Archives

Mark Bridgers is a consultant to the engineering and construction industry and leads a Global Energy Vertical Market team. He works with global energy firms, pipeline companies, local distribution companies, electric transmission/ distribution utilities and power generators to support the planning, design and constitution of capital assets. As a recognized expert in capital construction and operational challenges, Bridgers was recently honored with membership in the Society of Gas Operators (SOGO).

As the owner of an eight-attorney general practice, Ralph Cantafio possesses extensive experience in civil litigation and commercial transactions. His practice includes regular representation of clients in Alaska, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Wyoming and those District Courts statewide, as well as the U.S. District Court. His caseload emphasizes law related to commercial, corporate, construction and oil and gas law.

Donald R. Clary, Jr., CPA President and Chief Executive Officer, CoServ Donald (Donnie) R. Clary, Jr., CPA, was named CEO of CoServ Electric in 2014 after joining the Corinth, Texas-based electric cooperative as its Controller 24 years earlier.

As the highest-ranking financial official, Clary oversaw CoServ’s growth from 20,000 meters in 1990 to more than 210,000 across parts of seven counties today. In 1998, he was part of a team that created a for-profit natural gas distribution affiliate that today provides service to more than 107,000 meters in three counties. Donnie serves as an officer and a member of the governing body of each CoServ affiliate.
CoServ retains a Fitch-affirmed AA– rating and is ranked among the top five percent nationwide for reliability. In 2014, CoServ successfully attained its first private debt placement.

As the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, John is responsible for running all facets of the Sales and Marketing for all divisions.  He has a proven track record and over 32 years of experience driving sales growth in the industry.  John’s career with the Sterling Company includes the role of President and General Manager of Company affiliate Midwest Access Solutions.  At Midwest Access Solutions, John led the transformation into an industry enterprise-focused company, creating the blueprint for a successful installation matting company and driving sales growth to more than 50% with the lowest safety incident record in the marketplace. John was also General Manager at Allied Building Products, responsible for sales and operations. He oversaw multiple locations in the IL and WI markets. During his 20-year period with Allied Building Products John held various management positions.  As a husband, proud father of three, community and environmental advocate John continues to serve as a key architect for the Sterling Lumber Company flagship products and services.

Marion Davis has served as Director of Construction for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) since June 2012. He also currently serves as Co-Chair of the IBT National Pipeline Training Fund and Labor Management Trust Fund (also since 2012). Throughout his career, Davis has been an instructor for various training classes and been involved with developing various training programs related to equipment operation and health and safety. He joined Teamsters Local 509 in August 1981 and was dispatched to DuPont at the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Site (SRS) nuclear facility (later operated by Bechtel Savannah River Inc.). Davis was elected to the Executive Board of Teamsters Local 509 in 1993, serving as Trustee, Recording Secretary through 1999. In October 2000, he was appointed to Southern Region International Representative for Construction as a stipend employee and left SRS to take on the roll fulltime in October 2007. He became Assistant Director of Construction in March 2012 and then Director a few months later.

​Dr. Michael (Mickey) B. Frish Manager, Industrial Sensors  Dr. Frish has a broad, interdisciplinary background with specific strengths in research, development, commercialization and marketing of photonics instrumentation.  Early in his 35-year career with Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) he led the development and introduction of the first industrial quality gas analyzer and long-path leak detector products using Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy.  He subsequently led the evolution of these products into the Remote Methane Leak Detector (RMLD), an R&D 100 Awardee.  The RMLD is now a common tool used for natural gas leak detection with over 3000 units manufactured by Heath Consultants deployed worldwide.  His current work includes miniaturizing TDLAS sensors, reducing their costs, and utilizing them to quantify leak rates.  Dr. Frish has been awarded eight patents, and is the author or co-author of over 80 technical reports and publications.  He received BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University.

Doug is a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) with more than two decades of safety-related work experience. Doug served the last seven years as a corporate health safety and environment advisor for a major Canadian utility with more than 2,600 employees in northern and east-central Alberta. Doug brings to Caterpillar more than a decade of experience in the oil/gas and heavy equipment manufacturing/repair industries. He is an accomplished facilitator of the S.T.A.R.T.™ program and has guided multiple continuous improvement teams focused on safety-related topics over the course of his career. Doug is a member of the Industry Advisory Committee for the Occupational Health and Safety certificate program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Bobby Gonzalez is a veteran in tribal, industry and government-to-government relations. He works closely with tribal governments to facilitate relationships with the pipeline industry. Bobby has authored numerous publications on the protection of cultural resources and testified before the House of Natural Resource Committee on federal agency non-compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Bobby was a guest speaker at the first tribal energy summit supported by the White House and the Department of Energy. He is a NEPA regulatory specialist and is very experienced in managing tribal monitoring programs on pipeline projects.

Brother Tom Gross was initiated into Local 81, Ottawa, IL, in 1975. With 45 years experience Brother Gross has served as Business Agent of Local 81; in charge of pipeline, gas distribution, and building trades, and as Business Manager of Local 81 for six years before being appointed by former General President Hite as a Special Representative assigned to the UA's Department of Pipeline and Gas Distribution.

At the 39th UA General Convention Brother Gross was unanimously re-elected and will continue to serve as the UA's Director of Pipeline and Gas Distribution.

Thomas is Vice President of Environmental, Health and Safety for Kinder Morgan’s Natural Gas business. He also currently serves as the Chair of the INGAA Foundation. He has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, working in field engineering, project management, operations, pipeline safety and environmental, health and safety (EH&S). Hutchins graduated from New Mexico State University (NMSU) with a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and later earned a master’s in Business Administration. He started his career as a Field Engineer for El Paso Natural Gas, one of Kinder Morgan’s interstate pipelines. He also worked as a project engineer and project manager for the International Boundary & Water Commission, an agency of the U.S. State Department. Hutchins has been serving in leadership positions with the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America’s EH&S Committee, Southern Gas Association’s Environmental Committee and American Gas Association’s Safety & Health Committee, Environmental Matters Committee and Environmental Regulatory Action Committee.

Wayne is a Mechanical Engineer, and a member of NASTT.  As President of HEBNA Corporation he brings extensive business and engineering consulting experience over a 20-year career.  As past founder, President & CEO of Innovative Pipeline Crossings (IPC), he was able to bring the direct pipe technology from Germany to North America for the 36-48” diameter pipe lines.  Prior to IPC, Wayne managed several design and engineering departments at AECOM, a global engineering company.
Wayne’s real life passion is with his activities in Africa, as co-founder of HOPEthiopia.

Jeremy Koster currently leads an operational support organization in the Natural Gas Industry with teams in Work Management, Operator Qualification, Technical Training, Continuous Improvement, Data Performance, and Technology Support and Strategy.

With most of his career in multi-state large construction and development operations he worked for over a decade structuring and building long term strategic partnerships and alliances within labor and supplier channels to gain quality, efficiency and loyalty.

This combined with experience in Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, Agile, DevOps, and historical project management, Jeremy propels a progressive and pragmatic approach to everyday business challenges requiring rapid or long term improvement and sustainability

Jeremy, originally from Central New York now resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife Heather and 4 children.

Bradley Kramer is the managing editor of North American Oil & Gas Pipelines. He has been covering the underground construction market since 2005, when he joined Benjamin Media Inc. as a writer and editor for Trenchless Technology and Compact Equipment. Since 2008, Kramer has been focused on North America’s oil and gas pipeline construction and maintenance sector. He graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelors of Science in news and a Bachelors of Arts in English.

Kiona Meade has an Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Arizona.  She is a graduate of a rotational management training program within Schlumberger, with work experience all over the US, Gulf of Mexico and Algeria.  During her assignments, she worked with a variety of groups, including: Drilling & Environmental Solutions, Environmental Affairs, Global Regulatory Compliance - Chemicals, Training, Recruiting, and Production Technologies (PT).  As an introduction to PT, Kiona rotated between Pipeline Services, Research & Development, Sourcing, Purification Solutions, Field Work, ChemWatcher Remote Monitoring, Sales and Technical Services.

Kiona is currently the Global Midstream Technical Sales Engineer for Schlumberger, overseeing the Pipeline Services & EXKAL product lines, as well as contributing to flow assurance and asset integrity issues that may arise from midstream clients.

As the Director for Southeast Operations at Mears Group Inc. (A Quanta Services Company), Joe O’Donnell has more than 14 years of experience in the oil and gas pipeline industry as a contractor. He got his start in project management in the Northeast United States working on large natural gas distribution contracts. O’Donnell joined Mears Group in August 2013 and has held positions of Operations Manager and Director of Operations.

Jim Spigener is a Senior Vice President for DEKRA Insight, a consulting firm specializing in comprehensive safety solutions. Jim has helped hundreds of companies implement successful change initiatives in the fields of safety, quality, and leadership development. A dynamic speaker, Jim has presented at hundreds of national and international conferences and has published several articles on performance improvement.

A former steward of the OCAW labor union (now PACE), Jim’s experience on both the shop floor and in the management office gives him a unique perspective on organizational dynamics and an uncanny ability to motivate an audience to see new points of view.

Laura joined Caterpillar in 2014 as Regional Chief Economist for the Energy and Transportation group. E&T includes a diverse set of industries, from electric power and oil & gas to marine and rail. In this role, she advises the E&T segments on the current macroeconomic conditions and forecasts that impact their industries in addition to forecasting oil and natural gas prices for the company. Prior to joining CAT, Laura has extensive prior experience in the Energy sector, having spent 15 years with Southern Company, one of the largest electric utilities in the US and its subsidiaries.  In addition, Laura holds a PhD in Applied Economics from Clemson University.

Prior to founding GSPH, Mr. Smith founded Underground Solutions, Inc. (OTC:UGSI), an infrastructure technology company that developed pipeline technologies.  He served as President and CEO until 2005.  UGSI had sales of $50M, and was sold to Aegion Corp. (NASDAQ:AEGN) for $90M in 2016.

Mr. Smith founded several construction firms in the Pittsburgh area, focused on industrial construction services, as we all residential construction and remodeling.

Mr. Smith holds several patents covering various pipeline installation and rehabilitation technologies and is a pioneer in Trenchless Technologies and a thought leader in 3-D mapping.

Mr. Stechschulte graduated from Trine University with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering in 2003. He joined Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) in 2003 as a pipeline engineer in Findlay, Ohio.  Throughout his career at MPC, Mr. Stechschulte has held various engineering, operations, and commercial positions in the marketing and transportation engineering, transportation and logistics, and pipeline organizations.

In August 2016, Mr. Stechschulte assumed his current position where he leads commercial and engineering development of growth projects, including within the Utica shale,  for Marathon Pipe Line LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Corporation. In his current role, he manages commercial growth opportunities for Marathon Pipe Line LLC and MPLX LP.

Mr. Stechschulte is a registered professional engineer in the state of Ohio.

John (J.C.) Thomas III serves as Director of External Affairs for Sempra Infrastructure, which develops, builds and operates wind, solar, storage, liquefied natural gas facilities and midstream natural gas infrastructure in North America. In his position, Thomas is responsible for governmental affairs, community relations, media and marketing strategies for the company. Prior to his current role, he has held positions with Sempra Energy and its subsidiaries Sempra International and San Diego Gas & Electric. His career has spanned international affairs, regulatory affairs, customer service, public affairs and fire safety preparedness. Before joining SDG&E in 2002, Thomas served as regional director of government relations for a broadband telecommunications company. Prior to that, he served as chief of staff, chief of policy and advisor to a San Diego City Council Member. He began his career as an intern with the Mayor of San Diego in 1993. Thomas currently serves on the Smart Border Coalition Board of Directors, San Diego Fire-Rescue Foundation Board of Directors, San Diego Diplomacy Council and the Institute of

Lou Thompson is a tribal relations specialist with an expertise in NEPA, the National Historic Preservation Act and facilitating relationships between pipeline companies and federally recognized Native American tribes. Lou has been employed in the private sector and government for over 20 years responsible for working with tribal communities throughout North America.  He was a Tribal Relations Department Manager for a large international energy company and was a senior procurement specialist for an American Indian Procurement Technical Center, handling large and complex procurement projects. Lou is owner and founder of Tribal Energy Resource, LLC and is currently involved with numerous high profile pipeline projects. He is a Switzer Fellow and holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and a M.S. in Community Economic Development.

T. Minh Tran, who was a Vietnamese refugee, arrived in Greenville, S.C., in April 1975 and graduated from Clemson University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Minh joined Piedmont Natural Gas in 1985 and had held various positions. In his last role before retirement at Piedmont, he was the Managing Director Construction, overseeing all distribution pipeline construction. Minh has more than 31 years of experience in the energy field and has remained active in several professional organizations. He was member of both the American Gas Association and Southern Gas Association’s Managing Committees for Utility Operations. Away from his professional life, Minh served on several Boards of Directors, including the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce, United Ways of Coastal Carolinas and Spartanburg Community College Foundation. He currently serves on the Charlotte International House Board of Directors. Minh’s commitment to inclusion is evident through his leadership on many diversity initiatives. He is a Riley Institute Diversity Fellow at Furman University. He is also a graduate of the Charlotte’s

Greg Ward joined CoServ in 1997 as a lineman.  Throughout his career he has worked as a Staking Engineer, Project Manager, Marketing Representative, Business Development Manager, Director of Engineering Services, Director of Construction Management & Logistics and Senior Director of Operations.

Greg is certified in NRECA’s Robert I. Kabat Management Internship Program for Executive Management. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from Texas Woman’s University.

Robert Wilds is Director of Pipeline for the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). He got his start in the pipeline industry in 1986, working in the field as an Operating Engineer. Wilds has worked pipeline projects for the largest part of his career in the field, serving as an operator on projects throughout the United States. Wilds also served as an instructor for the IUOE/PLCA National Pipeline Training program from 1999 to 2009. From 2009 to 2010, he was IUOE Local No. 66 Dispatcher and serviced as the union’s Special Pipeline Representative from 2010 to 2016, before being named Director of Pipeline in 2016.

Robert Williamson is a member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma. Robert is a Cultural Leader of the tribe and has served as a Council member. Robert currently sits on the Sac and Fox Business Committee who are responsible for oil and gas development.

Chad Davis began his career in the underground construction industry in 1997 with Miller Pipeline and has remained with the company his entire career. He began as a laborer then quickly progressed to an operator and then a foreman in 2000. In 2005, he was promoted to superintendent and in 2011, he stepped into his current role of Vice President of South Region Construction. He has spent the last decade managing large projects, spearheading start-ups, and integrating acquired operations across the eastern half and southern areas of the United States. He currently oversees construction operations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. Davis is a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and involved in the Children’s Bureau of Indianapolis. He’s an active member of the DCA, Southern Gas Association, and PLCA. He’s also a member of the Alabama Natural Gas Association, Florida Natural Gas Association, and Mississippi

Andrew Craig has more than 17 years of industry experience primarily with the acquisition of real estate for major linear infrastructure projects. He has worked on TC Energy pipeline projects in both the United States and Canada since 2008. Craig is an active member of the International Right of Way Pipeline Committee. Currently, he resides in Houston, Texas.

Captain David Murk, US Coast Guard (ret.), is the Pipeline Manager at the American Petroleum Institute (API) and is responsible for the oversight of infrastructure policy and technical issues to support and advocate for the safe and reliable transportation of petroleum liquid and natural gas by pipeline. Prior to joining API in 2016, Murk served twenty-six years in the public sector including twenty-four years with US Coast Guard and two years at US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). In his last three years in the Coast Guard, Murk served as the Senior Maritime Advisor to the Secretary of Transportation. At USDOT, Murk served as the Director of Field Operations in the Office of Pipeline Safety, where he helped lead over 140 pipeline inspectors in the oversight of federal safety regulations for interstate natural gas and petroleum liquid pipelines and liquefied natural gas facilities.

Mike Prior, P.Eng., is the Senior Strategic Advisor for Michels Canada, one of the nation’s top utility infrastructure contractors, specializing in pipelines, horizontal directional drilling, Direct Pipe and tunneling. He was Senior Vice President at Michels Canada until 2013 and lead operations as Vice President for Marine Pipeline Construction previous to that. Prior has close to 50 years’ experience in the pipeline industry in engineering and Management roles and has worked on most major pipeline systems in Canada. Prior is a registered professional engineer in several Canadian provinces and in the United Kingdom.

Christina Sames is the Vice President of Operations & Engineering for the American Gas Association (AGA). In this role, she works closely with AGA’s members and stakeholders to improve safety, reliability and efficiency. She leads AGA’s efforts on safety culture, AGA’s Commitment to Enhancing Safety, Safety Information Resource Center, Executive Leadership Safety Summit and is the staff executive for the AGA Board Safety Committee, Operations Executive Committee and Operations Managing Committee. Sames is also on the Cross Bore Safety Association Board and API’s Emergency Response Advisory Board. Prior to joining AGA, Christina worked for Pipeline Research Council International Inc. and spent 12 years with the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Office of Pipeline Safety. She holds a B.S. in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University.

Anthony “Tony” Straquadine, Jr. assumed the role of Executive Director of the INGAA Foundation in September 2018.

As executive director, Tony is responsible for managing the Foundation’s technical and economic studies, implementing its strategic plan and overseeing the planning and studies process. He also leads the development and execution of the Foundation’s meetings and workshops.

Tony has worked in the oil and natural gas industry for over 35 years. Prior to joining the Foundation, Tony worked with Alliance Pipeline, most recently as Managing U.S. Officer and Manager, Commercial & Government Affairs. He was responsible for developing and implementing government relations strategies in the U.S. and Canada. Before joining Alliance in 1999, he held variety of operational and senior human resource management positions at Halliburton Company.

Tony holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geology and geophysics from the University of Hawaii. He has served on the board of directors of both the Interstate

Tom Ziegenfuss has worked for 36 years in the natural gas industry.  Upon graduation in 1981, from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in General Engineering, he began his career with the Peoples Energy Companies (Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas) in Illinois.

Most of Tom’s roles with Peoples Energy from 1982 through 1993 were Engineering and Operating roles starting as an entry level Staff Engineer progressing to Supervisory Engineer.  In 1993, Tom was promoted into a manager position at North Shore Gas.  In 1995, he completed his MBA in Finance at DePaul University.  His career progressed into continually higher level management roles, within the Peoples Organization, and he concluded his tenure as Vice-President of Engineering.

In 2004, Tom left Peoples to join EN Engineering in the role of Vice-President of Distribution.  In 2008, he moved to the role of Chief Operating Officer and then to Chief Executive Officer in 2011. 

Steve Cabano is President of Pathfinder LLC, a project management consulting firm specializing in the planning, development and execution of domestic and international capital plant construction projects. With more than 25 years of project engineering and project management experience in the industrial and commercial facilities industry, he has provided cost, scheduling, procurement and similar project related services for owner and government clients in the Petroleum, Petrochemical, Chemical, Environmental, Pharmaceutical, Industrial and Commercial industries in the United States and throughout the world. Cabano earned his bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University and is a member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACE International), is on the Executive Committee of the Construction Industry Institute (CII) and a long-time member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Cal Chapman has practiced environmental engineering and corrosion engineering, project management and environmental sciences since 1981. In the mid-1970s, he worked on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline project. He is a cofounder of Chapman Engineering, which began business in 1988. Chapman graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, in 1981, with a major study area of mechanical engineering and concentrations in chemical and electrical engineering. He is a licensed professional engineer in four states and is a “Model Law Engineer” through the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.

John W Fluharty II is currently a consultant to Quanta Services and has performed various market studies, regulatory reviews, business improvement reviews and recommendations. His expertise is to review changes in business and regulations and relate them back to market potential and realignment required for business to take advantage of it. Fluharty also works with a client’s customers to develop large and complex projects. He brings the field experience, business background and a good understanding of how to bring the customers’ expectations in line with the goals of the project and deliver the project on time while making it profitable. Fluharty provided 28 years of service to Mears Group Inc., a highly respected international engineering and construction company that serves the pipeline and energy industries. As part owner until the company sold to Quanta Services in 2000, he continued to work as Senior Vice President until August 2008. Fluharty is a board member of the Power and Communication Contractors Association (PCCA) and the American Pipeline Contractors Association (APCA). He previously served on the INGAA Foundation board of directors.

Studying in Germany and China Markus Ginten obtained academic degrees in Civil Engineering and Business Administration. In his professional life as Engineer he was working on various construction projects for buildings as well as industrial and infrastructure facilities. Markus joined the ROSEN Technology & Research Center (RTRC), Germany in 2006 as Service Manager. Here he was in charge of the development of various inspection and integrity service solutions. As Account Manager with ROSEN USA today Markus is responsible for Business Development.

As Senior Vice President, Natural Gas Pipelines Major Projects, Corey Goulet is accountable to execute on TransCanada’s substantial portfolio of large-sized natural gas pipeline project. This portfolio will include Columbia growth, Mexico and LNG projects.

Goulet has 30 years of energy infrastructure experience. His experience is varied and has focused on the development, construction, operation and maintenance of natural gas, wind, hydro, nuclear and transmission power facilities; gas, oil and refined products pipelines; and oil and gas production facilities. He joined the company in 1998 as a manager in the international business unit where he was responsible for developing projects. Since that role, he has lead various departments including pipeline engineering, energy projects, nuclear development, Keystone projects and natural gas operations, projects and engineering.

Goulet is a former member of the Operations and System Integrity subcommittee for CSA Z662 Oil and Gas Pipeline Systems. In addition, he represented TransCanada for two years as a board member of Pipeline Research Council International Inc. (PRCI) and is a current board member of the Alberta Chamber of Resources. Goulet has also been a board member for three joint venture companies.

Born and raised near Edmonton, Alberta,

Rick Kivela graduated from Michigan Technological University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.  Upon graduation, Rick was hired by Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company in the Engineering Construction Department.  Over his 37 year career in the natural gas transmission industry, Rick has held positions in Construction Management, Project Management, Environmental Compliance, Facility Planning and Operational Compliance.  Rick is currently the Director of Operational Compliance for Spectra Energy Partners in Houston, Texas.

Graduated from Northern College, Kirkland Lake, Ontario Canada 1975, Welding Engineering Technology, Graduated from Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK 1978 Master of Science Welding Engineering.  Working career started with Dominion Bridge, Montreal Canada at the corporate welding research center – 1978 to 1979.  Joined Nova, an Alberta Corporation (now TransCanada) in 1979 to 1982 in Calgary Canada as a welding engineer.

While at Nova I worked with CRC-Evans developing their welding system for the high strength pipe used in Canada.  In 1982 I joined CRC-Evans in Edmonton as Sales and Technical support.  Shortly after moved to Houston to assist in R&D efforts.  While at CRC-Evans I held positions of Welding Engineer, Chief Welding Engineer, Manager, New Product Development, Vice President Field Service, President of Automatic Welding and Chief Operating Officer, President Onshore West, currently Chief Operating Officer CRC-Evans.

Terri Larson has more than 25 years of experience working in public relations and in the broadcast and print news media. As a member of Enbridge’s senior leadership team, Larson has considerable experience in corporate communications, community engagement, community investment and brand and reputation management. Larson also directs the company’s U.S. pipeline public awareness program and, having recently led development of an Enterprise Public Awareness Program, has accountability for public awareness programs across Enbridge. She also leads crisis communications for Enbridge in the United States and Canada. Larson serves on a number of pipeline industry committees with organizations such as the American Petroleum Institute (API), Association of Oil Pipe Lines (AOPL), Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) and the Southern Gas Association (SGA). Larson is accredited in public relations (APR), and holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA in marketing.

Luke Litteken, governing operations and maintenance of regional gas distribution and high pressure systems. He is responsible for system reliability, emergency response, damage prevention, public safety, compliance, and customer satisfaction over geographically dispersed territories in seven states, encompassing more than 1.9 million natural gas customers.

Dan Lorenz is the President of Joe Knows Energy and Joe Knows Tradesmen. He is an entrepreneurial civil engineer who has spent 35 years growing companies that include a construction company, a training company and now a staffing/consulting/training/software company. Lorenz is passionate about leadership, learning and infrastructure.

Andrew Lu has worked at AGA for 15 years, handling a variety of assignments. He provides leadership in pipeline safety advocacy issues, particularly those tied to U.S. Department of Transportation proposed rulemakings. He also oversees most of the events and programs within AGA’s Operating Section, such as the Operations Conference, the Safety Leadership Summit and the Peer Review program. Prior to AGA, Lu worked at Consumers Energy in Michigan for more than 8 years in Gas Operations. He has an MBA and an Engineering Degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Tim McGuire is Vice President of Michels Directional Crossings, an industry leader in Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) and Direct Pipe (DP) construction and recipient of numerous trenchless industry milestone achievement awards.  Mr. McGuire has over 30 years of professional experience, 26 of which have been in underground mining, drilling, and utility construction, most recently with over 24 years of direct experience in Trenchless construction methods for every type of utility, primarily for oil and gas pipelines.  Mr. McGuire has designed, planned, and managed construction of thousands of HDD crossings ranging up to 15,700 feet in length and over 50 inches in diameter, drilling through every class of soil and bedrock type in all 50 U.S. states, most Canadian provinces, Mexico, and several overseas locations.  In addition to conventional land to land HDD crossings, this experience has included numerous HDD marine landings (land to water), in water depths up to 350 Feet and many water to water HDD crossings up to 7,000 Feet in length.  Within the past 5 years he has overseen the development and implementation of Michels’ DP operations throughout North America completing up to 48 inch diameter crossings

Jonathan Minder has over 5 years of experience working in the oil and gas industry.  He started at Diakont in the field as an NDE Level I Inspector.  Before coming to Diakont he held positions at both Schlumberger and NASA.  He holds degrees in engineering and mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, and from Hawaii Pacific University.

Bill Solomon is President and CEO of Vacuworx LLC in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Founder and Chairman of The Pipeline and Energy Expo. Previously, he spent 15 years at Johnson and Johnson in sales and marketing with international and division responsibilities.

In 1999, Solomon started Vacuworx, the world leader in manufacturing self-contained vacuum lifting equipment for heavy-duty material handling industries. He founded The Pipeline and Energy Expo in 2009, which is focused on stimulating economic growth in Oklahoma by showcasing energy, utility and construction businesses. The following year, he founded The Eagle Gift Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to supporting community needs in Oklahoma.

Solomon is a graduate from the University of Colorado and holds certificates of achievements from Duke University, Northwestern University, Babson College, Harvard University and the University of Tulsa. He serves as a member of the board for Tulsa Boys Home, A New Leaf and State Chamber of Oklahoma, and he is a member of numerous professional organizations such as APCA, DCA, IPLOCA and PLCA. he has been married for 27 years and has five children.

Ryan Tetrault leads a diverse group of quality professionals comprised of Quality Engineers, Certified Quality Auditors, SAP Quality Management Module software, Root Cause Analysis, and Supplier Pre-qualification specialists.

Ryan and his team are responsible for the program, project, and supplier audits, Root Cause Analysis, Management of Change, and quality governance within TransCanada. With nearly 20 years of practice and leveraging his extensive project management experience, Ryan has brought his passion for quality to the workplace every day while working in the Telecommunications, Utility, and Oil & Gas industries. Ryan’s current focus within TransCanada is to provide quality governance and raise the Culture of Quality throughout TransCanada by implementing several quality initiatives.

Russel Treat is the President and CEO of the EnerACT Companies, and President of its subsidiaries EnerSys Corp. and Gas Certification Institute LLC. He is responsible for EnerSys Corp.'s operations as a provider of software and services to enable pipeline operators to comply with control room management regulations while at the same time implementing operations best practice.

Treat is also responsible for Gas Certification Institute’s operations in custody transfer hydrocarbon measurement training and standard operating procedures.

For more than 25 years Treat has been involved in the design, specification, selection, development and delivery of products and systems for oil and gas measurement and automation. He works closely with pipelines and midstream operators on their selection and implementation across all mission critical systems.

Steve Weiler represents energy companies in regulatory, litigation and transactional matters in Washington, D.C., and throughout the United States. Steve has more than 25 years of experience, principally involving the electric and oil & natural gas industries. With an emphasis on electric transmission and oil & gas transportation, Steve has represented electric utilities, merchant transmission developers, natural gas and oil pipelines, local distribution companies, electric generators, oil and natural gas producers, hydroelectric projects, wind generators, marketers, and industrial end-users in a wide range of regulatory proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), state
commissions and the courts.

Chris Yoxall is is Senior Executive Vice President of the ROSEN Group and is presently based in Houston, Texas. He has more than 20 years of experience in asset integrity management including legal, technical and contractual management; primarily in the oil and gas industry. Over this period, he has worked throughout Africa, Australasia, Asia, China and North America. He remains involved globally, actively participating in various standards and committees, including research and development. He spends part of his time lecturing to industry and is a passionate advocate in the leadership development of future industry professionals.

Yoxall studied both mechanical and metallurgical engineering in South Africa and has a B.S. in Engineering Management. He is an executive of the Australian Pipeline & Gas Association’s Research & Standards Committee, as well as a member of the Board of Directors at the Energy Pipelines Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in Australia and Senior Advisor of Young Pipeline Professionals USA.