The PureVision Team
Technical Advisory Board
PureVision has established a Technical Advisory Board, comprised of experienced individuals who contribute a great deal of expertise in the broad area of cellulosic biomass utilization. The Technical Advisory Board provides PureVision's senior technical team with important hands-on knowledge and experience with a focus on advancing the company's front-end cellulosic-to-sugars technology toward commercialization. The following individuals make up the PureVision Technical Advisory Board.
Don Cha, Ph.D. PureVision Technical Advisory Board Chairman, Dr. Cha is a highly respected patent attorney and chemist. Dr. Cha received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at MIT in 1989, and did two years of Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University. In 1991, Dr. Cha joined Rhone-Poulenc Rorer (now Sanofi-Aventis) as a medicinal chemist. Throughout his chemistry career, he was the recipient of several awards. While pursuing his medicinal chemistry career, Dr. Cha obtained his law degree at Temple University in 1996. His professional affiliations include the American Chemical Society, American Bar Association and the American Intellectual Property Association. Dr. Cha has been practicing Intellectual Property law for over 13 years, and simultaneously has taught Organic Chemistry at the University of Colorado at Denver.
Joy Doran Peterson,
Ph.D. is Director of the Biofuels, Biopower,
and Biomaterials Initiative (B3I) at the University of
Georgia, a Professor in the Microbiology Department,
and a member of the Faculty of Engineering at the UGA.
The B3Initiative is an 80-member group of faculty and
staff synergized to bring focused effort to addressing
our transition from a petrol-based economy to a
bio-based economy. Dr. Peterson received her
undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia
and her PhD from the University of Florida under the
direction of Dr. Lonnie Ingram. Dr. Peterson's
laboratory at UGA has four major foci: 1) mining
microbial diversity for new organisms, enzymes, and
antimicrobials; 2) developing methods for disrupting
biomass to release sugars; 3) improving existing
fermentation processes; and 4) integrating all of the
above for an economically viable process. She has an
active research laboratory at UGA and she also
consults regularly for industry and the investment
community. Dr. Doran-Peterson was the Chair of the
Fermentation and Biotechnology Division of the
American Society for Microbiology 2008-2009 and is
currently the Division Advisor. She has presented
cellulosic ethanol-related talks on numerous occasions
in the U.S. and overseas, and has shared information
with members of the US Government on Capitol Hill. Her
laboratory has developed methods for ethanol
production from a wide variety of biomass substrates.
Harry Cullinan, Ph.D.
is Director of the Alabama Center for Paper and
Bioresource Engineering at Auburn University where he
leads research and education programs, primarily
focused on the needs of the pulp and paper industry,
alternative fuels and biorefining. Dr. Cullinan is
also Professor of Chemical Engineering at Auburn.
Previous positions include Head of the Department of
Chemical Engineering at SUNY-Buffalo, Vice President
of the Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton, WI,
and Professor –Director of the Australian Pulp
and Paper Institute at Monash University in Melbourne,
Australia. He also was founder and first president of
the Pulp and Paper Education and Research Alliance and
a founder of the National Network for Pulp and Paper
Technology Training. Dr. Cullinan serves on the Chief
Technology Officers Committee of Agenda 2020 and the
Board of Directors of the Auburn Pulp and Paper
Foundation. He has also served on the Board of
Directors of a number of organizations, including
TAPPI and PIMA. Cullinan is a TAPPI Fellow and the
recipient of TAPPI's Distinguished Service Award.
During 2009, Dr. Cullinan was inducted into the Paper
Industry International Hall of Fame.
Flo Mostaccero, PE,
MBA and President at Pearl Development
Company. With over twenty-five years experience in
engineering, construction and manufacturing support,
Ms. Mostaccero has held executive positions in
operations management, project management, engineering
management, contract management, process engineering,
as well as contract development and integration of new
personnel and acquisitions. Her past positions include
VP Technical Services & Business Process
Development at Coors Brewing Company and Director
Global Alliances at Jacobs Engineering. Ms.
Mostaccero's experience demonstrates strong
organizational development and business process skills
while emphasizing bottom-line contributions and
improvements. She has proven leadership and management
skills with excellent interpersonal and communications
abilities emphasizing teamwork and goal attainment.
Bin Yang, Ph.D. is an
Assistant Professor with the Center for Bioproducts
and Bioenergy at Washington State University,
Tri-Cities. Dr. Yang earned his B.S. ('86) in
Microbiology and M.Sc. ('93) in Chemical Engineering
from Northwestern University in China. He received his
Ph.D. ('96) in Food Engineering from South China
University of Technology, China. Prior to going to
WSU, he was an Associate Research Engineer with the
Center for Environmental Research and Technology at
the University of California, Riverside and was a
Research Scientist in the Thayer School of Engineering
at Dartmouth College. He held postdoctoral positions
at the HUA (China) and the University of British
Columbia (Canada). Dr. Yang has dedicated most of his
career to the development of renewable energy
technologies with particular emphasis on production of
ethanol and other commodity products from cellulosic
biomass. He has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed
papers and book chapters, made more than 60
presentations, many invited, written over 9 technical
reports, and 5 patents. He is currently an advisory
editor board member for Biofuels, Bioproducts &
Biorefining, Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition &
Agriculture, and Biofuels. He also served as a
reviewer for various U.S. and international programs
on Bioenergy.
Evan Evans, a
registered Professional Engineer, has been engaged
exclusively in the energy efficiency and renewable
energy fields since 1979, and also in greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions management since 1995. His work
encompasses comprehensive energy infrastructure master
planning and GHG emissions management planning
performed for governments and corporations worldwide.
Mr. Evans has a 30-year track record of engagement in
feasibility studies of the full gamut of renewable
energy technologies, central energy plant performance
improvements, design assistance for new commercial
building construction, energy performance improvements
in industrial facilities, quantification of GHG
offsets from efficiency and renewable energy projects,
and development of GHG emissions management strategies
for corporations. Mr. Evans began his career in 1979
at the Solar Energy Research Institute (now the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory). His work has
included an extensive body of renewable energy and GHG
mitigation projects. Recently, his focus has been on
next-generation technologies for producing renewable
electricity, renewable thermal energy, and renewable
fuels from biomass and municipal solid waste. He
received an MS in Energy Engineering from the
University of Colorado and a BS in Urban Planning from
Southern Methodist University.