Speakers
Mark Plamondon
Executive Director at Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association
Mark Plamondon is a seasoned business executive with over 25 years of experience and expertise regarding the management, operation, optimization and financial analysis of mineral processing operations. Mark possesses an engineering degree from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the University of Alberta. As Executive Director of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Association, Mark leads the organization’s business development strategy and works with his team to build and enhance relationships with investors, governments, and other stakeholders across the globe.
Mark Eramo
Global Senior Vice President for Oil Markets, Midstream, Downstream, and Chemicals at S&P Global Commodity Insights
Mark Eramo currently leads the Fuels, Chemicals & Resource Solutions business line for S&P Global Commodity Insights division. Mark has P&L responsibility and manages a global team of 450 research colleagues, located in all major regions delivering information, insights, and forecasts regarding crude oil, refined products, NGLs and chemical feedstocks, chemicals, agriculture commodities, and freight and commodity shipping analytics. Prior to the merger, Mark served in various roles over the past 20+ years overseeing downstream industry research and business development teams for IHS Markit and predecessor companies. Before entering the consulting and analysis business, Mark worked for more than twelve years in the chemical production industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University, where he also enjoyed playing American football for the Big Red. Mark and his wife have been residents of Houston, Texas, since 1991, where they recently celebrated becoming grandparents.
Honn Tudor
Vice President, Americas
Honn Tudor is Vice President at NexantECA based in Houston, Texas, and is responsible for activities in the United States Gulf Coast.
Honn has over 30 years of industry and consulting experience. Industry positions included manufacturing management, sales and marketing, supply chain, business development, and business management. Honn’s management consulting experience covered manufacturing and business performance improvement, personnel efficiency, energy efficiency / CO2 emissions, and process safety improvement. Prior to joining NexantECA Honn held positions at Total and a benchmarking consultancy. Honn holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis.
Jordan Woloschuk
Commodity Insights / Associate Director at S&P Global Commodity Insights
Jordan Woloschuk, an Associate Director at S&P Global Commodity Insights, provides analysis on the current and future fundamentals of the Canadian NGL market, as well as short-term coverage of the broader global market. Mr. Woloschuk has extensive oil and gas experience, consulting with clients in Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He has used his knowledge of the energy sector in numerous consulting engagements focused on strategy development, market outlooks, and assessments. Mr. Woloschuk has assisted leading energy companies and industrial groups in identifying technology trends across the petroleum industry, renewable energy markets, and the oilfield chemical and equipment markets. He graduated from the University of Calgary in Canada with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Petroleum Engineering.
Hans Luu
Co-founder and Principal at Sustrio Advisors
Hans Luu is a Co-founder and Principal of Sustrio Advisors Inc., a specialized sustainability advisory firm. He is a strategic collaborator with over 20 years of applied expertise in sustainability leadership and business advisory. Hans strives to bring a science-based and business-focused approach to helping public and private sector organizations navigate sustainability challenges by formulating and implementing strategic responses to business and sustainability issues to improve performance and manage risks. Hans has deep expertise and content knowledge in sustainability strategy development and implementation, risk management, management systems, climate change strategy and policy, environmental reporting, and non-financial assurance. Hans has held professional roles in global consulting firms, public companies, higher education, and government, both as a leader and team member. In addition to his professional interests, Hans has a personal interest in helping to build a better and more inclusive community and serves on various Boards of not-for-profit organizations in Calgary. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Environmental Design from the University of Calgary.
Chris Jahn
President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council
As President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), Chris is responsible for advancing ACC’s mission to advocate for the people, policy, and products of chemistry that make the United States the global leader in innovation and manufacturing. Chris has been named by The Hill as one of Washington, DC’s “Top Lobbyists” and by the Washingtonian as one of DC’s “Most Influential People” for representing the U.S. business of chemistry and its customers within the halls of Congress. Prior to joining ACC in 2019, Chris served as President and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute, president of the National Association of Chemical Distributors, and president of the Contract Services Association. He began his career on Capitol Hill, including time as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY). Chris earned an MBA from the University of Maryland and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University in New York.
Bob Masterson
President and CEO of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC)
Bob Masterson is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC). He is the chief spokesperson and leading advocate for Canada’s chemistry and plastics industry, the country’s third largest manufacturing sector. In this role, Bob is focussed on three priorities: Improving Canada’s investment and regulatory environment to have the chemistry and plastics sector recognized as a leader in (or driver of) the emerging circular and net carbon zero economy; ensuring the activities of the industry are aligned with societal expectations through Responsible Care®, the made in Canada and now global ESG initiative for the industry; and building a diverse, trusted and healthy workplace. while sustaining CIAC as a Great Place to Work Canada® Certified™ Bob holds an engineering degree from Queen’s University, and Masters Public Administration from Carleton University. He is a Chartered Director through the McMaster DeGroote School of Business and recently joined the Board of Directors of Women Building Futures™ an organization focussed on creating opportunities for women in the skilled trades.
Rocky Vermani
Senior Vice President at NOVA Chemicals
Rocky Vermani is the Senior Vice President, Innovation and Sustainability, responsible for building out NOVA Chemicals’ sustainability initiative roadmaps and advocating for strong policy to continue unlocking leading-edge solutions for a sustainable future.
Vermani previously served as senior vice president of supply chain, procurement and innovation where he drove value creation and enhanced customer experience throughout the supply chain, within technology development, and in meeting the emerging challenges in the industry.
Vermani joined NOVA Chemicals in 1994 as process engineer, and since then served the company in a number of roles throughout manufacturing, technology licensing, polymer sales and marketing, olefins products business and olefins feedstock & energy acquisition. His years of experience in the petrochemical industry have helped him become an expert in all key functions of the business.
Prior to joining NOVA Chemicals, Vermani was a Process Engineer at DuPont Canada.
Vermani earned a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Saskatchewan. He currently serves on the board of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC), Resource Diversification Council (RDC) for Alberta, and is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for Mount Royal University’s business school.
Jennifer Dunphy
Director Major Growth Ventures at ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company
Jennifer was appointed to Major Growth Ventures Director for ExxonMobil Product Solutions Company (EMPS) in 2022. In her role, she is responsible for delivering a portfolio of competitive, profitable ventures to support the EMPS growth strategy. Her team leads the prospecting, business development and execution from a venture’s inception through its start-up. Over her thirty plus years with ExxonMobil, Jennifer has held numerous positions with increasing responsibility across the chemical value chains, primarily supporting the global businesses and manufacturing. Most recently before becoming director, Jennifer served as the site manager for the Beaumont chemical site.
Jennifer joined the company after earning her Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University. She is married with two children and enjoys spending quality time with her family at the lake and while traveling abroad.
Dr. Ted M Pettijohn
President and Founder of Arcanum Infrastructure
Dr. Ted M Pettijohn is President and Founder of Arcanum Infrastructure. Arcanum develops, owns, and operates production and infrastructure assets designed to provide reliable supply of essential ingredients under long-term, fee- based offtake contracts. So far, it has completed and is operating the Raven Butene-1 facility in Baytown, Texas and has two additional projects under construction: Robin Monomers, that will produce a specialty monomer for engineering plastics, and Emperor Cryo, that will liquify ethylene. Dr. Pettijohn received his PhD in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin and last year, Arcanum was recognized as the fastest growing businesses operated by a graduate of UT. Prior to founding Arcanum, he was an executive at Evonik Corporation responsible for business development and strategy and ran several of the Evonik specialty chemical businesses in German, Brazil, and the US over his 17-year career there. He also is the inventor of more than 50 patent families, most related to petrochemical catalysis.
Rahul Iyer
Principal at KCK Group
Rahul’s career in materials, chemicals, and energy spans innovation, commercialization, finance, and sustainability policy. His career includes building companies and projects in renewable fuels, hydrogen, methane conversion, distributed power generation, CCS, and critical minerals. Currently Rahul is Principal at KCK Group, an evergreen fund backing industrial innovation and emerging technologies. Recently, Rahul completed the sale of KCK’s lithium-ion battery manufacturing company to a leading international mining and construction equipment company.
Wayne Blaylock
Associate Director at Dow
Wayne Blaylock is an Associate Director for Dow Chemical’s Feedstocks and Commodity Trading business. In this role he is responsible for leading feedstocks business development for Dow Chemical Canada, including securing the long-term ethane supply, transportation and storage contracts for Dow’s Fort Saskatchewan Path2Zero growth project, which will be the world’s first net-zero ethylene cracker.
Prior to his current role with Dow Chemical Canada, Blaylock held multiple roles in Dow’s Feedstocks and Energy business in Houston, Texas. He was Associate Director, Business Development, responsible for delivering on business development projects globally, including identifying opportunities, analyzing alternatives, and negotiating agreements in support of Dow’s growth objectives. He also previously served as Chief Analyst for commodity fundamentals, where he was responsible for leading coordinated efforts from traders, analysts, and regional experts to build Dow’s global feedstocks fundamentals views.
Honourable Danielle Smith
Premier of Alberta
Danielle Smith is a proud Albertan. As Leader of the governing United Conservative Party, she was sworn in as the 19th Premier of Alberta on October 11, 2022. She represents the riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat in the Legislative Assembly.
Ms. Smith has had a lifelong interest in Alberta public policy and finding the right balance between free enterprise and individual freedom, and the role of government. She was previously MLA for Highwood and leader of the Official Opposition.
Before re-entering politics, Ms. Smith worked extensively in the media and in business, most recently as President of the Alberta Enterprise Group. Before that she was a radio host with Corus Entertainment for 6 years.
Danielle Smith holds degrees in both Economics and English from the University of Calgary. She is married to David and proud stepmom to his son. They live in High River with their dog, Caine.
Cameron Gingrich
Managing Partner at Incorrys
Cameron Gingrich, Managing Partner – Markets and Strategy, has over 20 years of natural gas, oil, and NGL experience in research, analysis, benchmarking, and authoring complex market studies. He is responsible for analytics and in-depth customized data analysis, development, and price modeling for Incorrys Information System. In addition to undertaking numerous energy consulting assignments for a range of clients, Cameron has acted as an expert witness with respect to natural gas and LNG fundamentals. Recent projects include: Transport Economics for Hydrogen, Ammonia and Methylcyclohexane Pathways; Lifecycle GHG Assessment for the Voluntary Credit Market; and Impact of Carbon Tax on Canadian Natural Gas.
Charles Bird
Principal / Partner at Earnscliffe Strategies
Charles Bird has worked as a public policy specialist and advisor to senior Ministers at both Queen’s Park and in Ottawa for more than twenty years. His experience includes work for the Hon. Ralph Goodale as Minister of Natural Resources and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. While at Natural Resources, Mr. Bird was a senior advisor to Minister Goodale, attending numerous international climate change negotiations including the Kyoto Conference in December of1997 as a member of Canada’s high-level delegation.
From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Bird was a senior consultant at Earnscliffe Strategies in Ottawa, serving a range of private sector clients in such diverse fields as energy, health care and the automotive industry. From 2004 to 2006, he served in Ottawa as the Vice President of Government Affairs for Bell Globemedia, owners of the CTV Network, the Globe and Mail, and numerous other communications and entertainment properties. He also served as Ontario Campaign Director for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2006 federal election.
Mr. Bird has represented numerous clients in the petrochemical industry and has worked closely with a wide array of elected and non-elected government officials regarding public policy development impacting the sector. He has also produced a series of webinars on US Presidential politics and elections.
He is a graduate of both the University of Toronto and Upper Canada College, and has been a political commentator for CBC News Network and CTV News Channel.
