About Us
Committed to making the net-zero world a reality.
When it comes to achieving net zero, we are on a mission of fierce urgency. This rules out incremental innovation. Instead, it calls for transformative technology, inherently scalable, with breakthrough economics on every level. Creating that kind of solution requires a company, like ours, committed to making “the impossible possible”
Aether team on the Chicago area GTI Energy campus, where Aether has established its R&D Center.
Our Leadership Team
A passionate team of world-class entrepreneurs, technologists, and project developers.
The Aether Fuels spirit of thinking big, and then executing, is evident in the sum of our shared career experiences. We are successful start-up and big company veterans, and experts with unmatched domain expertise ranging from syngas generation and conversion to energy project development and carbon supply chains. Collectively we have direct experience building energy and fuel projects worth more than 60B dollars.
Conor Madigan
Founder and CEO
Conor previously founded and ran Kateeva, one of the leading suppliers of OLED manufacturing equipment. Kateeva equipment helps make the screens on most Samsung smartphones and iPhones. In April 2022, Conor launched Aether Fuels with Xora Innovation.
Sanjiv Dabee
Engineering (Core Technology & Non-Asia Projects)
Sanjiv is a recognized leader in syngas generation and conversion technology and engineering. He was Director and Fellow at Fluor, where he helped develop gasification, liquids synthesis, and biomass conversion projects for over 20 years. Sanjiv began his career as a process engineer at Sasol.
Steve Liang
Engineering (Asia Projects)
Steve has world-leading experience developing and operating profitable gasification-to-liquids plants. He previously led the world’s largest gasification-to-liquids business as GM at China National Energy Investment Group. There, he was responsible for $40B in successful facility investments, including 56 gasifiers, multiple pilots, and FOAKs.
Claudio Bertelli
Business Development
Claudio is a pioneer in the sustainable fuels industry. He led breakthrough technologies to commercialization and was responsible for global sales and business management at Honeywell UOP. He helped grow LanzaTech as its VP of Business Development and most recently served as VP of International Business Development at Alder Renewables.
Elie Fayad
R&D
Elie is an expert at building and leading world class R&D teams and commercializing new chemical engineering technologies. Before Aether he was at Honeywell UOP for more than a decade, where he most recently led R&D for their Naphtha and Aromatics product portfolio.
Ric Redman
Corp. Strategy & Govt. Affairs
Ric has over 40 years of experience in the energy, electric power, and environmental sectors. He has led the development of over 8GW of renewable power projects throughout North America. Ric is also an expert in renewable energy policy, a pioneer in carbon capture and sequestration development, and holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Brian Norris
Carbon Sourcing
Brian is a procurement and operations expert with deep roots and expertise in the forestry industry. As a Regional Director at Enviva, he oversaw procurement and supply chain operations for six manufacturing plants. Before Enviva, he was a GM for four Georgia Pacific plants. He began his career as a USDA Forestry Engineer.
Cynthia Wang
Strategic Finance
Cynthia is an accomplished leader and a pioneer in climate-aligned finance with a focus on large scale energy-transition technologies. Over the last 25 years, Cynthia has held various leadership positions at investment banks and investment managers in the US and Asia, including Bridgewater Associates, Rothschild & Co, and JP Morgan Chase. She is also a board member of climate think tank Global CCS Institute.
Chris Brookhouse
Asia Project Development
Chris is a seasoned executive and an expert in capital project development. He has led complex energy projects in Europe, Asia, and the US for Texaco, British Gas, Harvest Energy, Summit Power, and other global companies for more than three decades. He brings commercial, technical, and financial expertise in corporate and project finance environments to Aether. His career highlights include advancing various gasification, power, and biofuel projects.
Monica Kaldani-Nasif
People
Monica has led HR and employee experience operations for multi-billion-dollar corporations and high-growth start-ups. In her 20-year career, she has helped drive organizational success by shaping the people and culture strategies to support the business goals. Previous executive roles include Chief People Officer at Kateeva when the company doubled its headcount and expanded its footprint in Asia, as well as HR leadership positions at Lam Research, Hitachi Data Systems, and Fralock.
Investors & Partners
Partnership with GTI Energy
Aether Fuels and GTI Energy (GTI) are partnering to scale and commercialize the Aether Aurora solution. Aether Aurora leverages technology licensed from GTI, and Aether has established an R&D Center on the GTI campus in Des Plaines, IL with GTI’s strong support.
