WGC2023 Technical Committee

The Technical Committee of the World Geothermal Congress 2023 in Beijing, China, aims to build a diverse, technical programme attractive for all our global members.

Marit Brommer
Chair

Gregor Rumberg
Co-Chair

Maria Ines Rosana Balangue-Tarriela

Research interests: petrology, fluid geochemistry, and economic geology

Research projects include:

  • Fluid Mineral Equilibria of Hot Spring Waters in Laguna and active volcanoes (i.e.
    Mt. Canlaon, Mt. Parker) in the Philippines
  • Impact of Hot Spring Resort Development on the Groundwater Discharge in the
    Southeast Part of Laguna De Bay, Luzon, Philippines
  • Ore characterization of the Didipio and Runruno ore deposits in Nueva Vizcaya,
    Philippines
  • Characterization of Pyrites of the Aroroy Gold Deposit, Masbate, Philippines
  • Hydrothermal Alteration Studies of Selected Alkaline-hosted Ore Deposits in the
    Philippines
  • Petrography of the 2020 Taal Volcano eruption products

Published works:

  • Chemical reaction path modeling of hydrothermal mineralization in the Tongonan
    geothermal field, Leyte (Philippines)
  • Hot spring resort development in Laguna Province, Philippines: Challenges in
    water use regulation
  • Modeling Adiabatic Boiling in the Biliran Geothermal Wells Using CHIM-XPT
  • Geology, Alteration, and Mineralization of the Kay Tanda Epithermal Gold
    Deposit, Lobo, Batangas, Philippines
  • Deep crustal crystallization of tholeiitic melt: Insights from Manguao Basalt,
    Palawan, Philippines
  • Cenozoic Evolution of the Sulu Sea Arc‐Basin System: An Overview
  • Hazardous base surges of Taal’s 2020 eruption

Wenzhuo Cao

Wenzhuo Cao is a researcher at Imperial College London with expertise and experience in reservoir geomechanics, rock physics, engineering seismology and resource evaluation in geo-energy deployment and mineral resources exploitation. He holds a PhD degree from Imperial College London. His main research interests are in the areas of reservoir geomechanics and mining rock mechanics, with emphasis on coupled multiphysics and induced seismicity applied to a range of engineering applications such as deep geothermal systems, aquifer thermal energy storage, CO2 geological storage, hard rock/coal mining, and shale gas exploitation. He is the recipient of several national/international awards, such as Rocha Medal (Proxime Accessit) from International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering (ISRM), NGW Cook PhD Dissertation Award from American Rock Mechanics Association (ARMA), and BGA Fund Award from British Geotechnical Association (BGA). He is selected as a Future Leader of ARMA, and is the founding member of the Underground Storage and Utilization Technical Committee. He serves as the Theme Lead for Thermal Energy and Nuclear Waste Storage of ARMA, and a Young Editorial Board Member of the Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China.

Varun Chandrasekhar

Tadele Dagne

Tadele Dagne (Tadele) is a geoscientist and geothermal enthusiast who actively tracks the latest trends about geothermal geoscience and energy. Currently working as an Expert of Remote Sensing and GIS at DH Consult (a company working on water resource studies) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

I have a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Arba Minch University, Ethiopia. Followed MSc courses in Applied Remote Sensing for Earth Science from University of Twente, the Netherlands and MSc in Economic Geology from Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, Ethiopia. In the past, I did work as a graduate assistant at my BSc alma mater Arba Minch University. Also I have provided in person and field-based trainings for geoscience professionals of the Geological Survey of Ethiopia. In future I am interested to work on stuffs related to geothermal geoscience and associated mineral deposits.

I am glad to be a member of the great technical team for the World Geothermal Conference 2023 (WGC2023) to be held in Beijing, China.

Luis Gutiérrez-Negrín

He is a Mexican geologist graduated in 1974 in the National Polytechnical Institute (IPN), and retired from the geothermal division of the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) in 2008, where he was in charge of different areas during 1979 and 2008, like the Geology Office, the Exploration Department, and the Human Resources Department, as well as the La Primavera geothermal field. He is currently the executive director of the consulting company Geocónsul, SA de CV, as well as a member of the steering committee of the GEMex Project (http://www.gemex-h2020.eu/index.php?lang=en), and Secretary of the CeMIE-Geo, AC (http://cemiegeo.org/index.php/nosotros/grupo-directivo). He is a former President of the Mexican Geothermal Association (AGM) (2015-2017), where he also served as Secretary, Treasurer and Vice President. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors (2006-2007) of the former Geothermal Resources Council (GRC, now Geothermal Rising) and the International Geothermal Association (IGA, in 2010-2016). He was the chair of the IGA’s Information Committee (2013-2016), and editor of the former quarterly newsletter IGA News (2014-2018). He is the recipient of the Pathé Award 2017 and a Geothermal Special Achievement Award in 2003. He was a member of the Steering Committee of the World Geothermal Congress 2020 (https://www.wgc2020.com/congress-committee/), and is currently a Editor-in-Chief of the Springer’s open-journal Geothermal Energy Science – Society – Technology (https://geothermal-energy-journal.springeropen.com/). He has authored/co-authored 190 peer-reviewed papers and informal communications published in technical journals, congresses proceedings and magazines.

Noa Haberman

Egbert Jolie

Egbert Jolie (m) is a geologist at the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (Germany) and co-founder of fluxtec, a start-up project for gas analytics in geothermal exploration and monitoring. He has worked as a project coordinator at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources BGR (Germany) and Iceland GeoSurvey ÍSOR. Egbert holds a degree in geology from the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg (2007) and received his PhD from the Technical University Berlin in 2014. During his studies he also took courses at Háskóli Íslands (Iceland) and the University of Auckland (New Zealand). His research focuses on fault zone analysis in geothermal systems, based on innovative approaches to measuring gas emissions from the geosphere into the atmosphere. Egbert has worked as a scientific coordinator in various geothermal projects in Africa, the USA, Iceland, Mexico and New Zealand. He is currently involved in the Geothermal Atlas for Africa project of the LEAP-RE programme (H2020). Egbert is committed to technology transfer and science communication and has been a lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin since 2019. He has been an active member of the IGA for many years.

Hashim Ali Khamis

Professional Summary

Currently, I just completed a Master of Engineering by Thesis at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. My thesis focused on renewable energy and the power grid. My research areas include renewable energy (Solar, Wind and Geothermal), Power grid (mini grids, microgrid, main grid), Balance of System and Power converters. I am interested in power system dynamics, control, and protection. I provide consultancy services (design) on building services, Low & High Voltage system and solar energy technologies.

Academic Qualification

  • 2021, Master of Engineering (Distinction), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
  • 2014, BSc, Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Honour), University of Gaziantep, Turkey.
  • 2013, BEng, Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, Bologna University, Italy (Exchange Program).

Professional Position held

  • 2016- Present, Electrical Engineer, Tanzania Buildings Agency, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
  • 2015-2016, Quality Assurance Engineer, Zanzibar Bureau of Standard, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Kasia Kurek

Kewen Li

Kewen Li is Professor at School of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing). Dr. Li worked at Stanford University for over 20 years. He also serves as the member of education committee of International Geothermal Association (IGA). He is currently focusing on the prediction of heat flux using machine learning methods, the development of zero-carbon emission building based on geothermal resources, and the application of thermoelectric generators in geothermal fields. Dr. Li has more than 30 years of experience in petroleum and geothermal reservoir engineering, including development of novel thermoelectric generators, geothermal coproduction from oil and gas fields, evaluation of geothermal resources, improved oil recovery, prediction of production performance, multi-phase fluid flow in porous media, fluid rheology, routine and special core analysis. Dr. Li has published over 100 papers in eminent journals and conferences. Dr. Li also holds sixteen patents and is the author of three books. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Technical Editor Award by SPE in 2003. He has received 6 Best Paper Awards from the Geothermal Resources Council (GRC).

Amanda Lonsdale

Taylor Mattie

Taylor Mattie is the Geothermal Innovations Leader for Baker Hughes where he is responsible for growing the geothermal business via technology development, partnerships, investments, black swan identification and disruptive strategy development. He has particular focus on organic and inorganic technology, as well as capabilities development to enable increased geothermal development and utilization globally.

Taylor brings a background of research & development and engineering to the team; He holds a Masters of Energy degree with focus in geothermal engineering from the University of Auckland, and a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.

Ellie MacInnes

Ellie MacInnes is the Head of Geothermal Science at CGG. She has a PhD in Structural Geology and almost 20 years’ experience in the Energy industry. Prior to joining CGG, Ellie worked in several oil and gas companies where she specialized in Global Exploration and New Ventures.

As Head of CGG Geothermal Science, Ellie combines her subsurface expertise with a conviction for the increasing role that geothermal energy will play in the energy transition. The multi-disciplinary CGG Geothermal Science team has conducted many geothermal projects around the globe, with a particular interest in all aspects of the ‘Geothermal Value Chain’ and a global approach to geothermal resource assessment.

Diego Morata

Daniel Otchere

Daniel Asante Otchere is a doctoral researcher at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) in the Petroleum Engineering Department. In 2016, he completed his master’s degree in Petroleum Geoscience at the University of Manchester in the UK. His undergraduate study was in Geological Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology, Ghana, in 2013. His current research interests lie in applying Artificial Intelligence in reservoir characterisation, EOR, geothermal energy, and sequestration. He has collaborated with other researchers in publishing several peer-reviewed articles in journals and conferences. He won the best postgraduate student and the GA merit award in the petroleum engineering department in UTP. He has participated in two hackathons coming in second in the Halliburton Data Science Hackathon and top 10 in the SPE Europe Geothermal Hackathon.

Professionally, Daniel has extensive experience across the mining and oil and gas industry, working on several projects both onshore and offshore that have had a significant impact on the petroleum industry in Ghana. Daniel enjoys watching movies, listening to Highlife music, hockey and playing football which, he is poor at it. He instead prefers playing video games (PlayStation-FIFA) which he has won numerous tournaments organised in the United Kingdom, Ghana and Malaysia. He also teaches several topics ranging from data science, school application, English tests etc., on his YouTube channel “Study with Dani”.

Will Pettitt

Dr. Will Pettitt is Executive Director of Geothermal Rising, a non-profit professional and trade association that has over 1200 individual members and over 80 corporate members. Before leading Geothermal Rising, Will managed software, engineering, and scientific research companies in Minneapolis and the United Kingdom. He publishes on a wide range of topics, is a frequent keynote speaker, and participates in government and organizational committees. Dr. Pettitt is an applied geophysicist with a B.Sc. and a Ph.D.

Mahendra Ranjit

After receiving geothermal training in Iceland, Mahendra Ranjit has been contributing to World Geothermal Congresses (WGCs) by preparing the country update paper of Nepal since 1995 to date. Besides working on geothermal research, he has been active in the popularization of hot springs and the direct uses of geothermal energy in Nepal. His contributions appear in the form of research and popular articles in various media including United Nations University/Geothermal Training Program research paper series, WGC proceedings, the International Geothermal Association’ newsletter, national and  local newspapers. His effort to mobilize the local community and national news media has enabled some geothermal locations in Nepal to draw attention at various levels and helped to develop as  spa centers.

In recognition of his dedication to uplift the activities, the International Geothermal Association awarded him ‘Geothermal Ambassador in Nepal’ in 2019. Even though he has educational background in Chemistry, Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, Mr. Ranjit takes great interest in recognizing the role of  geothermal energy in the medicinal, societal and cultural contexts. Apart from the earlier publications of scientific and popular articles in various media, Mr. Ranjit has written a book on the hot springs in Nepal, covering different aspects of geothermal energy and is set to be published soon.

Meryem Redouane

Meryem REDOUANE is a young researcher from Morocco. She graduated from the University Mohammed Ben Abdellah of Fez, with bachelor’s degree in Geology in 2015 and a master’s degree in Geosciences and mineral resources from the same University in 2017. Today, she’s in her last year of PhD at University Hassan II of Casablanca, working on Geothermal potential and recent volcanic activity in the NE of Morocco. She’s a social activist with some intellectual contributions and is a student member of the IGA.

Helen Robinson

Helen Robinson is a Hydrogeologist at CGG. She is also currently completing a PhD at the University of Glasgow. Her research has concentrated on the impacts of geothermal resource development on groundwater and surface water environments in sub-Saharan African, with a focus on the Menengai geothermal resource in Kenya.

Helen is very active within the geothermal community. She is a long-standing member of the UK chapter of Women in Geothermal (WING), the Communications Officer for The Energy Group of the Geological Society, London, and a member of the UK’s Decarbonisation Working Group. Helen also represented the International Geothermal Association as an observer at COP26 in Glasgow.

In 2018, Helen co-founded the Geothermal Villages Network (Kenya) with Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Kenya. The scheme looks to work with rural communities to help them gain knowledge on their local geothermal resource and how they might develop and utilise this resource for off-grid, community-based power, and heat applications. The scheme also looks to work with communities to learn how scientists and developers can work with and learn from communities to help develop resources whilst protecting the environment, culture, and heritage.

Recently, Helen has been working with organisations in the Canary Islands to identify how geothermal might contribute to the recovery, rebuilding and resilience following the eruption of Cumbre Vieja volcano on La Palma.

Caity Smith

Caity Smith has over 15 years of experience in the geothermal industry.  She began her career focused on drilling and project management in the United States before transitioning to work in East Africa.  While working at the United States Energy Association, Caity coordinated with the United States Agency for International Development, other international donors, East African stakeholders, and the U.S. geothermal industry to organize information exchange visits, private sector forums and workshops, and policy/technology cooperation exchanges, and other activities related to advancing geothermal energy development in East Africa and expanding business opportunities for U.S. geothermal companies.  Caity joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2019 and focuses on stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and geothermal direct use projects.  Caity is a founding member of Women in Geothermal (WING), serves on the current WING Global Operations Team, and coordinates the WING Future Leaders Cohort.

Phil Vardon

Phil is the Theme Leader of Geothermal Science and Engineering at Delft University of Technology. Phil’s research is on the impacts on geomaterials of various processes including heat, moisture and contaminant movement, including practical applications such as geothermal energy, heat storage and radioactive waste disposal. He is the scientific PI on the campus geothermal well that a team is developing on the TU Delft campus, which is a ~10MW project aimed at direct use heating of the campus and the surrounding area, and has a dual focus of scientific research and heat provision. He has been involved in several national and international research programmes on geothermal energy, which technologies ranging from (very) shallow energy geostructures, to aquifer heat storage and deep geothermal exploitation.

Sandy Williamson

Technical specialist in corrosion, materials, and inspection technologies related to oil and gas production, refining and geothermal industries.

MISSION

Promote awareness of corrosion technologies, material sustainability and material stewardship in order to reduce the cost of corrosion. Mentor junior engineers in materials and corrosion engineering for the oil and gas and geothermal industries.

Bachelor of Applied Science (Chemical Engineering) from Queen’s University in 1980 41 years of oil and gas experience in corrosion, materials and inspection

  • 18 years with Shell Canada supporting upstream, downstream, offshore, and downhole
  • 2 years as Technical Manager for Shaw Pipe
  • 4 years as Director of Cormetrics Labs
  • 18 years as President of Ammonite Corrosion Engineering Inc.
  • President of Williamson Integrity Services since 2016
  • NACE International member for 41 years
  • Started NACE TEG 341X Corrosion in Oilsands in 2004
  • Conference Chair for NACE Northern Area conference on CO2 Carbon Capture Corrosion 2011 in Regina
  • Past Director of Northern Area (Canada and Alaska)
  • Past Director of NACE Foundation of Canada
  • NACE Refinery Corrosion Course instructor
  • Refinery Corrosion Symposium chair for SinoCorr 2014 (Beijing)
  • Refinery Corrosion Symposium chair for CorCon 2013 (New Delhi), CorCon 2014 (Mumbai)
  • Technical Program co-chair 2014 Northern Area conference in St. John’s NL
  • Oilsands Corrosion Symposium chair for 2015 Northern Area conference in Calgary, AB
  • Technical Resource for IMPACT and Canada Cost of Corrosion Study
  • NACE International President (2016-17)
  • NACE TEG531X The Role of Corrosion in Materials Stewardship and Sustainability
  • Technical Program co-chair 2019 Northern Area conference in Calgary
  • Canada Cost of Corrosion Study 2020

Maxwell Wilmarth

Mr. Wilmarth is a geologist with 20 years’ professional experience in subsurface geological investigations, 13 of which are solely focused in the geothermal energy industry. He has worked on a wide range of geothermal reservoirs in the exploration, development, and operational phases on five continents and in numerous countries. He has extensive experience in management of technical teams to support geothermal developments, resource review supporting investment decisions, exploration geoscience, conceptual modeling, resource capacity estimation, well targeting, wellsite geology, well testing, and reservoir management. He has performed original research on the power density method of resource capacity estimation and on permeability mapping and has published numerous articles in geothermal conferences and peer-reviewed publications on a variety of topics. He regularly speaks and teaches courses on geothermal topics at conferences and workshops.

Erwandi Yanto

Tingting Zheng

Tingting Zheng is currently doing her PhD in Earth Sciences at the University ofIceland on a fellowship from the UNESCO GRÓ-Geothermal Training Programme (the former United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme). She graduated from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan with a bachelor’s degree in Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering in 2010, and a master’s degree in Groundwater Science and Engineering in 2013. She was a UNU Fellow at the United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme in 2015. Since 2010, Tingting has worked as a hydrogeologist at the Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources in China. She joined the Women in Geothermal (WING) organization as well as Geothermal Rising as a female expert working in the geothermal community while pursuing her doctoral study.
Her research interests and working experiences include geothermal fluid geochemistry, sustainable yield of geothermal resources and hydrogeological investigations of groundwater resources. Tingting had attended both WGC 2015 and WGC 2020+1 and served as a paper reviewer for the reservoir engineering sessions of WGC 2020+1.