Robert Walsh

Robert Walsh is currently Chief Commercial Officer for ZeaChem, a cellulosic biofuels and chemicals start-up. Previously, he was CEO of Aurora Biofuels, a private industrial biotechnology company, from 2008 to 2010. He developed and implemented a strategy to produce biofuels from algae and negotiated strategic alliances with Syngenta AG, Crown Iron Works, and one of the world’s largest ammonia producers to supply CO2 feedstock to an Australian demonstration facility. From 2007 to 2008 he led LS9, a private industrial biotechnology company, as President. At LS9, Mr. Walsh raised over $21 million in funding, started up the first fermentation pilot plant to produce diesel from renewable feedstock, negotiated a strategic partnership with Procter & Gamble, and was recognized as a Technology Pioneer by The World Economic Forum. As an M&A consultant from 2006 to 2007, Mr. Walsh advised Tesoro Corporation on potential European and US refinery acquisitions. In 2007, he led their supply, trading, and marketing integration efforts for a major US refinery acquisition. During 2005 and 2006, he was Senior Vice President at Chemoil Corporation, the leading independent fuel oil trading and marketing company, where he started a gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel marketing business that generated $15 million net income within six months. Mr. Walsh started his career at Shell Oil Company in 1979. His experience included senior manufacturing, supply, distribution, and strategic planning positions in North America and Europe. In his last position as General Manager Supply – Europe from 2001 to 2005, he was responsible for $30 billion in revenue in 28 countries with 18 refineries and a 100 million gallon per day oil products distribution network.
Mr. Walsh received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University.

Employer:	ZeaChem
Position:	Chief Commercial Officer
Time period:	March 2011 - Present

Employer:	Aurora Biofuels, Inc.
Position:	Chief Executive Officer & Director
Time period:	January 2008 - December 2010
Description:	Led Aurora Biofuels, a private industrial biotechnology company that has proven and piloted a cost-competitive, scalable method for biomass generation using robust, highly productive custom algae strains in open pond systems. Grew the Aurora team from 25 to 55 employees, working at 4 geographically distant facilities in California, Florida, Mexico, and Australia. Delivered scientific and commercial milestones ahead of schedule and under budget Evaluated the existing demonstration plant strategy, and moved the site from Mexico to Western Australia based on the analysis of critical success factors, including the potential to grow biodiesel production to 150 million gallons annually Contracted for free CO2 from one of the world’s largest ammonia plants Insured future land availability from the State Lands Development Corporation Managed a seamless transition of equipment and people from Mexico to Australia Incorporated an Australian subsidiary and recruited a resident director and public officer Negotiated a long term strategic alliance with Crown Iron, the leading oil seed extraction company, to co-develop Aurora’s patented algae extraction process Developed a strategy to recover and market omega-3 oils from algae, increasing the return on capital expenditures by 400% Concluded negotiations with Syngenta AG, a leading global agri-business, to fund Aurora R&D on algae crop protection, and to pay Aurora royalties on future sales Began building a project pipeline with strategic partners based on feedstock availability and specialty product off-takes Integrated the biotechnology and engineering teams’ projects to optimize the algae production process

Employer:	LS9, Inc.
Position:	President & Director
Time period:	January 2007 - December 2008
Description:	Reported directly to the Board of Directors of LS9, Inc., the Renewable Petroleum Company™, a private industrial biotechnology company that is developing patent-pending biofuels produced with pioneering synthetic biology. Grew the LS9 team from 20 to 60 employees in less than a year. The World Economic Forum honored LS9 as a Technology Pioneer in 2008. Raised $15 million of equity and $6 million of debt in Series B venture funding Delivered scientific and commercial milestones ahead of schedule and under budget Started up the first 1000 liter pilot plant producing diesel from renewable feed stocks Negotiated with several Fortune 500 companies to become strategic partners A joint venture to produce biochemicals for the consumer products market is now the cornerstone of LS9’s business strategy Formed a strategic engineering alliance with Fluor Received considerable media coverage, including articles published in the Wall Street Journal and the London Times, and interviews broadcast nationally on FOX News and CNN

Employer:	Independent Oil Industry
Position:	Consultant
Time period:	January 2006 - December 2007
Description:	Launched an independent oil industry consulting business focused on providing strategic leadership for mergers, acquisitions, start-ups, and major investments. Led the integration of a $1.6 billion west coast oil products acquisition for the supply, trading and marketing organizations at Tesoro Corporation during the first two quarters of 2007 Directed the study team for the acquisition of a group of Continental European refineries by a major independent US refining and marketing corporation

Employer:	Chemoil Corporation
Position:	Senior Vice President & Officer-Chemoil Corporation
Time period:	January 2005 - December 2006
Description:	Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for IPC USA, a 50/50 Chemoil and Itochu joint venture trading company with $1 billion revenue. IPC USA supplies, trades, markets, and distributes gasoline, diesel and jet fuel throughout the Americas, including gasoline to 570 Costco warehouses, gasoline and diesel to 700 independent retailers in five western states, jet fuel to Los Angeles International Airport and Phoenix International Airport, and petroleum products to Latin America. Supervised an international staff of 50 employees. Also directed global business development for Chemoil, the leading independent marine fuel supplier with $3.7 billion revenue.

Employer:	Shell Europe Oil Products
Position:	General Manager Supply-Europe
Time period:	January 2001 - December 2005
Description:	Directed all aspects of Shell’s European supply chain with $30 billion revenue in 28 countries with 18 manufacturing plants, 112 distribution depots, 12,000 retail outlets, and 6,000 B2B customers. Accountable for manufacturing asset income maximization and delivering the lowest product cost to the retail outlets for their 6 million daily customers. Supervised an international staff of 350 employees and 5,000 logistics contractors. Delivered record net income of $1.25 billion for 2004, a $550 million increase over 2003 Increased 2004 net income by $260 million by implementing the following strategies

Employer:	Equilon Enterprise LLC
Position:	Business Integration Manager
Time period:	January 1998 - December 2001

Employer:	Shell Martinez Refining Company
Position:	Vice President, Planning, Finance & Business Development
Time period:	January 1996 - December 1998

Employer:	Shell Oil Products USA
Position:	Business Manager; Operations/Technical Manager, Oil Products Planning; Corporate Planning Representative; Base Chemicals & Western Region Operations Manager
Time period:	January 1986 - December 1996

Employer:	Shell Oil Products USA
Position:	Production Unit Manager; Start-up Engineer; Operations Engineer
Time period:	January 1979 - December 1986

University:	Purdue University System - Purdue University
Degree:	Chemical Engineering, BSc