New Senior Director of Technology Development Joins GTI

August 24, 2016
Des Plaines, IL

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) announced that Dr. James Seaba has joined the company as the Senior Director of Technology Development, where he will play a strategic role in the evaluation and maturation of technology.

From the development of novel hydrogen production technology for fuel cells to the reduction of greenhouse gases in oil sands production, Dr. Seaba has expertise across a broad technology spectrum.

ā€œJim has successfully developed and executed technology strategies and commercialized technology from idea to practice,ā€ says Eddie Johnston, Vice President of Research Operations. ā€œHis extensive experience during the last 30 years over a wide-ranging slate of energy technologies in the automotive, aerospace, and oil and gas industries will be invaluable to GTIā€™s initiatives.ā€

Dr. Seaba comes to GTI after serving as a consultant for major oil companies, major automotive companies and suppliers, and VC firms, exploring and developing new technologies that address both clean energy and nonconventional oil. Prior to that, he spent 13 years leading large research groups at ConocoPhillips (COP), holding positions of both a manager and technical expert.

As Senior Technology Advisor at COP, he worked to identify and define value-added projects for steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) for heavy oil processing. Before that, he was Director for Heavy Oil Energy Production and initially served as the Advanced Technology Director for Emerging Technology, focusing on hydrogen production, fuel cells, synthetic fuels, gasification, and advanced hydrocarbon fuels for future engines, among other topics.

Dr. Seaba also spent a number of years at Honda R&D Americas, where he created an advanced vehicle strategy that incorporated U.S. uniqueness with respect to infrastructure, emissions and government regulations. He served as a Chief Engineer and was responsible for developing, designing, and leading the Honda Research Institute located on the Ohio State Campus.

Early in his career, Dr. Seaba was a Professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Missouri-Columbia. There he established a combustion research program focusing on combustion stability and pollutant formation and taught seven different courses in the thermo-fluids area.

Dr. Seaba earned Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees from the University of Iowa. He currently holds 9 U.S. patents, 1 provisional patent, and has 13 pending in heavy oil production and CO2 capture/mitigation. He has over 30 publications in fuel processing, fuel cell modeling, combustion stability, fluid mechanics, and emission modeling and mitigation.

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About GTI Energy

GTI Energy is a leading research and training organization. Our trusted team works to scale impactful solutions that shape energy transitions by leveraging gases, liquids, infrastructure, and efficiency. We embrace systems thinking, open learning, and collaboration to develop, scale, and deploy the technologies needed for low-carbon, low-cost energy systems.

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