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President & CEO
Claude Letourneau is an industrial projects veteran who brings to Svante a broad range of experience leading large world-class projects. His leadership style is underscored by effort, energy, and excitement – the 3Es of visionary thinkers. At ease bringing about change, Mr. Letourneau will leverage his 30 years’ experience in advanced technology development and commercialization to help steer the company to be a global leader in building a CO2 Marketplace.
Previously, Claude held senior management roles with Canam Group Inc., SNC-Lavalin Inc., and Kontron Embedded Computers AG. He also founded two technology companies, Vaperma, Inc. (membrane-based gas separation) and Avestor Inc. (thin-film lithium polymer battery).
These past experiences provide the necessary insight for the bilingual executive to forge new strategic alliances and partnerships with like-minded industry leaders and to guide the company’s scaling-up of the business with an aggressive time-to-market game plan.
Claude received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Chemical Engineering from University Laval, Quebec.
Co-Founder and Vice President Strategic Accounts & Government Affairs
Brett Henkel’s unabashed optimism tempered by his mechanical engineering background and gas separation experience combine to bring a rare perspective to his position on Svante’s executive team.
Transferring the company’s breakthrough CO2 capture technology to customers’ sites will rely heavily on Brett’s strengths for identifying and understanding the technical and business details and relating those details to partners’ teams, approving agencies, and stakeholders.
As co-founder, he was instrumental in creating the process and the hardware used to prove the technology’s effectiveness as well as mobilizing external support throughout the path to becoming a successful innovation. These experiences strengthened his knowledge of business development and program management priorities.
Prior to launching Svante, Mr. Henkel was the program manager for QuestAir Technologies’ compact hydrogen production system with its partner, ExxonMobil. He is credited with designing the world’s first solenoid-driven rapid pressure swing adsorption test station.
Brett received his Bachelor of Science in Physics, with distinction, and a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Victoria.
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Matt brings a unique background in finance, energy, and technology to Svante, combining the skills of a strategic finance professional with the problem-solving approach of a chemical engineer and broad experience in the capital markets and the energy sector.
Matt is responsible for managing Svante’ strategic initiatives and fundraising efforts, striving to find the right partners and investors to continue to fuel the company’s path towards commercializing a breakthrough energy technology. Matt also oversees the finance operations, commercial and legal aspects of Svante’ business, ensuring the company is positioned to scale rapidly with best practices in place.
In his role, Matt leans heavily on past technical and corporate finance roles touching upstream and downstream oil and gas, oilfield services, energy infrastructure and utilities, as well as corporate development and capital project experience in the commodity chemicals and alternative fuels space.
His career began with early career technical roles in upstream oil and gas and process engineering, followed by equity research, corporate finance and M&A advisory roles with a multinational investment bank. Most recently, Mr. Stevenson was in corporate development with Methanex, one of the world’s largest producers of methanol— a commodity chemical and increasingly important alternative fuel.
Matt holds a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering as well as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) professional designation.
Vice President Research & Development
Pierre is responsible for the strategy, planning, direction, and execution of all R&D activities for structured adsorbents at Svante. Dr. Hovington joined Svante in 2017 to set-up a microstructure characterization laboratory for sorbent nano-materials. He was also instrumental in scaling up the manufacturing process to make structured adsorbent beds (filters) to supply our 30 tonnes per day demonstration plant at Husky. Pierre is a world-expert in characterization and post-mortem analysis of metallic lithium polymer and lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicle applications.
Pierre has earned a BASc degree in engineering physics from Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal and a PhD from University of Sherbrooke and University of Tennessee where he works at Oak Ridge National Lab to develop a Monte Carlo expert program for the simulation of electrons in mater. He is the co-author of more than 10 patents, has published over 130 papers in peer review journal, and was invited speakers in several conferences.
Vice President, Finance and Internal Controls
Karen Miller leads Svante’s financial reporting, accounting, tax reporting, and treasury functions, among others. As part of the senior management team, Karen supports the Board of Directors in the development and execution of the overall corporate financial strategy.
She held senior management roles with The Rick Hansen Foundation, Spectrum Signal Processing, and QuestAir Technologies. As Interim CFO of QuestAir, Karen contributed to the completion of the merger between QuestAir and Xebec Adsorption. As Controller, she contributed to QuestAir’s initial public offering, the first company to list on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Alternative Investment Market, a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange.
Karen holds the following professional designations: Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) & Certified General Accountant (CGA).
Vice President Product
Guy is a highly experienced manufacturing and engineering leader. Starting his career in automotive design and engineering with companies such as Jaguar and Land Rover, Guy has enjoyed a career of helping teams in the UK and Canada grow in capability to successfully develop new products and new manufacturing processes in multiple industries.
As a Lean Manufacturing champion, Guy has a track record of nurturing team engagement and instilling the Lean principles of respect, waste reduction and continuous improvement resulting in a track record of performance and profitability optimization.
Guy holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Royal Leamington Spa College.
General Counsel
Andrew practices in the area of corporate law with a focus on Canadian, cross-border and international mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. He represents a number of publicly traded and private companies in financing, M&A, negotiation of commercial agreements, and ongoing governance and disclosure matters. He has advised boards of directors, special committees, investment bankers; private equity, venture capital and alternative investment funds.
Vice President Health, Safety, Environment & Community (HSEC)
Rocco Meraglia, CRSP, ASP, Dip. OHS is responsible for overall Health Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) oversight and governance related to compliance HSEC standards. Rocco has over 35 years’ experience in health, safety, environment, community and emergency services implementation on major projects and operational sites globally.
Rocco specializes in mining, construction, oil and gas construction management health and safety. Rocco has worked on some of the largest projects in the world including Ground Zero, Katrina Relief efforts, Mega Mining Construction Projects (Ekati Diamond Mine, Diavik Diamond Mine, Voisey Bay Nickel, Baffinland, Snap Lake Diamond Mine, Panama’s Mina de Cobre, Ambatovy Nickel-Madagascar, Baro Alto Project), numerous Oil/Gas & Power projects as the field and corporate HSSE Director and VP of HSE for multiple mining and EPCM organizations.
Vice President, Corporate Development
Kent is responsible for corporate development and strategic planning at Svante, working closely with other members of the senior management team to set the strategic direction of the company and execute transformational corporate projects, transactions, and other priority initiatives critical to the successful scale-up of the business.
After beginning his career in international management consulting focused on business process transformation, Mr. Alekson shifted to corporate finance, initially working with a leading Canadian investment bank on capital raising and M&A advisory mandates across several industries. Prior to joining Svante, Kent spent 14 years with a major international maritime shipping company in core roles focused on corporate development, capital raising, treasury and investor relations and leading cross-functional teams to deliver strategic corporate initiatives.
Kent holds an MBA in Finance and Strategy from York University in Toronto and undergraduate degree in Bio-Resource Engineering from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Vice President Global Supply Chain
Tom leads the Global Supply Chain function at Svante. He is charged with building a network of strategic partners to deliver our carbon capture vision.
After a career in management consulting with a specialization in Distribution and Logistics, Tom held senior Supply Chain leadership roles in the fuel cell industry, advanced hybrid vehicles, and industrial distribution. His work experience spans Canada, the US, Europe and Asia.
Tom received a Bachelor of Science degree with High Honours in Physics, and a Master of Science degree in Nuclear Physics, both from the University of Saskatchewan. He received an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Tom holds a Certified Management Consultant designation, a Certificate in Production and Inventory Management, and is a designated Supply Chain Management Professional.
Vice President Technical Services
Becky Gardiner, CEng IChemE, has almost 20 years in plant design and operation, 10 of these dedicated specifically to Carbon Capture.
Becky’s role within Svante is to lead the Plant Process Engineering group and the Data Monitoring & Advanced Analytics group. She is responsible for all plant process-related deliverables of Svante’s licensing technology package including process development, design, commissioning, testing & optimization of carbon capture gas processing plants for various industrial applications.
Her career started in the EPC power industry before taking a strong focus on Carbon Capture. Becky designed, commissioned and operated an in-house 1TPD CO2 liquid amine plant before applying analyzed operation data and design upgrades for installation of a 100TPD system at UK-based Ferrybridge coal-fired power plant under the government-funded CCPilot100+ project.
Becky joined Svante in 2015 and transitioned to solid sorbent-based CO2 Capture projects, where she has been responsible for leading and strengthening the Plant Process group to provide in-house designs for test stations, scoping studies for large applications, and product development projects. In 2019, Becky was lead for commissioning of a Svante 30TPD plant, based at Cenovus (previously Husky Energy) Pikes Peak South Thermal plant.
Becky’s background in Chemical/Process Engineering, as well as power plant design, commissioning & operation aids with the direction of the skilled Process Team.
Becky’s commitment, energy and passion for Carbon Capture is driven by her desire to see a reduction in the global carbon footprint.
Director, People & Culture
Tyler is responsible for People and Culture (HR) at Svante. He guides Svante’s People Roadmap to deliver business success and leads a team who creates an enriching employee experience for all Svante employees.
He is an experienced People and Culture Leader, who has worked in high-tech, software, biotechnology, construction, and engineering sectors, as well as executive search. Tyler partners with organizations to scale-up in high growth, while supporting people to reach their potential.
Tyler earned a Bachelor of Commerce from the Sauder School of Business. He is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources, Senior Certified Professional in the Society for Human Resources Management, certified in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicators, and is a ProSci Certified Change Practitioner.
Dr. Steven Chu
Nobel Laureate and Former US Secretary of Energy
Steven Chu is currently the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University. He served as Secretary of Energy in the first Obama administration.
Before serving as Energy Secretary, Dr. Chu was Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Chu won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997 for “development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.”
Steven Berkenfeld
Chairman
Steven Berkenfeld is the founder and principal of Ecotopia Consulting, recently retired as a Managing Director in Investment Banking at Barclays where he served as senior sponsor of the Environmental and Social Impact Banking Initiative, was co-head of the firm’s Cleantech Initiative, and led the banking effort for Emerging Industrial Technology companies Former chair of the board of the Sierra Club Foundation, and sponsor and board member of several projects and organizations focused on social impact and sustainability.
Marc Van Den Berg
Investment Managing Director OGCI Climate Investments
Marc is the Managing Director of OGCI’s Climate Investment Venture Capital arm. He is a member of the firm’s investment committee and an active investor and director of the venture-investing arm of Exelon Corporation, where he was responsible for sourcing, structuring, and managing new investments at the intersection of energy, sustainability, transportation, and smart cities. Curtis holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
During Marc’s tenure in venture investing he has backed numerous successful companies in the sustainability sector including Tesla Motors, Space X, Bridgelux, Amprius, Apeel Sciences, iWatt, Kinetic, Liquid Robotics, Superior Sensor, ZincFive, Ostara, Glo Semi and Kaiam Inc. During Marc’s last fund, 40North, he backed notable sustainable infrastructure companies such as Proterra, Volta, ZincFive and interesting industrial bets such as Everactive, Menlo Micro, Poka, Aras Communications, Desktop Metal, Join.digital, Tomorrow.IO, Anello Photonics and Latent AI.
Prior to his venture capital career, Marc spent 25 years in both venture backed startups and multi-national public companies in Silicon Valley and abroad.
Marc is a graduate of Santa Clara University with a degree in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis on high energy physics. Marc is active at Santa Clara; serving on the board of the Business School’s Center of innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is also Chairman of the Board of Santa Clara’s Engineering school. Additionally, Marc serves as an advisor to various Universities and US National Labs including UC Davis, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, MIT, PNNL, LLNL, and others.
Tim E. Vail
Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO, Arbor Renewable Gas LLC
Tim Vail has a long career of successfully building energy companies in the downstream and alternative energy arena. His latest venture, Arbor Renewable Gas, focuses on the conversion of waste wood biomass into pure hydrogen at industrial scale for chemical producers and refiners.
Prior to Arbor, Tim founded G2X Energy in May of 2012. Tim’s central role at G2X was developing, financing, and building of world scale energy infrastructure projects, using proprietary processes and a proven execution team, that convert abundant natural gas into methanol and ultimately automotive gasoline. Since the founding of G2X, Tim grew the business into one of the largest producers of methanol in the world, commissioning the world’s largest methanol plant located in Beaumont, Texas. In May of 2018, Tim sold G2X Energy to a group of private investors that included his largest investor, Consolidated Energy Limited of Zurich. Prior to his current position, Tim was President and CEO of Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc, a global developer of coal gasification facilities. During his tenure at SES, Tim successfully listed the company on the NASDAQ. Before SES, Tim held various leadership roles including Director of Commercialization of General Motors fuel cell program, head of alternative energy technologies at Enron Corporation and an MLP securities law practice with Andrews & Kurth.
Tim holds a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and a B.A. in Economics from The University of Texas at Austin. He resides in Houston, Texas with his wife, Elizabeth, and eighteen-year-old twins, Peter and Alexandra.
Damien Vacherot
Vice President at Temasek International
Damien is a Director at Temasek responsible for investment activity in the Industrial and Energy sector, with a focus on the Clean Energy, Water and Waste sectors.
Prior to joining Temasek, Damien worked as an investment banker with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London.
Damien holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Colgate University.
Roger Strauch
Chairman, The Roda Group
Roger Strauch is chairman of The Roda Group, an early stage venture capital group, based in Berkeley, California. Roger co-founded the firm with Dan Miller in 1997.
The firm is focused on investment opportunities that address the consequences of climate change, stress on the Earth’s natural resources and the increased demand for low carbon energy. The Roda Group is lead or co-lead investors in: mOasis, Svante, Gridtential Energy, Inc., which has developed an advanced lead acid battery that incorporates semiconductor wafers inside the battery to greatly increase performance in energy storage applications; and Axine Water Technologies, which has developed a low cost and chemical-free solution for treating industrial wastewater.
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