Chief Automation Officer at GE Power
Abhijeet Bhandare is the Chief Automation Officer at GE Power and has been with GE since 2005. Prior to his current role, he served as the Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer of Enterprise Applications for GE Power, Global Chief Innovation Officer of Pressure Control and Supply Chain & Quality IT Leader for GE Oil & Gas, Services & Parts IT Leader for GE Healthcare.
Before joining GE, Abhijeet was an SCM Oracle Functional Consultant for HCL Technologies. He holds a Master’s in Computer Science from Loyola University of Chicago and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from the University of Mumbai.
President & CEO of Data Gumbo
Mr. Bruce is CEO of Data Gumbo. For busy executives tasked with making / saving the company 100s of millions of dollars Data Gumbo adds your company to an Industrial Blockchain which results in the company being more profitable and you being recognized as an industry leader.
Prior to Data Gumbo Mr. Bruce was COO for MHWirth responsible for global operations.
Mr. Bruce was founder of the NOVOS project at NOV. Mr. Bruce holds a patent jointly on Rig Automation.
Mr. Bruce earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a member of IADC and SPE.
Managing Director, Rice Alliance
Brad Burke is the Managing Director of the Rice Alliance and has led the Rice Alliance since 2001. During that time, Rice’s graduate entrepreneurship program has achieved the #3 ranking in the U.S. (having been previously unranked). The Rice Alliance’s Rice Business Plan Competition has become the world’s largest and richest student startup competition in the world. Previously, Brad founded and managed the Houston office of Viant Corporation, a premier internet consulting firm, that went public via IPO in 1999, before being acquired in 2002. Prior to Viant, Brad was a Principal with CSC Index, the former management consulting division of Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Before CSC, Brad held executive management positions with Exxon. He received his M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management as an Austin Scholar and his B.S. from Vanderbilt University.
Investment Director of Shell Ventures
Kirk is an investment director for Shell Ventures, Shell's corporate Venture Capital fund. Shell Ventures invests and partners with entrepreneurs to bring new technologies and business models to market in order to lower costs, make our existing operations more sustainable, and accelerate the energy transition. Shell Ventures acts as a strategic partner and makes minority investments in select technology companies, including Shell technology spin-outs, and also acts as an LP in some externally managed venture capital funds.
Kirk has over 15 years of experience as a successful serial entrepreneur and over 8 years as a venture capitalist and early-stage angel investor. Prior to Shell, Kirk was the founder and managing director of SURGE Ventures, a mentor-driven accelerator and seed stage venture fund. During this period, he led the investments into over 45 technology companies solving problems across the energy value chain including oil & gas, cleantech, power, energy efficiency, and horizontal applications that reach across. Under his leadership and direction, SURGE recruited more than 200 industry-leading scientists, investors, policymakers, customers, and entrepreneurs to serve as mentors. SURGE was repeatedly recognized globally as one of the top startup programs and early-stage investment funds.
Accenture Technology, Ecosystem & Ventures – Blockchain Lead
Britney is a Silicon Valley based blockchain thought leader, who owns the ecosystem strategy for engagement with emerging blockchain players. In this role she is responsible for identifying the best providers, and driving joint revenue opportunities with those providers to develop partnerships. In addition, Britney is influential to our blockchain strategic growth initiatives and the development of Accenture’s partner based blockchain solutions.
Prior to Accenture, Britney was a sales executive managing customized data and analytic solution sales to large enterprise clients in the Bay Area. Britney also spent time at Microsoft in Corporate Finance where she had the chance to support multiple companywide initiatives, manage the Global Forecasting Process and forecast across the P&L at the organization and companywide level.
Britney holds a MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
CEO & Founder of Ondiflo
Geophysicist by education, JP held various management positions with the French major Total; During the dot com period he joined Trade Ranger, the first internet platform developed by the industry for streamlining procurement and financial processes between operators and suppliers; In 2005 he founded Amalto Technologies, a leader in B2B document exchanges for the oil and gas industry. Two years ago he started Ondiflo, a blockchain platform integrating IoT data to automate the order-to-cash process associated with ticketing based services both in upstream, midstream and downstream.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Mercury Fund
Blair Garrou is a co-founder and Managing Director at Mercury, where he focuses on investments in enterprise SaaS, and cloud computing startups. Blair currently serves on the boards of Mercury portfolio companies Apartment Butler, Apto, Label Insight, LISNR, ShareThis, and Trendkite. Blair’s previous investments at Mercury have included Alert Logic (acq. by Welsh Carson), BlackLocus (acq. by The Home Depot), Dònde (acq. by Mobify), Infochimps (acq. by CSC), Patient I/O (acq. by athenahealth), and Phurnace Software (acq. by BMC Software).
CFO of Penrose
Erdin is the CFO of Penrose Technologies, an industrial software automation company that focuses on applications for refineries and petrochemical plants. His prior professional background is in the field of quantitative finance and investment management specializing in the energy industry and work experience at Capital One. He’s a graduate of the Tulane University Freeman School of Business and is fluent in Albanian, Greek and Italian.
MD, WeWork Creator Fund
Emily Keeton is Managing Director of WeWork's Creator Fund. Prior to running the fund, Ms. Keeton was responsible for WeWork's global corporate M&A initiatives.
Previously, Ms. Keeton was Head of M&A for IAC. Prior to that, she was SVP of Corporate Development for Scripps Networks Interactive Inc.
Ms. Keeton started her career as an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette and Credit Suisse where she worked with and advised media companies. She has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Columbia University. She sits on the Board of Directors of ezCater, the only nationwide online marketplace for corporate catering. She is a Senior Advisor to the Mercury Fund and is the co-founder of Station Houston, an incubator for software enabled startups in Houston, Texas. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the Lilie Center for Entrepreneurship at Rice University.
Founder & Managing Partner of Ayatis LLC
Sujatha has over 25 years of experience in directing high-growth Technology, Consulting and Manufacturing companies in senior leadership roles. Ms. Kumar has a proven track record in leading and delivering solutions in the areas of digital and integrated operations projects for Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Discrete Manufacturing, Power, and Mining companies.
Ms. Kumar founded her consulting practice in 2013, after a career with Honeywell, to help industrial companies better leverage technology to deliver operational excellence along their value chain. She has helped clients, from tier one oil companies, independents, and technology companies, achieve this goal.
In addition to her consulting practice, she is also a Technology Partner at Knightsgate Ventures, a Houston based Venture Capital fund investing in early stage technology startups.
Managing Partner of BBL Ventures
Jim Lawnin is a Managing Partner of BBL Ventures - a VC and consulting firm focused on emerging energy technologies. He is recognized as an innovation leader in helping large enterprises digitally transform their business operations through emerging technologies. He has a career in building and leading global consulting practices in the oil and gas, utilities, and manufacturing.
He serves on the board of Houston Angel Network (HAN) and co-leads their energy sub group. He has mentored startups at Station Houston, Rice University, Stanford University and Surge Accelerator. He is also co-founder and board member of the Energy Blockchain Consortium, a nonprofit industry organization focused on building industry blockchain standards and use cases. He is also on an oil and gas strategic advisory group for the City of Houston.
Jim has a BS in Petroleum Engineering, MBA and Accounting degrees.
Venture Partner, Baird Capital
Tim Marx is a Venture Partner with Baird Capital based in Houston, TX where he helps pursue new investment ideas as well as build value within existing portfolio companies. Prior to joining Baird, Marx spent >15 years at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he was a Partner and Managing Director in both the Houston and Mexico offices. He continues to serve as an advisor and mentor for Houston based start-ups at both TMCx and Station Houston.
Marx holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, International Business and Spanish from The Pennsylvania State University and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was a 2000-01 Fulbright Scholar at ITESM in Monterrey, Mexico.
TechX Director, The Oil & Gas Technology Centre
As the TechX Director at the Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) in Aberdeen, David works with entrepreneurs, scientists, start-ups, and the oil and gas industry to stimulate and accelerate new technology delivery. David brings over 14 years experience across operators and service companies such as ABB, Shell, BP, ENI and Wood, developing and delivering organisational learning, improvement and technology innovation programmes with great success. Driven by his passion to make a difference for the industry in the UK and globally, his leadership of the TechX Technology Accelerator brings new and exciting dimensions to the OGTC offering. David joined the OGTC in June 2017 from Wood where he set up and ran the company's global 'Innovation for Growth function', as well developing its eWorking programme.
Technology, Research & Development, BHP Petroleum Society of Petroleum Engineers Director-at-Large for Innovate, R&D, WIN
Kim Padeletti is a Technology, Research & Development lead with international project and operational experience, developing solutions for global energy projects (career portfolio of US$50B+).
Kim’s mission is to spark innovation enterprise-wide through digital transformation, open innovation, and cross-functional collaboration. Before assuming her current role, Kim worked in several major international projects and operations including key roles in the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
Outside of work, Kim serves as a Board Director for the Society of Petroleum Engineers (GCS) for Innovate, R&D, and WIN (Women in Energy); and for the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. Kim is passionate about STEAM education, particularly in underrepresented populations, and has provided mentoring at different levels from children to university students through non-profit board and volunteer work. Kim earned her bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Mississippi.
Managing Director, Regional Lead for Data Science/AI and Founding Member of Accenture’s Houston Innovation Studio
As the regional lead, Ramoj is responsible for driving AI embedded high value transformation programs for our clients, from strategy to execution. As the Director of the Studio, he is also responsible for capabilities across Digital and Emerging Tech – including AI, X.0, Design and Engineering, Platforms and Partnerships. Prior to that he led multiple roles across Accenture and other leading companies in Digital and Product Management. Ramoj has a significant experience in building innovative products and platform solutions, and in advising strategy, operations & digital transformation. He is a world oil award winner and an alumnus of UT Austin and from IIT in India.
CEO of Station Houston
Prior to serving as the CEO of Station Houston, Gaby was the Director of Project Management and Corporate Development at Nord Anglia Education. Just prior, she was the Head of School at the Village School in Houston, a position she was actively recruited for and, after one year, grew student enrollment by 20 percent. There, she spearheaded major school expansions and innovation curriculum updates, such as required coding classes for middle-school students, an entrepreneurship diploma with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a partnership with MIT to enhance Village’s STEAM program. Before Village, Gaby was an education executive, investment banker, and management consultant in New York City for more than 25 years.
Beyond education, Gaby is a champion of the growth and success of Houston. Currently, she is the chair of the Learning Committee for Houston Exponential, a member of both the Greater Houston Partnership’s Economic Development and Trade Committee and the Executive Women’s Committee, while also serving as a board member of TXRX Labs and First Tee of Greater Houston. She has served as a mentor at Station Houston for the last 18 months and in 2017, she was named to the Houston Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” list.
Partner, The League of Worthwhile Ventures
Allison Lami Sawyer is a Partner at The League of Worthwhile Ventures, an early-stage venture firm for machine learning enabled startups.
Sawyer has nine years of machine learning experience as a co-founder and CEO of Rebellion Photonics, a preeminent machine learning startup in the oil and gas sector. Sawyer also co-founded StartHereNow, the premiere women-only startup weekend accelerator, and has been named to Forbes and Inc. magazines’ “30 under 30” lists.
Sawyer holds a BSc in Engineering Physics (U. of Colorado, Boulder), an MSc in Nanotechnology (U. of Leeds), and an MBA (Rice).
Partner, Celestial Holdings LP
Celestine Vettical is an entrepreneur, technology executive & investor, and passionate about digital disruption. In his role as Partner at Celestial Holdings LP, he established a private equity and investments holding company. He focuses on incubating, funding, operating and scaling startup technology companies and mentoring technology entrepreneurs.
Celestine was a Co-Founder of Cashaa in London, helping to build and commercialize the next generation banking platform to connect the FinTech market with the evolving blockchain and crypto currency industry. Previously, he joined Baker Hughes as VP of Intelligent Energy Products & Technology when it acquired Perfomix, the digital oilfields technology and products innovation company he had founded and built.
He held prior roles with Cognizant Technology Solutions as VP Strategic Alliances, with Microsoft Corporation as Worldwide Director of Manufacturing Industry Solutions, with Acsis Inc. as Vice President, and with SAP in marketing, business development, pre-sales and consulting.
Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of HyperGiant
Will specializes in designing and deploying leading technologies to major brands. Will is a co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Hypergiant.
Hypergiant designs and develops human-centered, intelligent software to solve specific business problems. Since launching in late 2017, Hypergiant has been blessed to work with many clients including, GE Aviation, GE Power, Shell, Schlumberger, Chesapeake Energy, McLaren Applied Technologies and TGI Fridays, to name a few.
Prior to Hypergiant, Will led the go-to-market team at Chaotic Moon, a creative technology studio that was acquired by Accenture in 2015.
Digital technology is unlocking new business models and transforming how industries operate and how people work. To build on this momentum and its alignment with Houston’s strengths, Station Houston and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship are partnering to connect the most promising tech startups with corporations and investors seeking transformative innovation and digital strategies. Texas digital summit is the leading conference for industrial innovation, bringing together experts in AI, automation, blockchain, and the connected worker. For two days, representatives from Industrial and Technology companies will discuss transformative technology and how it will affect Texas companies.
Why this matters?
Texas is where industry leaders, innovators and technologists converge to form the next wave of digital transformation across the industrial spectrum. The summit brings capital, customers and startups to one location to address the challenges of the future.
I want to connect with investors and customers
I want to connect with startups and investors
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