2026 Fall Speakers Bio and Presentation page

Educational Sessions - Day 1 - Tuesday, September 15, 2026 from 8am - 5pm

Educational Sessions - Morning


Joe Liotta
Sr. Manager, Product Engineering
NOV

BOP R&D Testing: From Vision to Validation – A Case Study
Fifteen years ago, a new approach to BOP qualification testing was developed with the goal of creating a more capable, efficient, and reliable testing facility. This presentation revisits that original vision, examines how the laboratory has performed in practice, and shares key lessons learned product development, qualification, and field reliability. The case study highlights how long-term investment in testing infrastructure has delivered value beyond its original expectations.

Joe has16 years of experience at NOV, working in blowout preventer product development and support, seals, and proprietary elastomers.

Susheel Kumar Gupta
Technology Lead - Completions
SLB

Well Completions Seals: Powering the Transition from Conventional to New Energy

Susheel Kumar Gupta is a Lead, Excellence in Engineering at SLB and a recognized expert in wellbore sealing and anchoring technologies. With over 13 years of experience, he has developed innovative solutions for deepwater, HPHT, and complex completions. Today, he advances sealing technologies for CCUS, geothermal (EGS), and emerging energy systems. He serves as Chair of API 19OH and API 19SS, contributes to API 19CCUS, and actively supports the SPE community as Assocaite Editor.

Edward Kossa
Senior Project Engineer
Baker Hughes

Developing Elastomers for Downhole Tools - Science or Blind Luck?
This presentation will delve into the methodology for developing elastomers for down-hole tools, it will focus on industry standards and how they are driving more robust products and, by default, more extensive testing programs.

Eddie Kossa is a Project Engineer for Baker Hughes with 29 years’ experience in completion technology. He managed the R&D Test Labs for 10 years focusing on HPHT testing. Eddie also aided the team that designed and built the Center for Technology Innovation (CTI). This technology center has seen almost 20 years of successful product development and qualification. Eddie currently works in the Engineer To Order (ETO) group at CTI and serves on the API 19AC, 11D1, 19F and 19DC committees.

Educational Sessions - Afternoon

Brent Volk
Principal Engineer - Nonmetallic Materials
ExxonMobil

Brent Volk is the Principal Engineer for Nonmetallic Materials at ExxonMobil with a PhD from Texas A&M University in Material Science & Engineering. Since joining ExxonMobil in 2018, Brent has led projects including fitness for service of onshore pipelines, qualification of thermoplastic composite pipe & subsea processing technologies, and growth of the Proxxima composite technology team. Brent’s current focus includes polymers & composites, elastomers & seals, and coatings & linings.


Dr. Ifeanyi Okpala, PMP
Global Products
Construction Manager
ExxonMobil

Dr. Ifeanyi Okpala, PMP, is Construction Manager for ExxonMobil’s Beaumont Area Projects organization, leading major capital projects that support Gulf Coast refining and chemical operations. A civil engineer with extensive experience in industrial infrastructure and construction management, he is passionate about advancing engineering through innovation, emerging technologies, and modern construction practices while mentoring the next generation of engineers

Proxxima in Practice: Adoption within ExxonMobil Projects
This presentation explores Proxxima™ resin systems and their role in advancing project performance through innovative material technology. Attendees will learn how ExxonMobil is applying Proxxima across coatings, infrastructure, marine, and subsea projects to improve efficiency, durability, and cost competitiveness. Real-world case studies demonstrate how material innovation is delivering measurable value across the global project portfolio.

Enzo Savino
NonMetallics, Principal Engineer
ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips: A Century of Exploration & Production
The deck summarizes ConocoPhillips’ 150-year evolution from Continental Oil to a pure-play E&P leader operating across ~14 countries. It highlights the industry shift from “easy” to “hard” barrels, where technology and capital discipline drive performance, and focuses on nonmetallics—polymers and composites for pipes, seals, and tanks—to reduce cost, corrosion, and emissions through field experience, standards, and additive manufacturing.

Enzo Savino is a Principal Engineer, Non-Metallics, with ConocoPhillips Global Technical Functions in Houston, Texas. He specializes in non-metallic materials, protective coatings, corrosion control, piping systems, and technical standards. He provides leadership in material selection, qualification testing, asset integrity, and risk-based decisions to improve reliability, safety, and long-term infrastructure performance.

Arthur Hale
Manager of Upstream Technical Support
Aramco Americas Company

Nonmetallic in Aramco
Corrosion in harsh downhole environments threatens well integrity and equipment life, making non-metallic materials an important option for future wells. The discussion highlights opportunities across intervention tools, liners, wellheads, and risers, then supports them with two research programs. One qualifies sealing materials for ultra-sour conditions involving extreme H2S, temperature, and pressure, enabling intervention equipment to be certified rather than assumed suitable. The other evaluates high-performance polymers under CO2 injection and storage conditions, showing that aging changes material behavior and must be considered in design. Together, the studies establish a qualification basis for broader deployment.

Arthur has been working in the oil field since 1966. He worked for Shell for 30 years and then moved to Aramco Americas in May of 2015. He got his PhD in 1975 from University of Illinois studying biochemical molecular biology. He joined Halliburton in 1982, then moved to ARCO IN 1984 and Shell in 1986. During those years, his main focus has been drilling, completions and production. He has worked all over the world from Nigeria to Sakhalin Russia, Malasia, Brunei, Canada and of course Europe.

Educational Sessions - Day 2 - Wednesday, September 16, 2026 from 8am - 11am

Justinn General
Partner
Umpisa

AI: Practical Intelligence for Energy
The presentation will focus on where AI stands in 2026. First by understanding the fundamentals, how it works and why it matters now. Also talk about how AI implementation could be done incorrectly, and what is the proper way to onboard this new tool. Finally, then look at some practical use cases currently being used and how it has the potential to transform businesses.

Justinn General is a commercial leader with technical expertise, spanning 12+ years across oil and gas, industrial manufacturing, energy transition, and now technology. He holds a BS in Nuclear Engineering and an MS in Materials Science Engineering from Texas A&M, plus an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Neil Mendes
CEO
Alpine Polytech

Market Update - From AI to Iran

Neil is the CEO of Alpine Polytech an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Accredited Laboratory providing material and equipment performance testing and consulting services. Prior to Co-founding Alpine Polytech, Neil spent 20 years with Greene, Tweed & Company, the last 15 years in executive management. From 2009-2014, Neil was Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Greene, Tweed Company, prior to that (2001-2009), he served as General Manager/Vice President of the Energy Business.

Nate Tuckerman
ZEON

When Standards Aren't Enough - Developing Innovative Tests to Solve Unique Problems
All tests are developed before becoming standards, but innovation often ceases once a method seems to work. While standards can guide development, overreliance on them can limit problem‑solving, especially for unique applications. Meeting specifications alone may overlook functional needs if those specs don’t reflect real‑world challenges. This presentation introduces a framework to assess test value, identify when new methods are needed, and explore strategies for innovative test development.

Nate Tuckerman is in the Applications Development team at Zeon Chemicals, L.P., supporting the Zetpol HNBR product line, addressing application challenges and improving material performance across the value chain. Before joining Zeon in 2024, he spent nearly eight years at Freudenberg‑NOK Sealing Technologies working in compound development, tooling concept development, test method development, and manufacturing support. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Detroit Rubber Group.

Technical Sessions - Day 3 - Wednesday, September 16, 2026 from 8am - 5pm

Moderator:

Alistair Gorrie
Head of Sales
Rubberatkins

Alistair is Head of Sales at Rubberatkins, a specialty elastomer and polymer solutions company serving the global energy industry. He supports customers across many disciplines, sectors, and applications, with a focus on commercial growth, partnerships, and technical solutions. Alistair works with operators, service companies, and OEMs to bring innovative polymer technologies to market. At this year’s EPG event, he will moderate the technical sessions and facilitate discussion across the group.




Bill Bisson
UTH North America

Innovations in Rubber Processing: Fine Mesh Straining and Gear Pump Solutions
This presentation discusses fine mesh straining applications using gear pump systems with various feeding technologies and integration concepts for mixing lines, offline strainer cells, and final extrusion lines. In addition, the influence of process parameters such as mesh size, rotor speed, and feeding type on rheological and physical compound properties are investigated.

Bill Bisson is the General Manager of UTH North America, bringing more than 30 years of experience in polymer manufacturing and technical equipment sales. Throughout his career, Bill has held leadership positions across the manufacturing sector, driving business growth, operational excellence, and market expansion. He holds a Master of Science in Management and is known for translating technical solutions into customer value.

Rachel Gould
Trelleborg

Under Pressure: Sealing in Extreme Conditions
Industry assumptions suggest a material's glass transition temperature increases roughly 1°C for every 50 bar of pressure. Our testing provides real-world data to quantify the actual pressure response of specific materials, often revealing behavior that differs from generalized estimates. Results also show that the choice of pressurization medium can significantly impact material performance, emphasizing the value of application-specific testing.

As the Laboratory Systems Coordinator for the R&D Materials Laboratory, I manage ISO 17025 accreditation, calibration, chemical, and safety systems while supporting a wide range of materials testing activities. Over the past two years, I have focused on commissioning a high-pressure DSC, enabling the generation of real-world material performance data under elevated pressure conditions and providing customers with deeper insight into material behavior in service environments.


Betty Huang
Sr. Engineer
Element Materials Technology

Material Life Estimation: "The Hidden Science Behind" How Long Will It Last?
This presentation is intended to elaborate on the fundamentals of material life estimation and clarify common pitfalls. The purpose is to design a meaningful test plan within an affordable budget. Examples involving rubber and plastic materials will be discussed.

Betty is a polymer Engineer with EMT; 18 years in the oil and gas industry. She spent 13 years at Baker Hughes in Well Completion and Wellbore Intervention tools specializing in elastomer and polymer materials. She is now working with Element Materials Technology, where she focuses on a wide range of material property evaluations and fluid immersion testing. Betty also serves as a committee member of API 20, ISO 23936. In spare time, she enjoys church activities, photography, music and travel.


Brendan Rodgers
Engineer
ELL Technologies

Elastomers for Severe Service, High Temperature and Pressure Application
Review covers oil and gas, FKM, HNBR, and EPDM, factors driving attainment of mechanical properties, potential for graphene and other compounding raw materials

Brendan Rodgers is with ELL Technologies LLC, in Austin Texas


Ricardo Betancourt
Product Engineering Manager
Utex Industries

Predictive Cure Optimization of Large Compression Molded Rubber Components Using Coupled Rheological Characterization and Transient FEA Thermal Analysis
This presentation covers a cure time optimization for large compression molded rubber parts combines material characterization with predictive thermal analysis. A rubber encapsulated wedge seal is used as a case study, coupling rheological properties with transient FEA heat transfer to predict cure state over time. Temperatures are validated experimentally, and cure state confirmed via RPA and DSC; reducing processing time while ensuring full cure and material performance.

Ricardo Betancourt is a Product Engineering Manager at UTEX Industries with over 10 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. He is focused on new product development, most actively in design validation through predictive analytical methods, as well as empirical methods. His expertise lies in the understanding of hyperelastic and viscoelastic properties of polymers and their impact in product design. He holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Baylor University.


Will Tilford
Principal Scientist
Syensqo Specialty Polymers

Amodel Supreme for Energy Applications
Amodel® Supreme is a new PPA polymer that boasts the industry’s highest Tg of 165°C, giving design engineers a wider temperature range without encountering a thermal transition, easing some design considerations. The high Tg also helps to deliver higher mechanical performance than traditional PPA between 140-200°C. 

For twenty-five years, I have worked in chemical & materials manufacturing bringing innovations out of the laboratory into mass production.  For over a decade, I have supported new developments in Syensqo’s portfolio of semi-crystalline thermoplastic product lines, with focus on sustaining existing and scaling new polymer resins.


Dr. Thomas Webber
Research Scientist
Greene Tweed

NFS and PFAS-Free Elastomers with Low Temperature Flexibility and Rapid Gas Decompression Resistance
Energy applications in hydrogen, CCUS, and oil and gas demand elastomer seals that deliver ultra‑low temperature performance and rapid gas decompression (RGD) resilience with NFS and PFAS-free alternatives. Greene Tweed developed two solutions: low‑temperature Fusion® 938 NFS FKM and PFAS‑free EPM 893. Both materials were evaluated for mechanical properties, sour gas / alkaline resistance, and hydrogen compatibility and passed RGD testing in supercritical CO₂ and ISO RGD standards.

Dr. Thomas Webber is a Research Scientist at Greene Tweed where he develops advanced elastomer seals for energy applications using polymer formulation, compounding, and structure-property relationships.

Thomas earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara where his research centered on polymer science and polymer-water interactions studied using advanced spectroscopy. The research was part of a center advancing the next generation of water.


Harshith Nadipelli
Research Assistant
University of Houston

Harshith Nadipelli is a Chemical Engineering graduate from the University of Houston. His research focuses on polymer degradation and the effects of high-temperature and high-pressure environments on materials for energy applications. He has experience in polymer processing, accelerated aging, and characterization using FTIR, DSC, TGA, DMA, and mechanical testing. His research interests include advanced polymers, structure-property relationships, and materials durability.



Soubarno Sen
Graduate Student
University of Houston

With a Master’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Houston and IIT Kanpur, I specialize in high-temperature, high-pressure polymer aging, electrocatalysis, and chemical analysis. At UH, I characterize polymer thermo-mechanical and chemical performance across defined temperature-pressure-fluid envelopes to establish structure-property relationships and degradation mechanisms. I also research formic acid electrooxidation using gas chromatography and potentiostat analysis.

High-Pressure High-Temperature Degradation of Plastics in Carbon Dioxide: Structural Changes, Mechanical Properties, and Degradation Mechanisms