Bradley Addison
The Chemours Company
Brad Addison is a Mechanical Engineer for Rotating Machinery in corporate engineering at The Chemours Company – a 2015 spinoff of DuPont. Previously, he worked for DuPont, and since 2006 has been responsible for specifying, installing, commissioning, overhauling, repairing and troubleshooting primarily fluoro-chemical, sulfuric acid and air compressors, blowers and fans, as well as steam turbines. Has has worked for MG Industries and Air Liquide from 1994 to 2006 and was responsible for compressors, blowers, cryogenic expanders, steam turbines, water/cryo pumps, cooling towers/system design and chillers. During this time, Brad was a Rotating Machinery Engineer, a Maintenance Engineer and an FDA plant Validation Project Manager for 13 air separation plants. Brad also worked for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in compressor aerodynamic design and engine performance analysis for commercial aviation gas turbines from 1982 to 1994. He received degrees in mechanical engineering from from Lafayette College (B.S., 1982) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Hartford Graduate Center (M.S., 1986). He has been a discussion group leader since 2008 and joined the TAC in September 2015.
Kazim Akhtar
CB&I
Kazim Akhtar is the Director for Mechanical Engineering of CB&I in Houston, Texas. His department is involved in the specification, design, selection, shop test acceptance, and startup coordination of rotating and static (Heat transfer, Vessels and Material handling) equipment for major world class LNG, refinery, petrochemical, and oil and gas projects. Mr. Akhtar received a B.S. degree (Mechanical Engineering) from Texas A&M University and an M.S. degree (Industrial Engineering, Management) from the University of Houston. He is an active member of API, AICHE, ASME, a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.
Saquib Ashraf
Machinery GTS
Saquib Ashraf is currently a Machinery GTS (Global Technology Sponsor) working closely with leadership, business, line management, and established technical netwroks within Exxonmobil to define the direction for technology and its application in Refining and Chemical Manufacturing, guide global discipline strategy and direction in support of the business’ global strategic priorities, and maintain awareness of developments in industry, vendors and academia bringing this to bear in projects and discipline planning. He also proactively drives improvement globally through technology/assets/installed base performance to develop the next generations of technical leaders, creating a longer-range plan for the discipline. Saquib is the Engineering Group Lead in the EMRE Machinery Department and most recently took over the GTS role as the global downstream machinery leader.
Kenneth Atkins
Engineering Dynamics Incorporated
Kenneth Atkins is a Senior Staff Engineer at Engineering Dynamics, Incorporated (EDI). He has over 30 years of experience with rotating machinery and structural dynamics. Prior to co-founding EDI in 1982, he was with Southwest Research Institute and Exxon Chemical Americas. Ken has authored several technical papers on machinery dynamics. He has lectured frequently at the Turbomachinery and Pump Symposia, including both a tutorial and a short course. He also presents various topics at EDIs annual seminar on rotating and reciprocating machinery dynamics. Mr. Atkins received a B.S. Degree in Engineering Science from Trinity University in 1978. He is a member of ASME, several API committees, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He joined the TAC September 2012.
Vladimir Bakalchuk
John Crane
Bakalchuk has over 35 years of design and application experience in the areas of Rotating Equipment, Vibration and Stress Analysis and Design, Selection and Commissioning of Mechanical Equipment and Control Systems, Engineering Measurements and Data Acquisition systems. Extensive Project Management experience. Co-Author of 4 patents and numerous technical publications and presentations.
Leonardo Baldassarre
GE
Leonardo Baldassarre is currently the Engineering Ldr for Compressors, Expanders & Electrical Systems with General Electric Oil & Gas Company, in Florence, Italy. He is responsible for all requisition, and standardization activities as well as for detailed design of new products for centrifugal compressors, turboexpanders, auxiliaries, electric motors & shaft line integration. Dr.Baldassarre began his career with General Electric Nuovo Pignone in 1997. He has worked as Design Engineer, R&D Team Leader for centrifugal compressors in Florence, Product Leader for centrifugal and axial compressors, and Requisition Manager for centrifugal compressors both for Florence and Le Creusot teams. He is an active member of the Turbomachinery Symposium Advisory Committee and represents GEO&G in the API617 Committee. Dr. Baldassarre received a B.S. degree (Mechanical Engineering, 1993) and Ph.D. degree (Mechanical Engineering / Turbomachinery Fluid Dynamics, 1998) from the University of Florence. He has authored or coauthored 30+ technical papers, mostly in the area of fluid dynamic design of 3D transonic impellers, rotating stall, and rotordynamics. He presently holds 10 patents.
Pedro Henrique de A. Barbosa
Petrobras
Pedro Henrique de Almeida Barbosa is a Turbomachinery Advisor at the Upstream Engineering Department of Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started his career in 1997 at Promon Engenharia and joined Petrobras in 2001. With over 20 years working on preparation and audit of turbomachinery specifications, technical proposal evaluation and vendor’s drawings review, he has been assigned as job leader on rotating equipment for several O&G projects. Mr. Barbosa holds extensive experience with rotating equipment standardization, being a member of the API Subcommittee on Mechanical Equipment (SOME), API 617 Task Force, as well as the Brazilian representative on the ISO Subcommittee on Processing Equipment and Systems (TC 67/SC 6). He also holds the position of chairman of the Subcommittee on Processing equipment and systems within the Brazilian Technical Standards Association (ABNT). Mr. Barbosa received his BSME (1999) and MSME (2001) from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and his MBA on Project Management (2010) from the Universidade de São Paulo.
Bryan Barrington
LyondellBasell
Bryan Barrington is a Senior Advisor and the Machinery Group Lead for LyondellBasell’s corporate Machinery Engineering group. He and his team provide selection, installation, overhaul and troubleshooting support for turbomachinery at locations worldwide. Bryan began his career as a machinery engineer for Celanese before joining LyondellBasell in 2001. He has held positions in both engineering and maintenance throughout his career. Bryan is a 1994 graduate of Texas A&M University (BSME, Honors).
Bruce Bayless
Valero Texas City Refinery
Bruce Bayless works for Valero Energy Corporation. He has been a member of the advisory committee since 2004.
Pablo Bellocq
TOTAL E&P
Pablo Bellocq is a senior rotating equipment engineer at TOTAL E&P. He joined TOTAL E&P in 2013 and has been mechanical lead for on-shore and off-shore E&P field development projects. He has currently a role of support to operation and maintenance, with special focus on troubleshooting complex issues as well as failure investigation and design modifications. Before joining TOTAL, Pablo has worked for 6 years with gas turbine OEMs in modelling, design and testing of upgrades and novel gas turbines for airplanes and helicopters. Prior to this, he had also worked in the development of power electronic systems for railway applications and instrumentation for nuclear power plants. Pablo received a MS in mechanical engineering from University of Montevideo (Uruguay, 2006) and a PhD in Power and Propulsion from Cranfield University (UK, 2012). He has more than 15 publications in various aspects of gas turbine modelling, design, testing and operations. He is an active reviewer for ASME and SAGE journals and conferences and also serves as a member of the advisory board of the European Turbine Network IGTC conference since 2017.
Gampa I. Bhat
Gampa Bhat & Associates, LLC
Gampa I. Bhat is the President of MHI Compressor International Corporation in Houston, Texas, USA. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. MHI Compressor International Corporation (MCO-I) is part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation, Japan. Bhat is building the infrastructure to support Application Engineering, Marketing, Commercial, Sales, After Sales and manufacturing facilities to support Compressor Manufacturing Globally. Bhat was Chief Machinery Engineer before he retired from Exxon Mobil Chemical Company worldwide where he was responsible for engineering, manufacturing support, technology development, mega machinery project startups and troubleshooting. He is well recognized in the industry for his leadership, decision-making and leading the organization to success. His passion for business and employee growth is one of his key attributes. He has been an active member of the Turbomachinery Advisory Committee with Emeritus Status. Bhat holds a masters degree in Chemical Engineering from West Virginia University. In his spare time, he enjoys golfing, reading and gardening.
Charlie Bowser
Exelon Generation Company, LLC
Charlie Bowser has fulfilled operational, financial and engineering roles with the world-class corporation, Exelon Generation Company, LLC. His area of specialization has been Exelon’s Nuclear and Renewables business units, where he held several senior leadership positions. In 2014, Charlie was assigned to the role as the President of NET Power, a strategic partner of Exelon’s that is providing advanced clean energy to customers worldwide and trailblazing a path for global decarbonized economic growth. He was responsible for every aspect of the successful completion of NET Power’s demonstration plant and test facility in LaPorte, TX, and now global deployment of commercial units.
Charlie has a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA in corporate finance from Cornell University.
Dag O. Calafell, II
GPLNG Consultant
Technical Opus Solutions LLC
Dag has 46 years of experience in management, engineering, projects, and operations in O&G with Exxon, Praxair, Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, and key machinery OEMs. In 2017, he retired as the Chief Machinery Engineer at ExxonMobil Upstream. Dag has his B.S. and M.S. from Clarkson University and post-grad studies at Columbia University. He is the Chair of Asia Turbomachinery & Pump Symposium (ATPS) since 2017, serves on the TPS Advisory Committee, and the TAMU TEES Advisory Board. He has been on TAMU’s Multi-Phase Pump Users Group Advisory Board and on American Petroleum Institute (API) committees for machinery standards. Dag has served as Associate Editor for the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), as a member of the Hydraulic Institute (HI), the Society of Reliability Engineers (SRE), the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He has published papers on machinery and flow phenomena and holds several patents. He was a keynote panelist at the 2017 ASME Turbo-Expo and a panelist at the Global Power & Propulsion Forum in 2018.
Dara W. Childs
Dara W. Childs, Ph.D., P.E. (Emeritus Member) was Director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory from 1984 to 2018 and held the Leland T. Jordan Chair in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees (Civil Engineering, 1961, 1962) from Oklahoma State University, and his Ph.D. (Engineering Mechanics, 1968) from the University of Texas. He was named ASME Fellow Member in 1990 and received ASMEs Henry R. Worthington Medal in 1991. Dr. Childs’ expertise is in dynamics and vibrations, with an emphasis in rotordynamics. He has conducted research and engineering projects for NASA, DOD, and private firms. Current research includes high-pressure testing honeycomb and hole-pattern gas damper seals; testing high-pressure laminar oil seals; force measurements in magnetic bearings using fiber-optic strain gauges. Dr. Childs has authored numerous reviewed publications related to rotordynamics and vibrations, and the book, Turbomachinery Rotordynamics. He is presently completing a new dynamics book entitled, Dynamics in Engineering Practice.
C. Hunter Cloud
BRG Machinery Consulting
C. Hunter Cloud is President of BRG Machinery Consulting, LLC, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a company providing a diverse range of rotating machinery technical services. He began his career with Mobil Research and Development Corporation in Princeton, NJ, as a turbomachinery specialist responsible for application engineering, commissioning, and troubleshooting for production, refining, and chemical facilities. During his 11 years at Mobil, he worked on numerous projects, including several offshore gas injection platforms in Nigeria as well as serving as reliability manager at a large US refinery. Dr. Cloud received his BS (Mechanical Engineering, 1991) and Ph.D. (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 2007) from the University of Virginia. He is a member of ASME, the Vibration Institute, and the API 684 rotordynamics task force. He joined the TAC in September 2012.
Crockett Cobb
Conoco Phillips
Crockett specializes in operation, repair, optimization, and diagnostics of centrifugal pumps, centrifugal compressors, and gas/steam turbines. Extensive experience with 800+ HP
ESPs. Proficient with Bently Nevada rack-based vibration monitoring hardware and System 1. He has10 years of experience working day-to-day in complex oil and gas production facilities and refineries. Member of ASME , Texas A&M Turbo Advisory Committee, and Pi Tau Sigma.
Thomas (Tom) R. Davidson
Consultant
Thomas R. (Tom) Davidson, once Chief Mechanical Engineer, Global Operations Reliability Support for Linde, Inc., in Pasadena, Texas held the primary responsibility of developing and implementing equipment reliability improvement programs for both rotating and fixed equipment. Mr. Davidson was also responsible for assisting in machinery selection, overhauls, and developing and implementing design improvements to enhance equipment reliability and availability. He has more than 30 years of experience in the petrochemical and process gas industry, in the field of equipment reliability, maintenance management, and turnaround planning and scheduling. Mr. Davidson received a B.S. degree (Mechanical Engineering, 1978) from the University of Houston. He is a member of ASME, NSPE, the Vibration Institute, and he serves on the Turbomachinery Symposium Advisory Committee. Mr. Davidson is also a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.
Adolfo Delgado
Texas A&M Turbomachinery Laboratory
Dr. Adolfo Delgado is an associate professor of mechanical engineering. His research focuses on rotordynamics, structural vibration, energy dissipation mechanisms, thin film lubrication and fluid-structure interaction applied to the design, modeling and improvement of rotating machinery systems and components. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Delgado was a research engineer at the General Electric Global Research Center where he led and worked on multiple initiatives involving improvement of existing rotating equipment and development of new rotor-bearing system architectures and turbomachinery components, such as variable geometry bearings, annular seals, dampers and oil-free bearings.
Robert Eisenmann
BP
Robert Eisenmann is the BP Refining Machinery Advisor and Downstream Segment Engineering Technical Authority (SETA) with Refining Technology and Engineering based in Houston, Texas. He provides technical advice to the BP global refining portfolio to support business delivery, company strategy, industry direction, and technical assurance to support business decisions. He also promotes technology solutions and development and implementation of best practices across the BP refineries. He is currently the API 618 Chairman, API 692 Chairman, serves as an SME for BP’s Engineering Technical Practices and has been a member of the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Advisory Committee since 2012. Bob has over 20 years of experience in the industry. Bob graduated from Texas A&M University at Galveston in 1992 with a B.S. in Marine Engineering.
Francisco Gonzalez
Cheniere
Francisco Gonzalez is a Principal Rotating Equipment Engineer for Cheniere Energy in Houston, Texas. Mr. Gonzalez has over 25 years of experience in Operations and Maintenance of Rotating Equipment. Cheniere Energy is currently building the first LNG export facility in the USA. The Sabine Pass LNG will operate (36) LM2500+G4 gas turbines driving GE refrigeration compressors and (6) LM2500+ Generators to power up the facility. Mr. Gonzalez primary responsibility is to provide operation, maintenance engineering departments with best practices in rotating equipment vibration monitoring, aerothermal performance monitoring, troubleshooting, overhaul, performance testing, gas turbine and compressor optimization, evaluating short term and long term reliability improvements for all rotating equipment and best practices in the installation and startup of rotating equipment. Mr. Gonzalez previously worked for Enterprise Products who currently operates machinery over 3 MM installed horsepower in Natural Gas and NGL Processing Plants and over 50,000 miles of pipelines transportation various NGLs, and Natural Gas, Crude and Refine Products in the USA. The Reliability Department at Enterprise headed by Mr. Gonzalez was primarily responsible for providing technical support to operations and maintenance on all rotating equipment. Enterprise currently operates over 385 gas turbine compressor and pump packages, and over 450 reciprocating compressor packages. Mr. Gonzalez has coauthored several technical papers for Turbo Machinery Symposium and ASME Power Gen as well as articles on Improving Reliability in various publications. Mr. Gonzalez graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1990.
Jeff Haught
Consultant
Jeff Haught is a machinery and facilities engineering consultant, based in New Mexico. He began his career as a machinery engineer at the Arco refinery in Los Angeles then moved to Prudhoe Bay, first with Arco and then with Conoco. After assignments with Conoco in S.E. Asia, the Gulf of Mexico, and Russia, Mr. Haught joined Anadarko in 1996 for major project work in Algeria. With Anadarko for 24 years, retiring as Sr. Engineering Advisor, he held positions in engineering and maintenance in Ghana, the GOM, Alaska, Wyoming, and West Texas.
Mr. Haught received his B.S. degree (Mechanical Engineering, 1979) from The University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a member of ASME. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Texas, New Mexico, and California and is an Emeritus member of the Turbomachinery Symposium Advisory Committee.
Lil Kassie
BP
Lil Kassie is presently Rotating Equipment Advisor for BP refining. He is located at BPs Whiting, Indiana, refinery where he has worked for 24 years. He has held positions as Rotating Equipment Specialist, Superintendent of the Rotating Equipment and Reliability Engineering Group, and Senior Rotating Equipment Consultant. In his present position, Mr. Kassie is responsible for providing machinery expertise, sharing and implementing equipment practices, and development coaching for improving equipment reliability and plant availability throughout BP. Prior to his tenure at BP, Mr. Kassie worked as Rotating Equipment Superintendent for Energy Cooperative Inc. and as a Field Service Engineer for Ingersoll Rand. He has presented technical papers at various rotating equipment conferences including the Turbomachinery Symposium and Rotating Machinery Users Council. Mr. Kassie holds B.S. and M.S. degrees (Mechanical Engineering) from the University of Wisconsin.
Kevin Kisor
MAN Diesel & Turbo North America
Kevin Kisor is an Applications Engineering Manager for MAN Diesel & Turbo, and has held similar positions with GHH Borsig, Nuovo Pignone, A-C Compressor and Sundyne. Mr. Kisor received a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Ohio University in 1976. He is a member of the AIChE Ethylene Producers Conference, Rotating Equipment Subcommittee and is Chairman of the API 614. 6th Ed. Task Force. He joined the TAC in 2013.
Masayuki Kita
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor
Masayuki Kita is Senior Vice President, General Manager of Engineering & Design Division of MCO (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor) and has been managing the engineering & design of inline centrifugal compressor & integral geared compressor specified by API-617, steam turbine specified by API-612 and its accessory system specified by API-614 & 670, etc.
He joined MHI (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) in 1988 and has over 30 years’ experience in application, engineering & design, project management, development and troubleshooting of turbomachinery, especially for a centrifugal compressor, and then he has been contributing to growth and evolution of turbomachinery (e.g. contribution to TPS/ATPS, API-617TF and Turbomachinery Society of Japan).
He had received B.S. and M.S. degree (mechanical engineering) from Shizuoka University in Japan.
John A. Kocur, Jr.
BRG Machinery Consulting
John A. Kocur, Jr. was a Machinery Engineer at ExxonMobil Research & Engineering in Houston, Texas. He has worked in the turbomachinery field for 30+ years. In his current capacity, he provides support to the downstream, upstream and chemical business lines within ExxonMobil with expertise on vibration diagnostics, rotor/thermodynamics, failure analysis and health monitoring of rotating equipment. Prior to joining EMRE, he worked as the Manager of Product Engineering and Testing at Siemens Demag Delaval Turbomachinery, Rotordynamic Group Lead at Pratt & Whitney and Machinery Engineer at Amoco Corporation. Dr. Kocur received his BSME (1978), MSME (1982) and Ph.D. (1991) from the University of Virginia and an MBA (1981) from Tulane University. He has authored papers on rotor instability and bearing dynamics, lectured on hydrostatic bearings, has sat as a committee chairman for NASA Lewis and is a member of ASME. Currently, he holds positions within API as 617 chair, 684 chair and Steering Committee member of the Subcommittee on Mechanical Equipment (SOME).
Rainer Kurz
Solar Turbines Incorporated
Rainer Kurz is Manager of Systems Analysis and Field Testing for Solar Turbines Inc., in San Diego, California. His organization is responsible for conducting application studies, gas compressor and gas turbine performance predictions, and site performance testing. He joined Solar Turbines Incorporated in 1993 and has authored more than 70 publications in the field of turbomachinery. Dr. Kurz attended the University of the German Armed Forces, in Hamburg, Germany, where he received the degree of a Dipl.-Ing., and, in 1991, the degree of a Dr.-Ing. He was elected as an ASME Fellow in 2003.
Mark J. Kuzdzal
Fox Rotating Equipment Solutions
Mark is a leader with over 35 years of rotating equipment experience. He is currently the director of R&D for Fox Rotating Equipment Solutions. He is responsible for developing technology that enables improved turbomachinery performance with a focus on solutions to serve our clients and society by focusing on the reduction of carbon footprint in industrial processes. Prior to this Mark was the Head of Core Technology at Siemens-Energy (previously Dresser-Rand), responsible for Rotordynamics, Materials & Welding, Solid Mechanics, Aerodynamics and Acoustics. He guided the development of an advanced compression platform. Mark has written numerous papers and holds many patents. Mark is an emeritus member of the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Advisory Committee. He holds a BSME from the State University of NY at Buffalo.
Malcolm Leader
Applied Machinery Dynamics Company
Malcolm Leader is a Turbomachinery Consultant and Owner of Applied Machinery Dynamics in Dickinson, Texas. He is currently involved in the design, testing, modification, and installation of rotating equipment. He spends time doing theoretical design audits and working in the field implementing changes and overseeing installations. Mr. Leader has written several papers on the subjects of experimental rotordynamics, bearing design, design audits for rotating equipment, and practical implementation of rotordynamic programs.
Stephen R. Locke
Independent Consultant
Stephen R. (Steve) Locke is a Senior Consultant in DuPont Engineering Technology Rotating Machinery Group in Old Hickory, TN. He had plant assignments in the Petrochemical Department starting in 1972 for technical assistance to operations and maintenance including responsibility for startup and oversight of several large process compressors and other equipment. He moved to corporate engineering in 1983 to consult in turbomachinery for reliability improvements, retrofits, performance analysis, and for specification and startup of new equipment. More recently, Steve has also been leading a corporate effort to identify machinery credible failure modes and appropriate steps to quantify and manage safety risk. Steve received a BS degree (Mechanical Engineering, 1972) from Purdue University and is a member of ASME. He has been active on the Turbomachinery Symposium Advisory Committee, authored several papers, case studies, leading discussion groups, and represents DuPont on the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Research Consortium.
Mitch Lowe
Shell
Mitch serves as rotating equipment engineer providing support to offshore and onshore assets within the Americas region. He has been involved with rotating equipment over the pas 25+ years in the chemical/oil & gas industries. His experience encompasses existing facility asset support and new facility capital project support – run and maintain support, turnaround
planning, turnaround support, and reliability improvement efforts. Mitch has extensive experience with API 618, major overhauls of 40 year old 6,000 HP Hydrogen Make-Up Compressors (including foundation re-designs), major overhauls of other reciprocating compressors down to 250 HP, existing turbomachinery lubrication systems, field planning, high velocity oil flushes, lube system component performance and replacement, and steam turbine and centrifugal compressor performance analysis.
Terryl Matthews
Shell Global Solutions
Terryl Matthews retired from Shell in December 2020, before that he was a Senior Rotating Equipment Engineer with Shell Global Solutions (US) Inc., in Houston Texas, responsible for providing technical support for rotating equipment to Shell, Shell affiliated companies, and commercial customers worldwide. Terryl joined Shell in 2007, he has been involved in RCAs for refineries, chemical and LNG plants, high-pressure compression and pumping injection applications, and a technical focal point on various Supplier Partnerships and Quality Audits. His last project at Shell was the Rotating Equipment Lead on the Ethylene Plant outside Pittsburgh, Pa. Terryl began his engineering career with Dow Chemical in 1973 after graduating from the University of Houston with a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He worked for Dow Chemical for 30 years in rotating equipment. Terryl then worked for Bechtel for 4 years as a rotating equipment specialist on a refinery, coal gasification, and LNG project. Terryl has authored 7 technical papers, member of the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Advisory Committee, past member of the Turbomachinery Subcommittee for the Ethylene Producers Conference, former member of the API Committee on Refinery Equipment and a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.
Bruce McCain
Oxy Oil and Gas Corporation
Bruce McCain is the Lead Rotating Equipment Engineer for Oxy Oil and Gas Corporation, based in Houston, Texas. He has over 25 years experience providing technical support for plant-related equipment. His current focus is on reciprocating and turbo equipment around the world specifying upgrades, repair techniques, and overhauls. Prior to joining Oxy in 1997, Mr. McCain worked for Rohm and Haas, and Amoco Chemical/Production. He has contributed to technical papers and presented at industry conferences, including the Turbomachinery Symposium, Mr. McCain received a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University in 1987. He serves on API committees, is an API 510 Certified Pressure Vessel Inspector, and a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He joined the TAC in September 2014.
Cyrus B. Meher-Homji
Bechtel Corporation
Cyrus B. Meher-Homji is an Engineering Fellow and Technology Manager at Bechtel Corporation, in Houston, Texas. He is assigned to the LNG Technology Group as a turbomachinery advisor. Mr. Meher-Homji works on the development of new concepts relating to LNG turbomachinery and acts as an advisor to LNG projects on the aeromechanical design, selection, and testing of machinery. His 33 years of industry experience covers gas turbine and compressor application and design, engine development, and troubleshooting. Mr. Meher-Homji has a B.S. degree (Mechanical Engineering) from Shivaji University, an M.E. degree from Texas A&M University, and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Houston. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, a Fellow of ASME, life member of AIAA, and is active on several committees of ASME’s International Gas Turbine Institute. He has several publications in the area of turbomachinery engineering.
Matthew D. Moll
Celanese
Matthew D. Moll is a Principal Rotating Equipment Engineer in the Core Technology Group for Celanese Corporation based in Dallas, TX. He is located in Narrows, Virginia and his duties encompass both design as well as fieldwork. Current responsibilities include management of internal engineering standards, mechanical integrity initiatives, new equipment specifications, maintenance strategies, and resolution of chronic bad actors for Celanese global assets. Matthew’s career with rotating equipment began with a year work study in taper roller bearing manufacturing for Brenco Bearing in Petersburg, VA. Following, Matthew worked for E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company as Rotating Equipment Engineer for 11 years using engineering solutions, reliability programs, and management systems across multiple sites improving rotating machinery reliability. Matthew received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2003.
J. Jeffrey Moore
Southwest Research Institute
Dr. Jeffrey Moore is an Institute Engineer in the Machinery Section at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX. He holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. His professional experience over the last 27 years includes engineering and management responsibilities related to centrifugal compressors and gas turbines at Solar Turbines Inc. in San Diego, CA, Dresser-Rand in Olean, NY, and Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX. His interests include advanced power cycles and compression methods, rotordynamics, seals and bearings, computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, machine design, controls and aerodynamics. He has authored over 40 technical papers related to turbomachinery and has two patents issued and two pending. Dr. Moore has held positions as the Vanguard Chair of the Structures and Dynamics Committee and Chair of Oil and Gas Committee for IGTI Turbo Expo. He has also served as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Tribology and a member of the IGTI SCO2 Committee, Turbomachinery Symposium Advisory Committee, the IFToMM International Rotordynamics Conference Committee, and the API 616 and 684 Task Forces.
Joe Moreno
FlexElement
Joe Moreno is President of FlexElement in Houston, Texas, a company that engineers, designs and manufactures its own line of high performance power transmission couplings. He is the technical director and oversees the daily production activities at FlexElement. Prior to FlexElement, Joe spent thirty years in industry with the majority of this time with LyondellBasell and predecessor companies. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1989 with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and has worked in an end user, manufacturing capacity his entire career with a focus on maintenance and reliability of rotating equipment. He was the manager of maintenance, reliability engineering and turnarounds for two different sites and was the manager of LyondellBasell’s Central Machinery Engineering department. Joe has served in several technical support and advisory roles including specification, testing and installation of critical machinery, shop and field repairs, equipment disassembly, overhaul and startup, failure analysis, and providing technical evaluations during due diligence reviews.
Steven Palermo
Marathon Petroleum
Steven Palermo is a Rotating Equipment Specialist in the Corporate Reliability Group at Marathon Petroleum, Findlay, Ohio. His primary focus is front-end loading and technical support for rotating equipment projects. He also coordinates revisions of specifications and standards and serves as a subject matter expert within Marathon. He is an advocate and promoter of technological and reliable solutions. Steven has almost 30 years of experience in the petrochemical industry. Prior to working at Marathon Petroleum, he worked 14 years for BP and 11 years for Amoco in their Texas refinery and neighboring chemical plants. He graduated from University of Houston in May 1988 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He then later obtained certifications in reliability and statistics at Arizona State University, vibration analyses, modal/ODS, and lubrication tribology. He has strong passions for lubrication tribology and rotordynamics, aerodynamics, and thermodynamics of turbomachinery. Steven is currently vice-chair of API 684, vice-chair of API 617, and a member of API 691. He joined the TAC in September 2017.
Vinod P. Patel
KBR
Vinod P. Patel is a Senior Principal Machinery Engineer, Machinery Technology, for KBR, in Houston, Texas. He has been with KBR for 30 years. In his current assignment, he is responsible in the preparation and auditing of specifications, equipment evaluation, engineering coordination, and testing and installation startup of rotating and special equipment. He has worked in the various application of rotating machinery in the petrochemical and refinery processes including ammonia, LNG, olefins, cat-cracking, and hydrotreating for domestic and international projects. Mr. Patel received B.S. and M.S. degrees (Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering) from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India, and Youngstown University, respectively. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.
Eric Petersen
Turbomachinery Laboratory
Eric Petersen is the Director of the Turbomachinery Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Petersen has been with the Turbo Lab for 10-plus years and is the Nelson-Jackson Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research encompasses gas dynamics, propulsion, combustion, shock waves, chemical kinetics, optical diagnostics and spectroscopy, laminar and turbulent flames, and rocket combustion. He has authored more than 400 journal and conference papers in these areas. He is vice-president of the Institute for Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems (IDERS) and an associate editor of the Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power and the Journal of Propulsion and Power. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), The Combustion Institute and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Petersen holds three degrees in mechanical engineering: a bachelor’s from the University of Central Florida (1988), a master’s from the University of Florida (1990) and a doctorate from Stanford University (1998). Before coming to Texas A&M, Petersen taught at the University of Central Florida. Prior to becoming a professor, he was an analytical engineer in the combustion group at Pratt & Whitney for three years, and a research scientist in the propulsion science group at the Aerospace Corporation for four years.
Brian Pettinato
Elliott Group
Brian Pettinato is Manager of Product Development at Elliott Group in Jeannette, Pennsylvania. He has been with Elliott Group since 1995. His primary area of expertise is machinery dynamics. He currently manages a group responsible for machinery dynamics and compressor technology development. Prior to joining Elliott Group, he worked as a project engineer for CentriMarc, an aftermarket bearing manufacturer. Mr. Pettinato received his B.S. (Mechanical Engineering, 1989) and M.S. (Mechanical Engineering, 1992) degrees from the University of Virginia. He has coauthored over twenty technical papers and holds three U.S. patents. Mr. Pettinato is a fellow member of ASME, a member of STLE, and a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Pennsylvania. He serves on the API 684 rotordynamics task force. He joined the TAC in September 2012.
Brian Pettinato
Elliott Group
Brian Pettinato is Manager of Product Development at Elliott Group in Jeannette, Pennsylvania. He has been with Elliott Group since 1995. His primary area of expertise is machinery dynamics. He currently manages a group responsible for machinery dynamics and compressor technology development. Prior to joining Elliott Group, he worked as a project engineer for CentriMarc, an aftermarket bearing manufacturer. Mr. Pettinato received his B.S. (Mechanical Engineering, 1989) and M.S. (Mechanical Engineering, 1992) degrees from the University of Virginia. He has coauthored over twenty technical papers and holds three U.S. patents. Mr. Pettinato is a fellow member of ASME, a member of STLE, and a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Pennsylvania. He serves on the API 684 rotordynamics task force. He joined the TAC in September 2012.
Stephen Price
Engineering Dynamics
Stephen M. Price is President of Engineering Dynamics Incorporated in San Antonio, TX. Mr. Price is responsible for performing analytical and field services in the areas of vibration, pulsation, stress analysis, fluid flow and acoustics. Mr. Price earned his B.S.M.E. in 1983, and his M.S.M.E. in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University in 1985. Mr. Price has authored many technical papers in the areas of reciprocating and rotating machinery and field measurement techniques. He has also been the major contributor in the design and development of complex data acquisition and long-term monitoring systems, some incorporating embedded systems. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas, a member of IEEE, the API 618 committee, and the advisory committee for the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Symposium.
David Ransom
Siemens Energy
David Ransom has over 25 years of experience in the turbomachinery industry. He joined Siemens as Head of Technology & Systems in November of 2019. His current responsibilities include leadership development, leading and managing technology development, support for Operations and Services, leading Root Cause Analyses, developing innovative and disruptive technologies, and R&D strategy and planning. David has experience in several technical disciplines including rotordynamics, thermodynamics, structural dynamics, acoustics, machine design, prototype development and testing, and leading people and projects through all phases of the project, from proposal to final report.
Luis San Andres
Texas A&M Turbomachinery Laboratory
Dr. Luis San Andrés is the Mast-Childs Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He conducts research in fluid film bearings and seals for turbomachinery, gas foil bearings for high temperature oil-free turbomachinery, hybrid fluid film bearings for turbopumps and squeeze film dampers for aircraft jet engines. His computational codes, benchmarked against test data, are standards in the rotating machinery industry. San Andrés and his students have authored over 160 journal papers and 80 conference papers, several of which have earned Best Paper awards. San Andrés is a fellow of ASME and STLE.
Mark R. Sandberg
Sandberg Turbomachinery Consulting, LLC
Mark R. Sandberg is the principal of Sandberg Turbomachinery Consulting, LLC. Before forming this consulting practice in 2016, he was a Consulting Machinery Engineer with Chevron Energy Technology Company in Houston, Texas for more than fifteen years. Prior to joining Chevron, he was employed by ARCO, Petro-Marine Engineering, and The Dow Chemical Company. During his sixteen years at ARCO, he was involved with a number of gas turbine driven compressors, both internationally and on the North Slope of Alaska. Mark has more than 40 years of varied experience in the process industries and has been involved with the design, manufacture, testing, and installation of several small to large gas turbine driven centrifugal compressor trains worldwide. Mr. Sandberg has B.S.M.E. and M.S. (Mechanical Engineering) degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, an Emeritus Member of the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Advisory Committee, a member of AIAA and a Fellow Member of ASME.
Patrick Smith
Air Products & Chemicals
Patrick Smith is the Global Machinery Manager in the Operation Excellence Technical Team at Air Products & Chemicals. He is based in Allentown, PA, and his position includes the following roles: Machinery Technology Manager– provides a balanced approach to the assessment and mitigation of technical risk for rotating machinery. He is also responsible for writing and maintaining global machinery standards. HYCO Machinery SPOC–provides feedback on the selection of rotating machinery, and determining the sparing maintenance strategies for new hydrogen and CO plants. Machinery Functional Lead for Global Operations–provides solutions for difficult rotating machinery problems that have broad applications or have a significant impact on safety, reliability or performance. Patrick started his career with Ingersoll-Rand in the Pump Division in 1982 after graduating from Villanova University with a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He joined Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. in 1986 working as a rotating machinery specialist. He went on to get a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University in 1990. He has written a technical paper and a couple of case studies for the Turbomachinery Symposium and has published dozens of rotating machinery articles in Energy-Tech magazine. He is also a registered professional engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.
Dietmar Sterns
Renk Group
Dietmar has twenty-five years experience in rotating machinery with Masters Degree in Engineering (Dipl.-Ing. FH), and a deep working knowledge of gear specifications including API 613, 672 and 677, in AGMA 6011, 6123 and 2101, as well as in ISO 6336. He also has extensive experience in design of gears including troubleshooting test bed and field issues with knowledge of hydrodynamic bearings and rotordynamics as applied to gear systems and entire train (motor, generators, compressors, turbines). Dietmar is an active member in API SOME, Task Forces 613, 670 and 677 and in AGMA, Task Force 6011.
Jarrod Streets
Freeport LNG
Jarrod Streets is currently the Lead Mechanical Engineer at Freeport LNG. He supervises the Freeport LNG Mechanical Engineering Team and performs as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for mechanical equipment at the site. He started his career as a sailor in the US Navy operating and maintaining machinery onboard the USS Bataan (LHD 5). After his service in the Navy, he graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Indiana. He serves as a Steering Committee member of the API Subcommittee on Mechanical Equipment (SOME), as the Chairman for API 682 and as the Vice Chairman of API 697. Jarrod joined the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Advisory Committee in 2021. He has over 15 years of experience working with machinery.
Matt Taher
Bechtel Energy
Matt Taher is a Bechtel Distinguished Technical Specialist, who works as a Turbomachinery advisor for the LNG Technology Center of Bechtel Energy in Houston, Texas. His experience covers various applications and types of turbomachinery in Carbon Capture, Petrochemical and LNG processing operations. Mr. Taher has authored and coauthored over twenty peer-reviewed conference and journal papers and presented technical seminars and tutorials related to turbomachinery. Mr. Taher is the chairman of ASME PTC-10 code committee on performance testing of axial and centrifugal compressors. He has also served as a member of the oil and gas committee for IGTI Turbo Expo, several API standard taskforce committees including API 617 on centrifugal compressors and turboexpanders and API 616 on gas turbines, and NCEES exam development committee for evaluating and writing Professional Engineering (PE) exam questions. He has B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Mr. Taher joined the Texas A&M Turbomachinery Advisory Committee in 2020.
Hans P. Weyermann
ConocoPhillips
Hans P. Weyermann is a Principal Rotating Equipment Engineer in the PM&IE department of ConocoPhillips Upstream Technology Group. In his current position, he is providing support to all aspects of turbomachinery in existing business units, as well as grassroots capital projects. He is also responsible for following the machinery related areas of corporate initiatives within the ConocoPhillips Upstream Company. Mr. Weyermann attended the College of Engineering in Brugg-Windisch, Switzerland. After receiving a B.S. degree (Mechanical Engineering), he joined Sulzer Escher Wyss Turbomachinery in Zurich, as an application/design engineer in the turbocompressor department. Prior to joining the Phillips Company, he was the supervisor of the Rotating Equipment department at Stone and Webster Engineering in Houston. Mr. Weyermann is a member of ASME, the API SOME, and has served on various API Task Forces.
John K. Whalen
Consultant
John K. Whalen is an independent consultant based in Houston, Texas. John is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas and a member of the Turbomachinery Symposium Advisory Committee. John retired from John Crane in 2015. At John Crane Bearings, John had Engineering responsibility for all three John Crane Bearing companies (John Crane Bearing Technology in Germany, Orion in Wisconsin and TCE in Houston). John Crane Bearings product range includes babbitted bearings and seals, labyrinth seals, and related products and services. John received his BSME from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1981. He worked for Dresser-Rand in Wellsville, NY where he was involved in Large Turbine Engineering and Rotordynamics. John joined Centritech Corporation in 1988 and helped form TCE in 1991. John sold TCE to John Crane in 2011.
Ed Wilcox
Chevron Energy Technology
Ed Wilcox is a Consulting Machinery Engineer with the Energy Technology Company (ETC) of Chevron. Prior to this, he worked for Conoco and Lyondell Chemical as a machinery engineer. He has a BSME degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla and an MSME degree from Oklahoma State University. He is a Vibration Institute Category IV Vibration Specialist and a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Oklahoma. Mr. Wilcox has authored multiple papers in the areas of rotordynamics, vibration analysis, and performance testing at both the Texas A&M Turbomachinery and Pump Symposia, along with several magazine articles.
