Rob Arthur

Co-director of CTA’s retail design team and principal-in-charge of refrigeration engineering, Rob Arthur has dedicated his career to high-efficiency, low-emission refrigeration solutions for retail and grocery spaces. With a personal and professional goal of helping the grocery industry transition to more technologically advanced, sustainable refrigeration systems, Rob works to provide high-quality designs for facilities across the United States and internationally. He and his team design responsible, long-term systems. 

Rob is a licensed professional engineering 28 U.S. states, British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Puerto Rico and a LEED-accredited professional. When he’s not engineering cutting-edge refrigeration solutions, Rob can be found coaching youth sports in his home state of Montana.

Dustan Atkinson

Dustan Atkinson is the Manager of Product Strategy for Hillphoenix. During his 11 years in the refrigeration industry, Dustan has held roles of increasing responsibility in both Marketing and Sales. He has also played a key role in the Hillphoenix efforts to develop new products focused on utilizing sustainable technologies. Today, Dustan’s focus reflects the strong Hillphoenix commitment to providing product and technology solutions that help retailers supply higher quality food products while providing leadership to advance efforts toward responsible, environmental stewardship.

Antoine Azar

Antoine graduated from the University of Liège in Belgium, with a Master's degree in electro-mechanical & energy engineering. Antoine worked at the Coca-Cola Company for 16 years. Between July 2011 - December 2016 he held the position of global program director of Coca-Cola’s sustainable refrigeration program. Prior to that, Antoine performed as the maintenance manager and worked in various departments including engineering, design and innovation, quality control and telecommunication.

Richard H. Bair

Richard currently serves as the Systems Engineering Manager for Thermo Fisher Scientific's Laboratory Products Cold Storage Business Unit located in Asheville, North Carolina.

He has 17 years experience in the design of ultra low temperature products. His interests include refrigeration design and the application of control algorithms to these designs. Richard is committed to the Thermo Fisher Scientific vision of enabling our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer by combining new cooling technologies with intelligent design. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from East Tennessee State University and a Master of Science in Applied Physics from Appalachian State University.

Paul Bevington

Paul has been working for The Carter Group for 14 years beginning as an apprentice at the age of 18 and eventually ending up in his current position heading up the Carter's green refrigeration solutions offer. During his time with the company he has gained a degree in Building Services Engineering, a broad subject which has allowed him to work closely with other trades on integrated, efficient and sustainable solutions. The Carter Group is now looking to expand its offer from the UK, Mainland Europe and Asia into North America and he has been selected as part of the team to lead this exciting opportunity.

Antonio M. Bouza

Antonio M. Bouza is a Technology Manager with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Building Technologies Office (BTO). He is the emerging technology lead on Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Water Heating and Appliances research. He is the U.S. National Executive Committee (ExCo) delegate to the IEA’s Heat Pump Program. Previously at DOE, he was a project manager for several rulemakings with respect to energy efficiency standards. Before joining DOE, he was senior engineer with EG&G Technical Services and worked for Environmental Research and Development Corp performing emissions testing on alternative fuel vehicles. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park, a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.

Roy Buchert

Strategic leader and collaborator to diverse, cross-functional Global Energy disciplines across the McDonald’s System with an eye for innovation and engineering. Benchmarks and serves as a thought-partner with Energy and Sustainability subject matter experts connecting best practices and synergies internally and externally. His personal motto is straight from Ray Kroc’s handbook, “None of us is as good as all of us.”

Roy’s main role at McDonald’s is to enhance restaurant energy efficiency across the System by focusing on operations, equipment, buildings and technologies. The most integral way that he approaches his work is through leveraging the Global Energy Leadership board to capitalize on building a collective Global Energy Strategy to drive execution at the restaurant level. He has passion for helping the Planet and creating interactive dialogues on how together, everyone can best leverage each other to deliver the biggest positive impact.

Roy brings to his current role, 20 years of McDonald’s experiences from Corporate Electrical Engineer in US Restaurant Design leading a design studio to managing US Construction Supply Chain. Prior to McDonald’s, his capabilities were partnering with consulting firms Sargent & Lundy and ABB Impell supporting the electric utility industry.

Paul Camera

Paul Camera is the Director of Equipment and Packaging Development within the Global Research & Development organization at Starbucks. His responsibilities include specification, development and direction on equipment and packaging for Starbucks stores across the world including retail, license, and joint venture business as well as within the channel development organization. Paul has been a Starbucks partner since 2001 and is a Chemical Engineer by education. Prior joining Starbucks, he got experience within the commercial equipment and capital projects in the chemical and distribution industries.

Terry L. Chapp

Terry Chapp has been with Danfoss Industrial Refrigeration for the past 15 years.
He has been involved with HVAC&R for most of his career and active in Industrial Refrigeration for the past 18 years. He started his career in the field of Industrial Heat Transfer with the Trane Company in 1980. Over the past 38 years, he has been involved in engineering, sales, product management, and marketing with Thermo Electron Corporation, Sundstrand Heat Transfer, Modine Manufacturing, and Vilter Manufacturing. He holds Bachelors Degrees in Liberal Arts and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Wisconsin.

Marc Chasserot

Marc Chasserot is a specialist in natural refrigeration with over 15 years of experience in the HVAC&R sector, starting as the Marketing Manager for the Norsk Hydro business unit specialised in CO₂ transcritical refrigeration and heating. He worked closely with several Japanese manufacturers selling the market innovative "CO₂ Ecocute heatpumps".

In 2006 Marc founded the industry leading website for CO₂ cooling and heating experts worldwide, called www.R744.com. This was followed by three additional industry resources for hydrocarbons, water and ammonia (namely: www.hydrocarbons21.com, www.R718.com and www.ammonia21.com).

Marc is co-founder and CEO of shecco, an independent market development company specialised in bringing Natural Refrigerants 'faster to market', working with numerous companies worldwide. Marc has chaired and organised several international workshops bringing together leading policy and industry experts to discuss 'how to bring natural refrigerants' faster to market, known as 'ATMOsphere'. He is also an active member of ASHRAE.

Tristam Coffin

Tristam Coffin is the Director of Sustainability & Facilities for Whole Foods Market’s Northern California Region. Among his responsibilities, Tristam oversees the implementation of environmentally responsible programs and sustainable engineering initiatives for the 45 stores, regional office, distribution center, and 5 future stores that make up the company’s Northern California Region. Mr. Coffin is a LEED Accredited Professional, expert in resource management and holds a broad array of environmental expertise in areas including waste diversion, refrigeration systems, and renewable energy. He is also a member of the company’s Global Green Mission Leadership Team. Prior to being employed by Whole Foods Market, Mr. Coffin worked in alternative energy and transportation for the Transportation Research Center of Vermont as well as in natural sciences and advocacy in Yellowstone National Park, Montana. Mr. Coffin holds a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont.

Gary Cooper

Gary has been involved in grocery store refrigeration for 29 years, the last 22 have been with Lowe’s.
His responsibilities include oversight of all service both refrigeration and HVAC for 153 sites with his 27 employee dept., also design, build, install and commission of custom designed rack systems in house.

Quentin Crowe

Quentin is responsible for the development and launch of new products and road maps for refrigerated system product lines ensuring design requirement and specifications are met as well as support sustaining projects on existing product lines for Hussmann systems and Krack coil products. Quentin has over 20 years of industry experience and prior to Hussmann has worked for Emerson, Carrier and Kriwan. Quentin has his Engineering degree from Triangle Technical College in Pittsburgh PA and a B.S. in Business from Urbana University in Urbana OH.

Troy Davis

Troy is the Energy Manager for Mayekawa USA MYCOM promoting the use of natural refrigerant equipment solutions that the Company has to offer to their Global customers. Based in San Francisco, he works with clients introducing Mayekawa’s natural refrigerant solutions and how to integrate this technology into their customer’s facilities and projects. With a focus on overall energy cost reduction and carbon emission reduction, Troy promotes a wide variety of solutions including CO₂ trans-critical heat pumps, NH₃ packaged heat pumps, NH₃/CO₂ secondary systems, low charge packaged NH₃ chillers, ADsorption chillers and ultra-low temperature air cycle refrigeration systems.

He has worked in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry for 30 years, first as a service and installation technician covering a wide variety of applications including food/beverage processors, cold storage facilities, supermarkets, hotels/resorts, mixed use buildings and healthcare facilities. He has also worked for a consulting mechanical engineering firm and has been past President of a refrigeration contracting company that specializes in natural refrigerant products including the installation of North America’s first commercially available, CO₂ trans-critical water source CO₂ heat pump installed at a winery in Napa Valley. Other projects have included CoGeneration (CHP) systems and thermal driven chillers including ADsorption and ABsorption units. Troy is a licensed California Contractor with General (B), HVAC (C20) and Refrigeration (C38) licenses and is an active member of ASHRAE, RETA and RSES organizations.

Paul Delaney

Paul Delaney has been an energy and energy efficiency professional for 38 years, and is currently a Senior Engineer at Southern California Edison. He is responsible for the evaluation of new technologies that can reduce demand and energy consumption for Edison industrial, large commercial, manufacturing and agriculture customers. Paul is an experienced speaker, panelist and recognized utility expert in natural and alternative refrigerants for refrigeration applications. Mr. Delaney was a former Vice President for the American Utility Network, National Account manager for Edison Source and Senior Energy engineer for the United States Navy. Mr. Delaney holds a BS in Environmental Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA, and is a member of ASHRAE, ASME and SME.

Vincent Delecourt

Vincent Delecourt is currently the Sales and Marketing director of Cooltech Applications, located in France. The company, owner of over 280 patents worldwide and supported by several significant shareholders, has been industrializing an innovative magnetic cooling device, which will offer gas-free ecofriendly and innovative cooling solutions for various markets, specifically in the refrigeration sector. Holder of an engineer diploma and a MBA from the University of Paris (Sorbonne), Vincent worked in Finance before taking up Sales and Management functions in B2B business during 16 years. Thanks to his expertise in B2B and after 8 years deploying innovative products in a global environment, he joined Cooltech Applications in 2013 to start the commercialization process of Cooltech’s Magnetic Refrigeration Systems (M.R.S).

Ron Domitrovic

Dr. Ron Domitrovic is a Program Manager in the Power Delivery & Utilization Sector at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), and is responsible for guiding EPRI’s research related to end use energy efficiency. His technical focus is in the area of air conditioning, refrigeration and thermal systems in buildings. Prior to joining EPRI in 2009, he was the President of Redwood Electric Corp. which he founded in 2005 as a specialty construction and consulting company. He was previously a Researcher with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Buildings Technology Center and the University of Tennessee Thermal Science Research Center. He received a BSc in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, an MSc from the University of Florida and a PhD from the University of Tennessee.

Michael Duggan

RLS LLC is a recently formed company which is part of the Marmon Group/Berkshire Hathaway, which has developed press-to-connect fittings engineered for high-pressure refrigeration lines used in the air conditioning and refrigeration industries. Numerous adjacent products are in the works.

Michael is a 2001 graduate of University of Ulster with a Masters Degree in Marketing and also holds a Honors Degree in Business Studies. Since graduating from University of Ulster, Michael has worked in various roles for multiple companies allowing him to leverage his diverse knowledge in his daily activities. His focus is on high pressure and natural refrigerant products that enhance efficiency and safety.

Paige Dunn

Paige Dunn is the CSR and Sustainability Project Lead for Red Bull North America. She supports projects varying from Cooler Technology to Sustainable Event activation. Red Bull has and continues to invest in Hydrocarbon Cooler Technology.

Red Bull is an active member of Refrigerants, Naturally! – a non-profit initiative of companies committed to combat climate change and ozone layer depletion by substituting harmful fluorinated gases with natural refrigerants with a focus on their point-of-sale cooling applications.

Prior to Red Bull, Paige graduated from Pepperdine University and was recruited to implement Sustainable strategy for Red Bull North America.

Tommaso Ferrarese

Tommaso Ferrarese holds a degree as Engineer from the University of Padua. He has been working for CAREL since 2004 holding different roles in R&D thermodynamics department. During these 11 years, he has been directly involved in the development and testing phase of new and innovative solutions like stepper electronic expansion valves, control solutions for natural refrigerants such as subcritical and transcritical CO₂ systems for commercial refrigeration. In the latest years, he has been actively working in the retail department researching, developing and deploying applications of DC variable speed compressors specifically into commercial refrigeration.

Glenn Gallagher

Glenn has been working on F-gas management strategies for more than 25 years, and currently develops regulations to reduce emissions of high-global warming refrigerants in California. Glenn also serves as a technical advisor to the U.S. Climate Alliance Short-Lived Climate Pollutant (SLCP) Strategy team.

Michael Garry

Michael Garry is a business journalist with a 30-year track record. Most recently, he ledthe coverage of sustainability, technology and logistics at Supermarket News for more than 11 years. He is well known among retailers, suppliers, technology vendors and trade groups throughout the North American food retailing and consumer goods industries. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of M.I.T. with a degree in political science, he has written his first book, “Game of My Life – New York Mets,” in which 25 baseball players recall their most memorable game.

Marco Giulietti

Marco Giulietti is the CEO of ISA, a leading Italian company for innovation and sustainability in the professional refrigeration sector, which exports in approximately 100 countries and has over 750 employees. He entered the company in 1995 at the UK branch, then played roles of increasing responsibility in the Export Dept, before being appointed Director in 1998. Further to the acquisition of Tasselli brand, a leading supplier of refrigerated display cabinets for the retail sector, he was appointed Business Unit Director. In 2004 he was appointed ISA Managing Director and later CEO. Since June 2014, he is the President of Umbria Export (a non-profit organization of Confindustria Umbria supporting the internationalization). He holds diplomas from the London Business School and Harvard Business School.

Derek Hamilton

Derek is Business Development Manager at Azane Inc, the US subsidiary of Star Refrigeration. Azane manufacture low charge, high efficiency ammonia refrigeration packages for the US market.

Derek joined the Star Refrigeration Group in 2005 and has held the position of Senior Design Engineer and Design Manager before moving to his current role at Azane. Derek has extensive experience in the design and manufacture of ammonia refrigeration and heat pump systems. In recent years, Derek led the development of a range of low charge, packaged, air cooled ammonia refrigeration systems which allow modular installation without the need for a machinery room. Derek has a keen interest in the promotion of low charge ammonia as an excellent solution for R22 system replacement and an ideal alternative to HFCs in many applications.

Derek is Chartered with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, is an active member of IIAR, IIR and IOR and is a regular contributor to industry events and publications.

Randall Haseman

Randall Haseman has been with UL for over 30 years, holding numerous positions relative to the safety evaluations of refrigeration and air conditioning products. He is currently responsible for the standards pertaining to household and commercial refrigerators, ice makers, beverage coolers, ice cream makers, room air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and air filters. In addition to UL standards, he has worked extensively with CSA, IEC, NSF, and energy performance standards.

Randall is currently an executive committee member of UL’s Joint Task Group on flammable refrigerants. He is the Technical Advisor and Administrator for the U. S. Technical Advisory Group for IEC SC61C, and is the Technical Advisor for UL on the Standards Technical Panels (STPs) for the above products. He also represents UL on several outside committees including CANENA and ASHRAE.

Matthew Hirsch

As president of Primus Builders, Matthew Hirsch is a recognized design-build expert in the cold storage industry. He has a reputation for integrating technology and sustainability in the design-build process to benefit our clients' bottom line and environmental impact. Matthew is an active member of influential trade associations including IARW, GCCA, IIAR and DBIA. His commitment to the industry and outstanding customer service have earned him a spot on ENR Southeast’s list of the Top 20 Under 40, a compilation of the industry’s rising stars under the age of 40.

Harrison Horning

Harrison Horning is Director of Maintenance for Retail Business Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize.  His role is focused on supporting Hannaford Supermarkets, with 181 stores in five northeastern US states.  His current work includes collaborative efforts to address sustainability and climate impacts.  He has over 25 years of experience in the field of facilities and energy management, encompassing a wide range of commercial, industrial and institutional facilities. 

Pega Hrnjak

Professor Hrnjak is Co-Director of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center (ACRC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, an NSF founded university–industry cooperative research center. Pega is also a founder and President of R&D company CTS, which bridges ACRC activities (precompetitive research in function of education) and industry. He is an active member or fellow of ASME, ASHRAE, IIR, SAE and IIAR, and an editor or member of the boards of several professional scientific journals. He is a recipient of Gustav Lorentzen, J&E Hall and Rittinger medals among other awards.

Junya (Joe) Ichikawa

Mr. Ichikawa’s background is in automotive AC business as COO of Sanden USA & Europe as well as in the vending machine business as CEO of SandenVendo Europe. Having those experiences, he is responsible for CO₂ refrigerant related business at Sanden since April 2013. ES Business Division was established by him to be at the core of the company's growth. Now he is leading a newly established company for furthering the business growth of products using CO₂ refrigerant.

James Kalish

Mr. Kalish has served in numerous senior positions in HVAC&R component, controls and refrigeration contracting companies world wide in business development & technology development and implementation roles.

He has over 40 years hands on experience in this industry. He has supervised a number of Transcritical CO₂ installations in the USA and Europe. He has a BS in BA and MBA and is a patent holder.

Bruce Karas

Bruce Karas is the VP of Environment & Sustainability for Coca-Cola North America. He has over 25 years of experience as an EHS professional and has practiced in a wide range of Industrial operations in the US, Canada and China. He is a Certified Industrial Hygienist in Comprehensive Practice as well as a Certified Safety Professional.

Marc-André Lesmerises

Marc-André graduated in 2003 as a Mechanical Engineer and has since designed several industrial and commercial cooling systems. He is the President and co-founder of Carnot Refrigeration, a company established in 2008, which offers thermodynamic options to customers who are seeking cleaner and greener systems. His achievements include the Sobeys warehouse in Trois-Rivières, several supermarkets and warehouses that are mainly operating with natural refrigerants like CO2 and NH3.

Kurt Liebendorfer

Kurt is Vice President of Evapco and is located at its corporate headquarters in Taneytown, MD. He is leading the development and market introduction of the new EvapCold family of products, which are complete Packaged Low Charge Ammonia Refrigeration Systems.

Kurt has been in the industrial refrigeration, process cooling and construction industry for 30 years and has also worked for Johnson Controls/Frick, Stellar and GEA/FES.

Kurt received an Executive MBA from Jacksonville University and a Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Kurt has served on the Board of Directors of the International District Energy Association, Past President of the Jacksonville chapter of ASHRAE, Past Chair & President of the Turbine Inlet Cooling Association and is an active member of IIAR, serving on the Government Affairs committee & Compliance Guidelines committee, and the Global Cold Chain Alliance serving on the Refrigeration & Energy committee and the Construction Codes committee.

Andrew Martin

Andrew Martin is a Key Account Manager for Secop. He joined the industry after graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and has now over eight years of experience in the HVAC and Refrigeration field. Since starting at Secop in early 2014, he has been responsible for setting up and maintaining strategic OEM accounts across the Americas.

Scott Martin

Scott Martin currently serves as Director, Business Development and Industry Relations for Hillphoenix, a Dover Company, located in Conyers, Georgia. A third generation Refrigeration Engineer, Scott received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Polytechnic State University in 1985.

Scott has held a wide variety of industry roles including Product Manager, Director of R&D, Engineering, and most recently Director of Sustainable Technologies. Today, Scott’s focus reflects a strong Hillphoenix commitment to providing product and technology answers that help retailers supply higher quality food products while advancing efforts toward environmental stewardship.

Andrés Martínez-Negrete

Andrés Martínez-Negrete is the Technology and Product Development Director at Imbera. Prior joining Imbera, Andrés worked for Coca-Cola FEMSA for 11 ½ years, where he held several positions, more relevant to this forum: Fountain Manager, Coolers and Market Assets Manager and Vending Manager. He also developed logistics models for presale and distribution and held a position for strategic planning for new ventures. He has a Bachelor degree in mechanical and electrical engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico.

Nina Masson

Nina has been working with shecco for 11 years in various roles, including Deputy Managing Director shecco SPRL and Chief Market Development Officer shecco group. Today, as Chief Strategy Advisor for Special Projects, she is responsible for EU and UN projects for natural refrigerants and sustainable HVAC&R solutions. She holds two Masters’ degrees in Business Management and in Environmental Management. Nina has been the lead author on various publications. She serves as an independent expert for UN and EU agencies on policy analysis, capacity building, renewable energies and energy efficiency.

Jose Mergulhao

Jose Mergulhao has been the Vice-President of U.S. Operations for CIMCO Refrigeration since 2005. He was recruited by CIMCO in 1996, where he has held various positions, including Contract Engineer, Sales Engineer, District & Branch Manager and General Manager. He is member of several professional associations, including ASHRAE, the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) and the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW).

John Miles

John Miles is General Manager of the Eco Systems division for Sanden International USA, and is responsible for sales and support of the first commercially available Residential CO2 Heat Pump Water Heater in North America.
Mr. Miles is currently based in Southern California, Sanden has additional sales locations in Detroit MI, and a sales and manufacturing facility in Wylie TX.

The SANCO2 Heat Pump Water heater is based on Eco Cute technology and features the highest efficiency and First Hour rating of any HPWH presently sold in North America. Product is sold nationally in the US and Canada, and is installed by both plumbers and HVAC contractors.
Mr. Miles is a 25 year veteran of the HVAC industry, having started his career as a Design Draughtsman for Airedale International in Leeds, England. 
Prior to joining Sanden Mr. Miles was most recently Chief Product Officer at Quietside/Samsung where he was responsible for all aspects of Product engineering, governmental and regulatory issues, factory, field technical support, training and OEM support for a variety of HVAC products.

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller, CMS, RCT has a B.S. Degree in Education from California University and a M. Ed. Degree from Eastern Michigan University. He is retired after having taught HVAC&R for over 35 years at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh PA. Prior to CCAC, he was a Factory Representative for both York and Gibson Products. He is an ASHRAE member, a CMS member in RSES and serves as a reviewer of RSES and ACCA Society Publications. He is Region 2 Director for RSES and an RCT for RSES. Mr. Miller has NATE Certifications and is a trainer/proctor for NATE Certifications. He operates a family owned property rental business and KAM Associates, an HAC consulting business.

Eduardo Navarro de Andrade

Eduardo Navarro de Andrade is currently the Vice President and General Manager of Hillphoenix Systems division, based in Conyers, GA. Eduardo has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Universidade Catolica de Petropolis, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Business Administration from Syracuse University. Eduardo has over 20 years of professional experience in the refrigeration industry, having held a wide variety of U.S. and international roles in engineering, program management, marketing, operations, business development and general management.

Jeff Newel

Jeff Newel is the Director of Research and Development for the Hillphoenix Systems division. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from West Virginia University and an MBA from the University of Georgia. Jeff has been designing refrigeration and cooling systems for over 25 years. The last 19 years he has been with Hillphoenix, where he has worked in various roles in support of supermarket, commercial, and light industrial refrigeration customers. He and his team continue Hillphoenix’s focus on developing and improving the current and next generation of supermarket refrigeration systems, with a particular focus on systems utilizing natural refrigerants.

Don Newlon

Don Newlon is an HVACR professional with 25 years of engineering, product development, general management and executive leadership experience. In his current role as vice president, marketing and general manager of Emerson Climate Technologies’ integrated products division, Don leads the development and execution of refrigeration marketing, customer and technology initiatives, forecasting and price management. Since starting his career as an engineering co-op at Emerson, Don has taken on progressively challenging roles where he was instrumental to steering many of the company’s key initiatives, including: launching Emerson’s first Copeland Scroll™ compressors in transportation and refrigeration; overseeing the development and promotion of Glacier scroll and Copeland Discus™ platforms; providing general management for the CopelandBitzer screw compressor joint venture; and leading product and channel market management in residential and commercial air conditioning as vice president for the fast-growing Asia Pacific market. Don has a B.S.M.E. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.B.A. from The Ohio State University.

Reggie O'Donoghue

Reggie O’Donoghue is the Director of Electronics Product Management at Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions in Kennesaw, Georgia. Prior to his current role, Reggie was the Director of Marketing and Enterprise Product Management at Retail Solutions. Reggie has been with Emerson seven years and started as a strategic planner at Emerson’s corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO. Prior to joining Emerson, Reggie held a variety of engineering and marketing roles at Motorola.

Jeremy Olberding

Jeremy Olberding graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Idaho. Jeremy is the Vice president of sales for Colmac Coil where he has worked for 10 years and held several positions including research and product development engineer. Today Jeremy is responsible for design and applications engineering group on Colmac focusing on ammonia and CO₂ for industrial refrigeration projects, primarily in North and South America.

Andre Patenaude

Andre is responsible for developing the North American marketing and growth development strategy pertaining to Emerson’s food retail and chiller business.
He was most recently responsible for Emerson’s global CO2development efforts. 
Andre has more than 33 years of industry experience in sales, marketing, training and business development of HVACR systems and applications.

John Prall

John Prall studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. In 2012, Prall accepted his current position with Embraco, working as a Technical Support Engineer for the United States and Canada. At Embraco, Prall’s responsibilities include providing engineering technical support for commercial and aftermarket customers, including assisting customers with the selection and application of hermetic compressors. Prall also trains customers on compressor technology and market trends through customer visits, trade show presentations and webinar activities. Prall has over 14 years of experience in the commercial refrigeration industry. Prior to his role at Embraco, he held several different roles ranging from engineering to product management at Hussmann Corporation.

Jim Price

Jim has over 40 years of experience in industrial refrigeration. His work experience includes end users, contracting, design consultancy and manufacturing. Throughout his career, Jim has maintained professional affiliations with notable industry groups: Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association (RETA), International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration (IIAR) and Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES). Currently, Jim is employed with RETA as an Education Manager. He has authored numerous technical papers and actively contributed to the Ammonia Refrigeration Piping Handbook. 

Reinhold Resch

Dipl. Ing. Reinhold Resch is the Head of Research and Development at AHT Cooling Systems GmbH located in Rottenmann, Austria. He studied Industrial Engineering at the Technical University of Graz, in Austria. In 1987 he worked as an R&D engineer at KNAPP Logistics for approximately 5 years. Reinhold began his career at AHT in 1993.

Benoit Rodier

Benoit holds a BS Mechanical Engineering from Sherbrooke University and is a licensed Professional Engineer. Benoit started his career as an HVAC Manufacturer Rep and Sales Manager for heat exchangers and industrial compressors. He was recruited by Cimco in 1999 where he has held various positions, including Sales Manager, General Manager, and Director of Business Development. Benoit has worked with natural refrigerants for over 20 years. He is involved in many local and regional trade associations. Benoit was the driving force for CIMCO to evolve towards CO₂ refrigeration and new technologies while maintaining its leadership position in ammonia industrial and recreative market.

Joe Sanchez

Joe manages the Application Engineering and Ammonia Compressor Package teams for BITZER US. He joined BITZER ten years ago as a Manufacturing Engineer and later moved to Application Engineering. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University. Joe is a member of IIAR, RETA and ASHRAE, and has an article on CO2 published with the RSES magazine. He is also active with AHRI in the Compressors and Condensing Units section and its subcommittees.

John S. Scherer

John Scherer has specialized in ice, cold storage and food distribution facility design, construction and operations for 35 years. During this time, Mr. Scherer’s designs, systems and related equipment have shipped to seven countries. John is a past National President of RETA (Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association) and originator of RETA’s certification program for industrial refrigeration plant operators and technicians.

Mr. Scherer holds five United States patents and their fifteen international counterparts, all relative to food, water and power sustainability. Particular emphasis is placed on high efficiency, economical ammonia absorption and ammonia compression refrigeration systems. His most recent patent and patents pending form the basis of NXTCOLDTM ERIC (Electronic Refrigerant Injection Control) VLC (Very Low Charge) ammonia refrigeration technology.

Yoram Shabtay

With 20 years of experience, Yoram Shabtay is a Heat Exchanger Designer veteran with a Master’s degree in Heat and Mass Transfer. Shabtay is the head of consulting firm Heat Transfer Technologies LLC (HTT) and as a licensed HVAC engineer, provides designs for current and new condenser and evaporator coils. HTT is also the official Technical Advisor to the International Copper Association, providing guidance and designs for all types of HVAC and refrigeration systems. He regularly speaks at conferences about new upcoming heat-exchanger technologies and related development work. HTT also works with industry leaders providing prototype heat-exchanger service for evaluation.

Mark Tomooka

Since 2005 Mark Tomooka has worked with companies that emphasize the use of natural refrigerants industrial refrigeration and food processing. He currently leads the US development team working on applying Mayekawa’s extensive natural working fluids experience to new areas like supermarkets, cold storage and food processing.

Mark is a licensed engineer and previously worked in refrigeration contracting. As chief engineer he designed and installed industrial refrigeration systems emphasizing energy and operational efficiency.

Prior to his work in the refrigeration industry, Mark worked in research and development for alternative energy systems. 

Mark Allen Turner

Mark, who has over 25 years experience in operations, program/ project management, business development and customer relationship management, oversees new business and client development for Stellar’s Refrigeration Services division. He is the liaison between clients and the service, parts, compressor services, PSM, automation/ controls and regional/ national contracting teams.

Klaas Visser

Klaas Visser has an extensive international experience in the design, building and trouble shooting of medium to large ammonia systems with involvement in more than 800 NH3 projects during the past 45 years.

The world’s first Multi Function 2 Stage Transcritical CO2 Refrigerating System with Parallel Compression (MF2STCCO2RSPC) has now been operating seven years, performing six cooling and nine heating functions at a small food processing plant.
Commissioning of the second MR2STCC02RSPC system near Sydney has been delayed. It is the first CO2 system in the world employing an evaporative condenser/gas cooler (ECGC). 
A case study comparing ECGCs and Adiabatically Assisted Air Cooled CO2 Gas Coolers in terms of their Energy and Water Consumption and the COP Improvement of the refrigeration systems at ambient Wet Bulb Temperatures up to 28 degrees C – not exceeded in 98% of the World’s climates - achieving 31 degrees C Gas Cooler Exit Temperature.   
The design of a MF2STCC02RSPC with an ECGC for a −30°C 40,000 cubic metre cold store near Kuala Lumpur is complete and waiting for building approval.

Gerard Von Dohlen

Gerard is currently the CEO of a company operating 2 public refrigerated warehouses in the New York area installing innovative refrigeration systems. He is an active member of several trade associations including the Global Cold Chain Alliance for whom he chairs the Refrigeration and Energy Committee. One of the public refrigerated warehouses uses natural gas engine driven compressors and a brine desiccant system using waste heat for regeneration instead of hot gas defrost evaporators. The system won the Chairman’s Award at the American Gas Cooling Center for the best natural gas based refrigeration system in the country. Gerard is also building a fully automated crane building with 20,000 pallets refrigerated by a system including a cooling tower, chiller package, and desiccant.

Gerard received a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering in 1964 and an MBA (1966) and a PhD (1970) from Columbia University’s Graduate Business School. Gerard taught accounting and finance at Columbia’s business school until he entered the banking community. Subsequent to a career in banking, he has been the CEO of a building products company, a defense contractor, a hotel company, and now a public refrigerated warehouse.

Rusty Walker

Rusty Walker is the trainer for the Hillphoenix Learning Center and has held that position since the Learning Center’s inception over nine years ago. In his tenure at Hillphoenix, Rusty has also managed the Research and Development lab in the Refrigeration Systems division, worked in engineering and completed field work. Prior to Hillphoenix, he also held positions with Atlanta Energy Specialist, Bohn and Heatcraft as a Service Technician. Rusty has dedicated his entire career to commercial and supermarket refrigeration, and all his experience and expertise make him a natural fit for his current position as a Senior Corporate Trainer.

Mike Weisser

A 20 year industry veteran. Responsible for the Global Sales and Marketing of SandenVendo America's Vending and Food Service Product lines as well as Business Development and Corporate Planning.

Ken Welter

Ken is a registered professional engineer, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has almost 40 years of engineering experience in the supermarket industry, starting his career with Hussmann Refrigeration and Munters USA, then later working 25 years as the Refrigeration Engineering Manager with food retailer Ahold USA.

Ken’s most recent experience is with Baltic Trail Engineering, a provider of engineering and refrigeration maintenance services to the supermarket industry.

Tom Wolgamot

Tom Wolgamot is a Principal of DC Engineering and works out of Missoula, Montana. He is a licensed PE in eighteen states, and has over 25 years of experience in facility engineering and project management. Tom has led a wide variety of design work from commercial HVAC to campus heating and cooling plants. Tom currently is active on two ASHRAE Refrigeration Technical Committees; 10.1 Custom Engineered Refrigeration Systems and 10.8 Refrigeration Load Calculations.

He really enjoys working in the supermarket refrigeration sector and is proud to be contributing to the industry with a focus on sustainable practices. The heightened interest in reducing carbon footprints through energy efficiency, commissioning, and alternative refrigerants has been especially rewarding. Prior to providing consulting services, Tom was the Director of Engineering for Albertsons, Inc. where he developed the appreciation and skills for balancing fiscal realities with on-going maintenance, energy, and environmental requirements.

Gerald Wozniak

Gerald Wozniak holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno. He joined the EPA’s Stratospheric Protection Division (SPD) in the Alternatives and Emissions Reduction Branch in 2014. At his current position, Gerald uses his engineering background as a SNAP case manager reviewing multiple submission of new climate-friendly alternatives throughout various sectors. He works with submitters and the EPA team seeing several of these submissions through to final decisions. Gerald also took on drafting the decision language that was included in SNAP’s October Listing of Acceptability.

Augusto Zimmermann

Mr. Zimmermann joined Heatcraft on May 2014 as Lead Engineer for the Alternative Systems Center of Excellence where he develops products and technologies for the commercial refrigeration industry using CO₂ Transcritical, Ammonia/CO₂ Cascade systems among others. He has about 15 years of experience in R&D in the Refrigeration field in technologies ranging from Thermoelectric and Stirling cycles, to Vapor Compression cycles using both conventional and Alternative Refrigerants. He holds both B.S. and Master’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering-Thermal Sciences from the Federal University of Santa Catarina – Brazil, and is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ACRC Research Center.

Klara Zolcer Skacanova

With a background in public affairs and economics Klára joined shecco in 2011. She leads the company’s market development team focusing on market research, policy analysis, funding projects and specialised campaigns with the objective of accelerating the adoption of climate friendly technologies across different world regions. She has co-authored several extensive market and policy publications focusing on the current use and future potential of natural refrigerants. Prior to joining shecco she worked at the European Commission and a European association for small and medium-sized businesses.