Senior Management

TRI’s management team and Board of Directors have significant experience in technology development, project management, and the pulp and paper industry. TRI’s leadership is committed to developing the world’s leading biomass-to-energy company.

Daniel A. Burciaga, CEO & President

Dan Burciaga. President and CEO of ThermoChem Recovery International, Inc. (TRI), has assembled a world class management team to commercialize a proprietary gasification technology that can process a wide spectrum of biomass to produce clean renewable fuels, chemicals and power. A commercial scale unit is currently in operation. Dan has over 28 years of management experience in technology development, engineering and construction services. He has led TRI in developing capabilities for R&D to continually improve its intellectual property, for project development of biorefineries and power generation, for management of engineering and construction of these industrial facilities. Prior to TRI, Dan was VP/GM of Industra, Inc. a provider of engineering and construction services for the pulp and paper, chemicals and metals industries. Prior to that, he was at Procter & Gamble, International, responsible for a wide range of large projects across P&G's manufacturing technologies. Dan received B.S., M.S. and Engineer degrees, all from Stanford University, and an M.B.A from Xavier University.

Eric J. Connor, Senior Vice President – Business Development

Eric Connor has over 30 years experience in business development, marketing, engineering and construction with particular experience in the pulp and paper industry. Previously, Mr. Connor served as Senior Director, Corporate Development for Enron North America, where he was responsible for the acquisition/divestiture and management of assets in the forest products and steel industries. Prior to Enron, he served as VP of Marketing for Industra Engineering, Director of Business Development for Fluor Daniel, Inc., and in a number of manufacturing management positions for Procter & Gamble’s Cellulose and Specialties Division. Mr. Connor has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta.

David G. Newport, Vice President – Project Management

Dave Newport has over 20 years experience in diversified engineering services. Prior to joining TRI, Mr. Newport served as Senior Corporate Engineer for Sappi Fine Papers and, before that, the Projects Director for Sappi (Pty) Limited, a major South African paper company. Prior to Sappi, he was a Project Manager for Uhde (Pty) Limited, and a process engineer for John Brown, Kemplant (Pty) Ltd and Unilever. His experience includes a number of projects in GTL and petrochemical technologies. Mr. Newport completed his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of WitWatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa and received an Advanced Project Management Certificate from Tuks University Business Management School in Pretoria.

Ravi Chandran, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer

Ravi Chandran has over 25 years experience in gasification and combustion technologies. Dr. Chandran has direct experience in steam reforming, pulsed combustion, pulsed gasification, fluid bed processes including combustion, power generation, fuel cells, waste treatment and drying. He holds 9 patents and has 5 patent applications in process. Prior to joining TRI, he was Vice President of Engineering at MTCI, and a Research Specialist at Babcock & Wilcox where he coordinated the fluidized bed combustion fuels characterization program. Dr. Chandran earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University. He is a recipient of ASME Melville medal.