A.J. Simon
Head of Industrial Decarbonization
Carbon Utilization + Hydrogen
Meet our world-class science team
Our scientists will guide your organization to achieve its climate goals with the right carbon management program.
A.J. Simon leads Carbon Direct’s hybrid and engineered carbon technologies group.
A.J. translates scientific and engineering expertise into actionable strategies for client organizations seeking permanent carbon removal.
Background & Bio
A.J. Simon is a mechanical engineer and energy systems expert, whose passion for efficiency and insatiable curiosity has led to a 20+ year career spanning industry, academia and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Prior to joining Carbon Direct, he managed the Energy Group at Lawrence Livermore National Lab where he led assessments of technologies as diverse as carbon capture and removal, the energy-water nexus, nuclear energy, hydrogen fuel, building energy efficiency, and soldier-portable power.
From 2003 to 2008, he helped to manage a large portfolio of university-led clean energy research at Stanford's Global Climate and Energy Project. From 2001 to 2003, he developed combustion and emissions control technologies for General Electric's diesel and gas turbine product lines.
Education
MS, Mechanical Engineering
Stanford University
BS, Mechanical Engineering
Stanford University
Awards
Oppenheimer Science and Energy Fellow (2018)
Department of Energy
Secretary’s Honor Award (2016)
Department of Energy
Scientific Editor for Science & Technology Review (2013)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Centennial Teaching Assistant (2000)
Stanford University
Dr. Antaeres Antoniuk-Pablant is a Science Advisor for carbon capture and utilization.
Background & Bio
Dr. Antoniuk-Pablant is a research scientist focusing on carbon capture and utilization, as well as solar energy harvesting. Her expertise spans organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, photochemistry, electrochemistry, and bio-electrochemistry.
Dr. Antoniuk-Pablant received her BS from UC Santa Cruz in Chemistry with a focus on environmental chemistry, and subsequently worked in three analytical chemistry labs at the university. She received her PhD in Organic Chemistry from Arizona State University in 2015, where she designed, synthesized, characterized, and studied organic dyes for research on dye sensitized solar cells. She did her postdoctoral studies at Stanford University where she investigated new methods for converting CO2 to useful chemicals or fuels though developing new platforms for combing electrochemical CO2 reduction and microbial metabolism.
Education
PhD, Organic Chemistry
Arizona State University
BS, Chemistry
University of California, Santa Cruz
Dr. Greg Dipple is a Science Advisor for carbon mineralization.
Background & Bio
Dr. Greg Dipple is a Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of British Columbia. He studies the processes of and driving forces for mineral-fluid reactions, including those that modulate long-term climate through chemical weathering.
Dr. Dipple has published extensively on fluid-rock interactions from the deep Earth to its surface. Through field, experimental, and modeling studies, he and his students and postdocs have demonstrated that weathering of alkaline mine wastes are vastly accelerated over background weathering rates and impact the short term carbon cycle. His current work focuses on industrial control of these processes for carbon capture, utilization and storage.
Dr. Dipple has worked at The University of British Columbia since 1992. He has served as a Department Head and Associate Dean, and in administrative roles for the Mineral Deposit Research Unit and the Bradshaw Research Institute for Minerals and Mining.
Education
PhD
Johns Hopkins University
BSc, Geology/ Earth Science
Indiana University, Bloomington
Dr. Peter Psarras is a Science Advisor for carbon utilization.
Background & Bio
Dr. Psarras received his PhD in Chemistry from Cleveland State University in 2014 where he worked on computational modeling of catalysts used in Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuel processing. His work since has focused mainly on climate change mitigation, mainly carbon capture, utilization, and – more recently – atmospheric carbon removal.
Dr. Psarras joined Cuyahoga Community College in 2018 at the level of Assistant Professor in Chemistry where he continues research on life cycle assessments and techno-economic analyses of hydrogen production and carbon management systems. In January 2021, Dr. Psarras joined the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at The University of Pennsylvania at the level of Assistant Research Professor.
Education
PhD, Chemistry
Cleveland State University
BA, Chemistry
Miami University