Chemical & Petroleum Engineering Department Advisory Board
The
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Advisory Board is an
independent volunteer body that brings leaders with local, state, national, and
international expertise in academia, industry, or government together to
advise, assist, promote, and financially support the School.
Its
goal is to assist the Department Chair in achieving the Department’s mission
and goals, and in being recognized nationally and internationally, among
industrial, academic, and government institutions, for excellence in Chemical
and Petroleum Engineering.
Board
members support the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in a
variety of ways, including:
- Actively supporting programs that directly enhance the
undergraduate and graduate student experience in the Department by providing an
interactive forum for communication among the professional community, faculty
and students, and key stakeholders.
- Collaborating
on the Department’s Strategic Plan.
- Reviewing and
providing feedback and support on the Department’s programs and
practices including support for ABET accreditation.
- Offering external
perspective and connections by providing industry trends information,
and a bridge to organizations that hire Chemical and Petroleum Engineers
and/or have research and collaboration opportunities.
- Providing experienced professional resources when needed in
support of faculty and Department projects.
- Networking
with and provide outreach to alumni.
John Gargani, Former Southwestern Energy
Please tell us about your educational experience,
degrees earned, and any relevant honors/achievements:
I earned a
Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering degree with Petroleum
Specialization from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986.
Please give a brief overview of your career history
in the industry:
I have over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry’s
upstream and midstream segments. I
served as Vice President - Human Resources at Southwestern Energy Company in
Houston, Texas, a position to which I was appointed in May 2016, prior to
retiring in June 2017. Prior to this
role, I served as Vice President and General Manager – Strategy, Performance
and Innovation; Vice President and General Manager – Midstream Services; Vice
President – Economic Planning & Acquisitions; as well as other management
roles within the Company. Prior to
joining Southwestern Energy in 1993, I held various engineering positions with
Conoco Inc. in its Midland, Texas office. I am a registered Professional
Engineer in the State of Texas and am a member of several energy industry
organizations including SPE, SPEE, AAPG, IPAA, and TIPRO. I previously served as Chairman of the
10,000+ member Gulf Coast Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
I serve as Secretary for the board of the Triangle Education
Foundation, which focuses on developing future leaders with character and
integrity within the membership of Triangle Fraternity, a fraternity of
engineers, architects, and scientists. I
also serve as the Chairman of Child Legacy International, a non-profit
organization which helps build viable and sustainable communities through clean
water, medical care with a focus on mother and child health, and vocational
training programs in Malawi and Zimbabwe.
I was on the Finance Council of my local parish in Houston prior to
relocating back to Pittsburgh.
What drew you to engineering?
In high
school, it was a desire to apply my aptitude in mathematics and the physical
sciences. As I progressed through my
undergraduate years, it was more a desire to solve problems and have an impact.
What did you learn from your education at Pitt that
helped you succeed the most in your work?
I think the one
of the key things that I learned at Pitt was the importance of being able to
work with other people to generate new ideas and solve problems. Each individual has their own particular
abilities that, when combined with others, will result in the best product. Additionally,
I learned to view every problem/issue as an opportunity to solve a puzzle. I learned the desire to not stop until an
answer was developed.
What do you predict will be most important for
students starting their careers in your industry in order to be successful?
Being able to
work across discipline lines – with other engineers but more importantly with
non-engineering professionals from fields such as Business, Finance, Marketing,
Communication, etc.
Also, be
adaptable and very open to change. The
oil and gas industry today is much different than the one I joined back in
1986. Those who didn’t adapt,
unfortunately, did not succeed.
Considering all the people you've met in your field,
what personal attributes do you believe are essential for success?
There are a
lot of them. Some of my favorites
are:
- Be the “go to person” in a crunch.
- Focus on results.
- Learn and understand as much as you can about as much as you can.
- Never say “it’s not my job”.
- Be open to new ideas.
- Listen to what other people have to say.
- Don’t avoid the hard issues.
- Give back!
Some personal “stuff”:
I was raised
in the Brookline area of Pittsburgh and attended Seton-LaSalle High
School. I have been married to my wife,
Melissa, since 1987 and we share four children.
Melissa (BSIE 87) and our second son Matthew (BSME 14) are both
engineering graduates of the University of Pittsburgh. John, Melissa, and their youngest son Conrad
recently relocated back to Pittsburgh from Houston, Texas.
Nick Liparulo, Advisory Board Chair, Former Westinghouse
Educational experience, degrees earned, and any relevant honors/achievements:
Mr. Liparulo has bachelor and master’s degrees in chemical
engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. He has authored approximately 30
external publications and has three patent disclosures. He had been a
registered Professional Chemical Engineer, has served on the board of Columbia
College (South Carolina), and has a green belt in six sigma. He has been recognized as a “Distinguished
Alumni” by the Swanson School of Engineering, Department of Chemical. He is a Pittsburgh native, and Mr. Liparulo
and his wife, Anne, reside in North Huntingdon, Pa. They have two grown children and three
grandchildren.
Career
history in the industry:
Mr. Liparulo forged a career
guiding, growing and leading major businesses to success. He served as a C level executive, senior
business leader executive, on the CEO’s staff at Westinghouse and led the
largest business segments there. During
his career he managed nearly every business area of Westinghouse, including
plant outage services, engineering, major projects, I&C, decommissioning
and new plant engineering. This included
responsibility for diverse global businesses with more than 20 major locations
in the USA, Europe, Africa and Asia.
During his tenure, the businesses he led had annual revenues totaling
~$2 Billion, and 4,000 employees. He was
responsible for all aspects of the business, including product innovation,
development, design, marketing, project management, project implementation and
the associated financials. In these
activities he developed and mentored personnel and implemented new processes
which significantly improved the operations within Westinghouse. His expertise includes
business development, personnel and operations management, business oversight
(Board of Directors), and technology and product management.
What drew you to
engineering?
I was drawn to
engineering, since it had a more definite career path than a liberal arts
degree. Plus I was reasonably good in
math and science and wanted to understand how these skills could be practically
used.
What did you learn
from your education at Pitt that helped you succeed the most in your work?
I had two educations
at Pitt, first the formal education, in engineering. This provided me the basic skills I needed to
get a job in an engineering company and perform in the job. But I also learned that problem solving uses
the skills and equations but you needed a basic understanding of the physics to
solve problems. You need the “equations”
applied creatively. I believe that great
engineers solve problems with simple solutions.
The second education
I had was more personal. I came from a
small town and had little exposure to diversity or “big city life”. I learned by living in Oakland first in a
dorm then in an apartment. Being on your
own helps you to grow up. I also had the
opportunity to meet people with different cultures and backgrounds and found
this stimulating and learned from them.
What do you predict
will be most important for students starting their careers in your industry in
order to be successful?
During my time at
Westinghouse, I hired many newly graduated engineers. I used to meet with them in a roundtable and
discuss Westinghouse. I was asked by one
individual what was important for success. I gave it some thought and here is
my career advice:
- Work Hard – It is
valued by your peers and supervisors.
Commitment to a the COMPANY and your CAREER is important
- Attitude – The one
thing that you completely control is your attitude. You will be disappointed it is
inevitable. Your reaction to it is within
your control. No one likes to be around
or work with people with bad attitudes.
- Risk Taking – Do not
be afraid to take risks. We asked our
best people to take the hardest assignments and by doing so you will learn what
you can accomplish and it is more likely the company will succeed. Just know when to ask for help, and do not be
too proud to do so.
- Teamwork - You win
or lose as a team in business. If the project fails the team fails and so do
you. Even if you did your part
well. So do your part well and help the
team to win.
- Values - If you have
bad values, you will fail. Treat people
well and obey the rules of the company.
- Learning – If you
think you have nothing to learn you are expendable. You learn and improve every day.
Considering
all the people you've met in your field, what personal attributes do you
believe are essential for success?
This is a tough question.
I guess first of all, you must
remember that leaders are always under a microscope great leaders know this and
do not lose their cool or point fingers even under pressure. You solve the problem and deal with the
people issues.
Great leaders have humility and
understand that most of the work is done by others, they are good listeners, and
they recognize that the best idea may not be theirs. But understand the decision is yours and you
are accountable.
Recognize your people who do a good
job, but understand them enough to make sure that they are recognized in a way
that they appreciate it. When family
and friends see recognition, it goes a long way.
Finally in doing analysis of any
problem or issue, be data driven. The
engineering education provides this discipline of thought and making analysis
based decisions is better than emotional ones.
Picking the right team is essential
for success. If you pick the right
people you can rely on them and life is better.
So I guess in summary
- Keep your cool under
pressure
- Be humble but
understand that you still have to make the call.
- Recognize your team
- Use data to solve
issues not emotions
- Pick the right people
Monica S. Monroe, Exxon Mobil
Educational experience, degrees earned, and
any relevant honors/achievements:
BS Chemical Engineering,
University of Pittsburgh 2011
- Institute of Chemical Engineers Award, 2011
- Douglas Kenney Huber Memorial Award for
Outstanding Senior Award, 2011
MS Engineering Management, George
Washington University 2014
Career history in the industry:
Monica was
able to make practical application of her studies in two internship at
Sherwin-William's R&D facility in Cleveland, Ohio and at ExxonMobil
Refining & Supply in Fairfax, Virginia. Her ExxonMobil internship allowed
the application of her problem solving skills to analyze the global
shipbuilding market, learning in depth about the oil and maritime industries.
Upon
graduation Monica began work in ExxonMobil Refining & Supply's Supply and
Transportation department. There Monica coordinated crude shipment from the
Middle East to southeast Asia. Over her 3 year tenure in Fairfax Monica worked
in several different crude coordination roles, finishing as the first female
Saudi and Iraqi crude scheduler. These role provided valuable insight to supply
chain logistics as well as the experience of working with colleagues across the
globe.
In the
fall of 2014 Monica relocated to ExxonMobil's Baton Rouge Refinery. She began
as a process contact engineer before moving to the site utilities coordinator
role, working with the plant steam and power systems. In June 2018 Monica moved
to the fuels economist role, developing the short term run plan for the Baton
Rouge refinery.
What drew you to engineering?
Interest in chemistry and math,
also my father was a chemical engineer for BP.
What did you learn from your education that helped you succeed the most
in your work?
At Pitt I learned how to solve
problems which is at the core of engineering, and really all work. I also
learned to be curious and explore the world which rounds out a beautiful life.
What do you predict will be most important for students starting their
careers in your industry in order to be successful?
Flexibility in thinking to solve
new and complex problems.
Considering all the people you've met in
your field, what personal attributes do you believe are essential for success?
Empathy – working in
manufacturing involves working with people and being understanding of their
challenges will set you on the path for success.
The ability to thoughtfully
listen is important to absorb what is around you, especially early in your
career.
Thomas Webster, Dept Chair, Northeastern University
Please tell us about your educational experience, degrees
earned, and any relevant honors/achievements:
I received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Pitt in 1990
and loved every minute of it ! It was tough, challenging, and I gave up a lot
of free time, but when I graduated, the feeling of accomplishment was wonderful
! I got involved in student government, teaching, research, co-op, and more,
trying to take advantage of everything Pitt has to offer. After Pitt, I got an
MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering from RPI knowing that I wanted to become a
professor. Since graduating from RPI in 2000, I was a faculty member at Purdue
helping to start their Biomedical Engineering Department, then Brown
University, and now I am a Department Chair of Chemical Engineering at
Northeastern University. I attribute my decision to be a professor to all of the
great faculty and mentors I had throughout my education, many at Pitt !
Please give a brief overview of your career history in
the industry:
In addition to the above, I completed three co-op rotations
while at Pitt at International Paper in Erie, PA. I had responsibilities to
improve their paper recycling process, which I enjoyed. However, through
an undergraduate research experience I had at Pitt, I became more excited
towards conducting medical research. I was also given the opportunity to be a
part of supplemental instruction while at Pitt which turned me on to teaching
and helping others learn. Based on that, I knew that I wanted to become a
professor to mix research and teaching together into one job. I still am
integrally involved in industry through my research and starting companies
based on my research.
What drew you to engineering?
I actually started at Pitt as a business major, but realized
quickly that I needed to learn by doing "things". Engineering is an
excellent field to learn while you are building and actually doing
things. I learn best by doing and it is more fun for me than just sitting in a
classroom taking notes. Engineers work with their hands all the time, so this
field is perfect for me.
What did you learn from your education that helped you succeed the most in your work?
By being at a large diverse university, I learned to take
advantage of every opportunity. For example, Pitt is a major research
university, so I learned a lot out of the classroom on how to conduct research
that can help real human lives. Pitt also has a very active student government
to work with faculty and others to improve the University experience. Pitt also
has a great learning skills center in which I learned how to teach or help
others learn. I tried to take advantage of everything that Pitt has to offer
and that has helped me tremendously in life to do the same.
What do you predict will be most important for students
starting their careers in your industry in order to be successful?
I think you need a strong technical background but it is
also important to realize that learning does not stop when you graduate. You
need to constantly look for opportunities for professional growth and learn
throughout your career, or others will pass you by. You have to constantly
challenge yourself. Constantly learning and challenging yourself is also the
best way to live a fun, fulfilling life ! Pitt provides those challenges that
students just need to find.
Considering all the people you've met in
your field, what personal attributes do you believe are essential for success?
By far, the most successful people I see are great
collaborators. They do not do things for personal awards or credit, but to help
the team to accomplish the goal. They share credit for success and work hard to
maintain and create collaborations. Successful people are real team
players.
Board Members Not Pictured:
Mark Kachmar, Former Westinghouse
Cliff Kowall, Lubrizol Corporation
Dave Moniot, Venture Engineering
Mary Zeis, Former Proctor and Gamble