Andrejka Bernatova is Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of a publicly traded company, Dynamix Corporation (NASDAQ: DNMXU), focused on acquisitions in the energy, infrastructure, and power industries. She is a seasoned investor and operator who has raised over $35B globally across sectors spanning oil & gas, water, midstream, and clean power.

Earlier this year, Andrejka led the Dynamix team in a merger with The Ether Machine, an institutional-grade Ethereum investment vehicle, in an approximately $2 billion public debut. Prior to Dynamix, she held CFO roles at leading water and power infra firms like Goodnight Midstream and Enchanted Rock, served as CEO of ESGEN (which merged with Florida’s largest residential solar installer to form ZEO Energy), and held investing roles at Blackstone and Mubadala. She currently leads Dynamix Capital Partners, an energy and infrastructure-focused private investment platform.

Earlier in her career, Andrejka served as CFO of Enchanted Rock Energy, Goodnight Midstream, and Core Midstream (which she co-founded), and held finance leadership roles at PennTex Midstream Partners (NYSE: PTXP). She also worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse, and held investment roles at The Blackstone Group, Mubadala / Masdar Clean Energy in the UAE, and the World Bank. Andrejka holds an A.B. in Government with a Citation in Spanish from Harvard University.

Christian Claudel is an associate professor in the Fariborz Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at UT Austin. His research interests include control and estimation of distributed parameter systems, cyberphysical systems monitoring, and the use of wireless sensor networks for environmental applications.

Jason Cooper is the President & CEO of GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy, a world-leading provider of nuclear fuel bundles, services and advanced nuclear reactor designs including the BWRX-300 small modular reactor.

Jason joined GE Vernova Hitachi in June 2025 as Advanced Nuclear CEO and was appointed President & CEO of the business in January 2026.

Before that, he was President and CEO of GE Vernova Gas Power’s Heavy Duty Gas Turbine Equipment portfolio. In this role, he managed a $7 billion global business line, overseeing commercial operations from initiation to project execution and delivering best-in-class gas power generation.

Jason joined GE in early 2022 as Chief Executive Officer for the Onshore Wind North America business from Dematic—part of the KiON Group, the global leader in supply chain automation and intralogistics solutions—where he served as the Chief Operating Officer.

Prior to joining Dematic, Jason spent 13 years in a variety of roles across the Linde Group, the world’s largest industrial gas company and a leader in global energy markets. He was previously Senior Vice President of Asset Delivery for Linde Gas Asia Pacific, where he was responsible for the development, execution, and commercialization of the Singapore Gasification Complex. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Linde Engineering North America; Managing Director of Linde Engineering, Southeast Asia; and VP of Project Management and Construction for Linde Process Plants. Jason has lived and worked internationally for much of his career, having completed multiple assignments in the UK, India and Singapore.

Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mechanical Engineering with a specialization in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and completed executive education programs at the University of Oxford, UK.

After years of working at the intersection of tech and real estate development, Chris Crosby set out in 2011 to take a new approach to data center development. His vision was to focus on greenfield projects and deliver customizable, scalable, sustainable and low-cost data centers in an expedited time frame.

A testament to Chris’ bold vision and a solid culture centered around four core convictions from which the company has never wavered, Compass has grown at a remarkable rate. From completing its first 1.2 MW data center in 2012 to serving the campus-level hyperscale market with developments underway across the globe less than a decade later, Compass’ success is the result of Chris’ vision, a strong foundation and a talented team of innovative thinkers.

Beyond his role at Compass, Chris is dedicated to shaping the future of the industry’s workforce through education. He serves as a member of the SMU Lyle School of Engineering Datacenter Systems Engineering Advisory Board, where he was instrumental in developing the Master of Science in Datacenter Systems Engineering curriculum. The first degree of its kind in the United States, the interdisciplinary curriculum blends engineering, computer science, business management and finance to prepare students for leadership roles. Additionally, Chris launched the MEI Data Center Pathways Program at Texas State Technical College (TSTC) to bring more workers into the “new-collar” jobs created by the data center industry.

In 2025, Compass was recognized by the Financial Times as one of the Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies. Since 2020, it has consistently appeared on Inc. Magazine’s 5000 fastest-growing companies list. In 2024, the Dallas Business Journal named Compass among the Best Places to Work, a ranking determined by employee feedback. Additionally, in 2023, Chris was honored as EY’s Southwest Area Entrepreneur of The Year®. Under Chris’ leadership, Compass continues to drive industry-leading sustainability practices, making a lasting impact on the data center industry.

Following a PhD and post-doctoral studies in Mathematics, Dr. Felix joined the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA – France) in 1990. Since then, he has been working as a research engineer in the field of Structural Analysis.

Along with the framework of his CEA activities, he also served as Nuclear Counsellor at the French Embassy in various countries, South Korea, India and Japan.

In addition, he acted as Personal Assistant to the Chairman of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF), during the French Presidency of this Forum, from 2006 to 2010.

Dr. Sunil Felix was awarded the National Order of Merit by the French National Authorities in 2015.

Rudy D. Garza is the President & CEO of CPS Energy, the nation’s largest municipally owned electric and natural gas utility. He is the first Hispanic leader to hold the position. Rudy has more than 25 years of experience as a leader in the utility industry and has served in both the public and private sectors over the course of his career.

To deliver on CPS Energy’s mission to serve our community and in collaboration with his Board of Trustees, Rudy developed a strategic plan called Vision 2027, a roadmap to guide CPS Energy through the rapid transformation of the utility industry. As part of Vision 2027, Rudy and his leadership team increased the capacity of our power generation portfolio by 1,710 megawatts with the acquisition of natural gas plants in South Texas. This milestone acquisition marks CPS Energy’s growing role as a regional energy utility.

Rudy joined CPS Energy in 2012 and previously served as Chief Customer & Stakeholder Engagement Officer and as Senior Vice President of Distribution Service & Operations where he oversaw the maintenance and construction activity of the electric distribution system. He also served the company in the role of Vice President of External Relations.

Rudy has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Texas. He continues to serve his Austin alma mater as an Engineering Advisory Board member for the Cockrell School of Engineering and as a mentor through the Cockrell Advisory Mentoring Program (CAMP) where he enjoys connecting and guiding future engineering leaders.

Rudy is dedicated to public service and is actively engaged in his community through multiple board roles, including the Brooks Development Authority, greater: SATX, and the Large Public Power Council. Additionally, he and his wife Emily are Co-Chairs of the 2025 United Way of San Antonio & Bexar County Community Campaign.

Jeff Hahn is a 30-year crisis communications expert and the author of Breaking Bad News: Essential Tools For Crisis Communications, a practical guide for communicating in crisis and high-stakes moments.  

It’s not a stretch to say that Jeff’s crisis experience began at age 11. In November 1975, a tornado ripped through his family’s farm while he and his parents and siblings were sheltered in the cellar. After leaving the farm years later, he finished an enlistment in the U.S. Air Force, then earned a degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio and eventually a master’s degree from Texas State University.  

His career has taken him from Lockheed Space Operations to 15 years at Motorola and 18 as a public relations and marketing agency owner. Hahn Marketing & PR specializes in serving brands that provide the essentials of life—energy, food, and health—by leveraging data science, creative strategy, and digital innovation to build trust and drive growth. 

Travis Isakson is the Assistant Director of Plant Operations for UT Austin’s Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) Department. Travis oversees the management of the Power Plant and Chilling Stations Operations. Travis also supports gas procurement and load forecasting for UEMs gas futures purchasing.

Travis previously was an Energy Engineer with UEM’s Demand Side Energy Management program. Under that role, Travis performed Existing Building Recommissioning projects on a variety of buildings across campus with the overall goal of reducing the campus energy load.

Before joining The University of Texas, Travis worked as a HVAC and Plumbing design engineer at I&S Group out of Mankato, MN. While at I&S group Travis designed HVAC and Plumbing systems for a variety of buildings including Hospitals, Museums, Retail, Office, Manufacturing, Food manufacturing, and Industrial buildings.

Travis Earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Travis is a Licensed Professional Engineer, a Certified Energy Manager, and a Certified Measurement and Verification Professional.

Vishnu Sree Shanthanu Katakam is a Mechanical Engineering Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Austin specializing in system-scale analysis of advanced desalination and integrated water–energy nexus systems for data centers, direct lithium extraction, and produced water management. His research focuses on developing and applying heat–mass transfer analogy–based design frameworks for Osmotically Assisted Reverse Osmosis (OARO) and Reverse Osmosis (RO), with integrated thermo-economic and second-law analyses-based optimization of brackish, seawater, and hypersaline brine treatment pathways. He works on UT Energy Institute–sponsored projects addressing sustainable water sourcing and cooling optimization for emerging data centers in Texas, as well as hybrid membrane–thermal desalination systems for energy-efficient lithium recovery from hypersaline brines. His doctoral research has led to peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Desalination and Journal of Water Process Engineering. In recognition of his academic and research contributions, he was awarded the George J. Heuer Jr. Ph.D. Endowed Graduate Fellowship for AY 2024–25.

Vishesh holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s in Data Science with a passion for natural language programming. Vishesh works on creating custom NLP solutions for our clients, along with creating internal automation tools that can be used across all clients. Vishesh also has a knack for automation and continually assists our data analysts with creating, optimizing, and automating dashboards.

In addition, Vishesh holds certifications in Tableau, Power BI, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Adobe Analytics.

Dr. Carey W. King performs interdisciplinary research related to how energy systems interact within the economy and environment as well as how our policy and social systems can make decisions and tradeoffs among these often competing factors. The past performance of our energy systems is no guarantee of future returns, yet we must understand the development of past energy systems. Dr. King’s research goals center on rigorous interpretations of the past to determine the most probable future energy pathways.

Dr. King is a Research Scientist at The University of Texas at Austin and Assistant Director at the Energy Institute. He also has appointments with the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy within the Jackson School of Geosciences and the McCombs School of Business. He has both a BS with high honors and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. He has published technical articles in the academic journals Environmental Science and Technology, Environmental Research Letters, Nature Geoscience, Energy Policy, Sustainability, and Ecology and Society. He has also written commentary for American Scientist and Earth magazines as well as major newspapers such as The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, and Austin American-Statesman. Dr. King has several patents as former Director for Scientific Research of Uni-Pixel Displays, Inc.

Marek Locmelis is an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is an economic geologist who focuses on critical mineral exploration, helping mining companies to improve metal recovery from existing production streams, and strengthening the critical mineral workforce. Dr. Locmelis specializes in critical minerals that are important for the energy transition, such as nickel, cobalt, and the rare earth elements, as well as sustainable and ethical approaches to mining. He is a fellow of the Society of Economic Geologist and the Chair of the North American Workshop Series on Critical Mineral Research, Development and Education that is held biannually in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Locmelis holds a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and BSc and MSc degrees from Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany. He joined UT Austin in 2024 from Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) where he worked as an Assistant and then Associate Professor from 2016 to 2024. Before Missouri S&T, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Western Australia.

Matthew McClellan holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He began his professional career in 2018 at ExxonMobil, working as a chemical engineer supporting pilot scale research and development in the chemicals division. In 2019, he joined Nike as a chemical engineer, where he focused on research involving footwear adhesives, rubbers, and foams.

From 2021 to 2024, Matthew transitioned into a cost engineering role at Nike, supporting global footwear manufacturing and helping optimize production costs across the company’s supply chain. In 2024, he joined Aalo, where he currently works as a cost engineer contributing to strategic cost modeling, investor relations, engineering design, and project management.

Matthew is passionate about addressing climate change, advancing the deployment of nuclear energy, and fostering a culture of continuous learning.

Dr. Tip Meckel spent the last 20 years as research scientist investigating geologic carbon storage for the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin. During his time with the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, he led applied CCS research focusing on geologic characterization, seismic interpretation, monitoring design, capacity estimation, and pressure evolution for CO₂ injections. After early participation during the first-of-a-kind FRIO injection tests east of Houston in 2006, he initiated and led the DOE and TX-GLO funded research initiative to identify offshore sequestration potential in the Gulf of Mexico with focus on regional seismic and geologic interpretation, capacity assessment, and high-resolution 3D marine seismic monitoring technologies. He was also a lead contributor and editor for a regional CO₂ storage atlas for the Texas State Waters. During his time as a researcher, Meckel has participated in and helped organize over 100 CCS national and international meetings and conferences, and is a recognized global expert on CCS. Meckel was a technical contributor to parts of the 2019 National Petroleum Council study on CCUS provided to the Secretary of Energy, and participated in the formation of the Society of Petroleum Engineer’s Storage Resource Management System (SRMS) – a method for providing transparent CO₂ storage capacity estimates for SEC compliance. He is a member of the White House Task Force on CCS on Federal Lands, including the Outer Continental Shelf. Tip has published over 50 articles on CCS topics, and has been Pi or Co-PI on CCS projects with over $75M in total funding since 2006.

Experience Nduagu is an Advanced Research Associate at ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company with 17 years of experience in process engineering, greenhouse gas emission (GHG) reduction technologies, techno‑economic and life cycle assessments. Since joining ExxonMobil in 2019, he has led and contributed to programs on lower‑carbon hydrogen (including blue hydrogen and methane pyrolysis), carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), iron and steelmaking, chemical recycling of plastic waste, and the environmental impacts of plastic packaging and alternatives. His technical leadership has enabled collaborations across industry, consulting, and academia, spanning the United States, Europe, and the Asia‑Pacific region and addressing complex research challenges in sectors such as power, iron and steel, and packaging.

Before joining ExxonMobil, he led GHG emissions and technology assessments at Alberta Innovates, the Canadian Energy Research Institute, and the University of Calgary, where he was an Eyes High Postdoctoral Scholar. Experience holds a PhD and MSc in Chemical Engineering from Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and a B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in Canada, a Senior Member of AIChE, and has authored more than 20 peer‑reviewed publications and 40 conference presentations.

Renato Poli is a petroleum reservoir and geomechanics engineer currently pursuing a Ph.D. at The University of Texas at Austin, expected to graduate in 2027. He holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering and an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering. He brings over a decade of industry experience at Petrobras, where he worked on presalt carbonate fields in Brazil’s Santos Basin. He is currently on an educational leave to complete his doctorate. His research focuses on numerical modeling of fractured reservoirs and geomechanics, with his most recent work investigating the effects of creep in salt caprocks. 

Gabriel has over a decade of experience in the oil and gas environmental services industry. He is currently the President and CEO of Milestone Environmental. In 2025 he was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year for the Gulf South Region. 

Prior to leading Milestone, Gabriel worked as an Operating Partner with Intervale Capital, now known as Amberjack Capital, an industrial and infrastructure services focused private equity firm, which became a key investor in Milestone. He was previously the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development for R360 Environmental Solutions, Inc., a national provider of environmental services to the E&P industry. At R360, Gabriel orchestrated the strategy and mergers and acquisitions work which led to the formation and rapid growth of the company through its sale in 2012 to Waste Connections. 

Prior to R360’s formation in 2010, he was an investment professional with Three Cities Research, Inc., a mid-market private equity firm, where he was principally responsible for US Liquids of LA, LP, a regional oilfield waste treatment and disposal provider in Louisiana and Texas. Earlier in his career, Gabriel worked as an Associate Equity Research Analyst covering the global chemical industry at UBS Investment Bank, as a Petroleum Practice Fellow with McKinsey & Company, a global strategy consultancy, and as an Associate at Purvin & Gertz, a Houston-based oil and gas consultancy. Gabriel holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Gabriel lives in Houston with his wife Mona, with whom he shares two daughters. He also is an elected member of the Advisory Board of the Energy Workforce & Technology Council (EWTC) and the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) Board of Directors. 

Destin leads Hahn’s work with clients across oil and gas, utilities, and critical infrastructure, helping organizations communicate with clarity and confidence during moments of high-stakes change, transformation, and crisis. Destin brings more than 25 years of experience in strategic communications, with deep expertise in M&A integration, crisis response, system implementations, and reputation recovery. Her work is grounded in hands-on leadership roles inside complex global organizations. Prior to joining Hahn, Destin was the founder and principal consultant at Emic Communications, where she spent six years advising executives, boards, and communications teams through major transitions. Before that, she served as Director of External Communications at Marathon Petroleum Corporation, where she led enterprise reputation management, crisis strategy, and supported C-suite leaders during large-scale M&A activity and brand transformation.

Andy Uhler is an award-winning public radio correspondent and host of Phases and Stages: The Texas Energy Story. He’s a journalism fellow through a partnership between UT’s Energy Institute and Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. He started his journalism career as an undergraduate at KUT, the University of Texas at Austin NPR affiliate. He transitioned to music journalism in 2006, becoming the senior producer of Texas Music Matters. After completing a Master’s degree in global policy studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2014, he returned to KUT to help launch the Texas Standard. The following year, he took a job as a sustainability reporter at American Public Media’s Marketplace, where he remained until accepting his current role as a fellow. 

Tianyi Wang is a first-year Ph.D. student of Mobile Automation and Sensing Systems (MASS) Lab in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at UT Austin. He is also an NSF Ethical AI Portfolio Student at The University of Texas at Austin. In May 2025, he received a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Yale University. Prior to that, he earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Vehicle Engineering (Automobile) from Tongji University in China. He has been a research assistant in Urban Information Lab (UIL) at The University of Texas at Austin and Digital Twin Lab at Purdue University. His research interests include intelligent transportation systems and connected and automated vehicles, particularly in decision-making, trajectory-planning and cooperative control. His research vision is to build a safer, more efficient, and more stable autonomous driving system.

Eric began his advertising career at GSD&M in 1981 while in the Ad School at UT. He returned to the agency in 1998 to serve as VP/Communications Director. In this role, he managed all internal and external communications and was a key member of the New Business team. In 2008, he joined McGarrah Jessee to create a Public Relations and Social Media practice within the agency. During his decade-long tenure there, he also acted as the PR Director for the Spoetzl Brewery, makers of Shiner Beers.

In 2018, Eric transitioned into teaching and freelancing, collaborating with ad agencies and maintaining a small client roster that spans from law firms to Kenyan wildlife conservancies. An expert in brand reputation management, he produces a wide range of content and counsel for his clients. Throughout his career, he has worked with iconic brands such as, Southwest Airlines, YETI, AT&T and Wal-mart, plus a long list of small brands and startups.

On the academic side, Eric is an Assistant Professor in UT’s Moody College of Communications, teaching the capstone courses in the School of Advertising and Public Relations. He is currently a holder of the Richards Fellowship in Creativity.

A native New Mexican raised in an Air Force family, Eric is also a sometimes travel writer and photographer whose work has appeared in the London Telegraph and the New York Daily News, and he was featured in the 2025 travel anthology, Tales from the Runway. Outside of his professional life, Eric is married to the lovely Amber Green. He’s an avid tennis player and a geek-level soccer fan, devotedly supporting Tottenham Hotspur.