served as a fuel manager for industrial consumers and independent power generators. He holds a BS in Economics from the University of Utah and an MBA in International Finance from The Anderson School-UCLA. He has spoken widely on industry issues and has testified as an expert witness before several state regulatory commissions and the Federal Court.

Doug Buser Jr.

Doug is an experienced communications specialist. His expertise spans research and application of digital media. He has written white papers on political persuasion, argumentation, and rhetoric, and lectured on brand management through new media. He was the strategic communications lead during the Deepwater Horizon response creatively utilized cloud computing to link the High Interest Technologies Test Team with the extended global professional network.The creation of a consistent message enhanced the team's internal and external messaging during the emergency and mitigation phases. Along with messaging strategies, he prepared members for television interviews and coordinated media coverage for the HITT Team. In an academic setting, he produced a series of videos that connected students, faculty, and student-athletes with the school's identification tool for athletic brand recognition. He has also generated visual digital communications tools for the HITT Team to promote responsible communications for educational purposes. Doug is the Director of Reputational Management for Golden Gate Advisors Inc. and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Communications Studies from Seattle University.

Amanda J. Acker

Amanda is an organizational culture specialist with diverse experience on four continents. Her work as an embedded specialist within businesses, government agencies, labor unions, and colleges helped ensure that organizational objectives matched workforce capabilities. She has worked as an adjunct instructor, trainer, course developer and consultant in the analysis, design and delivery of risk management and technical programs. She is professionally certificated and experienced in the delivery of DDI and Achieve Global leadership courses. Most recently she combined culture assessment, management of change and organizational development skill sets to enhance the effectiveness of a government agency overseas. Amanda holds a Master of Arts in Sociology, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (IL) and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies from Brighton University at Sussex, England.

Bob Acker

Bob's commercial experience spans the onshore and offshore transportation sectors. He has conducted environmental, security, health and safety assessments, audits, training and drills for domestic and overseas clients. He helped clients develop and implement procedures and plans to achieve conformance with regulations and international standards. He contributed leadership and technical expertise during the Deepwater Horizon and Hurricane KATRINA responses. Commander Acker's twenty-year U.S. Coast Guard career included establishment of the organization's safety and health program and development of its associated risk-management approach. Bob holds a Master of Environmental Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, a Graduate Certificate in Homeland Defense from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and a Bachelor of Science in Management from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Certified Safety Professional (CSP), and a Certified Public Health Professional (CPH).

Sharon Armstrong

Sharon Armstrong has over 20 years of experience as a Human Resources consultant, trainer and career counselor. Since launching her own consulting business in 1998, Sharon Armstrong and Associates, she has consulted with many large corporations and small businesses. She has facilitated training, completed HR projects and provided career transition services for a wide variety of clients in the profit and non-profit sectors.

Sharon received her Bachelor's Degree from the University of Southern Maine and her Masters Degree in Counseling from George Washington University. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).

Sharon is the co-author of a humor book, published by Random House. Heeling the Canine Within: The Dog's Self-Help Companion was published in 1998. Her first business book, Stress-Free Performance Appraisals - Turn Your Most Painful Management Duty into a Powerful Motivational Tool was published by Career Press in July 2003. Her second business book, The Essential HR Handbook - A Quick and Handy Guide for Any Manager or HR Professional was published in Summer 2008. The Essential Performance Review Handbook, her last book, was published in May 2010.

John Caldwell

John Caldwell is Director of Economics at the Edison Electric Institute and regularly provides presentations on the state of the economy and its impact on the energy industry. Dr. Caldwell has over 20 years experience in the natural gas and electric power industries. He began his career as a planning engineer at the Illinois Power Company (now Ameren), and worked for over 15 years at NiSource, a gas and electric utility headquartered in northwest Indiana, where he was involved in the development of long-term load forecasting models and the design of new and innovative rates and services, and provided periodic outlooks on the state of the industry and energy price movements. John's academic background includes a B.S.E.E. from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, an M.B.A. degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield, an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Iowa, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Keith Custer, PE

Keith Custer, PE has over 30 years of consulting and management experience and is an expert in project estimating, cost engineering, project scheduling, and earned value project management. Mr. Custer is a professional Electrical Engineer and has been involved in estimating technical projects ranging from Nuclear Power electric generation and control systems, landfill monitoring controls, office telephony systems, international voice and data communications systems, computer systems, custom software development, and major package software applications like Financials, CIS, HR, CRM, MMIS, PMO, and ERP in wide range of industries including electric power, insurance, financial, retail, manufacturing, health care, environmental, and customer service.

Mr. Custer has served as CIO and systems strategy planner and has operated his professional consulting, estimating, and management services company for over 20 years and has estimated, scheduled, and managed numerous technical projects and program offices including on-shore and off-shore staffing for companies such as Keane, IMRglobal, and Computer Aid Inc. Additionally, Mr. Custer has directly provided professional estimating Bechtel, SWEC, Comanco, Oracle, and Marriott as well as for numerous utilities customers such as FPL, NUSCO, MPL, Centerior, TECO, PECO, PPL, PSEG, SMUD, and GSU service.

Gary Dorris, Ph.D.

Gary Dorris, Ph.D., President, Ascend Analytics has been a pioneer of innovative solutions for energy planning and risk. For the last eight years, Dr. Dorris has grown Ascend Analytics to be a leading provider of quantitative software solutions for energy risk. His analytic innovations have extended toward the development of over a dozen software applications used by over fifty energy companies. In addition, he has led the development of the risk infrastructure for over a half a dozen energy trading floors. He has also delivered expert testimony on best practices for portfolio management, risk management, energy trading, and asset valuation and was a lead expert witness in the Enron proceedings. In 2001, Dr. Dorris won distinguished recognition from the IPE for contributions to the field of energy risk management. Dr. Dorris holds a Ph.D. in applied economics and finance from Cornell University and a BS in mechanical engineer and BA in economics with Magna Cum Laude distinction also from Cornell University.

Joan Matochik

Joan Matochik is president and founder of JM Communications, a professional development and training business, specializing in helping individuals in the business world sharpen their written and verbal communication skills. For over 20 years, she has trained individuals in the profit and non-profit sectors not only to become more effective communicators but also more productive employees in the workplace.

Joan's academic background includes a B.A. degree in English Language and Literature from Daemen College in Buffalo, New York, and an M.A. degree in Journalism from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. For several years, she assisted clients with their public relations and publicity needs. She has also taught professional writing at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York; Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York; and the State University of New York College at Geneseo in Geneseo, New York. A published author, Joan has written several articles on business communication.

E. Shashi Menon, Ph.D., P.E.

E. Shashi Menon is Vice-President of SYSTEK Technologies, Inc., an engineering consulting company located in Arizona. He has over 36 years experience in the Oil and Gas industry, having held positions of Design Engineer, Project Engineer, Engineering Manager and Chief Engineer for various Oil and Gas companies in the USA. He has taught engineering and training seminars during the last 11 years and has developed and co-authored over a dozen PC software programs for the oil and gas industry. He has authored 4 books on Liquid and Gas Pipeline Design and Pump analysis, published by McGraw-Hill, Marcel-Dekker, CRC Press and Elsevier. He has served as an ASME short course instructor in pipeline hydraulics.

Joyce Oliner

Dr. Perez-Blanco and Mr. Damian Rose

Dr. Perez-Blanco teaches thermal science and systems at the Pennsylvania State University. In a career spanning 27 years, he has researched cycles and transport phenomena for absorption systems for HVAC, and for evaporative cooling of gas turbines. He has coauthored a book on refrigeration systems, and contributed to the HVAC literature. He has also authored a book on the dynamics of energy systems. His teaching centers on ways to find minimum energy expenditures to enable a given objective.

Mr. Damian Rose is a mechanical engineer at Applied Research Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University and a part time instructor at the University. He has 28 years experience in mechanical, facility, and project engineering in the building industry. His past experience includes energy audits and implementing energy savings for numerous buildings. He has also coauthored articles on absorption chillers.

Boris Shvartsberg, Ph.D., P.E., P.M.P.

Mr. Shvartsberg is an engineering and project management professional with more than 35 years of practical experience in managing and supervising of highly complicated technical projects for utility companies in the United States and Latvia. He has extensive teaching experience in the European and US colleges and universities. Mr. Shvartsberg is the author of more than 20 publications on electrical engineering and project management subjects and has made numerous successful presentations at international conferences and symposiums.

Mr. Shvartsberg has a doctorate and a masters degree in Electrical Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of New Jersey, USA and a certified Project Management Professional designated by the Project Management Institute (PMI). He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a Leader of PMI Utility Industry Community of Practice.

Ron Walsmith and Donna Gentry

RON WALSMITH
Ron Walsmith is COO and co-founder of Arkoma Well Analysis and Consulting, LLC, a petroleum consulting company that partners with industry, schools, and government agencies to benefit those who may work, invest, or otherwise be associated with the U.S. land-based upstream petroleum industry. Mr. Walsmith is a third generation oil and gas executive, a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and was 2009-2010 chairman of the SPE Central Arkansas Study Group. He has over 14 years as a petroleum technology faculty member with schools located in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. He is presently a Petroleum Technology faculty member in the University of Arkansas system. Ron has over 30 years experience in petroleum, consulting, leasing, drilling, production, and training. His academic background includes a Bachelor of Science from the University of Tulsa and graduate studies in education.

DONNA GENTRY
Donna Gentry is CEO and co-founder of Arkoma Well Analysis and Consulting, LLC. She is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and an officer with the SPE Central Arkansas Study Group. Ms. Gentry's background includes experience in leasing in Arkansas and Oklahoma, in Methane Emissions Control as well as petroleum seminar presenter at local universities. Ms. Gentry graduated from the University of Arkansas Community College in Morrilton with honors and an Applied Science degree in Petroleum Technology. She also has additional studies in industrial technology and management from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. She is an authorized OSHA training instructor, Medic First Aid/CPR instructor as well as an instructor for various AWAC oil and gas training courses.

Dr. John F. Munro

Dr. John Munro is an expert in energy and environmental programs and in the development of public outreach and community relations strategies. Dr. Munro received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles in Political Science with a focus on natural resource planning. Dr. Munro is a highly effective seminar presenter who has over 20 years experience in the energy, environmental, and transportation fields.. His background includes 15 years as an adjunct college professor, 15 years of public outreach and community relations experience, and 8 years of strategic planning .for large-scale, controversial federal projects and technology transfer.