Dr. Brajendra Mishra is a professor and the Assoc. Department Head of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Mishra is the Co-Director of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Collaborative Research Center on Resource Recovery &...
Officers and Trustees
President
Brajendra Mishra
TMS (Term ends 2013)
Dr. Brajendra Mishra is a professor and the Assoc. Department Head of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Mishra is the Co-Director of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Collaborative Research Center on Resource Recovery & Recycling – the first National Center of its kind. Brajendra received his Bachelor of Technology [1981] degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India and his M.S. [1983] and Ph.D. [1986] in Materials Science from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Prof. Mishra is also the Assoc. Director of Kroll Institute for Extractive Metallurgy. Dr. Mishra served as a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi for six months.
Dr. Mishra’s research interests bridge across the process and the physical metallurgy of materials. Dr. Mishra has over twenty years of research experience in molten salt pyrometallurgy and electrochemistry and has many contributions to the application of these technologies to nuclear waste processing. Dr. Mishra has authored over 400 technical publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He holds ten patents and has authored/edited 19 books. Dr. Mishra is a Fellow of ASM (2001). Mishra received the Distinguished Service Award from the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (2010) and the highest award of Honorary Membership form the Indian Institute of Metals (2008). Brajendra served as the 2006 President of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) of AIME and now is the President of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical & Petroleum Engineers. Email the AIME President at president@aimehq.org.
President-Elect
George Luxbacher
SME (Term ends 2014)
Luxbacher is vice president of operations with Glenn Springs Holdings, a subsidiary of Occidental. Luxbacher manages Occidental’s RCRA and CERCLA liabilities related to the oil and gas, chemicals and former mining-business segments. He directs the cleanup of a chromic ore-processing facility in North Carolina and the closure of a quarry/process tailings-disposal site. Luxbacher is the co-inventor of a process to dredge and refine phosphorus-bearing sludge into a marketable product. He developed, designed and constructed a phosphorus recovery plant in Tennessee. He has served as the business manager of the Phosphorus and Phosphorus Derivatives Group.
Luxbacher is a registered professional engineer and a Centennial Fellow of the Pennsylvania State University’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. He earned B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in mining engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.
Luxbacher is president of OneMine.org and a member of the SME Foundation Board of Trustees. He was president of SME in 2008 and, as past president, is a member of the board of directors. He is the founder of the Coal & Energy Division scholarship auction and luncheon speaker programs. He has served as chair of the division and on the Executive Committee of the Central Appalachian Section. He served on the ad hoc committee for SME Governance and was a driving force to create the Education Strategic Committee.
President-Elect Designate
Dale E. Heinz
AIST (Term Ends 2015)
Dale E. Heinz graduated from Bowling Green State University with a B.A. degree in 1974. Upon graduation, Heinz joined The Republic Steel Corp., Cleveland, Ohio, in the blast furnace department as a management trainee. He held a series of supervisory positions of growing responsibility through 1994 with Republic Steel and then LTV Steel post-merger. Heinz earned his M.B.A. from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1993 with honors.
From 1994 to 1996, Heinz was the manager of furnace operations at USS/Kobe Steel in Lorain, Ohio. Heinz rejoined LTV Steel in the steel producing area and was promoted to department manager in 1998. In 2000, he was promoted to division manager of primary operations and transferred to the Indiana Harbor works in East Chicago, Ind. In 2002, Heinz joined International Steel Group Inc. (ISG) in East Chicago with similar responsibilities. Heinz became a part of the transition team at Burns Harbor during ISG’s acquisition of Bethlehem Steel. He remained at Burns Harbor as the division manager of primary operations. Upon the completion of the merger with Mittal Steel USA, Heinz became the senior division manager of primary operations at Burns Harbor.
He has been a member of AIST and its predecessor organizations for 20 years. He is a recipient of the Iron & Steel Society’s J.L. Joseph Jr. Award for creativity in ironmaking. In addition to the AIST Foundation, Heinz has served as the chapter chairman for the ISS Cleveland chapter, the chapter chairman of the ISS Midwest chapter, and the chapter chairman for the AIST Midwest Member Chapter. Additionally, he has served on the Ironmaking and Steelmaking program committees, first for ISS and currently with AIST.
Past President
DeAnn Craig
SPE (Term ends 2012)
Ms. Craig started her professional career in 1980 as a petroleum engineer at Phillips Petroleum Company, now ConocoPhillips. She held numerous positions at Phillips, Mobil, now ExxonMobil, and Chevron. These positions included various engineering assignments as reservoir engineer and drilling engineer. Her management experience includes West Area Operations Manager; Manager, Worldwide Drilling and Production; President, Phillips Petroleum Resources Ltd in Canada. Other responsibilities included work as a Federal Relations Representative in Washington, DC, while simultaneously serving in the presidential rotation of SPE.
After completing her PhD she worked for Chevron as an in-house consultant within the North American planning and budgeting organization, and in Pittsburgh as Sr. Vice-President, Asset Assessment, for an independent. She currently serves on the Colorado Oil & Gas Commission and is an Adjunct Professor in Petroleum Engineering at Colorado School of Mines.
Ms. Craig received BS degrees in mineral engineering chemistry and chemical and petroleum refining engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 1973 and 1980, respectively; a master's of business administration from Regis University(1987); MSc degrees in international political economy(2006) and mineral economics and business(2002); and her Ph.D. (2005) also from the Colorado School of Mines. Ms. Craig is a member of SPE and the Colorado School of Mines Alumni Association. She was the 1998 President of SPE.
In 1987, Ms. Craig received the SPE Young Member Service Award. She served as president of the Colorado School of Mines Alumni Association in 1988; Visiting Committee, Colorado School of Mines Chemistry Department (1997, 1999); and received the Mines' Distinguished Achievement Medal (1999). She served as AIME Trustee from 2003-2007 and became the first woman president of AIME when she assumed this role in August 2010.
Trustee
Barbara A. Filas
SME (Term ends 2012)
Ms. Filas has over 25 years of experience in surface and underground mining operations, engineering, and regulatory support. Her efforts have included mine development plans, waste containment facility design, reclamation plans and surety estimates, project permitting, comprehensive environmental site and compliance audits, multi-disciplinary environmental evaluations, and storm water and sedimentation control designs. She has developed numerous designs and permitting documents which have successfully passed the scrutiny of the domestic and international regulatory community.
Ms. Filas has in-depth experience in mine-related environmental, closure, and reclamation evaluations for projects around the world. She also has substantial expertise in working with the environmental and social performance standards and guidelines of the World Bank Group. Ms. Filas is Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, Chief Administrative Officer at Geovic Mining Corp. Prior to joining the firm she was President of the engineering firm Knight Piesold, and previously held responsible engineering and environmental positions with Atlas Minerals, Summit Minerals, U.S. Steel Corporation, and Monterey Coal Company. She is a licensed professional engineer in several states and a certified environmental manager.
Trustee and Treasurer
Randy Skagen
AIST (Term ends 2013)
Randy C. Skagen is currently the Vice President and General Manager of Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. Skagen earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., Canada, in 1980.
Skagen began his career in the steel industry with the Algoma Steel Corp. in 1980, where he held several positions in maintenance and operations. In 1991, he joined Nucor as a Production Supervisor during the construction of its second CSP plant in Hickman, Ark. He was promoted to Hot Mill Manager to construct Nucor’s newest CSP plant in South Carolina in 1995. He then assisted in the design and construction of Nucor’s new plate mill in North Carolina in a similar capacity beginning in 1998. In 2004, he was selected as the General Manager of Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. and was elected Vice President in September 2005.
Skagen is currently the President Elect of the Board of Trustees for the AIST Foundation. He is currently Chairman of the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce and serves on several boards in the Tuscaloosa Area including the United Way Foundation, Easter Seals, Black Warrior Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Tuscaloosa County Industrial Development Authority. He also serves on the Leadership Advisory board for the Dean of the College of Engineering and is President of the Advisory Board for the Metallurgical Engineering Department at the University of Alabama.
Trustee
Behrooz Fattahi
SPE (Term Ends 2014)
Behrooz Fattahi holds Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering and in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University. He works as the Heavy Oil Development Coordinator for Aera Energy LLC, an affiliate of Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil companies. Prior to joining the oil industry, he conducted research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation, and taught a variety of courses in fluid dynamics and solid mechanics at Iowa State University. He joined the petroleum industry in 1977 by joining Shell International.
Behrooz Fattahi is a past member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and American Association of University Professors. He served as theExecutive Editor of the SPE Reservoir Evaluation and Engineering Journal, and on the board of the Society of Petroleum Engineers International (SPE)as the Director of the Western North America Region, President of SPE Americas Inc., and Vice President-Finance. He is a member of the Board of American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME), and also serves as a member of the United States National Petroleum Council.
Behrooz Fattahi served as the Chairman of the Board, and the 2010 President of SPE International. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the SPE Foundation.
Trustee
Ray Peterson
TMS (Term ends 2015)
Dr. Ray D. Peterson is Director of Technology for Aleris International. Prior to the merger, Ray was Vice President of Technology for IMCO Recycling, Inc. which he joined in 1997. Ray also worked for 13 years in a series of positions for Corporate Research and Development of Reynolds Metals Company. Ray received his B.S. Metallurgical Engineering Degree from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (1980), and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Metallurgy from the University of Utah.
Dr. Peterson was the 2009-2010 President of The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. He was Light Metals Division chair from 2004 to 2007. In 2000, he served as Chair of the TMS Aluminum Committee and was Editor of Light Metals, 2000. Ray was Co-organizer of the 3rd International Symposium on Recycling of Metals and Engineered Materials in 1995 and co-editor of the proceedings for that symposium. He has been an invited speaker at a number of technical conferences related to aluminum processing and has been an instructor for internal Aleris training classes. He also serves as an Industrial Advisor to several Metallurgy / Materials Science Departments.
Executive Director (Non-voting Trustee)
L. Michele Lawrie-Munro
Michele Lawrie-Munro was recently named the Executive Director after having served in an acting capacity since 2009. She was promoted from the Associate Executive Director position she held since May 2003. Her recent experience includes managing operations as well as leading multi-disciplinary, collaborative efforts.
In addition to the not-for-profit arena, she has used her management and marketing skills in the public and private sectors for telecommunications and professional services firms. She has been involved in research, leadership development and recognition initiatives, and been a liaison on systems requirements. She has previously volunteered in leadership positions with the Boy Scouts of America and the Hugh O’Brien Youth Foundation.
She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado, as well as extensive corporate leadership training. In her spare time she likes to motorcycle, ski, hike, bicycle, cook, and garden. Her e-mail address is LawrieMunro@aimehq.org.