Host
Asian Metal
Sponsors Include
Media Sponsor
Confirmed Presentations
Confirmed Speakers
  • Dr. Alexander King
  • Director
  • Ames National Laboratory and Strategic Materials Institute
  • Alex King was born and raised in London, England and he became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1990. He attended the University of Sheffield as an undergraduate and received the degree of Bachelor of Metallurgy (B.Met.) in 1975, focusing on physical metallurgy. As a graduate student at Oxford, he studied the interactions of radiation damage with grain boundaries in metals and was awarded a D.Phil. in 1979. After a brief period working as a research fellow at Oxford (in collaboration with the Harwell atomic energy lab.) he joined M.I.T. as a postdoctoral associate. King joined the State University of New York at Stony Brook as an assistant professor in 1981 and reached the rank of professor in the department of Materials Science and Engineering in 1990. He has served as Stony Brook's Vice Provost for Graduate Studies (Dean of the Graduate School), which position he resigned in 1992, to return to full time teaching and research. He was appointed Professor and Head of the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue in 1999, and Director of DOE’s Ames Laboratory in January 2008. The Ames Lab is one of DOE’s seventeen national laboratories, and it leads the entire DOE complex in research on materials, and also in the productivity of its technology transfer program.
  • In addition to his administrative and leadership duties, King maintains an active research program which continues the focus upon interfacial structure and behavior, although he has diversified into other areas such as thin films, semiconductors, polymers and materials processing. He has published more than 170 archival research papers, and has edited four technical books. King has lectured in 15 countries, on four continents, including inaugural plenary addresses at the founding meetings of MRS-Brazil and MRS-Africa. He is a Fellow of ASM International, the (UK) Institute of Materials, and the Materials Research Society. He was a Visiting Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 1996 and a US State Department Jefferson Science Fellow for 2005-06. He was a Co-Chair of the Gordon Conference on Physical Metallurgy, for 2006. His most recent work has been on the issue of assuring access to critical mineral resources, and rare earths in particular.
  • Alex King has been the Print and Electronic Media Review Editor for the Elsevier journal Materials Science & Engineering A and an Editorial Advisory Board Member for Trans Tech Publications. He was a member of the Board of Review of Metallurgical Transactions A from 1988 to 1998, and was a member of the Advisory Review Board for the Journal of Materials Research from 2008 through 2010. He has served on various advisory boards and committees for Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Lab and Sandia National Labs.
  • King has served as an elected Councilor of MRS for 1998-2000, and a member of its Executive Committee from 1999 through 2003. He was the President of MRS for 2002. He served as a member of the Executive Committee of the University Materials Council from 2004 to 2007, and of the Federation of Materials Societies from 2004 until 2009. He was the Chair of the University Materials Council, for 2006-07. He was the Chair of the APS Interest Group on Energy Research and Applications for 2010. He has served as a member of the Iowa Economic Development Council’s Infrastructure Task Force, and was a member of the MRS subcommittees that created the “Strange Matter” traveling museum exhibit and the “Making Stuff” NOVA television series. He continues as an advisor for NOVA.
  • Bob Wolf
  • VP of Sales
  • Alliance LLC Industrial Permanent Magnets
  • Robert Wolf has more than twenty five years experience in the permanent magnet industry and has authored over a dozen articles. Bob is a graduate of Loyola University, BS – Physics, and DePaul University, MS – Physics.
  • He has held the positions of Product Manager for Rare Earth Magnets at Crucible Materials Corporation, Manager of North American Marketing of Permanent Magnets for Philips Corporation, and Vice President Neodymium Iron Boron Sales for Ugimag Corporation and was on the Board of Directors of the Magnetic Materials Producers Association.
  • Currently he is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Alliance LLC. He is also an instructor in mathematics at Purdue University North Central.
  • Kevin Moran
  • Director
  • Rare Earth Technology Alliance
  • Kevin Moran serves in the Chemical Products & Technology Division of the American Chemistry Council where he is Director of the Rare Earth Technology Alliance (RETA). He has over 19 years of experience as a high-level legal and policy expert on national and state energy and natural resources issues.
  • Previously, Moran managed a diverse portfolio of high-profile projects for the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a Washington D.C. based think tank founded by four former Senate Majority Leaders. His experience included serving as counsel to former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici on nuclear energy related matters and representing him as a consultant to the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. He also helped found and co-lead the BPC’s advocacy network and the Governors’ Council.
  • Moran also managed the Washington D.C. office for the Western Governors’ Association (WGA). In this capacity he worked with a bipartisan group of Governors, their staff, and other key policymakers to craft and implement policies on a myriad of issues. Moran led WGA’s federal advocacy efforts, serving as the primary spokesperson and advocate for WGA at the federal level.
  • As Legislative Counsel to U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, Moran supported the Senator’s work on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, overseeing his priorities on energy, forestry and public lands, water, transportation, and Native American policy. Prior to his time with Senator Kyl, Moran practiced law in Arizona specializing in representing major mining companies on natural resource and public land related matters.
  • Moran is a graduate of Notre Dame Law School and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He is also a former Army staff sergeant. He lives in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife Marie and their three children.
  • Dr. Luisa Moreno
  • Research Analyst
  • Euro Pacific Canada
  • Dr. Luisa Moreno is a Research Analyst at Euro Pacific Canada. Dr. Moreno has deep experience in technical and economic evaluation of strategic metals projects, and has visited numerous mining projects worldwide.She is a frequent speaker at international conferences on commodities, rare earth elements and strategic metals, and is a sought after consultant to numerous mining companies, industrial metals processing companies and industrial end-users. She has published a variety of reports on rare earth elements and critical metals, and has been quoted in newspapers, business magazines and industry publications. She holds a Bachelor and Master degree in physics engineering, as well as a Ph.D. in Materials and Mechanics from Imperial College, London.
  • Jeffrey Green
  • President
  • J.A. Green and Co.
  • Jeff Green is President and founder, J.A. Green & Company, a Washington, DC based government relations firm. Jeff most recently served as Staff Director to the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness. Currently, he represents a wide variety of clients in the strategic and critical materials sector including beryllium, germanium, tungsten, rare earths, specialty steel and titanium.
  • He has written numerous articles related to the defense industry, government procurement and strategic materials. He has appeared on Fox News and the BBC and been quoted in an array of news publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, Business Week, and USA Today.
  • He serves as Executive Director of the Strategic Materials Advisory Council and is an Advisory Board member of both the U.S. Magnetic Materials Association and Rare Earth Element (REE) World. He also serves on the American Resources Policy Network’s panel of issue experts.
  • A graduate of George Washington University, the University of Miami and Cornell University, Jeff holds both a Masters of Law in Government Procurement and a Juris Doctor and is admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia, Florida and New Jersey. He is currently Co-Chair of the ABA Public Contract Law Section’s Legislative Coordinating Committee.
  • Jeff served in the Air Force as a Missile Combat Crew Commander and continues to serve as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve.
  • He can be reached at jeff@jagreenandco.com.
  • Michael Silver
  • President and CEO
  • American Elements
  • Michael N. Silver is CEO of American Elements (www.americanelements.com), a global manufacturer and distributor of engineered and advanced materials. He is an expert on the current and future demand for rare earths and many other critical metals such as lithium, indium, and tellurium. Mr. Silver’s expertise also includes firsthand knowledge of the corporate supply chain from mine to finished goods, the industrial and scientific applications that make these elements important and their commodity value to the investment community. He is considered a pioneer in the fields of nanotechnology, materials science and alternative energy. Mr. Silver was one of the first Americans to establish a direct production and distribution supply chain from the rare earth mines in Inner Mongolia, China to North America and Europe. The company has operations in Los Angeles, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; Monterrey, Mexico; Baotou, China; Manchester, UK and a global distribution network. Over the last twelve months alone, American Elements has co-sponsored over 375 industry and academic conferences.
  • H. Sterling Burnett
  • Senior Fellow
  • NCPA
  • H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. is one of the country's leading authorities on energy and environmental issues.
  • He is the lead analyst of the National Center for Policy Analysis' E-Team -- one of the largest collections of energy and environmental policy experts and scientists who believe that sound science, economic prosperity and protecting the environment can go hand in hand.
  • Burnett routinely discusses energy and environmental policy on national television and radio networks, including CNN Headline News, Fox News, and CNBC. His commentaries and articles have appeared in publications such as USA Today, The Washington Times, Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Rocky Mountain News, and the Miami Herald.
  • A recognized scholar, Burnett has written on numerous topics that affect every American, including government environmental policy, offshore drilling, global warming, endangered species, and public lands.
  • He has held various positions in professional and public policy organizations, including serving as a member of the Environment and Natural Resources Task Force in the Texas Comptroller's e-Texas commission, board of directors of the Dallas Woods and Water Conservation Club, and advisor for the American Legislative Exchange Council's Natural Resources Task Force.
  • Burnett received his Ph.D. in 2001 from Bowling Green State University. He also received degrees from Southern Methodist University.
  • Dr. Jon Hykawy
  • Ph.D, MBA, Clean Technologies and Materials Analyst
  • Byron Capital Markets
  • Dr. Jon Hykawy is part of the Research team at Byron Capital Markets, and has a specialized focus in the area of clean technologies and the associated electric metals such as lithium, the rare earths and tin. He holds both a PhD in physics (1991, Manitoba) and an MBA (1997, Queen's), and has been working in capital markets as a clean technologies/alternative energy analyst for the last seven years. He began his career in the investment industry in 2000, originally working as a technology analyst.
  • His current areas of focus are the technologies and materials involved in new energy generation and the electrification of transportation fleets, ranging from the production and economics of lithium and rare earths, to the development of new manufacturing techniques for solar photovoltaic cells. Dr. Hykawy has extensive experience in the solar, wind, and battery industries, conducting significant research in the areas of rechargeable batteries, ranging from rechargeable alkaline to lithium to flow batteries, and has been a keynote speaker at conferences dealing with rare metals and the businesses surrounding them from Baotou to Washington.
  • David Murphy
  • Managing Director
  • Less Common Metals
  • Dr. Anthony Ku
  • Senior Engineer
  • GE Global Research
  • Dr. Anthony Ku is a Senior Engineer in the Manufacturing and Materials Technologies organization at GE Global Research. He received his Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and his M.S. degree in chemical engineering practice from MIT. Since joining GE, he has worked on a range of advanced materials development projects in support of GE’s Water, Energy, Aviation, and Healthcare businesses. He is currently engaged in several projects centered on the themes of energy, water, and material sustainability, and is leading a corporate-level assessment to identify and address GE’s supply chain exposure to critical materials.
  • George Martin
  • Vice President of Technology Development
  • Veolia ES Technical Solutions
  • William Dawes
  • MSc, CFA, MIMMM
  • Chief Executive Officer& Executive Director
  • William Dawes is a graduate of Bristol University (BSc Geology) and Imperial College, London (MSc Mineral Exploration with distinction). Having trained as a geologist in South Africa, he worked as a mining analyst based in London and then for Rio Tinto's exploration division. Subsequently, he gained significant global mining transaction experience in the metals and mining team of Robert Fleming & Co, Chase Manhattan Bank and JPMorgan. Mr Dawes was a founding director of Mkango’s major shareholder, Leo Mining and Exploration (Leominex) and since 2004 has been involved in the exploration and evaluation of a variety of projects throughout Central Asia, Middle East and Africa. He has 12 years’ experience in exploration and business development and 9 years in mining finance, mergers and acquisitions. He is a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
  • Juergen Schillinger
  • Tantalus Rare Earths AG
  • Juergen worked at Union Investment GmbH until 2011 as Head of the Style Team and Senior Portfolio Manager and is considered to be one of the leading asset managers in Europe. Over the past 10 years he has been instrumental in the success of numerous equity portfolio management projects. Over the course of his career he has been recognised by various organisations, including Standard and Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) and Feri AG, for his successful fund management and sustainable investment approach. He has directly or indirectly managed an investment volume of more than EUR 7 billion.
  • Pierre P. Neatby
  • Vice-President, Sales and Marketing
  • Avalon Rare Metals Inc.
  • Mr. Neatby spent 19 years with the Noranda/Falconbridge group in various sales and marketing roles, including Managing Director of Noranda's London, UK based sales company. Mr. Neatby brings leadership and international marketing, sales and trading experience in LME traded metals, industrial chemicals and industrial minerals to Avalon. Mr. Neatby earned a BA in Economics from Queen's University and trained as a Black Belt in Six Sigma with Noranda. Mr. Neatby is also a member of the Management Committee of the Rare Earth Technology Alliance (RETA), the international rare earth industry association.