Dr. Boss is responsible for all R&D at the AZEK Company, a leading outdoor living, and sustainable building products company with a mission to use 1 billion pounds of recycled plastics in its PVC- and PE-based composite decking, siding, and trim products. Prior to the AZEK Company, he led R&D for GAF, the largest roofing company in North America. This includes all products for residential and commercial roofing: solar roofing, shingles, underlayments, membranes, roof coatings/liquid applied roofing, poly ISO insulation, adhesives, ventilation products, and process technology. Earlier in his career, Dr. Boss worked at two other building products companies: Serious Materials, where he developed sustainable drywall and high performance windows, and USG, where he led the Discovery Group, Acoustical Ceiling, and Gypsum Board Support laboratories. Before entering building materials, his career encompassed defense, high-temperature materials, contract R&D, automotive, and electronics enclosures.

Throughout his career, Dr. Boss has been able to provide key insight into identifying opportunities that created value and guiding product development teams by asking the right questions to capture the value.

Boss received his B.S. in ChE from the University of Southern California, his M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from UCLA, and his Ph.D. in Materials Science Engineering from Northwestern University.

JoAnn retired as an Exxon Mobil Executive, working as an advisor in business planning and analysis. She worked predominantly in development planning for oil and gas fields covering the north slope of Alaska, Norway, and GOM. Over time, these roles evolved from traditional engineering to a focus on commercial issues, such as unitization, gas sales and processing, and dispute resolution. JoAnn worked on several strategic initiatives to best position Exxon as an early leader and market shaper, including the unbundling of the interstate gas pipelines services. More recently with the significant increases in unconventional oil, natural gas and NGL volumes, JoAnn’s contributions helped in identifying how different plays build up and where the likely regional dispositions can be located.

JoAnn earned her B.S. is in chemical engineering from the Viterbi School in 1980. She serves on the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Advisory Board, she is a longtime student mentor and supporter of the School of Engineering and is a Viterbi Lifetime V.I.P. Dean’s Circle member.

Dale is a Process Engineer and Project Manager with over thirty-five years’ experience in the refining, petrochemical, mining, beverage, and aerospace industries. Dale started his career at Exxon’s Baton Rouge Refinery, where he held multiple positions in design engineering and operations support. To fuel his passion for process design and desire for greater responsibilities, he left Exxon for a position with Tosco at their Avon Refinery in Martinez, CA. As an independent refiner with a single operating location, the opportunities were endless and the experiences grand.

Looking for an opportunity to deliver process solutions to a larger client base, Dale moved to his first EPCM company, Kinetics Technology International (KTI)/Technip USA, where he was responsible for the application, development, and commissioning of NOx reduction technologies. He ultimately became the company’s SME for ultra-low NOx burners which, while gratifying, left him wanting more. Seeking exposure to a broader, more diverse client base, Dale joined Eichleay, where he has worked for the past 20 years. Because Eichleay provides design solutions to clients in multiple business sectors, Dale has satisfied his passion for process design and continued technical growth on a wide variety of projects. While at Eichleay, Dale has managed a team of over 20 process engineers, enabling him to mentor junior chemical engineers.

Dr. Foster was the previous Surgical Director of Kidney Transplantation at HCA TriStar Centennial Medical Center and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Surgery, Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee from August 1, 2016 until October 31, 2018. He reopened a failing kidney transplant program by rewriting all the clinical protocols, policies and procedures. Then he reopened the kidney transplant program with excellent graft and patient outcomes, putting patient's safety first.Dr. Foster was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Southern California in Chemical Engineering and his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University in 1990. He received his General Surgery Internship and Residency at Cedars- Sinai Medical Center from 1990 to 1992. He served as a Research Fellow at the University of Maryland Medical center from 1992 to 1993. He was a Surgical Admitting Officer, Senior Resident and Chief Resident in General Surgery at the University of Maryland Medical System from 1993 to 1996. Dr. Foster completed a Fellowship in Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation also at the University of Maryland Medical System in 1997. Upon finishing his postgraduate training, Dr. Foster assumed the position of Assistant Professor of Surgery and the Surgery Director of Kidney Transplantation at Temple University School of Medicine and Hospital. While at Temple University Hospital he performed their 1st laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and re-opened their pancreas transplant program. He also assisted in opening their new liver transplant program alongside Dr. Stephen Guy. He returned to the University of Maryland Medical System in 2000 as the Director of Clinical Research in the Division of Transplantation. While there he oversaw numerous clinical trials in novel immunosuppressive agents. In 2005 he assumed the position of Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Surgery at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center. He became the Division Chief of Transplantation from 2006 to 2016. Over an 11 year period he built the kidney and transplant center as the biggest in Orange County, California. He also conducted numerous clinical trials in novel immunosuppression as well as research in islet transplantation. He was a Full Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine. Dr. Foster has more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and 100 peer-reviewed abstracts and posters presented at national and international meetings. He has served on many boards including the USC Mork Family School of Engineering Advisory Board, ESRD Networks and Donor Service Agencies. Dr. Foster has also been the Principle Investigator in numerous Clinical Trials of novel immunosuppressive agents for transplantation. Dr. Foster volunteered for the Maryland Army National Guard in 1987, then served greater than 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserves including deployment with 2 Forward Surgery Teams in Iraq 2008 Operation Iraqi Freedom and in 2011 Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom where he has received awards and commendations. His expertise is in Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomies, Kidney Transplantation, Pancreas Transplantation, Vascular Access and Parathyroidectomies. Dr. Foster loves the outdoors and spends weekly sessions on the sporting clays course or hiking. He is also a sabre fencer. Dr. Foster is Board-Certified in General Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He serves on various national boards including the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Sandra has 30 years of experience in materials and corrosion engineering in the oil and gas industry: 12 years at PDVSA (Venezuelan state-owned oil and gas company), eight years at BP and ten at Chevron. Sandra started as a corrosion engineer and since then has devoted herself to the prevention of corrosion failures and advancement of technology to predict and manage corrosion in oil and gas production systems. Her breadth and depth of knowledge and expertise in corrosion is world-class, spanning downhole, subsea, pipeline, offshore topsides, and complex process facilities.

She received her undergraduate degree in Materials Engineering at the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela, and her Ph.D. in Materials Sciences from Rice University. She has served in numerous leading roles in NACE (now AMPP, Association for Materials Protection and Performance), and truly enjoys mentoring and coaching.

Dr. J. Jim Hsieh graduated from University of Southern California and conducted research in MIT Lincoln Laboratory where he invented the long wavelength semiconductor lasers for optical fiber communications applications. Dr. Hsieh was the founder of Lasertron Inc., Wuhan Telecommunication Devices Company, and Sheaumann Laser Inc. He is a member of National Academy of Engineering.

Founder and CEO of Sheaumann Laser Inc. Recipient of the IEEE David Sarnoff Award and the LEOS/IEEE Aron Kessel Award.

Netha Johnson is a C-Suite executive with diverse leadership experience and a unique global perspective informed by over 30 years of work, both domestically and internationally. He is the former Executive Vice President and COO for Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium company. In this role, Netha was responsible for global manufacturing, process chemistry, research and technology, and the execution of capital projects. He was also responsible for the company’s solutions across lithium salts, lithium specialty applications, fire safety, oilfield drilling, pharmaceutical manufacturing, high-tech cleaning, water treatment, food safety and more. Netha joined the company in 2018 as president of Albemarle’s Specialties business. Prior to joining Albemarle, Johnson served in several progressive leadership roles with 3M Company. He served as Vice President and general manager, Electrical Markets Division, where he was directly responsible for 3M’s electrical and renewable energy solutions. Prior to that, he served as 3M’s Vice President, Advanced Materials Division. In addition, Netha served as President, Filtration for Pentair Corporation where he led the company’s Filtration and Services business.

Netha serves on the board of directors of Xcel Energy, a Fortune 500 utility company and provider of clean, renewable energy and is also on the Red Cross, Charlotte board of directors. He has worked and lived extensively internationally, serving as an ex-patriot in Germany, France, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. Preceding his business career, Netha served as a U.S. Naval Special Operations Officer. Johnson speaks Mandarin and German and holds an MBA from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California.