People

Dr. Rob Becker is founder of Environex Inc. He is known for his expertise in catalytic reaction engineering and has over 30 years of experience in the petrochemical, mineral processing and catalytic emission control fields.

Rob is the author of numerous patents and publications and has edited a book on Computer Aided Catalyst Design. He has developed many emission control catalyst formulations for automobiles and stationary combustion gases, has organized technical conferences and was the technical advisor to an arbitration tribunal in a major industrial dispute. He advises mining, chemical and power companies on technology development and strategic process improvements.

Rob has a BChE from the University of Witwatersrand and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware. He has developed and teaches several technical short courses.

Dave Wallace is responsible for directing the company’s projects pertaining to process technology development and technology evaluation and assessment, plant design and commissioning, engineering consulting, and plant performance audits. His responsibilities also include management of Environex’s products related to market research and forecast of raw material requirements in the automobile catalyst industry and coordination of spent PGM containing materials recycling projects.

Dave has been active in the PGM refining and application development industries since 1993. Notable projects include engineering design, commissioning and audits of catalyst manufacturing facilities, coordination and development of new precious metals refineries and PGM refining technologies and independent audits of nickel mining and refining projects. Dave holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Erica King specializes in market and technology research on projects ranging from mineral processing and mining plans to forecasting precious metal demand and supply from recycled automotive catalyst. She projects the impact of technology developments on materials demand and applications using long and short-term forecasting techniques which are specialized for the PGM industry.

Erica is responsible for preparing analyses for clients strategic planning. Her duties include analysis of current trends in the automotive industry, including consumer preferences and powertrain technology development, and the catalytic emission control technologies to meet ever-increasing emission standards. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Al Schweizer is a leading international expert in the field of petroleum catalysis and catalytic process engineering. His experience is in zeolite and other microporous material synthesis, modifications and properties as catalyst and sorbents. He holds over 50 patents in catalysts and catalytic processes, including several on fluid catalytic cracking and separations which have achieved widespread commercialization in the fuels and chemicals industries.

Al was a senior scientist with The Dow Chemical Company in the Dow Hydrocarbons & Energy R&D organization where he worked in catalyst and process development activities in both Core R&D and the Hydrocarbons R&D organizations. He previously worked with Exxon Mobil in 2000 for 33+ years, where he worked in the commercial development and implementation of catalysts and sorbents.

Al holds a B.S. in Secondary Education from West Chester University, an M.S. in Chemistry from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (with H. B Gray). He is a member of the American Chemical Society, The International Zeolite Association, North American Catalysis Society and Sigma Xi.

Dan Ott has over 17 years of experience in SCR and other air pollution control system design, maintenance and troubleshooting. He heads the stationary power plant catalyst maintenance and management services of Environex.

Dan has expertise in the emissions control system design, specification, selection, costing, and maintenance for combustion turbines, boilers and IC engines. He routinely performs analyses of power plant emissions control systems, reagent injection systems, catalyst sampling/testing, system troubleshooting and catalyst reactor design to optimize performance and determine the expected life of emission control systems and catalysts. He has developed and designed catalyst rejuvenation technology.

Dan holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Penn State University, and a Master of Chemical Engineering degree from Villanova University.

Joe Otto provides risk mitigation and budget planning services through engineering analysis of catalytic emission control systems for the power industry. He has extensive experience with SCR systems on coal boilers, simple-cycle turbines and combined-cycle turbines where he provides catalyst sampling, data analysis, system inspection and troubleshooting services.

His responsibilities include SCR system design, sizing, testing, and troubleshooting, AIG design, HRSG flow distribution, and system performance optimization. He develops bids and technical specifications for SCR systems and manages contracts for SCR system management and catalyst testing. Joe holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and is working on his Master of Business Administration from Penn State University’s Smeal College of Business.

Ted is a project engineer in the industrial catalyst division, providing service for SCR and CO catalyst systems and specializing in simple-cycle and combined-cycle turbines. He is experienced in system inspection/audits, sampling, AIG tuning, and troubleshooting of SCR systems for power generation and industrial facilities. Ted holds a Bachelor's Degree in Materials Science and Engineering, and a Master's Degree in Engineering Management from Johns Hopkins University.