Who would ever have known that.............

 

By combining the patented engineering and sciences of A-3 Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) biological seperations technology along with Metals US Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) sciences the outcome is unprecedented in purifying both liquid  and solid industrial waste streams into clean reusable water along with specific element recovery.  All accomplished in real time with Clean Stream Technology     with high volume production capability and capacity.

 

Key results:

 

 

1. A cost effective means of cleaning bacteria, viruses, radioactive TENORMS (radium, uranium, thorium ect) and saline from both liquid and solid waste streams.

2. Conversely, the process of mining exclusive separations of exotic elements such as uranium, gold, silver, platinum and other high valued rare earth metals from the same waste stream.

3. 100% clean reuse water.

 

Clean Stream Technology    is a proven approach to element separation, oilfield production reuse, mining technology, and water processing that emphasizes a simple outcome: any materials we extract from the Earth should go to products we use, not to waste we wish we didn’t have.

 

Developed by Dr. Richard Hammen, former director of the chemical lab at the NASA jet propulsion laboratory - Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) columns use nano-composite material to enable a higher yield, lower cost, and more sustainable solution to traditional methods of element separation, production, and recovery.

Every element on the periodic table has intrinsic value and a market. Most mining and industrial processes release many elements, not just one or a few of the most valuable elements. We work with our partners toward recovering the full value of minerals extracted from an solid or liquid industrial solution source processed with SPE technology, so all the elements generate value in the economy rather than damage to the environment.

 

SPE material technology is protected by four US Patents, and is key to our market advantage.

 

Coupling this technology with a one of the highst estemmed disaster and remediation companies in the world, Phillips & Jordan Inc, (lead contractor for Katrina Disaster Relief & Ground Zero Forensic Clean-up) the performance factor becomes unlimited.

 

 

Meet the team..........

 

 

 

 

Robert Bergin | Water & Wastewater Engineering

 

Burgin Engineering, Inc. was established in 1992 to provide consulting engineering services in the area of water and wastewater engineering. Since its founding, the company has successfully completed approximately 800 projects. These projects were performed primarily on the East Coast of the United States and included work performed for a variety of municipal, utility, industrial and private clients.

 

Accomplishments

Mr. Burgin’s career of 36 years draws distinction in the total number and variety of different projects that he and his team have accomplished. With over 500 water and wastewater projects in all areas of collection, distribution, source development, treatment and disposal, and over 300 general civil projects, experience becomes a defining quality of the engineer. Mr. Burgin, as a consulting professional civil engineer, has been one of the industry’s leaders in innovative designs and design techniques, including early use of CADD and the use of 3D modeling in the areas of water and wastewater design.

 

 As a practicing engineer, Mr. Burgin has led in using new treatment techniques and equipment including the use of flat sheet membranes, high-rate infiltration and groundwater lowering techniques, SCADA controlled booster pumping systems, and wastewater screening devices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jens Sonntag | Water & Wastewater Engineering

Jens has held several positions in the municipal wastewater field including process engineer, design engineer, project engineer and project manager.  His experience includes equipment development and troubleshooting, process design engineering, equipment troubleshooting, project engineering, project management, start-up engineering, and customer service at Roediger Pittsburgh, Inc.  Prior to starting A3-USA in 2007, he had been working for a municipal consulting engineering firm as a project manager.  Jens holds a B.S. and M.S. in environmental engineering from RWTH Aachen University (Aachen, Germany), and an M.B.A. from Robert Morris University (Pittsburgh, PA).

Prior to immigrating to the United States, Jens collected valuable insight and information relative to membrane technology working as a graduate assistant in Aachen’s chemical engineering department.  His master’s thesis evaluated the potential of cost effective membrane bioreactors for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon (CAH) removal.  Along with A3-GmbH, Jens maintains personal relationships with the membrane research staff at Aachen.  It is expected that improvements made at Aachen will contribute to improvements in membrane performance in the future, including reduced operating costs through longer membrane life and lower daily electrical consumption.

 

Jens provides engineering and development support for water treatment solutions involving patented MBR technologies.

 

 

 

 

Richard Hammen, PhD |  Chief Science Officer

Board Chairman​

Richard Hammen is originally from Missoula, Montana and is a former director of the chemical laboratory at the NASA jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, California. He graduated from Stanford University and attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where he studied under one of the leaders in modern organic synthesis. He did postdoctoral research at UCLA in Chemistry. He competed on the United States National Cycling Team in the 1974 World Championships and the 1975 Pan American Games. Although pre-selected for the 1976 Olympic Team, he returned to scientific research at the Molecular Biology Institute of UCLA. He then took a position at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute) where he assumed management of the laboratories of two of the scientific founders of Genentech, Inc. He then moved to be the Director of Chemistry at Vestar Research Inc., a bio-tech company in Pasadena. A pioneer in Solid Phase Extraction technology, Dr. Hammen has developed innovative new technologies in recombinant protein purification, and has served as Principal Investigator for more than $2 million in federal grants.

 

John Hammen | Chief Executive Officer

John Hammen was born in Santa Clara, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. He moved with his family to Montana in 1986, and worked on early generations of Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) technology. He attended college at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts where he majored in Chemistry, participated in NCAA Cross Country and Track, and earned his B.A. with Honors in 2001. From 2001-2002 worked full time on the early grants that led to the development of the Solid Phase Extraction matrix that is the foundation of Metals U.S. current SPE technology. During his graduate work at Stanford University from 2002-2009, John studied the use of various metals, including rare earth elements, in developing asymmetric catalysts for organic synthesis. John has managed over 30 hydrometallurgical development projects spanning rare earths, precious metals, and base metals. He has been a major contributor in the development of the core Solid Phase Extraction material technology, as well as designed hundreds of particular chelating materials used in Metals U.S. separation processes. In addition to his work at Metals U.S., he continues to collaborate with the Trost Group as a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, employing metal catalysts immobilized in SPE material for organic reactions.

 

John Williams, PhD | Systems Development

John Williams holds a PhD in Earth and Space Sciences from the University of Washington. Subsequent to receipt of his PhD, he completed post-doctoral appointments at the University of Washington, the University of Iowa, and at the Northwest Space Research Center. He has had faculty appointments at the University of Montana, the University of Iowa, and the University of Alaska, where he has lectured on mathematics, physics, and space sciences. During his time as a Research Scientist at Bechtel Corporation, Dr. Williams has lectured to over 10,000 students on the effects and safe handling of radioactive material.

 

Dr. Williams has been a noted researcher in the development of space science technologies. He has been involved in developing the instrumentation that was aboard two prominent NASA missions, namely the Deep Space Flyby of Comet 19P/Borrely, and the Cassini Mission to Saturn. He has a wide breadth of experience in computer programming, automation, and design of high tech instrumentation. John joined the Metals U.S. technical team in 2014. He will work with Metals U.S. in developing automated Solid Phase Extraction processing systems.

 

Jerry Furniss, JD, MBA | Business Development

Advisory Board Chair

 

Jerry Furniss is the chair of the Advisory Board for Metals U.S. and is assisting with business development and corporate strategy. Jerry holds a BBA in Accounting, an MBA in Management, and a Juris Doctor in Law. He is an author of a number of manuscripts and training materials for business, insurance, and securities education, with over 25 publications in the areas of business, law, insurance and real estate. Jerry’s 30 years of professional and business experience spans a wide range of areas including CEO of Furniss and Associates, holding the offices of treasurer, vice-president, president, and program chair of the Pacific Business Law Association, and President and Chief Negotiator for the University of Montana’s Faculty Union. 

 

Jerry has founded or co-founded 12 companies in areas of technology, geological information mapping, real estate marketing, business consultancy, hotels/real property development, publishing, and retail. In addition to being Professor of Business Law at the University of Montana, Jerry is presently a Business Development Advisor for IntelliMet (separation chemistry technology company), and an expert on corporate training and online education portals. He is also an expert consultant and witness in lawsuits related to environmental liability, corporate and business structure, bankruptcy, corporate board liability and governance, employment law and wrongful termination, and fiduciary duties. In addition, Jerry co-founded the largest training company in Montana to offer exam and license preparation and continuing education services for professionals in insurance.

 

Chris Hammen | Operations and Engineering

Chris Hammen holds a B.Sc. in Materials Science Engineering from Stanford University. He began working with Solid Phase Extraction technology in 1998 with a science fair project that examined the rapid capture and measurement of copper in rivers and stream-beds around Montana. One of his projects led to his selection by the U.S. National Science Foundation as a science exchange delegate to South Korea. Chris joined IntelliMet full-time in 2011, having worked intermittently with SPE technology in applications ranging from metal purification to structural composite materials and membranes for fuel cells. Chris will bring his energy and experience with IntelliMet to the Metals U.S. team to assist with operationalizing and commercializing the SPE technology. 

 

 

Neal Marxer |  Chemical Engineer

Neal has served in a wide range of operational and management roles in the pulp and paper production sector of the chemical process industry. He started his career as project Chemical Engineer at Hoerner Waldorf pulp mill in Missoula, Montana, and moved to the role of Pulp Mill foreman. He also worked in the Power and Recovery area as an Assistant Superintendent. In Michigan, Neal worked as Pulp Mill Superintendent for Champion International and also served as Production Manager in Ontonagon Michigan. Mr. Marxer then became Production Manager with overall responsibility for the mill’s production with employment of 670 employees during Stone Container’s acquisition of the pulp and paper mill in Frenchtown Montana. Mr. Marxer also managed departments including Environmental Engineering, Process Engineering, Capital Engineering, and Quality Control for all products at the facility.

 

Subsequent to his employment at the mill, Neal founded Monture Engineering, LLC in order to provide engineering consulting services. Neal was involved in decommissioning the Smurfit-Stone mill in Missoula and is in charge of environmental compliance and reporting for the site. Neal’s broad experience in chemical engineering and his relationship with the community and personnel who worked at the plant will facilitate the establishment Metals US’s planned metal separation and purification facilities in the Missoula area. Neal will also assist with various permitting activities given his experience and his long-standing relationships with various government agencies. Neal received his degree in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University. 

 

Emese Vitalis, MA, PhD, MBA | Corporate Sales

and Business Strategy

Emese Vitalis was born and raised in Hungary. After finishing her MA in Psychology she was chosen to complete her doctorate degree in Psychology at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She has spent more than ten years teaching psychology for colleges and universities in Hungary, Germany, and the U.S. to students from more than fifty countries. 

 

Emese moved to the U.S. ten years ago. After coming to Missoula, she had the opportunity to work with several start-up companies, among them Rivertop Renewables, a pioneer in the development of the technology and production of bio-degradable carbochemicals. Emese recently received her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Montana with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. She and her business partner won the 2011 Ruffatto Business Plan Competition at the University of Montana and she is on the board of The International Think Tank and the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre. Dr. Vitalis is an expert in sales and business strategy for startups. Emese is passionate about the environment. She served on the board of the Missoula Sustainable Business Council for two years and she is a supporter of the organization.

 

Andre Gillan, M.A. | Research Scientist

Andre Gillan holds a Bachelor of Sciences from the University of Washington in Science and Engineering with a Minor in Chemistry, as well as a Masters degree in Chemistry with a specialty in Polymers and Coating. He has done additional graduate work at Montana Tech in Butte in metallurgical engineering. His work included metallurgical development work on Rare Earth materials, and the use of silica-based resins for Rare Earth element purification. Additionally, Andre has also done work in polymer science for the Kimberly-Clarke Corporation and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Andre will be working with the Metals U.S. technical team in development of Solid Phase Extraction materials and processes for mining applications. His wealth of experience in metallurgy and polymer science is ideally suited for the scientific development goals of Metals U.S.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKIP HIGGINS, B.B.S. I Chemical Engineering

Skip was born and raised in Montana and attended Montana State University where he graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering.  He has over twenty years of experience in chemical and environmental engineering, operations, and business administration.  His career began as a process engineer for Rockwell/Westinghouse in Hanford, Washington.  Over the next five years, his duties included that of process control engineer and operations supervisor in the solvent extraction section of the plant.  He and his wife moved back to Missoula in 1992 where he spent the next sixteen years as a professional engineering consultant.  He started private practice in 1996 where he focused on providing technically sound, practical and cost-effective solutions to public and private sector clients.  He has extensive experience in project management, hazardous substance release investigations; remedial design and implementation of remedial action plans; soil, groundwater, surface water and air sampling/monitoring; regulatory permitting and compliance (NPDES; SPCC, CWA, Underground Injection Control and SARA III); solid and hazardous waste disposal; environmental due diligence studies (Phase I and II ESAs); UST closures and LUST investigations/cleanups; geophysical investigations (heliflux magnetometer, dual-cesium magnetometer, and electromagnetic conductivity capacitively-coupled resistivity); and industrial hygiene and safety.  More recently, Skip was revenue cycle director at a nationwide health care company and operations manager for a transportation logistics company.

 

Rick  Handley, B.B.A I Finance & Marketing

Multi-disciplined community developer and constructor having performed full PUD community development, executive management of a publicly traded REIT, home builder and heavy industrial automotive plant construction for the past 31 years. Rick has owned architectral, engineering, construction and financial firms along with strong acumens in land development and business turnaround.

 

Current and recent projects are located in Williston ND with (3) land developments , (1) MBR waste water treatment & industrial oil field separation facility and (2) business turnarounds.

 

Rick is a managing member of  Absolute Engineering & Sciences LLC, Absolute Profit Company LLC, Absolute Silica LLC, Absolute Turnaround LLC and Absolute Water LLC..