Microbiome Water Summit 2017 Guest Speakers and Panelists

Currently, Professor Gilbert is the Director of the Microbiome Center and a Professor of Surgery at the University of Chicago. He is also Group Leader for Microbial Ecology at Argonne National Laboratory, Research Associate at the Field Museum of Natural History, Scientific Fellow at the Marine Biological Laboratory, and the Yeoh Ghim Seng Visiting Professorship in Surgery at the National University of Singapore. Dr. Gilbert uses molecular analysis to test fundamental hypotheses in microbial ecology. He has authored more than 250 peer reviewed publications and book chapters on metagenomics and approaches to ecosystem ecology. He is the founding Editor in Chief of mSystems journal. In 2014 he was recognized on Crain’s Business Chicago’s 40 Under 40 List, and in 2015 he was listed as one of the 50 most influential scientists by Business Insider, and in the Brilliant Ten by Popular Scientist. In 2016 he won the Altemeier Prize from the Surgical Infection Society, and the WH Pierce Prize from the Society for Applied Microbiology for research excellence.

Her primary background and area of expertise is wastewater treatment plant design, evaluation, and optimization for municipal and industrial applications including landfill leachate, food/beverage, and power/metals for facilities in the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Arabi’s specific expertise includes design, optimization, and troubleshooting of Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) plants, computer simulation of biological wastewater treatment processes using BioWin®, bench and pilot treatability studies, and process design/evaluation. As a Professional Engineer registered in Ontario and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer, Dr. Arabi participates in industry organizations including the Water Environment Federation (WEF), Illinois Water Environment Association (IWEA), Environment Research and Education Foundation (EREF), Water Environment Association of Ontario (WEAO), and Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA) with publications in the wastewater treatment and solid waste practice areas. She has published her work in several peer-reviewed journals and presented at several national and international conferences. Dr. Arabi is actively involved in WEF publication sub-committees/Task Forces with authorship and peer review of Manual of Practices (MOP), including MOP 35 (Biofilm Reactor), 36 (MBR), and 37 (Nutrient Removal) and the Nutrient Roadmap. Dr. Arabi was the primary author for the “Process Control with DO and ORP” chapter for MOP 37 and for “Membrane Biofouling” chapter for MOP 35.

His current position is Senior Director BD & Commercialization, Environment Sector, Intrexon Corporation: Implement Intrexon’s Biotechnology applications for environmental remediation and conversion of wastes to value. Assist in development of partnerships, JVs, Exclusive Channel Collaborators and M&A. Presently seeking industrial partners to assist with development, demonstration and commercialization of Intrexon’s engineered microbe that is anticipated to degrade fully 1,4 dioxane in situ and ex situ bioreactors. Also assisting in using Intrexon’s biotechnology capabilities to increase efficacy of various wastewater treatment applications. Invasive species control, vector control, cloning, biopesticides, biofertilizers and environmental medicine are also other applications with Intrexon’s synthetic biology.

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.

Under his guidance, two different wastewater facilities have been recognized for operation and performance and have won Utility of the Future Today Awards from WEF. He has also overseen the operation and maintenance of sanitary liftstations, stormwater liftstations, and drinking water wells. Mr. Cramer has had a tremendous amount of experience in the area of wastewater treatment with focus areas in anaerobic digestion, biological nutrient removal, and energy efficient operations. Mr. Cramer holds a B.S. degree in biology and a M.S. degree in business management.

Over the past decade, Dr. Downing has focused on the application of process modeling, innovative technologies, and operational strategies within the wastewater treatment field.  Leon has most recently been contributing the shift in our industry from wastewater treatment to resource recovery.  Leon was the vice chair and contributing author for the recent WEF publication Moving Towards Resource Recovery Facilities, he has served on the Issue Area Team for the WERF Resource Recovery Challenge research program, and he has been involved with the evaluation, design, and/or operation of multiple energy efficiency, biogas utilization, and struvite harvesting projects.

Dr. Ghylin is passionate about harnessing innovation to utilize and protect water and energy resources and the environment. Dr. Ghylin is a licensed Professional Engineer and holds a Class IV wastewater treatment operators license in the state of Wisconsin. He has a B.S. degree from the University of North Dakota – Grand Forks in Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Ghylin is very active in professional societies including the Water Environment Federation (Technical Committee for CSWEA Annual Conference) and Engineers without Borders (Marquette University Mentor). He has also spoken at Regional and National Conferences (CSWEA Annual Seminar, Madison, WI; WEFTEC, Chicago). He has a breadth of experience in environmental projects including greenhouse gas analyses, sustainability assessments, PCB cleanup in rivers as well as drinking water treatment and contaminated site remediation. Additionally, he has gained a deep understanding of environmental protection and water issues by working on numerous wastewater planning and design projects.

Doug worked for the first 10 years of his career as corporate environmental engineer and manager for a couple of fortune 500 companies. He founded PRO-Equipment in 1997 and CORNCOB in 2014 and have been providing equipment components and solutions to his clients. He co-invented the patent-pending CORNCOB HVCF technology and is super excited to bring its enormous applications to Change Water, Change Lives, especially in developing countries.

His work has included identifying beneficial local synergies, considering environmental factors and siting constraints, facilitating the evolution of bioenergy project concepts, and implementing technology, all the way through to operating projects. He has detailed knowledge in design, construction and operation of bioenergy projects involving electric generation, co-generation heat recovery, alternate fuel replacements for industry, and gas processing applications to convert low quality raw biogas into a natural gas quality grade fuel as a replacement for a variety of fossil energy sources. A number of these biogas energy projects have received national recognition. Some of Mr. Johnson’s most recent work has involved a number of digester studies and working for a client to develop a $20M first-of-a-kind (in North America) anaerobic community digester system. This system collects high-strength liquid organic wastes from area food processors to produce 2 MW’s of cogeneration power while providing thermal energy to the client’s facilities. Mr. Johnson’s newly formed company, Energy Tech Innovations, LLC (ETI) is presently in the process of commercializing a new low-cost patent pending biogas upgrading system that produces Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) using water as a natural solvent to purify the gas. Mr. Johnson holds a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and BS in Geology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

He has considerable experience troubleshooting activated sludge systems and with biological nutrient removal. He received the 2016 Coby Crabtree award, an honor that is awarded to a Wisconsin Wastewater Operator Association member for excellence in technical support provided to others in the field of wastewater treatment. Troy has contributed troubleshooting techniques as an author of the Water Environment Federation’s Manual of Practice 30 titled Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) Operation in Wastewater Treatment Plants.

Demonstrating significant efficacy against numerous pathogens, NOVEX-AMG™ has demonstrated greater than 99.999% reduction efficacy against E. coli and iron bacteria in patented well-water systems technology. Rick has more than 30 years of experience leading large scale efforts to transfer emerging technologies from R&D to high volume manufacturing.

Chris was employed by the Village of Whiting for 5 years as their Assistant Utilities Manager before taking a Wastewater Operator position with the City of Stevens Point. He was promoted to Chief Wastewater Operator in 2012, and in 2014 he was promoted to his current position of Wastewater Superintendent. Throughout his time with the City of Stevens Point he has played an integral role in the facility becoming one of WEF’s Utilities of the Future Today.

Her work includes process modeling, bench testing, and technical advising for clients in the power, mining, food and beverage, and municipal sectors. Ali completed her PhD at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she split her time between the Environmental Engineering and Molecular Biology departments, and was co-advised by Norm Pace, an early pioneer in the field of 16S community analysis. For her PhD work, she analyzed microbial communities associated with concrete corrosion in wastewater collection systems and characterized correlations between microbial community trends and environmental metadata.

Tim leads sales & market development efforts for MetaMateria. Tim was educated as a Ceramic Engineer at the University of Illinois, and continually enhances his knowledge through Executive education courses.
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.

He currently serves as the chair of the energy technical subcommittee for the Illinois Association of Wastewater Agencies, and co-chairs the energy workgroup for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. He is a registered professional engineer and a licensed Class 1 wastewater treatment plant operator in Illinois. He is also a diplomate of environmental engineering with the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.

He is a member in various professional bodies, currently contributing to the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) LIFT projects in the areas of grit, PAA disinfection, co-digestion, struvite, sludge thickening and dewatering related projects and an MOP 11 review.

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.

At Nalco, her work resulted in 12 patents related to biocides and deposit control of microbes in industrial systems, new product development and applied research and technical service at mill sites throughout the globe.

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.

A recognized leader in the global water/wastewater technology sector. Managing Principal of Mazarine Partners: An early stage private equity fund investing in water/wastewater technologies and Principal Consultant of Mandarin Environment: A water/wastewater technology consultancy providing advice on China strategy and operations.

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.

In addition to his role with Microbe Detectives, Mr. Tillotson is a coach for The Water Council’s water tech startup accelerator – BREW. He was formerly the Chief Marketing Officer of Phigenics, an innovator in preventing waterborne diseases from building water systems, such as Legionnaires’ disease. He was also the VP of Sales and Marketing for nPhase, an Internet-of-Things cloud platform. Mr. Tillotson played a key role in launching nPhase and continued on as a member of the executive team through the Qualcomm acquisition in 2006 and Verizon acquisition in 2012. He had an award-winning career at Nalco, commercializing multi-million dollar technology innovations such as TRASAR, STABREX, and SensorWatch. As an independent consultant he worked with the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Institute and the United Nations Institute of Training and Research to reduce the use of toxic chemicals. He holds an MS in Civil Engineering from Tufts University.

The Shedd Aquarium Microbiome Project is the world’s first comprehensive look at microbiomes in a controlled aquarium ecosystem and how they influence complex environmental conditions and animal health. Shedd Aquarium along with Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Illinois, Illinois Institute of Technology and the United States Department of Agriculture started this project to explore the unique relationships between the countless unseen living organisms that share our exhibit environments with the animals that live there. With more than 30 years of clinical veterinary experience, Dr. Bill Van Bonn strengthens the Shedd Aquarium’s established animal care and health expertise, overseeing its diverse aquatic medicine initiatives as well as furthering innovative veterinary science. Dr. Van Bonn specializes in preventive medicine and enhanced clinical veterinary services for aquatic animals, with a focus on marine mammals. He works with Shedd’s animal health team to incorporate cutting-edge techniques and state-of-the-art equipment that provide a holistic approach to care for Shedd’s 32,000 animal residents. 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.

Dr. Wells’ doctoral research was focused on elucidating the diversity and relative importance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and newly discovered ammonia-oxidizing archaea in nitrifying wastewater treatment plants, and on employing nitrifier microbial ecology to recover energy from nutrient removal processes. After receiving his Ph.D., Wells spent nearly 2.5 years as a postdoctoral scholar at Eawag-the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (near Zürich, Switzerland) studying the microbial ecology and process stability of a new class of low energy, sustainable biological nutrient removal processes that rely on so-called anammox bacteria. He has been awarded the US NSF International Research Fellowship (2011), EAWAG 75th Anniversary Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010), US EPA STAR Fellowship for Graduate Environmental Studies (2007) and US NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2004). Wells’ primary research interests are microbial nitrogen cycling and short-circuit biological nutrient removal processes, microbial ecology of engineered and natural settings, sustainable biological wastewater treatment, microbial greenhouse gas production, and resource and energy recovery from waste. His research has been published in numerous international journals, including Water Research, Environmental Microbiology, Frontiers in Microbiology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, and Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Dr. Wells is excited to explore collaborative possibilities on related research topics within the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, across the university, and particularly with local industrial or public utility partners. When Wells is not searching for sustainable solutions to pressing environmental and public health problems, he enjoys a myriad of outdoor activities (particularly hiking, backpacking, biking, and canoeing), playing bluegrass and old-time guitar, and exploring the Chicago music scene.