Mark Shuster is Decputy Director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin overseeing the Bureau’s Energy Research Division. Mark also leads the GeoH2 Industrial Affiliate Program (consortium) at the University of Texas at Austin. The GeoH2 consortium conducts research on geological storage of hydrogen, hydrogen value chains, and novel subsurface concepts applied to hydrogen.  In addition to leading GeoH2, Mark co-authored the U.S. National Petroleum Council’s study on the deployment of low carbon intensity hydrogen. Mark joined the Bureau in 2016 after retiring from Shell. In Mark’s 30 year career at Shell, he worked in upstream research and exploration as a Geologist, Manager, Vice President, and Executive Vice President in the US, The Netherlands, Australia, Oman, and the U.A.E. on projects around the globe. Mark is a member of Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and the Geological Society of America. He is past president of the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, former Vice-Chair of the American Geosciences Institute Foundation, and Trustee of the AAPG Foundation. Mark has a PhD in Geology from the University of Wyoming and a B.S. from the University of the Pacific. 

David Dankworth has spent over 30 years working for ExxonMobil, where he currently holds the role of Hydrogen Technology Portfolio Manager supporting ExxonMobil’s  Low Carbon Solutions Business.

He has held many different, highly varied positions in multiple U.S. and overseas locations.  Following completion of his Ph.D. in chemical engineering, David joined the company as a researcher in reactor engineering and process scale up. 

David has led a range of global technology groups within ExxonMobil, including heat transfer, combustion, energy conservation, catalytic cracking, and hydroprocessing. He also has played roles in operations as technical manager of the Ingolstadt refinery in Germany, and managed regional engineering support for refining in both Europe and Canada. He was manager of the global Refining Process Engineering division from 2009-2013, which supported research, operations, project development and commercialization of process technology for ExxonMobil refineries and licensing customers worldwide.  He was head of Strategy for EM research & Engineering Co. in 2014-16, working at the interface between technology development and business strategies. Since 2016, David has focused on development of new technologies for natural gas conversion, including the low C Hydrogen programs now forming the core of the EMTEC Hydrogen portfolio.

Dave is a chemical engineer, with degrees from Rice University (BS 1986) University of Cambridge (CPGS 87, Churchill Scholar) and Princeton (PhD 91, Hertz Fellow). He is the inventor on over 20 US and international patents.   

Mr. Wolak is the President and CEO of the Washington, DC based Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA), the industry association for hydrogen energy and fuel cell technologies in the United States.  FCHEA has been the stable, unified voice of industry leadership for more than 30 years, advocating for funding and policies to support and encourage fuel cell and hydrogen development and deployment at all levels of government and in the private sector.

Prior to FCHEA, Mr. Wolak was a Senior Vice President at FuelCell Energy, Inc. During his tenure at FuelCell Energy, Mr. Wolak initiated and developed some of the most innovative and largest fuel cell technology applications in the world and worked closely with the US Department of Energy and Congress to define and sustain programs for hydrogen and fuel cells.

Mr. Wolak has experience in all facets of energy including executive positions outside the fuel cell and hydrogen industry at an international energy services company, a power development and investment company, public energy resources corporation and as management consultant providing insight to clients in emerging technology and utility segments.

Mr. Wolak serves as Vice Chair of the Global Hydrogen Industry Association Alliance (GHIAA) and serves at the appointment of the Secretary of Commerce to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee.  Mr. Wolak holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Western New England University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Hartford.

Dr. Andrey Bakulin, Ph.D. (Co-PI), is a Research Professor at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at UT Austin. In his current role, he co-leads the TCCS IA alongside Prof. Sergey Fomel, with a focus on land seismic and advancing monitoring technologies, while developing new instrumentation and techniques crucial for supporting the energy transition. Andrey also leads the H2 injection field test at the Devine site, conducted by the GeoH2 consortium at BEG, focusing on hydrogen storage and innovative monitoring technologies.

With over 25 years of industry experience, Andrey’s work in reservoir characterization and monitoring has been pivotal. At Shell, he led Virtual Source monitoring initiatives using downhole sensors and spearheaded tube-wave and real-time completion monitoring projects, emphasizing cost-effective in-well solutions with fiber-optic sensors. At Saudi Aramco, he directed the seismic monitoring program, including feasibility studies and successful field monitoring of a CO2-EOR pilot in a carbonate reservoir. He played a key role in designing and demonstrating the first industrial hybrid monitoring system with 1,000 buried sensors and oversaw the 4D processing and interpretation.

Andrey also invented and field-tested the smart DAS uphole acquisition system, featuring vertical arrays on a single fiber—an innovative design to be employed in major onshore CCS projects.

Dr. Harold Evin has 17 years of experience in the steel industry. He holds a PhD in Materials Engineering and Corrosion, and began his career at ArcelorMittal Stainless Group, where he led initiatives in material development. He then joined Vallourec Group, a global leader in seamless pipe manufacturing for the energy sector, taking on various roles in research, development, and operations. Today, Dr. Evin serves as the CCUS and Hydrogen Business Director at Vallourec, where he oversees the company's global strategy for delivering solutions and services to ensure the safe transport and storage of hydrogen.

Keiichiro Segawa has engaged in the strategy formulation as Chief Executive Staff Officer at Hydrogen Strategy Division of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI) since 2022. His over 30 years’ LNG project development experience at a major Japanese trading house has been well utilized for the benefit of KHI’s liquefied hydrogen (LH2) supply chain realization. KHI leads Japan Suiso Energy, Ltd. (JSE), established to promote commercial-scaled LH2 supply chains to Japan and other countries, and he acts as director of its board.

Stephen has over 40 years’ experience in the Process Industries, with expertise in low-carbon hydrogen production and utilization, as well as cryogenic engineering, carbon capture, partial oxidation, reforming, and syngas applications with a strong emphasis on safety. He has more than 15 years’ experience with electrolyzer-based hydrogen projects to complement more than 30 years’ experience with low-carbon natural gas-based hydrogen projects. He is responsible for advising clients on technology, vendor and licensor selection, site selection and layout, storage options, and integration with host and adjacent facilities. His clients include major Oil and Commodity Chemical companies, Power Generators and Utilities, International Banks, Governments and Government Agencies, and project developers. He specializes in Hydrogen, Carbon Capture, Gasification, Syngas treatment and uses, Power to X, Air separation, and Cryogenics.

Pradeep Venkataraman currently serves as Senior Technical Director at AES Clean Energy and oversees the design and engineering of large-scale green hydrogen facilities. In addition to technical aspects of large-scale Green Hydrogen projects, Pradeep is responsible for fostering relationships and contracting mechanisms with important suppliers, including key OEMs, EPC providers, technical consultants and engineering firms. 

Pradeep has technical expertise in thermodynamics, process design and catalysis. Over the course of his career, he has worked on technologies for hydrogen storage, carbon capture and storage and solvent reduction for heavy oil extraction. 

Pradeep's career has spanned from technology development, integration and deployment. He is actively involved in the value chain assessment of low carbon fuels including hydrogen and ammonia. Pradeep is a Chemical Engineer by training. He has authored several journal articles, written a book chapter and holds two patents. Prior to his current position at AES, he has held roles at New Fortress Energy, ExxonMobil, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Baker Hughes.

Shayan Salemizadeh is the Director of Business Development at Blackcurrant, a leading marketplace for hydrogen and low-carbon fuels. In his role, Shayan has identified, onboarded, and enabled customers, ranging from market incumbents to new hydrogen buyers and sellers, to find and execute offtake agreements. He has also played a key role in improving the platform's user experience by integrating customer and market feedback.

Before joining Blackcurrant, Shayan spent over six years as a chemical engineer, focusing on the development and implementation of environmental and clean hydrogen technologies for companies in the metals and mining sector, including BHP, US Steel, Anglo American, and more.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin (2016) and is currently pursuing an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.