Speakers 2019

Speakers 2019

Thumbnail
Vikas Dwivedi

Global oil and gas strategist

Macquarie

Thumbnail
Ravi Prasad

Global vice president, digital products, innovation, and ecosystem

The AES Corporation

Ravi Prasad is a Digital Transformation leader who believes the future of energy business requires re-invention.  Throughout his career, Ravi has relied on his passionate entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to spearhead change via focused collaboration across some of the world’s most well-known organizations.  Ravi’s consultative approach to leading and advising teams has helped drive financial success and market growth across multiple highly complex industries, including finance, technology, and manufacturing.

In current role, Ravi is responsible for driving digital commercial transformation, Data-driven augmented decision making and new revenue models from AI/ML based cognitive engineering.

Ravi’s prior roles include GE Renewable Digital as Chief Growth Officer, Blackstone Group as operational executive and KPMG as management consultant. He has setup global data practices and run P&Ls.

Ravi holds a management degree from Kellogg School of Management and engineering degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thumbnail
Earl Burns

Energy executive

Earl Burns Jr. is a leading Energy Executive with more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector serving in various operating, financial, trading and supply roles. Burns was previously manager, Americas Distillate Trading in the Commercial organization. Prior to that, he resided in London and held the role of manager, Crude Trading Europe, Africa and Russia for Phillips 66 Limited, where he was responsible for all crude trading and supply activities. He began his career with Mobil Oil Corporation in a variety of positions in the U.S., Africa and Latin America inclusive of financial trading, logistics and sales positions. Previously, Burns served as the crude trading manager for BP in Chicago as well as manager, Global Strategy and Commercial Development (Commercial Marine) at ConocoPhillips. Prior to his time at ConocoPhillips, Burns spent five years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, receiving an honorable discharge as Lieutenant.   

Earl is a proud member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC); the most elite organization advancing the cause of Black Executives globally, an active board member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Energy Oversight Committee, as well as being an incoming (2020) board member and director of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) Alumni Foundation.

Thumbnail
Partha Chatterjee

Data and analytics, small and medium-sized enterprises

Shell Energy

Partha S Chatterjee is a digital transformation and technology strategy leader with almost 30 years of experience in the United States. He is the Data and Analytics SME for Shell Energy at Trading and Supply IT. Previously, he was head of market-facing strategy for Product Management at ION (OpenLink) and Managing Director at Capco Energy Solutions. Partha has held technology leadership positions at Schlumberger, Kinder Morgan, Accenture and Sapient among others.


His expertise encompasses energy and trading risk management (ETRM) systems, risk management and trading analytics, regulatory compliance, and governance. He compliments that with deep technical knowledge in enterprise architecture, digital transformation, data and analytics, AI and mathematical modeling, blockchain and emerging technologies. As a global expert on trading and risk management, Partha has worked on think tanks and summits, advising governments, regulatory boards and financial institutions. Partha brings strategic vision and leadership capabilities in driving solutions and roadmaps as a technology executive.


Partha holds a Bachelor of Technology (Honors) with first class in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) (Kharagpur) in India. He came to the United States for graduate studies on a NASA-funded scholarship to work on Computer Vision at the Intelligent Systems Laboratory. He has a master’s degree in computer science from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Texas A&M University, specializing in finance and MIS.
Partha lives in Houston and enjoys sports and music with his wife, Arpita and children, Ishaan and Trisha.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parthaschatterjee/

Thumbnail
Kevin Kindall

Senior data scientist

Hartree Partners

Kevin Kindall is a Senior Data Scientist at Hartree Partners. Prior to joining Hartree, he held front and middle office positions at ConocoPhillips, Enron, and EDF Trading. He has a Ph.D. in Physics from Clemson University, and a Masters in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University, and serves on the Alumni Relations Board for the Tepper School of Business.

 

 

Thumbnail
Nima Safaian

Head of trading analytics

Cenovus energy

Nima Safaian is the head of trading analytics with Cenovus Energy in Calgary, Canada. In this role, he applies Data Science and Statistical Learning methodologies to get better insights on risk/reward opportunities. Previously Nima worked as a risk manager with Scotiabank and  BP's Integrated Supply and Trading Group. Nima is an active member of GARP Calgary where he leads seminar/workshop series on the practical applications of Big Data and Machine Learning to trading and risk analytics. Nima holds degrees in nuclear engineering and an MBA.

Thumbnail
Sunaina Pai Ocalan

Director, corporate strategy

HESS

Sunaina is responsible for keeping the Hess executive team abreast on macro-economic factors, and elements of supply and demand of oil and gas; how costs are trending in the industry, and other macro themes and perspectives.  She is also responsible for competitor intelligence and monitoring strategic trends in the industry.

She has 18 years experience in the oil and gas industry, in various functions – she started her career with Schlumberger, working as an electrical design engineer on the coring tool and the MDT.  After getting her MBA, she switched gears and joined a boutique management consulting firm that got acquired by IHS CERA in Cambridge, MA. Through the acquisition, she was with CERA for 6 years.  In 2012, Ocalan joined Hess as a development plan engineer for the Utica asset.  She had a development role in the Commercial group helping with decisions on Hess’ Bakken asset.  Prior to taking the Corporate Strategy role, she supported all of Hess’ offshore assets and was responsible for decision analysis and economics for GOM, Asia, and Europe.  

Ocalan holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Bombay University, India, a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, PA, and an MBA from Rice University in Houston.

Thumbnail
Gary Taylor

Global head of energy market risk

Shell

Thumbnail
Robert Trinnear

Managing director

The Energy Authority

Robert Trinnear is a widely respected expert in risk management and financial derivatives with two decades of industry experience. He brings invaluable strategic insight to The Energy Authority (TEA), leading trading services across all commodity types for TEA’s clients in the East Coast markets.  An entrepreneur by nature, Mr. Trinnear is spearheading TEA’s exploration and integration of blockchain technology. Mr. Trinnear’s expertise in both blockchain technology and energy make him a highly sought-after speaker at conferences across the country. His lengthy history of leadership roles at TEA gives him a unique perspective on the specific needs of clients as they adjust to significant change and opportunity in the energy markets.

In addition to leading one of public power’s most active trading desks in the nation, Mr. Trinnear was the Managing Director of Southern Horizon Consulting, where he specialized in financial risk management for clients in the technology, energy, and financial industries. He also worked for Tyson Foods Inc. and Mirant Corporation where he held a variety of trading and structured finance roles.

Mr. Trinnear holds a master’s degree in finance from Georgia State University, and a bachelor’s degree in management from Trinity College, Dublin. He also has an advanced diploma in business studies from the Dublin Institute of Technology and an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thumbnail
Nithya Venkatesan

Board member

International Energy Credit Association

Nithya Venkatesan is currently the First Vice President, Risk at Navitas Assurance Partners (Navitas).  Prior to joining Navitas, Nithya worked as Senior Manager, Risk at Hess Corporation (Hess) globally.  

Navitas is a managing general underwriter (MGU) that represents some of the strongest balance sheets in North America; Navitas acts as the leading conduit in between the energy markets, their broker partners and carrier partners. 

Nithya has over 20 plus years of risk management experience spanning credit risk, market risk, regulatory reporting and enterprise risk.  Also, she has experience with multiple commodities including natural gas, power, crude oil, refined products, natural gas liquids, emissions credits and derivatives products.  Prior to Hess, Nithya has held a number risk positions at NRG Energy in various risk roles, Calpine Corporation in credit risk, etc.

Nithya is an active Board Member of CCRO (Committee of Chief Risk Officers), Executive Committee member at IECA (International Energy Credit Association) and Co-Director of the GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) Houston Chapter.  

Thumbnail
Jose Noyes

IT architect director, energy trading and risk management systems

Engie

Jose Noyes has almost twenty years of experience in energy risk trading management.  Currently, Jose holds the position of IT Architect Director of ETRM Systems at ENGIE Energy Marketing NA, Inc., an energy trading and marketing subsidiary of ENGIE, a French multinational electric utility company which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy.  In this role, Jose is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of ETRM solutions for operations associated with front office trading, risk management, back office, data integration and data analytics.  He works with senior level business partners to evaluate requirements, design system interfaces, manage data and calculations, develop system test and integration plans, execute test procedures, and support end-users.  Additionally, Jose leverages his in-depth technology expertise to support the business, provide project management services, mentor software developers and supply hands-on technical input.  Previously, he was the Product Manager of Aligne TRM at FIS (successor to SunGard and Caminus).  He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University with a bachelors of art degree in economics and mathematics. 

Thumbnail
Stella Farrington

Head of content

Energy Risk

Stella Farrington has been writing about energy markets for 20 years, working at Futures World News and Dow Jones Newswires before moving to Energy Risk in 2004. She spent eight years as the editor of Energy Risk and the last six as a writer, before moving into her current role as Energy Risk’s head of content.

Glade Wishart

Head of North America compliance

EDF Trading North America

Glade Wishart is the Head of Compliance for EDF Trading North America, LLC and brings more than 25 years of experience providing compliance, regulatory, risk, and technology advisory. Glade has designed and implemented programs for global organizations in the finance and commodities sectors.

Glade holds a BA in Political Science from Utah State University, an MBA from the University of Houston, and various other certificates: Energy Risk Management (RICE), Energy Accounting (UH), and Cybersecurity (MIT).

Glade is also a Certified Fraud Examiner with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Farai Mtetwa

Lead architect & developer, commodities

Beacon Platform

Orlando Flores

Director, enterprise risk management & solutions

CPS Energy

Ammar Ansari

Head of risk

Gunvor Group

Thumbnail
Ryan Barry

Energy Advisor

ENEL X NORTH AMERICA

Ryan is an Energy Advisor at Enel X. In this role, Ryan develops procurement strategies for commercial, government and industrial clients looking to manage risk and lower costs. He also advises clients on renewable energy options and demand management strategies. Prior to joining Enel X, Ryan was the Manager of Government Affairs & Markets at the Natural Gas Supply Association, a trade association representing producers and suppliers of natural gas.  While there, he educated customer groups and policy makers on natural gas market fundamentals.  He developed a particular expertise surrounding environmental regulations affecting a range of energy markets in addition to financial reforms governing energy and other commodity markets. He has extensive experience with many of the regulatory bodies governing energy markets, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy. He has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Sustainability from the Yale School of Management.

Thumbnail
Earl Burns

Energy executive

Earl Burns Jr. is a leading Energy Executive with more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector serving in various operating, financial, trading and supply roles. Burns was previously manager, Americas Distillate Trading in the Commercial organization. Prior to that, he resided in London and held the role of manager, Crude Trading Europe, Africa and Russia for Phillips 66 Limited, where he was responsible for all crude trading and supply activities. He began his career with Mobil Oil Corporation in a variety of positions in the U.S., Africa and Latin America inclusive of financial trading, logistics and sales positions. Previously, Burns served as the crude trading manager for BP in Chicago as well as manager, Global Strategy and Commercial Development (Commercial Marine) at ConocoPhillips. Prior to his time at ConocoPhillips, Burns spent five years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, receiving an honorable discharge as Lieutenant.   

Earl is a proud member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC); the most elite organization advancing the cause of Black Executives globally, an active board member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) Energy Oversight Committee, as well as being an incoming (2020) board member and director of the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) Alumni Foundation.

Thumbnail
Partha Chatterjee

Data and analytics, small and medium-sized enterprises

Shell Energy

Partha S Chatterjee is a digital transformation and technology strategy leader with almost 30 years of experience in the United States. He is the Data and Analytics SME for Shell Energy at Trading and Supply IT. Previously, he was head of market-facing strategy for Product Management at ION (OpenLink) and Managing Director at Capco Energy Solutions. Partha has held technology leadership positions at Schlumberger, Kinder Morgan, Accenture and Sapient among others.


His expertise encompasses energy and trading risk management (ETRM) systems, risk management and trading analytics, regulatory compliance, and governance. He compliments that with deep technical knowledge in enterprise architecture, digital transformation, data and analytics, AI and mathematical modeling, blockchain and emerging technologies. As a global expert on trading and risk management, Partha has worked on think tanks and summits, advising governments, regulatory boards and financial institutions. Partha brings strategic vision and leadership capabilities in driving solutions and roadmaps as a technology executive.


Partha holds a Bachelor of Technology (Honors) with first class in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) (Kharagpur) in India. He came to the United States for graduate studies on a NASA-funded scholarship to work on Computer Vision at the Intelligent Systems Laboratory. He has a master’s degree in computer science from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Texas A&M University, specializing in finance and MIS.
Partha lives in Houston and enjoys sports and music with his wife, Arpita and children, Ishaan and Trisha.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parthaschatterjee/

Thumbnail
Philippe Cote

Sorensen Executive Professor

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

Mr Cote currently is Sorensen Executive Professor at the Alberta School of Business of the University of Alberta where he teaches Risk Management, Trading and Data Science. He is an experienced senior leader in physical and financial energy trading, supply optimization with assets and risk management with extensive international experience in Asia and Europe. Throughout his career he has worked both in banking and energy trading firms. He is currently based in Calgary.

Paul Cusenza

Chairman and chief executive

Nodal Exchange and Nodal Clear

Nodal Exchange is a commodities exchange providing participants the ability to trade and central counterparty clear hub, zone and nodal power futures and options contracts in North America achieving over $35 Billion in notional value open interest and 45% market share in monthly futures open interest. The company also offers natural gas, environmental and trucking freight contracts.  Nodal Clear, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nodal Exchange, is registered as a derivatives clearing organization and acts as the central counterparty clearing house for Nodal Exchange contracts.  Nodal Exchange became part of the EEX Group in May 2017.  Mr. Cusenza led Nodal Exchange to its commencement of trading in April of 2009 and the market has seen great growth since its launch. 

Mr. Cusenza has over thirty years of experience in building and managing businesses. He was co-Founder and co-President of 23andMe, a personal genetics company which Time Magazine identified as “The Best Invention of the Year” and which has now achieved “unicorn” status.  He was also the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Alliance Management at Perlegen Sciences. He was part of the Senior Management Team of Capital One Financial during a period of great growth in the 1990s. Prior to Capital One Financial, he was a Vice President and Partner at Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) for nearly a decade focusing on financial services. He also worked for IBM early in his career. Mr. Cusenza holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Harvard Business School and a B.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.

  

Thumbnail
Minal Dalia

Power Commodity Risk Manager

BP ENERGY COMPANY

Minal Dalia, Power Commodity Risk Manager, BP ENERGY COMPANY

Minal Dalia has over 15 years of experience in the energy industry with a proven track record for successfully providing innovative solutions that add value. Minal joined BP in 2016 is the head of commodity risk for the power business. Prior to BP, she was the Global Head of Middle and Back Office at TrailStone and a risk consulting practice leader at PwC. Minal graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Masters in Professional Accounting, Bachelors in Business Administration and is a CPA. She started her career as an external auditor with Deloitte & Touche and then joined Enron’s market risk management practice prior to beginning her consulting career at PwC.

Sidhartha Dash

Chief Researcher

Chartis Research

Sid is the Chief Researcher at Chartis Research with more than 20 years of experience in the financial, energy and commodities markets in various functions across the trade and software development lifecycles. He has held various roles in product development, trading, risk management, software development and consulting in banks, hedge funds, and risk advisory and software firms, including Standard Chartered Bank, TCG Group, HCL and Cognizant.

Sid’s specific areas of interest and research include risk data, model risk management, quantitative models in illiquid markets, high-performance analytics, energy and commodity trading risk, market structure design, new computational models, and the use of innovative mathematical methods in various emerging areas of risk management .He has a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management and is a qualified Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst CAIA, Financial Risk Manager (FRM) ,Energy Risk Professional (ERP), Member of GARP and CIPM from the CFA institute.

 

Thumbnail
Abhishek Deshpande

Vice President - Market Intelligence Strategy, Portfolio & Market Intelligence

ADNOC Group Abu Dhabi

Abhishek Deshpande is Vice President - Market Intelligence Strategy, Portfolio & Market Intelligence for ADNOC Group Abu Dhabi. Prior to joining ADNOC Group Abhishek headed up the Global Oil Market Research and Strategy team at J.P Morgan, he joined J.P. Morgan in 2017. Before that Abhishek was Global Head of the Energy Research team at Natixis SA based in London and also worked at Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Abhishek has a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University & is a Fellow at the Institute of Chemical Engineers and Energy Institute UK.

 

Thumbnail
Britany Devlin

Vice President, Risk

TWIN EAGLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Thumbnail
John Doran

Global director, trade monitoring & analysis

Conocophillips

John L. Doran, Global Director, Trade Monitoring & Analysis with ConocoPhillips, brings more than 20 years of experience providing advisory services and analytical modeling methods to his clients in the energy industry. Mr. Doran is the designer of multiple commodity trade surveillance methods used to detect targeted trading patterns. He has worked with integrated oil companies, investment banks, hedge funds and Department of Justice sponsored monitors providing customized trade surveillance solutions and independent reviews. Prior to joining ConocoPhillips, Mr. Doran spent a significant part of his career with Ernst & Young and SunGard Global Services focusing within the energy industry. John graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.

 

 

Aiman El-Ramly

Chief business officer

ZE PowerGroup Inc

Aiman El-Ramly, MBA, CMC, Chief Business Officer, ZE PowerGroup has been an active member of the energy and commodities industries for 30 years. Aiman has significant understanding of what is needed for corporations to run effectively in complex global markets. ZE PowerGroup is the developer of the ZEMA™ enterprise software for data management. Aiman and his team have been recently expanding ZEMA’s capability to include advanced analytics and machine learning in resolving key industry challenges in trade, risk and operations. He is a frequent presenter, and market expert, in data and data analytics.

Aiman is also the Chief Operating Officer for ZE Power Engineering, ZE’s engineering design firm for utilities. Aiman holds an MBA from Royal Roads University and a BA in Psychology from the University of British Columbia.

Thumbnail
Ahmad Farooqi

Senior Principal, Trading & Commercial Practice

ACCENTURE

Ahmad Farooqi is a senior principal in Accenture’s Resources Management Consulting practice. For nearly 18 years, Ahmad has partnered with a number of companies focused on business and digital transformation, and system implementation projects in Energy Trading and Risk Management mainly, for oil, power, emissions and natural gas commodities. Ahmad has a passion to drive innovation and thought leadership in energy trading industry.             

Thumbnail
Stella Farrington

Head of content

Energy Risk

Stella Farrington has been writing about energy markets for 20 years, working at Futures World News and Dow Jones Newswires before moving to Energy Risk in 2004. She spent eight years as the editor of Energy Risk and the last six as a writer, before moving into her current role as Energy Risk’s head of content.

Thumbnail
Jenny Fordham

NACD Governance Fellow, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs

Natural Gas Supply Association

Jenny Fordham is senior vice president, government affairs for the Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA). She joined NGSA in 2005.


As senior vice president, government affairs, Jenny is responsible for the association’s legislative and policy advocacy related to the competitive natural gas market. She represents the association with the administration, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), U.S. Congress, media, industry and the public, serving as a spokeswoman for the association on natural gas market issues.


Jenny’s diverse 29-year energy career helps provide the commercial relevance that is characteristic of NGSA advocacy. Prior to joining NGSA, Fordham led the state and regulatory affairs team for Washington Gas Light Company (WGL), the natural gas utility serving the Washington, DC metropolitan area; held a seat on the WGL Political Action Committee Board of Directors; and was a fuels consultant for Pace Global Energy Services. Fordham’s expertise is further augmented by her investor relations and financial planning experience for NiSource, Inc.’s predecessor, Columbia Energy Group. Her experience negotiating energy contracts, working with investors on energy project valuation and implementing corporate compliance standards for market behavior rules make her insights distinctive to the NGSA team.


At NGSA, Jenny specializes in creating long-term strategic advocacy partnerships that broaden policymaker support for business-relevant positions. Fordham created the first “agriculture and energy” partnership, NGSA and the National Corn Growers Association, credited with securing the end user protections in Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation and recognized in CEO Update. Jenny’s work helped establish NGSA as an industry leader on CFTC Dodd-Frank implementation advocacy often covered by S&P Platts Gas Daily and Energy Risk magazine. Diversifying NGSA’s voice beyond the energy industry, Jenny has been quoted in Construction Executive and she was interviewed in episode #357 of the podcast Through the Noise.


Jenny Fordham graduated cum laude from Shepherd University where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in economics and political science. She is a 2017 graduate of the Women in Technology Leadership Foundry, is a National Association of Corporate Directors Governance Fellow and recently completed the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education class Leadership Decision Making. She sits on the board of directors for the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Women’s Energy Network.

Thumbnail
Sarah Hayes

Enterprise Risk Management Analyst

EXELON

Sarah Hayes is an ERM Analyst at Exelon, where she supports various enterprise level risk initiatives including optimizing gas supply portfolios at Utilities. Sarah is a part of Exelon’s 3-Year Risk Management Rotational Program, within which she has also been a Wholesale Credit Risk Analyst managing the Renewable Portfolio. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Energy Business and Finance from Penn State University and joined Exelon in 2017.

Thumbnail
Justin Gilli

Director, Regulatory Compliance

NRG

I’ve been with NRG for 13 years and have worn various hats working for different business functions within the company. I began my tenure in the IT department as an IT manager developing and supporting Risk applications. Later, I worked directly for the Risk Management group leading their Risk Controls function. This mix of IT and Risk experience afforded me the opportunity to transition into Regulatory Compliance and I am currently Director of Trade Compliance overseeing the Energy Trade Surveillance Program. In this role, I am focused on enhancing our Surveillance program by utilizing technology to bolster our trade monitoring efforts. I am always on the lookout for ways to enhance our program via software solutions that can bring real value to our program through automation.

Thumbnail
Nikhil Joshi

Senior Director

CME Group

Nikhil Joshi is a Senior Director at CME Group. He is leading the development of the new risk framework program (SPAN-2) as a member of CME’s quantitative risk research team. Nikhil has built his career in modelling and research with a focus on trading and risk management for energy products. He holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters in Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi).

Thumbnail
Vince Kaminski

Professor

Rice University's Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management

Mr. Vincent Kaminski has spent 14 years working in different positions related to quantitative analysis and risk management in the merchant energy industry. The companies he worked for include Citigroup, Sempra Energy Trading, Reliant Energy, Citadel Investment Group, and Enron (from 1992 to 2002) where he was the head of the quantitative modeling group. Prior to starting a career in the energy industry, Mr. Kaminski was a Vice-President in the Research Department, Bond Portfolio Analysis Group, of Salomon Brothers in New York (from 1986 to 1992).
As of September 15, 2006, Mr. Kaminski has accepted an academic position with Rice University in Houston (Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business) where he is teaching MBA level classes on energy markets, energy risk management and valuation of energy derivatives. Mr. Kaminski is also teaching classes in the executive education program at the Jones school.

Mr. Kaminski holds an M.S. degree in international economics, a Ph.D. degree in theoretical economics from the Main School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw, Poland, and an MBA from Fordham University in New York. He is a recipient of the 1999 James H. McGraw award for Energy Risk Management (Energy Risk Manager of the Year). Mr. Kaminski published a number of papers, and contributed to several books, on energy markets. His recent publications in the risk management and commodity options pricing areas include: Managing Energy Price Risk, Risk Books, London 1999, all three subsequent editions, editor and coauthor; The Challenge of Pricing and Risk Managing Electricity Derivatives, in: The US Power Market, Risk Publications, London 1997, author; and Energy Modeling. Advances in the Management of Uncertainty, London 2005, editor and coauthor.

 

 

Thumbnail
Kevin Kindall

Senior data scientist

Hartree Partners

Kevin Kindall is a Senior Data Scientist at Hartree Partners. Prior to joining Hartree, he held front and middle office positions at ConocoPhillips, Enron, and EDF Trading. He has a Ph.D. in Physics from Clemson University, and a Masters in Computational Finance from Carnegie Mellon University, and serves on the Alumni Relations Board for the Tepper School of Business.

 

 

Stuart Krohn

Head global market risk Gas, power & energy trading

Shell Trading & Supply

Thumbnail
Nitin Kumar

Head of risk

Alpha Generation

Nitin Kumar is Senior Director, Market Risk at Direct Energy, and is responsible for Market Risk Coverage, Quantitative Risk and Credit Risk Analytics.

Prior to joining Direct Energy in 2014, Nitin had a similar role covering JP Morgan’s physical commodities desk in Houston.  Previously, he consulted with Energy Merchant and Trading companies as part of PwC’s Financial Risk Management practice covering asset and derivative valuation, financial due diligence and market, credit and operational risk related issues.

Nitin holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), and a Master of Business Administration from the Washington University in St. Louis.

Thumbnail
Chair: Glenn Labhart

Senior partner

Labhart Risk Advisors

Glenn Labhart has more than 25 years of experience in the design and implementation of

risk management processes and policies and has been a leader in helping the industry define today’s risk environment and plan for the uncertainties of the future.

He is the first energy-industry chief risk officer to receive the Financial Risk Manager of the Year Award from the Global Association of Risk Professionals (“GARP”). Glenn now serves as the Chairman of the Energy Risk Diploma program for GARP.  

In March 2004 Glenn Labhart formed Labhart Risk Advisors Inc., providing expertise in risk management that provides a diverse approach for clients requiring expertise in energy, complex modeling and independent valuation.

Glenn is a frequent lecturer and speaker utilizing his subject matter expertise on a variety of legal matters from his direct experience to provide of industry practices to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, business clients and Dynegy.

From August 1997 to March 2004, Glenn was senior vice president and chief risk officer for Dynegy Inc. During the period at Dynegy, Glenn led the independent valuation of due diligence for all mergers and acquisitions that included European, Australian, Latin American and US based transactions; serving as a Board member for subsidiary companies from Dynegy acquisitions.

Glenn’ s career is supported by a BBA from Abilene Christian University, and the Rice University Executive Management Program, Professional memberships include the United State Energy Economics Association, the International Energy Economics Association, and serves on the Advisory Council for the Master of Energy Business program/University of Tulsa.

Thumbnail
Scott Lapierre

Reservoir Characterization Director, Founder

SHALE SPECIALISTS LLC

Scott Lapierre has over 20 years’ experience serving in a variety of roles for producers and service companies across the upstream O&G industry. Having started his career in operations providing formation-evaluation services, he eventually became an interpreter of formation evaluation data, aka a Petrophysicist, for ConocoPhillips, in their Global Subsurface Technology

By 2006, Scott was tasked with innovating on reservoir characterization methods for quantifying and mapping key properties of emerging gas shale reservoirs. By 2009, having developed a unique, competitive exploration capability for translating legacy, public data into illuminating treasure maps, Scott joined Pioneer Natural Resources to help them transition into the shale oil giant they have since become.

In 2014, Scott left Pioneer and co-found PCORE E&P to exploit the discovery of what he calls “the secret”: that oil trapped deep under the Earth, known to be slightly compressed under the weight of rock above, was the primary source of energy driving oil from shale. Under the belief that industry was dead wrong in the source of drive energy, PCORE was founded to identify the true “core” of shale plays at a time when everyone insisted everywhere was the “core”. Scott and his cohorts assembled a 6,000 acres position in the Midland Basin, drilled three top-tier wells, and sold the position - all within 18 months while oil slid from $105 to $36 per barrel.

Since 2016 Scott has been consulting under the banner of Shale Specialists LLC where he provides reservoir characterization, prospect generation, and deal evaluation for a variety of public and private E&P’s and investment management companies.

Scott is the author of the controversial LinkedIn articles on Bubble-point Death that predicted rising gas-to-oil ratios (GOR’s) were the precursor to a sudden and unexpected demise in oil production. His articles made bold prediction of production shortfalls that a recent Wall Street Journal article appears to have validated. He is here to represent the implications of the limitations of oil expansion as a primary drive mechanism on North American oil production.

Thumbnail
Tom Lord

President

Dynamic Commodity Management

Tom Lord is a leading expert regarding trading and supply chain commodity regulation and compliance as well as derivatives regulations under Dodd-Frank. Previously the Dodd Frank Practice Lead for Commodities for PwC ‘s Governance, Risk and Compliance practice and EY FAAS Commodities Regulatory Compliance Practice Area.Tom has led  and participated in multiple engagements assisting firms in assessing impacts and designing internal responses to regulations under CFTC, FERC and European regulators. He is currently leading engagements for banking and energy firms regarding compliance controls and trade surveillance controls. Tom has published over 20 articles on energy and commodity markets and risk management as well as a speaker at multiple forums on Dodd/Frank sponsored by the legal community.

Tom earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A in Public Policy from Cornell University, and a J.D. from University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Thumbnail
Karen Lukacs

EKA

General Manager, Energy

Karen is responsible for driving the ongoing development of Eka’s next-generation energy trading and risk management (ETRM) software solutions. With over 20 years of experience working with energy companies, Karen has a unique understanding of what energy companies need to manage their operations, as she has been with the industry, vendors and consultants.

Prior to Eka, Karen began her career managing gas plant reporting and supply, logistics optimization, and then was a marketer for NGL’s at Canada’s largest Oil and Gas company. Karen then was an EVP at an ETRM company, and a North American leadership team member for an international management consulting firm focusing on ETRM integration and digitization planning for oil and gas companies

Thumbnail
Glen Mackey

Chief risk officer

NRG Energy

Glen E. Mackey is Chief Risk Officer of NRG Energy. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s governance, risk management, trade compliance, cash management, insurance, retail costing and structuring.

Mr. Mackey also serves as a an adjunct professor in Applied Mathematics at Rutgers University, a member of the CFTC's Market Risk Advisory Committee, and board or advisory member for related energy firms.

Mr. Mackey holds undergraduate diplomas in accounting and finance respectively. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration, all through western schools.

Prior to joining NRG in 2011, Mackey held senior commercial and commodity management positions, in agriculture, energy and financial services sectors with KPMG, Nexen, EnCana, Duke Energy Marketing, Koch Energy Trading, Engage Energy, NGX, and TD Bank.

Thumbnail
Spyros Maragos

Manager, market risk analytics

ExxonMobil

Spyros Maragos has more than eighteen years' worth of experience as an energy executive.  He has held quantitative, structuring, risk management and fundamental analysis positions.  He worked in energy marketing, consulting, for an oil major as well as energy hedge funds.  Currently, he is Manager, Market Risk Analytics at ExxonMobil.

Spyros has a Ph.D. from M.I.T. where he studied Management, Operations Research and Finance.

 

Thumbnail
Sarah McDowell

Head of Commodity Risk for Natural Gas, Valuations

BP ENERGY COMPANY

Sarah McDowell, Head of Commodity Risk for Natural Gas, Valuations, NAGP, BP ENERGY COMPANY

Originally from Chicago, Sarah McDowell began her career in Internal Audit in the financial services sector before joining BP in 1999 where she helped establish an exposure model and hedging program for the Oil Supply business. Since then, Sarah has held a number of Commodity Risk leadership roles within the trading organization with a career spanning multiple commodities as well several geographies including London, UK and Calgary, AB. Sarah moved to Houston with her family in 2012 and is currently the Head of Commodity Risk for the North American natural gas trading business. Through the course of her tenure with BP, Sarah has worked with several ETRM systems and has been actively involved in a number of system transformation and implementation initiatives. Sarah holds a Bachelor's of Science in Finance from DePaul University and also holds her Certified Internal Auditor designation.

Eileen Merrigan

Senior Manager, Compliance Controls

HARTREE PARTNERS

Eileen Merrigan manages the global compliance group at Hartree Partners. She uses self-taught programming skills to mine data for compliance insight and other compliance endeavors such as effective global regulatory reporting, rule implementation, AML/KYC review, communication review, and regulator response. Her goal is to speak all business languages – data, regulation, and commercial. She began her career at FERC in the Division of Market Oversight and then spent time at The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Ms. Merrigan is an avid curler and enjoys debating the five-rock free guard zone. She holds a Master’s in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins.

Thumbnail
Jose Noyes

IT architect director, energy trading and risk management systems

Engie

Jose Noyes has almost twenty years of experience in energy risk trading management.  Currently, Jose holds the position of IT Architect Director of ETRM Systems at ENGIE Energy Marketing NA, Inc., an energy trading and marketing subsidiary of ENGIE, a French multinational electric utility company which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy.  In this role, Jose is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of ETRM solutions for operations associated with front office trading, risk management, back office, data integration and data analytics.  He works with senior level business partners to evaluate requirements, design system interfaces, manage data and calculations, develop system test and integration plans, execute test procedures, and support end-users.  Additionally, Jose leverages his in-depth technology expertise to support the business, provide project management services, mentor software developers and supply hands-on technical input.  Previously, he was the Product Manager of Aligne TRM at FIS (successor to SunGard and Caminus).  He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University with a bachelors of art degree in economics and mathematics. 

Thumbnail
Philip North

Vice President, Global Risk Management

THE AES CORPORATION

Phil is Vice President of Global Risk Management at AES, reporting to Chief Financial Officer. A leader with substantial commercial and finance experience in the US, Latin America, and Europe. In his current role, Phil manages the risk management function across AES’ Global platform. Phil has been with AES in various commercial and risk roles since 2015.

Prior to joining AES, he was a member of the leadership team for Duke Energy’s Midwest Commercial Generation business unit as the Strategy and Business Performance Director, directing the strategy for 6,000MW of thermal power plants in PJM.

Phil holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics; a master’s degree in Business Economics from Miami University in Oxford, OH; and has completer executive business and leadership programs at Georgetown  University and the Center for Creative Leadership.

Will O'Brien

Vice President, Commodity Trading Solutions

KWA ANALYTICS

Will O’Brien, ERP is the Executive Vice President of Trading & Risk Solutions at KWA Analytics where he oversees the advisory practice area servicing clients in energy, metals, ags, and capital markets.  He has over a decade of client experience working with Banks, Commodity Trading Houses, Hedge Funds, I.O.C’s, Upstream Producers, and Utilities.  

Prior to joining KWA, he was a Manager in Accenture's CTRM practice where he worked with energy clients on their risk management needs.  Before that was at OpenLink Financial where he was on the Quantitative Risk consulting team.

Will’s experience in risk management, trading & risk technology, and software development gives him a unique perspective in applying technology to address market needs.  

Thumbnail
James Orsulak

Senior Director of Business and Sales

DESCARTES LABS

James Orsulak is the Senior Director of Business and Sales at Descartes Labs. James is a space and technology executive with over 18 years of experience in sales, business development and strategy. He led business capture activities for an asteroid mining company where he helped develop an advanced thermographic Earth Observation program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Art from Southern Methodist University and an Agronomy and Precision Agriculture certification from Purdue University.

Kathryn Patton

CALPINE

Trading Compliance

Thumbnail
Jennifer Plank

Senior Analyst

CONOCOPHILLIPS

Currently Senior Analyst, Global Trade Monitoring and Analysis, with 10 plus years of experience gained from multiple roles within ConocoPhillips Commercial in London and Houston. Has gained extensive knowledge of analytical modelling especially around commodity trade surveillance methods used to detect targeted trading patterns. Has strong project management skills, having led the implementation of ConocoPhillips Global Client Screening program, with oversight in setting CS policy and strategy at a global level and developing compliance monitoring and event management programs. Jennifer graduated from University of East Anglia (UK) with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management.

Thumbnail
Shabana Qaiser

Director, Assistant General Counsel

BANK OF AMERICA

Shabana Qaiser is Assistant General Counsel and Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.  Currently, Ms. Qaiser supports the Commodities line of business from both a physical and financial trading and transactional perspective, with a focus on structured financing transactions, oil, metals and commodity index-linked products.  She originally joined legacy Merrill Lynch as counsel to one of its private equity funds and its commodity-related investment business.  Ms. Qaiser had previously worked at private law firms in both New York and Houston.  She started her career as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan in mergers and acquisitions and restructurings in Latin America.  Ms. Qaiser earned her B.A. from Yale University and J.D. from Stanford Law School. 

Thumbnail
Sunaina Pai Ocalan

Director, corporate strategy

HESS

Sunaina is responsible for keeping the Hess executive team abreast on macro-economic factors, and elements of supply and demand of oil and gas; how costs are trending in the industry, and other macro themes and perspectives.  She is also responsible for competitor intelligence and monitoring strategic trends in the industry.

She has 18 years experience in the oil and gas industry, in various functions – she started her career with Schlumberger, working as an electrical design engineer on the coring tool and the MDT.  After getting her MBA, she switched gears and joined a boutique management consulting firm that got acquired by IHS CERA in Cambridge, MA. Through the acquisition, she was with CERA for 6 years.  In 2012, Ocalan joined Hess as a development plan engineer for the Utica asset.  She had a development role in the Commercial group helping with decisions on Hess’ Bakken asset.  Prior to taking the Corporate Strategy role, she supported all of Hess’ offshore assets and was responsible for decision analysis and economics for GOM, Asia, and Europe.  

Ocalan holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Bombay University, India, a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, PA, and an MBA from Rice University in Houston.

Thumbnail
Patrick Reames

Managing Partner

COMMODITY TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY

Thumbnail
William Recktenwald

Research Analyst

TRAFIGURA

William Recktenwald is a Research Analyst at Trafigura Trading LLC in Houston, TX, an international commodities trading house. William now focuses on leveraging data in order to provide valuable insight to the energy trading desks at Trafigura.

He joined Trafigura in 2017 and has worked across commodities and roles, as well as internationally in Uruguay. William began his career as a Risk Analyst on the metal concentrates desk, before moving to Houston and into the capacity of Operations for the growing gasoline racks business. Mr. Recktenwald earned a B.S. from Stony Brook University in applied mathematics and statistics, with a second major in economics.

Thumbnail
Jonathan Regenstein

Director of Financial Services

RStudio, Inc.

Jonathan is the Director of Financial Services practice at RStudio and the author of Reproducible Finance with R: Code Flows and Shiny Apps for Portfolio Management (CRC Press). He writes the Reproducible Finance blog series for RStudio and his code/apps can be seen at reproduciblefinance.com. Prior to joining RStudio, he worked at JP Morgan. He studied international relations at Harvard University and did graduate work in political economy at Emory University

Thumbnail
Ehud Ronn

Professor of finance, McCombs School of Business

The University of Texas at Austin

Ehud I. Ronn is a professor of Finance at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin.  He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1983.

In addition to teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Ronn has held visiting appointments at academic institutions in the U. S., Europe and the Far East.  He has published articles on investments, interest rate instruments and energy derivatives in the academic and practitioner literature.

From 1991 to 1993, Dr. Ronn served as Vice President, Trading Research Group at Merrill Lynch & Co.  Dr. Ronn was the founding director of the University of Texas Center for Energy Finance from 1997 to 2009.  From Jan. 2010 to Feb. 2011, Prof. Ronn was Commodity Market Modeling practice area manager at Morgan Stanley & Co.

In Nov. 2004, Dr. Ronn was selected by Energy Risk to the “Energy Risk Hall of Fame.” 

Thumbnail
Nima Safaian

Head of trading analytics

Cenovus energy

Nima Safaian is the head of trading analytics with Cenovus Energy in Calgary, Canada. In this role, he applies Data Science and Statistical Learning methodologies to get better insights on risk/reward opportunities. Previously Nima worked as a risk manager with Scotiabank and  BP's Integrated Supply and Trading Group. Nima is an active member of GARP Calgary where he leads seminar/workshop series on the practical applications of Big Data and Machine Learning to trading and risk analytics. Nima holds degrees in nuclear engineering and an MBA.

Thumbnail
Akshay Singh

Quantitative Analytics Manager

WGL ENERGY

Akshay Singh is a seasoned Energy Risk professional. He has been associated with strategy, corporate development and risk management across the value chain in the energy industry – traditional and renewables - for 20 years at energy producers, converters, transporters, utilities, project finance, marketing, trading and analytics services firms in the USA and UK.

Thumbnail
Arnaud Stevens

Managing director, co-head of energy & natural resources Americas

Natixis

Managing Director and Head of Global Energy & Commodities, Trade & Structured Finance - Americas at Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking. Enthusiast for tech all things Fintech and Blockchain related.

Mr. Stevens joined Natixis in New York in August 2011. He specializes in Commodity Trade and Structured Finance and leads a commodity bankers team comprised of industry veterans. The team covers a wide range of sectors in the Americas, including Energy (Oil, Gas & Power), Metals (base and precious metals) and Agricultural products. The group has developed a strong expertise in physical commodity merchant finance and does focus on structured commodity finance solutions (syndicated Borrowing Base facilities, Structured Inventory/Repo financings, pre-export financings and Mining finance).

He has more than 20 years of experience in Corporate and Investment banking with a demonstrated track record in trade and structured commodity finance, debt & equity capital markets and asset-based financings. He has spent the majority of his career at Natixis and its legacy companies, and has held a number of senior management positions in the Natixis Group.

Arnaud graduated from Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) Paris and Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

 

Thumbnail
Amber Storey

Director

VERITAS TOTAL SOLUTIONS

Amber has over 15 years of industry and advisory experience in commodities trading, financial services and oil and gas industries.

She has a detailed technical understanding of trading systems and underlying data. She is focused on integrating new digital solutions with Energy Trading Risk Management (ETRM) systems to optimize the capabilities of traditional ETRM systems with the added value of digital solutions.

Amber has investment bank and commodities trading experience, working directly with traders to produce ad hoc applications and reports for on demand data analytics.  Leveraging her trade floor experience, Amber has managed design and implementation of front office reporting systems for risk analytics, and she has led in the analysis of trading irregularities identified through these risk reporting systems.

Amber has a BS in Management Information Systems from Texas A&M University.

Thumbnail
Gary Taylor

Global head of energy market risk

Shell

Thumbnail
Robert Trinnear

Managing director

The Energy Authority

Robert Trinnear is a widely respected expert in risk management and financial derivatives with two decades of industry experience. He brings invaluable strategic insight to The Energy Authority (TEA), leading trading services across all commodity types for TEA’s clients in the East Coast markets.  An entrepreneur by nature, Mr. Trinnear is spearheading TEA’s exploration and integration of blockchain technology. Mr. Trinnear’s expertise in both blockchain technology and energy make him a highly sought-after speaker at conferences across the country. His lengthy history of leadership roles at TEA gives him a unique perspective on the specific needs of clients as they adjust to significant change and opportunity in the energy markets.

In addition to leading one of public power’s most active trading desks in the nation, Mr. Trinnear was the Managing Director of Southern Horizon Consulting, where he specialized in financial risk management for clients in the technology, energy, and financial industries. He also worked for Tyson Foods Inc. and Mirant Corporation where he held a variety of trading and structured finance roles.

Mr. Trinnear holds a master’s degree in finance from Georgia State University, and a bachelor’s degree in management from Trinity College, Dublin. He also has an advanced diploma in business studies from the Dublin Institute of Technology and an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thumbnail
Chris Strickland

CEO and Co-founder

LACIMA

Chris Strickland, CEO and Co-founder, LACIMA

Dr Chris Strickland is CEO and co-founder of Lacima, a specialist provider of energy risk management, valuation and optimisation software and advisory services. Chris has advised senior executives on energy risk management and complex derivative valuation issues, strategic assessments and implementation of risk systems for over 20 years, and is a recognised expert for expert witness testimonials.
Chris is the co-author (with Les Clewlow) of the books 'Energy Derivatives Pricing and Risk Management' and 'Implementing Derivatives Models' and co-editor of the book 'Exotic Options: The State of the Art'.

In 2005 Chris was named in the Energy Risk Hall of Fame and in 2009 he was named in an elite international group of five by Energy Risk Magazine as a pioneering quantitative analyst who has made an outstanding contribution to energy trading and has shaped today's global energy markets. He is a Coordinator of the Risk Metrics Subcommittee of the Committee of Chief Risk Officers (CCRO) based in Houston, and a member of the Energy Oversight Committee for the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) based in New York.

Chris holds a PhD (Finance), and an MSc (Mathematics) from the University of Warwick, and a First Class Honours (Pure Mathematics) from the University of Liverpool. Chris is an Honorary Fellow at Macquarie University in Sydney and a member of the Special Focus Advisory Board of the Computational Finance & Risk Management Program at the Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington in Seattle

 

Thumbnail
Eboni Troupe

Manager, Qualitative Risk and Compliance

NATIONAL GRID

Eboni Troupe is the Manager of Qualitative Risk and Compliance for National Grid’s Energy Portfolio Risk Management team, a position that she has held for the past 5 years.  Previously, she was the Credit Manager for the same team.  She manages the team that mitigates credit risk, completes deal confirmation, negotiates trading contracts and facilitates National Grid’s strategy approval process.  Eboni’s primary role is ensuring that all controls surrounding energy risk management are properly vetted and executed and that all items requiring risk committee and/or board approval are properly documented and presented for approval.

Ms. Troupe has spent her entire career in energy, starting as an Associate with Enron Energy Services in Houston.  Prior to joining National Grid, she worked as a Senior Credit Analyst for Mirant Americas Energy Marketing in Atlanta.

Eboni holds a Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance.

Thumbnail
Cengizhan Yenerim

Head of Risk Development

ENGIE

As the head of Risk Development for ENGIE’s global energy management business, Cengizhan Yenerim is responsible for the management of strategic risk capital to protect and enhance the long-term portfolio value of ENGIE and its external clients in North America.

Since joining ENGIE in 2007, Cengizhan has served in several roles including heading up the data office, corporate strategy, enterprise risk, pricing, and portfolio management while supporting company’s investments in electricity generation, retail, natural gas and LNG.

Cengizhan until recently, held a board position at the Green Button Alliance which is an industry-led effort to respond to a White House call-to-action to provide society with easy access to their energy usage data.

Cengizhan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from Middle East Technical University and a Master of Arts in Energy and Earth Resources from University of Texas at Austin. Cengizhan resides in Houston, TX with his wife and two children.

Thumbnail
Nithya Venkatesan

Board member

International Energy Credit Association

Nithya Venkatesan is currently the First Vice President, Risk at Navitas Assurance Partners (Navitas).  Prior to joining Navitas, Nithya worked as Senior Manager, Risk at Hess Corporation (Hess) globally.  

Navitas is a managing general underwriter (MGU) that represents some of the strongest balance sheets in North America; Navitas acts as the leading conduit in between the energy markets, their broker partners and carrier partners. 

Nithya has over 20 plus years of risk management experience spanning credit risk, market risk, regulatory reporting and enterprise risk.  Also, she has experience with multiple commodities including natural gas, power, crude oil, refined products, natural gas liquids, emissions credits and derivatives products.  Prior to Hess, Nithya has held a number risk positions at NRG Energy in various risk roles, Calpine Corporation in credit risk, etc.

Nithya is an active Board Member of CCRO (Committee of Chief Risk Officers), Executive Committee member at IECA (International Energy Credit Association) and Co-Director of the GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) Houston Chapter.  

Thumbnail
Jie Zhou

Director, risk analytics

Exelon

Jie Zhou is a director of risk analytics at Exelon. In this role, he’s responsible for promoting evidence-based analytical-driven approaches to analysing enterprise level risks, optimizing business portfolios and evaluating strategic options.

Prior to moving to the enterprise risk management organization, Jie managed a quant team at Constellation (the commercial subsidiary of Exelon) that supports various hedging, trading and risk management activities.

Jie received his PhD in Statistics from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2007.

Thumbnail
Alex Zhukovsky

Director, energy portfolio risk management

National Grid

Dr. Zhukovsky has worked as a "quant", a manager, and a director of Energy Portfolio Risk Management at National Grid for more than ten years. He also has been serving as a chair of Commodity Management Committee and a Director of Quantitative Risk and Financial Reporting. Dr. Zhukovsky specializes in applying advanced mathematical and computational techniques to the real-world energy risk problems, developing risk reporting, advanced risk metrics, and valuation models. He played a key role in three Energy Risk Management and two Data Management System implementations. Before joining National Grid, he worked as an adjunct professor at SUNY at Stony Brook and an analyst/software developer for firms specialized in scheduling, dispatching, and supply chain optimization. He holds advanced degrees in Applied Mathematics and Management and Policy.

Thumbnail
Fred Reimer

Director

KWA

Fred has over 12 years of experience working as a leader in the CTRM space, with a special emphasis on liquid and bulk commodities.

Shortly after starting his career as a Business Analyst at Openlink, he was tasked with leading some of its earliest global liquid and bulk commodity implementations. He then moved on to serve as the Global Liquid and Bulk Commodity Product Manager leading the design, implementation, and user group for Endur’s North American Pipeline and International Marine Trading and Logistics solutions. His last role at OpenLink was the Head of Pre-Sales for EMEA, where he worked with his team to provide innovative solutions to customers across all asset classes using RightAngle and Endur.

Now as a Director of KWA Analytics Americas, he’s focused on developing people and teams that can provide energy and commodity players with mission-critical CTRM solutions.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree with Honors in Energy Economics from Gettysburg College