Microbiome Water Summit 2017 Guest Speakers and Panelists

Keynote speaker, Professor Jack A Gilbert earned his Ph.D. from Unilever and Nottingham University, UK in 2002, and received his postdoctoral training at Queens University, Canada. He subsequently returned to the UK in 2005 to Plymouth Marine Laboratory at a senior scientist until his move to Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago in 2010. Read more...

Dr. Sara Arabi is a wastewater process engineer at Donohue and Associates and holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Western University (Canada). Dr. Arabi has 13 years of experience in environmental consulting, research, and process engineering for water/wastewater treatment. Read more...

John Baker is a Business Development Executive at Intrexon, an innovator in DNA science and technology that applies engineering principles to biology to create or modify molecules, cells, organisms and processes to solve important problems in the living world. John has over 40 years’ experience in environmental engineering in implementing new technologies for more cost-effective remediation, wastewater treatment, renewable energy and optimization of pollution control systems. Read more...
He previously had his own consulting business-Alan Environmental, LLC serving the waste, renewable energy and innovative treatment technologies for greater sustainable solutions.
He previously worked 23 years for Waste Management, Inc. most recently as the Director of New Technology, 2 years as consultant to USEPA Region V, and 5 years with the State of CA Water Quality Control Board.

Jeremy Cramer is a Senior Process Specialist for Donohue & Associates, Inc. and has 18 years of wastewater and water treatment experience. He is a licensed water and wastewater operator in the state of Wisconsin. Throughout his career, he has been involved in the management, operation, and maintenance of both wastewater and water treatment systems and facilities. Read more...

Dr. Leon Downing is a Senior Technologist with CH2M and serves as the East Region Technology Lead. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Leon then received his M.S. and PhD from the University of Notre Dame, focusing on process modeling and energy efficient biological nutrient removal. Read more...

Autumn Fisher is the Wastewater Superintendent at the Fond du Lac Regional Wastewater Treatment and Resource Recovery Facility in Wisconsin. Autumn has been with Fond du Lac for the past 9 years and was the 2016 WEF Laboratory Analyst Excellence Award Recipient. She is a graduate of UW-Oshkosh with a degree in Chemistry and has her Masters of Science in Project Management.

Dr. Trevor Ghylin is Co-Founder and CTO of Microbe Detectives a pioneer in applying DNA sequencing and metagenomic solutions to improve water quality, plant performance and resource recovery solutions. He is a professional water process engineer and holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from The University of Wisconsin, Madison. Read more...

Douglas Hwang. P.E., is President of CORNCOB, Inc., a water purification innovator that is disrupting the economics of centralized wastewater treatment, by enabling economically favorable, decentralized, wastewater purification and reuse of commercial and industrial wastewater. Douglas graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee 30 years ago and has been in the water/wastewater industry since. Read more...

Bryan Johnson, P.E., is President of Energy Tech Innovations (ETI), an innovator in biogas purification, upgrading biogas fuel quality to meet natural gas grade requirements. Bryan is a civil and environmental engineer with 30 years of experience in renewable bioenergy with a particular focus in biogas energy. He has successfully developed well in excess of $100M in bioenergy opportunities. Read more...

Troy Larson is a wastewater operations specialist for Strand Associates and has 25 years of experience in wastewater treatment. Troy has a BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater and is a certified wastewater treatment plant operator in the state of Wisconsin. Read more...

Rick Latella is President of DMR International (DMRI), an innovator in novel and safe antimicrobial solutions embedded in plastics such as water sanitizing pellets and coatings for water pipes, tanks and water contact surfaces. Rick has more than 30 years of experience leading large scale efforts to transfer emerging technologies from R&D to high volume manufacturing. Read more...

Chris Lefebvre is the Wastewater Superintendent with the City of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Chris graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Soil and Waste Resource Management. He holds Wisconsin DNR Advanced Certification in 6 Wastewater subclasses as well as Grade 1 Certification in 3 Drinking Water subclasses. Read more...

Dr. Alison Ling is an Environmental Engineer with Barr Engineering Company in Minneapolis, MN. At Barr, she is engaged in front-end design and troubleshooting for water and wastewater treatment projects and holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering and Molecular Biology from The University of Colorado at Boulder. Read more...

Timothy A. Marth is Vice President of MetaMateria Technologies, an innovator in decentralized nutrient removal strategies, uniquely solving water quality challenges created by non-point sources of nutrient contamination. Tim joined MetaMateria Technologies in 2014 as a senior manager to focus on Business Development and Product Manufacturing areas where he has considerable past experience. Read more...
Tim has over twenty years of accomplishments in advanced materials businesses. Tim is an experienced General Manager, Business Development Manager, Engineering Manager, Project Manager and Plant Manager, who has directed major aspects of four green field start-ups and served as project manager of three technology transfer projects. Tim is working directly with prospects and customers around the world to apply and demonstrate the unique value of MetaMateria. Tim is leading the commercialization of MetaMateria’s Water treatment technology and is passionate about its potential – he developed business plans and private placement requests to solicit funding and develop new markets. Tim has been a leader in Business Development and building Technical Sales through Applications Development for early stage advanced materials businesses. His accomplishments have been in diverse business environments; with Saint Gobain (a Fortune 100 company) for eleven years and new entrepreneurial-scale ventures since 2000. He is a proven hands-on commercial and technical leader with a track record of achievement defining and implementing strategic growth initiatives and plans for developing materials technologies.

Nick Menninga is the General Manager of the Downers Grove Sanitary District in Downers Grove, Illinois. He has over 30 years of experience in the municipal wastewater industry, including regulatory, consulting, and public utility management. Read more...

Kamlesh K. Patel, P.E. is a Senior Environmental Research Scientist with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and a professional engineering license in the State of Illinois for almost 23 years. Read more...
He possess first eight years of experience in the fields of construction, teaching and consulting in environmental science and engineering, followed by 25 plus years of experience in practicing environmental science and engineering with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District) in techno-legal, scientific, and techno-managerial positions.
During his first eight years of professional journey, he began to work as a resident engineer for residential construction projects. Thereafter, he became a professor and taught a number of civil and environmental engineering and applied science classes to undergraduate and graduate students. He successfully set-up and managed environmental science and engineering labs, including personnel issues, purchase and budget etc. He is proud to have played an important leadership role in setting up the first ever bachelor’s degree program in India in Environmental Engineering at the Gujarat University in 1984. He was also an active member in public services through professional and public organizations in India (such as the Indian Water Works Association and others) on a voluntary basis. In addition to teaching, he actively practiced consulting in environmental science and engineering.
During the later 24 plus years at the District, I have enforced the District’s Sewage and Waste Control Ordinance and User Charge Program in techno-legal arena for three years, while the remaining years until to date, I have functioned in the capacity of environmental research scientist and project manager for variety of projects. In many instances, I have even conceptually defined the technical projects and successfully managed to completion, which typically included technical work, supervising technical and non-technical personnel, and related purchase and budgetary matters.
A few of these projects include first ever use of on-line respirometry for energy savings in the aeration tanks (secured external funding from EPRI), Class A biosolids certification by the USEPA, nutrient management related research such as characterization of recycle streams at the District plants, WASSTRIP®, phosphorous removal and recovery, polymer selection for thickening and dewatering processes for all District plants, polymer use reduction, grit removal task force, co-digestion, co-fermentation, master planning, and resource recovery etc. I have been responsible for the last 18 plus years for managing polymer purchase (~$5 million a year) program at the seven District plants for sludge thickening and dewatering processes. I have worked closely with all seven District plants in addition to other sections of M&R and the Engineering and Law departments. I have presented many technical seminars and published papers.

Ms. Linda Robertson is President of International Microbial Associates and has worked in R&D and industrial applications for over 35 years. In her 14 years with Weyerhaeuser, she conducted research in numerous aspects of microbiology related to the forest products and paper industry as well as a variety of new market development projects that ranged from baby wipes to wood decay. Read more...
IMA’s current consulting profile includes specialty manufacturers, major paper/forest products companies, coating companies, appliance manufacturers, the US Chemical Safety Board, and new companies seeking advice on developing antimicrobial products.
Linda has presented papers for TAPPI, APPITA, CPPA, ECOPAPERTECH, and taught microbiology short courses in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and China for TAPPI and APPITA. She has taught short courses and problem solving in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, South Africa, Asia and North America. This has helped machines improve efficiency from 84% to 95%. She has helped mills resolve odor issues, catalase problems and evaluate competing vendor proposals for technical soundness.
Over her career she has written over 50 technical papers related to industrial microbiology. She has visited over 100 papermills and worked on problem solving issues in numerous other types of industrial processes.
A member of TAPPI for over 20 years, she has served as the Microbiology and Microbial Technology Chairperson and as the USA delegate for ISO TC6/SC2 on Dairyman’s methods for microbiological testing of paper. In addition to her biocide expertise she has been involved in many early alkaline conversions, research in water system closure, odor control, Dairyman’s grades programs, pulp & paper wastewater treatment and various aspects of paper system microbial control. A graduate of Washington State University in Microbiology with graduate work at the University of Washington, she is currently president of International Microbial Associates.

John Robinson is a Managing Principal at Mazarine Partners, an early stage private equity fund investing in water/wastewater technologies, and a Principal Consultant for Mandaran Environment, a water/wastewater technology consultancy providing advice on China strategy and operations. John is a recognized entrepreneur, consultant, investor, and thought-leader in the global water-tech industry. Read more...
China BlueTech Awards – Co- Organizer: An annual awards platform offering Chinese corporates and investors a look at international technologies | WEFTEC China Connections – Co-Organizer: Overseeing the China-related programming at the North America’s largest annual water-tech event | Current Water – Investment Committee, Co- Chair: The City of Chicago’s water-industry cluster
Through editorial contributions to industry publications, keynotes, workshops, and panel discussions, John’s China water industry insights and China water-tech connections are highly regarded.
With experience across nearly every water-tech subsector and contacts in most of China’s provinces, Mandarin Environment has been offering international water-tech executives insights on success in China and access to opportunities since 2008. More recently established investment firm Mazarine Partners, which John is a General Partner in, is capital partner to growth-stage North American, European, and Israeli water and wastewater technology companies. Increasingly the path to growth is in China, a market which Mazarine’s portfolio of companies succeed in thanks to John’s guidance.
Beyond China, John’s work as a strategy and operations consultant and investor has provided him with a global network of contacts across industrial, municipal, and residential water sub-sectors. He has demonstrated his collaborative nature by forging a wide range of strategic partnerships with universities, research institutions, industry associations, other consultancies and government ministries. John regularly co- hosts webinars with the US Dept. of Commerce on China’s water/wastewater business.
Prior to entering the water-tech industry, John held various sales, marketing, and consulting roles in Motorola, DTZ, and Deloitte. John completed his undergraduate studies in Political Science at Denison University, then went on to complete his graduate work on China’s macro economy and environment at Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). A Chicago native and consummate China hand, John has been in the China trade for 18 years, 10 years in China’s water-tech business, 7 years living in China, and is fluent in Mandarin.

John Tillotson is the CEO of Microbe Detectives. He is a seasoned biotechnology executive, with a passion for innovation, clean water and environmental sustainability. Mr. Tillotson brings a unique background in both water and data technologies, and is a serial entrepreneur focused on identifying disruptive innovations and bringing them to mainstream markets. Read more...

Dr. Van Bonn is Vice President of Animal Health at Shedd Aquarium, and senior leader of the Shedd Microbiome Project. Dr. Van Bonn has adjunct assistant clinical professor status at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, as well as an adjunct faculty appointment at Michigan State University, a position that provides him access to the High Performance Computing Center, which will aid Shedd Aquarium’s analysis of microbiome data. Read more...
