Rich McAvey is Gartner’s Distinguished Research Vice President for the Oil and Gas industry. His research examines the impact of digital technologies on oil and gas companies. He focuses on how CDOs and business leaders can use digital technologies to optimize business performance and how CIOs must change IT to remain relevant and impactful.
Prior to Gartner, Rich had 32 years of oil & gas experience at ExxonMobil, Accenture and Marathon Oil, where he held a variety of officer/executive roles. Rich holds an engineering degree from Cornell University, a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Capella University. He also was an Adjunct Professor in the M.B.A program at Rice University.
Adrian Merida have an MBA Master. He has been working at OLEODUCTOS DEL VALLE since 1993. Currently he is Operations Manager. During this period, it has acquired extensive experience in remote operation and logistics of pipeline and terminal networks.
Eduardo Merçon is Mechanical Engineer graduated from UFRJ with specialization in Pipelines Engineering and has been working for Petrobras Transporte S.A. – TRANSPETRO since 2001, where he is currently the Operations Manager of the National Control and Logistics Center (CNCL). Since 2005 he has held management positions in the segment of pipelines and terminals. During this period, he acquired extensive experience in pipeline network operation and logistics, both in the gas pipelines segment, as well as in the oil pipelines and terminals segment.
Mr. Cunningham has led/developed projects in leading companies in the Financial Services Industry and Fintech in Brazil and internationally, serving some of the largest Global and Brazilian companies in the space with, strategic management, Innovation, business planning, business transformation, business performance management. Mr. Cunningham currently leads the development of the Business Transformation Strategic Growth Initiative and the Digital Ledger Services practice in KPMG Brazil. Mr. Cunningham serves as the Chairman of the KPMG Open Innovation Committee in Brazil, which is responsible for helping the firm to be ready for rapid change and disruption in the near future.
Vinicius Girardi is Business Development Manager at ESSS O&G, a business unit dedicated to software and simulation tools for the O&G Industry. He has Bachelor’s degree in Mechatronic Engineering and Masters in Mechanical Engineering, both from the University of São Paulo in Brazil and Petroleum Engineer Degree by PUC-Rio. Vinicius’ experience spans 10 years in the use of simulation for engineering applications, from 1D multiphase flow to reservoir simulation. Vinicius works at ESSS since 2011 connecting Oil companies, Universities and Research institutions to ESSS in order to develop R&D projects related to simulation and new software technologies.
Jim Dixon has been working for Wolverine Pipe Line Co. since 2002 and currently holds the position of Product Movement Manager, overseeing the Operations Control Center, IT/SCADA Support and Pipeline Automation departments. Since 2002 he has worked multiple positions including Pipeline Controller, Team Lead and Relief Pipeline Scheduler. He has held the following positions throughout his career:
• (1997-2002) – Terminal Operator Citgo Petroleum
• (1992-1995) – Pipeline Controller Mobil Oil Company
• (1989-1992) – Pipeline Controller Wolverine Pipe Line Co.
Pedro Hryciuk has 20 years’ experience in the pipeline integrity in Transportadora de Gas del Norte SA, Argentina. Having served 11 years as an Engineer of Pipeline Integrity, he is currently the Manager and the responsible of Integrity in TGN SA. Pedro holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, a MSc Natural Gas in the University of Buenos Aires, and obtained his MBA in IAE Business School. He has been involved with a large number of integrity works related with pressure conditioning, stress analysis, hydrostatic tests, defect analysis, risk analysis and Integrity Management. He has authored many papers on the subject of integrity.
Graduated in Mechanical Engineering with an MBA in Business Management from FGV-Rio, Paulo is a high level executive with more than 25 years of experience in the Oil & Gas industry. Paulo started his career as a technology development engineer for the O&G industry mainly on umbilicals, flexible pipes and power cables. In that period Paulo delivered a series of firsts and patented solutions for this industry. After acquiring this important background Paulo moved to several roles in manufacturing, commercial, strategy and finally general management of P & L and operations. Paulo joined McDermott in 2018 as General Manager for the Southern Cone. Before that he worked for Technip, Genesis, Prysmian and Pirelli on several regional and global leading roles in different locations.
Luiz Fernando is now completing 40 years of professional experience, having pioneered the introduction of risk and reliability techniques in Brazil. MS and PhD degrees in nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (1976, 1979). Professor of Safety and Reliability – Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) for 13 years. Two years as Visiting Scientist in Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA. In DNV GL since 2000, where he served as Manager in Latin America and in West Europe.
He is currently VP and Manager of the DNV GL R&D Center in Rio and Founder-Member and President of ABRISCO, the Brazilian Association of Risk, Process Safety and Reliability, for two terms (2015-2016 and 2017-2018).
Graduated in mechanical engineering, with an MBA in business management, he has been working in the oil industry for over 30 years and has been responsible for the management of various processes in the Petrobras System, including: industrial maintenance; pipeline operation; support for oil production activities; process optimization and deployment of new technologies for E&P; chartered vessel operations. He is currently General Manager in Transpetro’s pipeline protection area, focusing on preventing and cracking down on pipeline theft.