RUSSELL G. CHEW 

CHAIRMAN & CEO

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Mr. Chew previously served as Managing Partner at NEXA Capital Partners providing Investment Banking and Advisory Services for Aerospace and Technology companies. 

 

Before NEXA, Mr. Chew was President & Chief Operating Officer of JetBlue Airways, responsible for all operations, including Flight Operations, Maintenance & Engineering, Airport Operations, Inflight Services, Safety and Compliance, Security, and Information Technology. 

 

He also served as Chief Operating Officer for the FAA. As head of the Air Traffic Organization, he was responsible for safe and efficient air traffic control operations across the United States, all capital acquisition programs, and research, engineering, and development. 

 

Prior to his FAA service, Mr. Chew was Managing Director of System Operations at American Airlines. During his 17 years at American, he held positions of increasing responsibility including managing their worldwide operation, strategic planning for operations and technology, technical operations, regulatory requirements, and information technology for flight operations. 

Russ holds a Doctoral Degree from University of Southern California following undergraduate studies at Stanford University.

JIM RICE 

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

 

 

Jim Rice is a 33-year veteran of Cabot Corporation, where he last served in Research and Development. Among many management postings, Mr. Rice spent four years in Asia as the Managing Director & CEO of three chemical plants, which he turned around from operations with large losses to profitability. 

 

As part of this success, Mr. Rice cured significant safety issues, which also reduced company risk and enhanced production performance. 

 

Experienced in management and engineering, Mr. Rice holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from University of Arkansas and Masters in Electrical Engineering from Washington University, St. Louis.

GARY WILKINSON 

CHIEF ADMINISTRATION OFFICER

 

 

Gary Wilkinson is a co-founder of NanoVapor Inc. Gary was the former Director at ERG, LLC, a professional services firm where he worked on a number of client projects as CEO, COO and CFO. 

 

The former Treasurer at Bain & Co., Mr. Wilkinson delivers extensive experience in finance, management, and entrepreneurship. During a 14-year career with Bain, Mr. Wilkinson helped the successful restructure of the company, and created and managed the Firm’s equity investment programs, which included 15 funds managing over $250 million. Gary holds an MBA from Northeastern University.

JASON WEST

INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC ACCOUNT MANAGER

 

 

Mr. West joined NanoVapor after retiring from the British Army serving 27 years with the Corps of Royal Engineers.  His military career included postings in more than 18 countries ranging from the Arctic Circle to Kenya with operational tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.  Mr. West was a qualified combat engineer with specialist engineering training from the Royal Engineers School of Mechanical Engineering.  He has been a skilled Petroleum Specialist for 21 years. 

 

In his last two years of service he was appointed as the sole subject matter expert for tri-service (British Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force) petroleum engineering in deployable, semi-permanent, permanent and NATO Nations fuel systems. 

 In addition to his military credentials in the field of petroleum and engineering solutions, Mr. West is an Authorising Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies with Economics from The Open University.

RICHARD "ALFIE" COSTEN

TRAINING AND OPERATIONS MANAGER

 

 

Mr. Costen previously worked at Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) responsible for the design, environmental testing, service, and delivery of specialized fuels systems. Most recently, he was an integral part of the team that designed the complete maritime fuel system for the Joint Operational Fuel System (JOFS), a fuel system that is able to transport fuel one mile offshore to up to 400 miles inland in the United Kingdom. 

 

Prior to his work at KBR, Richard served 22 years in the Corps of Royal Engineers and was a qualified Army Commando. His service in the Corps of Royal Engineers included time in Germany, UK, Northern Ireland, Norway, Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq. Richard specialized in deployable, semi-permanent, permanent and NATO Nations fuel systems. 

Richard is a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, London.

ROB KROTEE

SENIOR ADVISOR

 

 

Mr. Krotee has over 23 years of leadership, business development, business management, commercial strategy, marketing, and sales experience. The vast majority of his career has been in the energy space creating value for customers by focusing on solving their challenges. Mr. Krotee previously worked as the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Laney Directional Drilling. Before Laney Directional Drilling, 

 

Mr. Krotee spent over 11 years in leadership roles at Honeywell International across several different business units. He served in general management, marketing, and sales roles in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. 

 

Prior to Honeywell, Mr. Krotee worked at Tetra Tech Inc. in environmental consulting and at Enron Corp in trading and risk management. Additionally, he served as an Armor Officer in the United States Army with the 1st Armored Division. 

 

Mr. Krotee holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Master of Science from University of Missouri – Rolla, and a Master in Business Administration from Texas A&M University.

DR. CHAD UNRAU

SENIOR ENGINEERING ADVISOR

 

 

Dr. Chad Unrau, Ph.D. in chemical engineering. He oversees the continuation of NanoVapor’s research and development program. Mr. Unrau is a former Senior Research Engineer at Cabot Corporation, where he was responsible for inventing and developing new concepts at the pilot scale, as well as scale-up for commercialization. He oversaw projects from the concept innovation phase, through product development, and into commercial implementation. 

 

He has over 9 years of experience in aerosol dynamics and chemically reacting flows with expertise in aerosol formation from liquid jets. He also serves as the NanoVapor Safety Officer responsible for safety in day-to-day operations.

HANK KRAKOWSKI

SENIOR TECHNICAL ADVISOR, AVIATION

 

 

Mr. Krakowski was CEO and owner of Conure Aviation Group, which specializes in operations, safety, regulatory compliance/operational oversight, security, environment and efficiency. Hank is also senior advisor to Tetra Tech-AMT (Pasadena, CA) and Aviation Safety Technologies (Chicago, IL). 

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Mr. Krakowski previously worked as COO of the FAA, where he was responsible for all air traffic operations, both domestic and oceanic. His duties ranged from operations to finance and acquisitions, as well as safety, performance, R&D, and technical operations. 

 

Hank has also worked in multiple positions for United Airlines, including Director of Flight Operations Control, VP of Corporate Safety, Security, & Quality Assurance and VP of Flight Operations. During his time with United, Mr. Krakowski was responsible for 8,000 employees and a $2B budget. Hank brings decades of aviation experience with contacts throughout the industry.