Claude Letourneau
President & CEO
Svante“Excited to join a company with a strong technical team, experienced Board, collaborative partnerships, clear vision and the drive to help solve one of the greatest challenges the world faces today―climate change.”
Claude Letourneau is an industrial projects veteran who brings to Svante a broad range of experience leading large world-class projects. His leadership style is underscored by effort, energy, and excitement – the 3Es of visionary thinkers. At ease bringing about change, Mr. Letourneau will leverage his 30 years’ experience in advanced technology development and commercialization to help steer the company to be a global leader in building a CO2 Marketplace.
Previously, Claude held senior management roles with Canam Group Inc., SNC-Lavalin Inc., and Kontron Embedded Computers AG. He also founded two technology companies, Vaperma, Inc. (membrane-based gas separation) and Avestor Inc. (thin-film lithium polymer battery).
These past experiences provide the necessary insight for the bilingual executive to forge new strategic alliances and partnerships with like-minded industry leaders and to guide the company’s scaling-up of the business with an aggressive time-to-market game plan.
Claude received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Chemical Engineering from University Laval, Quebec.
Matthew Stevenson, CFA
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Svante“Addressing climate change while unlocking tremendous economic opportunity is a humbling challenge. I’m grateful to be part of such a talented team that has a chance to play a real role in a prosperous low carbon economy.”
Matt brings a unique background in finance, energy, and technology to Svante, combining the skills of a strategic finance professional with the problem-solving approach of a chemical engineer and broad experience in the capital markets and the energy sector.
Matt is responsible for managing Svante’ strategic initiatives and fundraising efforts, striving to find the right partners and investors to continue to fuel the company’s path towards commercializing a breakthrough energy technology. Matt also oversees the finance operations, commercial and legal aspects of Svante’ business, ensuring the company is positioned to scale rapidly with best practices in place.
In his role, Matt leans heavily on past technical and corporate finance roles touching upstream and downstream oil and gas, oilfield services, energy infrastructure and utilities, as well as corporate development and capital project experience in the commodity chemicals and alternative fuels space.
His career began with early career technical roles in upstream oil and gas and process engineering, followed by equity research, corporate finance and M&A advisory roles with a multinational investment bank. Most recently, Mr. Stevenson was in corporate development with Methanex, one of the world’s largest producers of methanol— a commodity chemical and increasingly important alternative fuel.
Matt holds a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering as well as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) professional designation.
Karen Miller, CPA, CGA
Corporate Controller/Treasurer & Administration
Svante“When you have a technology so unique that it could contribute to a healthier planet, closely managing the use of corporate financial resources to ensure this can happen is crucial.”
Karen Miller leads Svante’s financial reporting, accounting, tax reporting, and treasury functions, among others. As part of the senior management team, Karen supports the Board of Directors in the development and execution of the overall corporate financial strategy.
She held senior management roles with The Rick Hansen Foundation, Spectrum Signal Processing, and QuestAir Technologies. As Interim CFO of QuestAir, Karen contributed to the completion of the merger between QuestAir and Xebec Adsorption. As Controller, she contributed to QuestAir’s initial public offering, the first company to list on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Alternative Investment Market, a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange.
Karen holds the following professional designations: Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) & Certified General Accountant (CGA).
Brett Henkel, P.Eng
Co-Founder and Vice President Strategic Accounts & Government Affairs
Svante“It is empowering to know, given my Alberta heritage, our technology can change the climate impacts of the Alberta oil sands regions and generate significant additional economic benefits.”
Brett Henkel’s unabashed optimism tempered by his mechanical engineering background and gas separation experience combine to bring a rare perspective to his position on Svante’s executive team.
Transferring the company’s breakthrough CO2 capture technology to customers’ sites will rely heavily on Brett’s strengths for identifying and understanding the technical and business details and relating those details to partners’ teams, approving agencies, and stakeholders.
As co-founder, he was instrumental in creating the process and the hardware used to prove the technology’s effectiveness as well as mobilizing external support throughout the path to becoming a successful innovation. These experiences strengthened his knowledge of business development and program management priorities.
Prior to launching Svante, Mr. Henkel was the program manager for QuestAir Technologies’ compact hydrogen production system with its partner, ExxonMobil. He is credited with designing the world’s first solenoid-driven rapid pressure swing adsorption test station.
Brett received his Bachelor of Science in Physics, with distinction, and a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Victoria.
Pierre Hovington
Vice President Research & Development
Svante“I am very excited to join a company based on rigorous research background able to work with world experts to bring materials at the forefront of the technology to commercialization and help fight climate change.”
Pierre is responsible for the strategy, planning, direction, and execution of all R&D activities for structured adsorbents at Svante. Dr. Hovington joined Svante in 2017 to set-up a microstructure characterization laboratory for sorbent nano-materials. He was also instrumental in scaling up the manufacturing process to make structured adsorbent beds (filters) to supply our 30 tonnes per day demonstration plant at Husky. Pierre is a world-expert in characterization and post-mortem analysis of metallic lithium polymer and lithium-ion batteries for electric and hybrid vehicle applications.
Pierre has earned a BASc degree in engineering physics from Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal and a PhD from University of Sherbrooke and University of Tennessee where he works at Oak Ridge National Lab to develop a Monte Carlo expert program for the simulation of electrons in mater. He is the co-author of more than 10 patents, has published over 130 papers in peer review journal, and was invited speakers in several conferences.
Guy Pearson
Vice President Products
Svante“I am excited to be part of a team developing technology that captures carbon from industrial sources and leaves it safely under ground where it belongs. Being able to help make an immediate positive contribution to solving the growing climate emergency is very rewarding.”
Guy is a highly experienced manufacturing and engineering leader. Starting his career in automotive design and engineering with companies such as Jaguar and Land Rover, Guy has enjoyed a career of helping teams in the UK and Canada grow in capability to successfully develop new products and new manufacturing processes in multiple industries.
As a Lean Manufacturing champion, Guy has a track record of nurturing team engagement and instilling the Lean principles of respect, waste reduction and continuous improvement resulting in a track record of performance and profitability optimization.
Guy holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Royal Leamington Spa College.
Rocco Meraglia
Vice President Health, Safety, Environment & Community (HSEC)
Svante“I am very excited to be involved with an organization that is in the forefront of technology to help fight climate change.”
Rocco Meraglia, CRSP, ASP, Dip. OHS is responsible for overall Health Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) oversight and governance related to compliance HSEC standards. Rocco has over 35 years’ experience in health, safety, environment, community and emergency services implementation on major projects and operational sites globally.
Rocco specializes in mining, construction, oil and gas construction management health and safety. Rocco has worked on some of the largest projects in the world including Ground Zero, Katrina Relief efforts, Mega Mining Construction Projects (Ekati Diamond Mine, Diavik Diamond Mine, Voisey Bay Nickel, Baffinland, Snap Lake Diamond Mine, Panama’s Mina de Cobre, Ambatovy Nickel-Madagascar, Baro Alto Project), numerous Oil/Gas & Power projects as the field and corporate HSSE Director and VP of HSE for multiple mining and EPCM organizations.
Tom Dielschneider
Vice President Global Supply Chain
Svante“The time is now to be boldly implementing leading edge technology to transform the impact of climate change on our planet. It is an honour to be a part of the Svante carbon capture solution.”
Tom leads the Global Supply Chain function at Svante. He is charged with building a network of strategic partners to deliver our carbon capture vision.
After a career in management consulting with a specialization in Distribution and Logistics, Tom held senior Supply Chain leadership roles in the fuel cell industry, advanced hybrid vehicles, and industrial distribution. His work experience spans Canada, the US, Europe and Asia.
Tom received a Bachelor of Science degree with High Honours in Physics, and a Master of Science degree in Nuclear Physics, both from the University of Saskatchewan. He received an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.
Tom holds a Certified Management Consultant designation, a Certificate in Production and Inventory Management, and is a designated Supply Chain Management Professional.
Jeff Westfahl
Vice President Project Delivery & Technology Licensing
Svante“The ability and desire to make a positive difference in the global strategy to reduce the impact of CO2 on the planet drives Svante’s mission and culture.”
Jeff joins the Svante team bringing a strong presence and background in project delivery experience and expertise and the integration of multiple partners to successfully execute projects across the globe.
Jeff’s role within Svante is to lead the Project Delivery team in the execution of projects as well as manage the Technology Licensing of the Svante carbon capture system as a technology package provider. Project management, process engineering, testing
His long career in project execution spans across several continents, primarily in the EPC power industry, and Jeff has been instrumental in the formation of several joint ventures, consortiums and partnerships, drawing upon and optimizing the strengths of the teammates in order to maximize the opportunity for project success and minimize project risks.
Drawing together multiple individual talents from diverse groups, backgrounds, and cultures to form high-performance teams has been a key focal point and driver for Jeff and he brings these technics and experience to the Svante efforts.
Jeff’s background in mechanical engineering as well as his knowledge of power plant design, construction, commissioning, and operations informs his inputs and direction to the project teams. His EPC project experience allows for positive detailed interactions with EPC partners and Owner groups.
Jeff’s energy, commitment, and excitement to be an integral part of Svante’s success is driven by his desire to create a pathway to reduce the world’s carbon footprint.
Becky Gardiner
Vice President Technical Services
Svante“I am privileged to be part of a talented team whilst being able to focus on design, application, cost reduction and delivery of Svante’s Carbon Capture system.”
Becky Gardiner, CEng IChemE, has almost 20 years in plant design and operation, 10 of these dedicated specifically to Carbon Capture.
Becky’s role within Svante is to lead the Plant Process Engineering group and the Data Monitoring & Advanced Analytics group. She is responsible for all plant process-related deliverables of Svante’s licensing technology package including process development, design, commissioning, testing & optimization of carbon capture gas processing plants for various industrial applications.
Her career started in the EPC power industry before taking a strong focus on Carbon Capture. Becky designed, commissioned and operated an in-house 1TPD CO2 liquid amine plant before applying analyzed operation data and design upgrades for installation of a 100TPD system at UK-based Ferrybridge coal-fired power plant under the government-funded CCPilot100+ project.
Becky joined Svante in 2015 and transitioned to solid sorbent-based CO2 Capture projects, where she has been responsible for leading and strengthening the Plant Process group to provide in-house designs for test stations, scoping studies for large applications, and product development projects. In 2019, Becky was lead for commissioning of a Svante 30TPD plant, based at Cenovus (previously Husky Energy) Pikes Peak South Thermal plant.
Becky’s background in Chemical/Process Engineering, as well as power plant design, commissioning & operation aids with the direction of the skilled Process Team.
Becky’s commitment, energy and passion for Carbon Capture is driven by her desire to see a reduction in the global carbon footprint.