Attendee Information: 2011 Technical Presentation Speakers

Mr. Robert Bryce Author
Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, is one of America's most prominent energy journalists. His articles have appeared in numerous publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to The Nation and Counterpunch. He's the author of four books on energy including, most recently, Power Hungry: The Myths of "Green" Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future. A review in the Wall Street Journal called the book "unsentimental, unsparing and impassioned; and, if you'll excuse the pun, it is precisely the kind of journalism we need to hold truth to power."
Mr. Robert A Powers AEP Utilities President
Robert P. Powers is president - AEP Utilities, responsible for AEP´s electric distribution operations that serve more than 5 million customers in 11 states. He also oversees regulatory and policy matters relating to utility operations. Prior to this, he was executive vice president - AEP East Utilities, responsible for AEP's utility operating units Appalachian Power, Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Columbus Southern Power and Ohio Power, which serve 3.2 million customers in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Previously, he was executive vice president - Generation, a position he had held since 2003. He was responsible for all generation activities, including fossil and hydro generation; nuclear generation; project and field services; fuel, emissions and logistics, and business services. From 2001 to 2003, he was executive vice president - Nuclear and Technical Services. Powers joined AEP in 1998 as senior vice president of nuclear generation. He previously served as vice president and plant manager of Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Generating Station. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Tufts University in Boston and a master's degree in radiological hygiene from the University of North Carolina. Powers earned senior reactor operator certification in 1991.
Mr. Eduardo Alessandro Molinari Petrobras Senior Equipment Engineer & Coordinator of the Exploration and Production Board
Mr. Molinari joined Petrobras 37 years ago, having exercised several managerial activities related to the construction and installation of offshore platforms and pipelines in the Sergipe and Alagoas Basins, in the northeast of Brazil. In the Campos Basin, in Rio de Janeiro State, he was head of the Submarine Pipeline Sector; Supervisor to the construction and installation of the Cherne 1 Fixed Platform; head of the group responsible for the design, installation and commissioning of all the Floating and Production Systems. Mr. Molinari worked five years in Norway for a subsidiary of Petrobras as head of the Subsea Engineering Division, where he coordinated several projects related to floating production and subsea systems for the North Sea as well as developed studies related to cost engineering of subsea systems. In Brazil Mr. Molinari was assigned as Assistant of the Exploration and Production Director of Petrobras and from June 2001 to December 2007, he worked as Coordinator in the E&P Strategy and Portfolio Management Division. Since January 2008, Mr. Molinari has been working as Coordinator to the E&P Corporate Executive Manager.
Dr. Robert Twilley University of Louisiana at Lafayette Vice President for Research
Dr. Twilley is Vice President of Research at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which manages the UL Research Park that includes federal, state and private institutions focused on restoration and protection of coastal Louisiana. Prior to returning to UL Lafayette in this administrative post, Dr. Twilley was a professor in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at LSU from 2004 to 2010, and served as Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Economic Development. He was a Distinguished Professor in Louisiana Environmental Studies at LSU, and earned the UL Foundation's Distinguished Professor Award in 2000. He was director and founder of UL Lafayette's Center for Ecology and Environmental Technology. Most of Dr. Twilley's research has focused on coastal wetlands both in the Gulf of Mexico, throughout Latin America, and in the Pacific Islands. Dr. Twilley has published over 100 articles including several documents on global climate change, and has been involved in developing ecosystem models coupled with engineering designs to forecast the rehabilitation of coastal and wetland ecosystems.
Ms. Susan M Cunningham Noble Energy Senior Vice President, Exploration
With over 30 years of industry experience, Susan Cunningham, who joined Noble Energy as a senior vice president in April 2001, is responsible for exploration worldwide. Previously, she was Texaco's vice president of core worldwide exploration from April 2000 to March 2001. Employed by Statoil from 1997 through 1999, she advanced from exploration manager for deepwater Gulf of Mexico to vice president. In 1999, she assumed responsibility for Statoil's West Africa exploration efforts. She began her career in 1980 in Calgary as a geologist at Amoco Canada, moving to Amoco's International Region in Houston in 1981 where she held various exploration and development positions until 1994, including general manager – Denmark where she was country manager based in Copenhagen. She became exploration manager deepwater Gulf of Mexico in 1995 until 1997 when she joined Statoil. Active in the industry and the community, Susan served as chairman of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in 2010 and 2011, representing the American Association of Petroleum Geologist (AAPG). She was elected to the board of Cliffs Natural Resources, an iron ore and metallurgical coal mining company in 2005. She also has served on the boards of the Houston Area Women's Center and the Houston Geology Society. In 2011, Susan was selected to serve on the AAPG Advisory Board. Susan earned a bachelor's degree in geology and physical geography from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. She also has completed a management program through Rice University's Office of Executive Development.
Mr. Blake Cox NSC-TRIPOINT, INC Executive Vice President of Unconventional Services
Blake Cox is the Executive Vice President of Unconventional Services for NSC-Tripoint, Inc. He has thirty six years experience in the Service - Completion Tools and Pumping Service business. In the last six years Blake has worked specifically in the field of Unconventional Completions in the development of tools and completion/production strategies. He holds three patents and has a BS degree in Geology from The University of Texas of the Permian Basin.
David Cresson Executive Director and CEO Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana
As head of CCA Louisiana, Cresson oversees the organization's conservation programs, legislative initiatives, coordinates development activities with CCA's 24 local chapters and 15,000 members and volunteers, and oversees CCA's staff at its Baton Rouge headquarters. A native of the New Orleans area, Cresson said his awareness of and interest in marine conservation comes from his many years of fishing along Louisiana's coast. He began saltwater fishing at a young age with his late father, who was an avid outdoorsman and member of CCA Louisiana. David and his wife of 18 years, Melissa live in Baton Rouge with their daughter Hayden (12) and their two sons David Jr. and Chase.
Doug Peter Artificial Reef Coordinator State of Louisiana Artificial Reef Program
Doug Peter is the Artificial Reef Coordinator for the State of Louisiana Artificial Reef Program with over 16 years experience developing artificial reefs for Louisiana and Texas. He has a Masters from Texas A&M University in Marine Resource Management and currently manages Louisiana's 68 offshore and 29 inshore artificial reef sites. Mr. Peter has been directly involved in over 200 Rigs-to-Reef projects. He has worked closely with the oil & gas industry and other regulatory agencies in the development and maintenance of artificial reef habitat in the Gulf of Mexico.
Ben Wellhoeffer Global Product Champion, Horizontal Completions Halliburton
Ben graduated from Baylor University in Waco, TX in 2004 and then joined the Halliburton team in January 2006 in Halliburton's BDFA training program. Ben worked in several different locations throughout Texas while in the field gaining knowledge in all aspects of well completions. In 2007, Ben moved to Houston to become an Account Representative for Halliburton's Completion Tools product line. Shortly after moving to Houston, Ben was transferred to Halliburton's Easywell division to become Technical Advisor and Product Champion for Halliburton's Easywell Swell Technology. This role was expanded in 2008 to include Account Representative for Horizontal Completions. Recently in July of 2011, Ben was promoted to Global Product Champion for Horizontal Completions within Halliburton. Ben is a member of both the SPE and API.