2018 Advisory Board

After graduating in Chemistry & Economics from Birmingham University, Reg Adams began his career at Amalgamated Metal and was later seconded to English China Clays (now Imerys), where he wrote his MBA thesis on company growth. At British Sulphur (now CRU) during the 1970s, he edited a range of publications on industrial chemicals and fertiliser raw materials. His first book Titanium & Titanium Dioxide (ISBN 0903199793) was published by Financial Times Business Books in May 1984. His seventh and most recent book Titanium Minerals: Global Industry, Market & Outlook (ISBN 9781910922088) was published by Roskill in August 2016. Reg Adams has also been retained as an expert witness in matters of commercial litigation or investment scrutiny and he has been commissioned as a speaker at more than 60 international conferences, including each of the TiO2 conferences hosted by Smithers (and predecessor companies) since 1992. He has also chaired a number of conference sessions. His company - Artikol (founded in 1977) - specialises in market intelligence and publishing on mining and chemicals. Drawing on Artikol’s extensive information database, Reg Adams compiles and edits the monthly bulletin Focus on Pigments and the quarterly TiO2 Worldwide Update. For further details, see http://www.artikol.com.

• United Kingdom

Bruce Griffin joined Lomon Billions in 2017 as Senior Vice President Strategic Development. His role is to lead the company’s domestic and international expansion in feedstock, pigment and titanium metal. Bruce is an experienced executive with international experience in mining, oil and gas, chemicals and agribusiness.

Prior to Lomon Billions, Bruce was CEO of TZMI (2014 to 2016) and World Titanium Resources (2011 to 2013) and held a number of positions over seven years at BHP Billiton including four years as Vice President Titanium where he was responsible for BHP Billiton’s titanium business, including the Richards Bay Minerals joint venture with Rio Tinto and the Corridor Sands and Tigen projects in Mozambique.

His career started at Shell working as an engineer and economist in New Zealand, Venezuela and the Netherlands. Bruce has also worked as a consultant for Bain and Company and as a senior executive at GrainCorp in Australia. Bruce holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical and Process Engineering, a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and an MBA.

Max Lewis began his career in Ponca City, Oklahoma, as a Research Engineer with Conoco Inc. in their Chemicals Division.  However, Conoco Inc. was subsequently acquired by DuPont, and in 1987, Max transferred to DuPont’s Johnsonville, Tennessee TiO2 plant where he was responsible for pigment finishing technology and product quality.  He later transferred to Wilmington, Delaware where he was responsible for DuPont’s TiO2 product development and sales technical service functions for the coatings segment.  Max subsequently assumed a marketing role at DuPont, where he led the global TiO2 market assessment and planning process which analyzed DuPont’s competitive position in the market place and proposed guidelines for achieving greater growth of TiO2 pigment into international markets. 

Max left his marketing management position at DuPont and joined Sherwin-Williams as Director of Applied Research but was soon thereafter appointed Vice President – R&D supporting the long-term research, new product development, and product commercialization efforts for the domestic US divisions serving the architectural market segments which distributed product through paint stores, retailers, dealers, home centers, and big box outlets.  In January 2008, Max was appointed Vice President – Global Innovation for The Sherwin-Williams Company responsible for corporate TiO2 development ventures and for leveraging the company’s research & development, manufacturing technology, and technical service capabilities into international markets.   

Max retired from The Sherwin-Williams Company in 2014 and assumed an entrepreneurial role for the University of Akron Research Foundation commercializing innovative technologies.  In addition, Max started accepting TiO2 consulting assignments for selected TiO2 manufacturers and end-users relating to new product development, process improvement, and product quality.  

Max served as President of the Board of Directors of the Paint Research Association (PRA) located in London, UK until its merger with Pera International in 2009.  He subsequently served on Pera International’s board until the end of 2017.  While working for Sherwin-Williams, Max was as a member of the Ohio Polymer Strategy Council and on the Board of Advisors for the Ohio BioProducts Innovation Council (OBIC).  Max still serves on the Advancement Council for the College of Business at the University of Akron.   

Max earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah where he graduated Valedictorian of the College of Engineering and Technology.   Max later earned an MBA degree from Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. 

Frank J. Mitsch joined Wells Fargo in May 2011 as a managing director and senior analyst. Based in New York, Mitsch’s coverage includes the commodity, specialty, and agricultural chemicals sectors. He joined Wells Fargo Securities from BB&T Capital Markets and has covered the chemicals space for more than 15 years. Mitsch began his career as a chemicals consultant with Kline & Company, an international management consulting firm, where he advised both US and European clients.

Mr. Mitsch received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the record–setting lacrosse team.  He holds an MBA with a concentration in finance from M.S.U. 

• USA

Jean-François Turgeon serves as Executive Vice President since joining Tronox on January 1, 2014. He oversees the combined business operations of the company’s Mineral Sands and Pigment & Electrolytic Divisions.

Turgeon brings decades of experience in leadership positions in the global titanium dioxide business.  He joined Tronox from the Rio Tinto Group, where he served for more than 24 years, most recently in London as managing director of its $3 billion iron and titanium division.  In that role, he had oversight over international TiO2 operations in Canada, South Africa, and Madagascar, and regional sales offices in the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and Asia and the Pacific.  Previously, he held several executive, mining operations, and chemical research engineering positions in Rio Tinto’s titanium dioxide business unit.

Turgeon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Universite Laval in Quebec City and a master’s degree in hydrometallurgy from McGill University in Montreal.

 

• USA

During the past five years, Karin has been based in London, UK, working in the sales team as the market analyst for TiO2 feedstock producer TiZir.  TiZir produce TiO2 ores at the GCO mine in Senegal and TiO2 slag at TTI’s smelter in Tyssedal, Norway.

Karin brings a wide range of experiences from the mining, metallurgical and chemical industry.  She started her career at Sandvik Steel in Sweden before moving to the United States to pursue her doctoral degree. She then worked in research for Rio Tinto Alcan in Canada before moving to France where she joined Air Liquide.  In 1999, Karin joined the French mining and metallurgical company Eramet in Paris, France, where she held various positions in technical development before joining TiZir.

This background has given Karin a substantial know-how in the management of process and product development. Karin believes the raw materials industry enters an exciting era with increasing pressure for the industry to achieve sustainable growth in global markets, and she is happy to be able to contribute to the TiO2 Summit.

Karin received her MS degree in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm in 1988, Sweden, and her PhD from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, USA in 1992.

Ken joined the Sherwin-Williams Co in 1988 and is currently a staff scientist at the companies Breen Technology Center in Cleveland, Ohio.  His research at Sherwin-Williams is focused mainly on white hide, materials that contribute to opacity and the measurement of light scattering efficiency in coatings.  Prior to joining SW, Ken also worked 7 years as a materials scientist with the Diamond Shamrock Corp.

While at Sherwin-Williams Ken has worked on the development of a number of materials used in coatings including foam control agents, anti-corrosive pigments, flame retardants and pigments.  He has received a number of corporate technical achievement and cost savings awards, including twice being recognized with the Percy Neyman award, the company’s highest technical achievement award.

Ken has been granted seven US patents, the most recent dealing with the use of opacifying pigment clusters in low sheen paint compositions.  He is also the author of a number of publications and presentations.  In 2007 he was presented the Kitts-Kingley Award for best presentation at the International Wire and Cable Symposium.  In 2010 he was recognized with the Jack Spergel Memorial Award for Outstanding technical paper at the same conference. 

Ken is a graduate of Boston University with a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.  He also holds a Master’s Degree in inorganic chemistry.