Peter Erich
President
Mr. Erich spent more than 20 years at Shell in various senior leadership roles around the world. He served as VP, Petroleum Products for Northeast Asia and West Africa; CEO of Global LPG; and as VP, Commercial Business for Europe, Russia and Turkey. Following his work at Shell, Mr. Erich was COO at Nuon, a gas and power company serving more than three million consumers and organizations with 10,000+ employees across the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Most recently, he held the role of CEO at Puma Energy International. He holds an MBA from Erasmus University and a VWO from Aloysius College.
Paul Snaith
Head of Strategy
Dr. Snaith held multiple roles at Shell over the course of 24 years, most recently serving as VP, Downstream Marketing for Shell Global Solutions and as Managing Director of Shell Research, Ltd. During that time his responsibilities included leading the technology strategy for Shell's biofuels business. His prior positions with the company spanned leadership of product development, sales, marketing and communications across multiple businesses and regions. Dr. Snaith holds a PhD and BSc in Biological Sciences from Lancaster University.
Eric d’Esparbes
CFO
Mr. d'Esparbes has more than 20 years of experience managing the finance and accounting functions of international energy companies. He most recently served as VP of Finance for AEI Services, LLC, which owns and operates more than 50 energy infrastructure companies in 20 countries. Mr. d'Esparbes previously held senior finance roles for Meiya Power Company; an Asia-based power company with 18 investment companies, and Hydro-Quebec International; the international unit of one of the world's largest hydro power companies. He holds a BBA in International Finance from the Universite de Montreal.
Mark Solakian
General Counsel
Mr. Solakian has 17 years experience in public and private company matters. He previously served as Senior VP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Helicos BioSciences Corp., where he was responsible for all legal affairs through the company’s successful IPO, multiple financings, strategic partnerships and corporate restructurings. Prior to Helicos he was VP and Chief Corporate Counsel at Affymetrix, Inc., and a business law attorney at Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston. He holds an AB degree from Harvard University and a JD degree from Boston College Law School.
John Ward
Senior VP of Construction
Mr. Ward has led the design, construction, validation and operations of biopharmaceutical facilities for more than 20 years. Prior to Joule, he served as VP of Engineering and Facilities at Biogen Idec, a $4 billion biotechnology company where he held global responsibility for engineering, construction, validation, facilities management, and environmental, health, safety and security, among other functions. He holds an MBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, BE and ME degrees in Chemical/Biochemical Engineering from Dartmouth College, and an AB in Physics from Hamilton College.
