Management
William Roe
President and CEO
Bill Roe joined Coskata as its President and CEO in September 2007,
bringing extensive leadership experience across many critical functions
of growing a global technical business, including operations management,
strategy, sales and marketing, and research and development.
Prior to Coskata, Bill enjoyed a 29 year career with Nalco, the world's
largest provider of industrial water-treatment chemicals and process
additives. Bill was most recently the Chief Operating Officer, a
position he held for six years. In that role, Bill had full P&L
responsibilities for all of Nalco's business operations globally
including the Industrial and Institutional Services Division (which
comprises 75% of Nalco's core water treatment business), the Energy
Services Division (a business line serving the petroleum and gas
industry, with products for exploration and drilling, oilfield
production, and downstream refining and petrochemical production), and
the Paper Services Division (a business line serving the pulp and paper
industry with processing additives and functional products that improve
final sheet properties). Bill's responsibilities also included strategic
planning, product development and commercialization, and strategic
account development and management.
Prior to serving as Nalco's COO, Bill was President of Nalco's Asia
Pacific Division, where he was responsible for Nalco's business
operations in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, all of Southeast Asia, India,
and Australia/New Zealand.
Bill has been a member of the American Institute of Metallurgical
Engineers; the American Chemical Society; the American Chemical Council
and the Sigma Xi Research Society. He holds a M.S. in Organic Chemistry
from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.S. in Chemistry from
Creighton University.
David Blair
Chief Financial Officer
Dave Blair was recently named Chief Financial Officer for Coskata. With over 30 years experience, he brings broad based experience in building global and regional financial teams that will support enhancing business results.
Before joining Coskata, Dave most recently worked for Westmoreland Coal Company in Colorado Springs, CO. Starting in 2005, Dave acted as the CFO for the ninth largest coal producer in the USA and was responsible for all financial functions of the Company.
From 1987 to 2004, Dave worked in various capacities for Nalco. His positions included VP – Corporate Finance, Treasurer, VP – Finance and acting CFO. A highlight of his time with Nalco included working as the CFO – VP Finance of the second largest specialty chemical supplier in the Energy Services sector, Nalco/Exxon Energy Chemicals.
Dave graduated from the University of Toronto in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in Commerce. He is a Chartered Accountant (member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario) and is a member of the Financial Executives Institute.
Wesley J. Bolsen
Chief Marketing Officer, VP of Business Development
Wes Bolsen is the Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Business Development for Coskata. He has been responsible for launching the company, developing Coskata's strategic partnerships and managing relationships in Washington, D.C.
Previously, Wes was the Chief Financial Officer of ICM, Inc., the leading U.S. ethanol plant engineering, design, and build firm, based outside of Wichita, Kansas. At ICM, Wes oversaw finance, HR, IT, and flight operations for the company. During his time at ICM, Wes gained critical exposure to the inner workings of the ethanol industry and established strong relationships with key value chain participants.
Prior to ICM, Wes was a senior consultant with McKinsey & Co. in both their Chicago and Silicon Valley offices, where he worked with the CEO's of Fortune 500 companies around the globe.
Wes holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman, and received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Richard E. Tobey
Vice President, R&D/Engineering
As Vice President of Research and Development/Engineering, Dick Tobey is responsible for driving the development and commercialization of Coskata's proprietary technology platform.
Prior to joining Coskata, Dick spent 28 years developing and commercializing new products and processes for The Dow Chemical Company within their Ion Exchange, Anti-Microbial, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural business units. While at Dow, he demonstrated success in leading the research, development, scale-up and manufacture of both synthetic and natural product processes, including overseas assignments in Brindisi, Italy and Dublin, Ireland.
During his last 14 years at Dow, Dick was responsible for the development scale-up and manufacture of Dow's extremely successful insect control agent spinosad - a naturally occurring secondary metabolite insecticide - and winner of the 1998 EPA Green Chemistry Award.
During this time, he held a variety of positions including Global Technology Leader, Business Manufacturing Leader, and finally Site Manager for The Dow Chemical Company in Harbor Beach, Michigan.
Coskata fulfills a 30 year vision for Dick, as he has been an advocate for alternative energy since graduating from university on the heels of our nation's first energy crisis.
He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University
Dr. Rathin Datta
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Rathin Datta is a renowned chemical engineer with more than 32 years experience in developing and commercializing process and product technologies for both established and emerging companies.
Prior to joining Coskata as its Chief Scientific Officer, Rathin founded Vertic Biosolvents, a technology, manufacturing and marketing company dedicated to providing biologically-derived renewable resource alternatives to petroleum-based solvents. Prior to Vertec Biosolvents, Rathin was the Vice President of Research for the Michigan Biotechnology Institute, where he led the commercial development of lactic acid/polymer technology and the commercial development and successful implementation of a fluidized bed reactor for specific waste treatment technology.
Rathin has received numerous awards and commendations for his work, including Discover Magazine's Environmental Technology of the Year Award in 1998; a Presidential Green Chemistry Award in 1998; an Ernst W. Thiele Award, sponsored by Amoco and the AIChE, in 1996; and a R&D 100 award for development of an electrodeionization technology with Argonne National Laboratory.
Rathin holds more than 20 U.S. patents across bioproducts, separations and bioprocess technologies, and has published more than 40 papers in the areas of bioproducts, fermentation, separation, enzyme catalysis, energy conversion and process economics. Rathin holds a Bachelors Degree in Technology from IIT Kanpur in India, and received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton University.
Jeff Burgard
Vice President of
Engineering
As Vice President of Engineering, Jeff Burgard is responsible for
helping drive the commercialization of Coskata's proprietary technology
platform.
Prior to joining Coskata, Jeff was a Senior level Engineering
Director for UOP LLC, a leading international supplier and licensor of
process technology, catalysts, absorbents, process plants, and
consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas
processing industries. In his 27 years, Jeff held various positions
within the company helping develop his broad experience in engineering
design, design development, project management, basic and detailed
engineering, and overall administrative management.
Most recently, Jeff managed the worldwide design development, basic
design, detailed engineering, procurement, fabrication, and installation
of all major Process Equipment and Fabricated Systems for UOP.
Jeff holds a B.S. in general engineering from the University of
Illinois and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
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