LanzaTech was once again named in the prestigious 2012 Global Cleantech 100, produced by Cleantech Group, a leading global research and advisory firm focused on innovation in energy and the environment...
Dr. Jennifer Holmgren
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Jennifer Holmgren is the Chief Executive Officer of LanzaTech. Jennifer has over 20 years of experience in the energy sector including a proven track record in the development and commercialization of fuels and chemicals technologies. Prior to joining LanzaTech, she was Vice President and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. In that role, she led UOP’s renewable business from its inception through to the achievement of significant revenues from the commercialization of multiple novel biofuels technologies.
Dr. Jennifer Holmgren holds a B.Sc. degree from Harvey Mudd College, a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the University of Chicago. She currently serves on multiple external advisory boards. She is the author or co-author of 50 US patents, 20 scientific publications and is the 2003 recipient of the Council for Chemical Research’s (CCR) Malcolm E. Pruitt Award.
Dr. Sean Simpson
Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder
Sean is the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of LanzaTech. Sean spent the first 12 years of his life living in various countries around the world, including Mauritius, Zambia and Gibraltar, before his family returned to England. He now lives with his family in Auckland, New Zealand. Sean and his wife Silvia have two young children, a daughter Cecilia and a son Liam. Sean is an enthusiastic (if not skillful!) soccer player when time permits; he is also an avid supporter of Middlesborough “Boro” Football Club. He dreams of one day having the time to sail with his gorgeous family around the Pacific...but first he needs to learn to sail... and help LanzaTech to commercial success!
Dr Laurel Harmon
VP Government Relations
Dr Harmon joins LanzaTech from Striatus Inc, where she consulted on proposal and project development in advanced technologies, including energy and renewable fuels. After receiving her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Michigan, Dr Harmon joined ERIM, a non-profit research organization, to conduct applied R&D for a variety of defense and other government customers. Later she was a technical co-founder of Nonlinear Dynamics, a company specializing in applied pattern recognition. Dr Harmon will provide policy direction and leadership on international legislative and regulatory matters and will develop collaborative research and demonstration projects.
Exec VP Business Development Asia
Prabhakar joins Lanzatech from UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, where he was most recently marketing director for its RenewableEnergy and Chemicals business unit. In that role, he was responsible for creating linkages and alliances with feedstock suppliers and end users of fuel technologies in the aviation and automotive sectors, tracking global biofuels legislation, and developing the business unit's strategic plan.
From 1999-2005, Prabhakar served as General Manager of UOP's India operations. Prior to that he held a variety of Sales, Technical Service and Marketing positions in UOP's other Asian offices as well as at UOP's headquarters in the USA. He holds a BChE from City University of NY, a MChE from Illinois Institute of Technology, an MBA from Northwestern University and he is conversant in several Asian languages.
Ken C. Lai, Vice President – Asia Pacific
Ken C. Lai is Vice President of LanzaTech’s Asia Pacific operations. Based in Shanghai, he oversees the development and commercialization of the company’s gas-to-advanced biofuels facilities as well as continued development of LanzaTech’s value chain partners in the region. Prior to joining LanzaTech, he was General Manager of Licensing and Sales for the Asia Pacific region for Shell Global Solutions International B.V. Including his 5+ years at Shell, Global Solutions, he has more than 30 years of experience in technology licensing, sales, account management and business development in the petroleum refining and petrochemicals industry.
Dr. Will Barker
VP External Affairs
Will joined LanzaTech in 2008 to direct LanzaTech’s patent portfolio and develop an IP strategy geared toward rapid technological development and commercialisation. Will joined LanzaTech from one of New Zealand’s top patent attorney firms and specialised in biotechnology. Prior to this, Will spent several years as a forensic examiner, assisting NZ police with the investigation and decommissioning of illicit drug laboratories. Will gained a Bachelors Degree in chemistry and a PhD in synthetic chemistry from the University of Leicester in the UK before arriving in NZ on a ‘working holiday’. The initially planned 12 month vacation has extended indefinitely and NZ is now home to Will’s rapidly expanding family. In his spare time, Will loves to spend time with his family and enjoys sailing the stunning Hauraki Gulf, conveniently located on LanzaTech’s doorstep.
Technical Fellow Concept Development
Simon holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical and Materials) and has over 25 years experience including process design and project management. He has worked as a Senior Chemical Engineer and as a Consulting Engineer for ICI working on process design and process analysis. Simon’s project management experience has involved leading the expansion and rebuild of commercial manufacturing plants. He has led contract teams at Dulux and Nuplex and been involved in the process design for various projects in the food and chemical industries.
Simon worked for 7 years with James Hardie, as a product development leader in Auckland and Sydney developing engineering materials and technologies. His work has since been patented and Simon subsequently was made European Technical Manager in Amsterdam.
Dr. Michael Schultz
Mike joined LanzaTech from Battelle Science and Technology Malaysia. In his role at Battelle, he worked closely with industrial partners to define strategic R&D objectives for a renewable technology portfolio. Prior to Battelle, Mike was a Lead Research Engineer at UOP LLC, managing technology development through internal R&D and collaboration with external research groups. He also performed techno-economic analysis and preliminary process design for early stage technologies in refining, petrochemicals and natural gas industries.
Mike holds a B.S. in Chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He was the Co-recipient of the 2005 Hadan Freeman Award for Engineering Excellence, presented by the Institution of Chemical Engineers and is the author and co-author of more than 20 US Patents.
Mike and his family are now based in Chicago at LanzaTech US offices.
Freya joined LanzaTech in 2007 and has worked in various roles throughout the company. She holds an MA from Cambridge University.
Fluent in German, French and Spanish, Freya enjoys working with the diversity of nationalities at LanzaTech and is now based in London as part of LanzaTech’s European Team.