Dr. Nikias is currently President Emeritus and Life Trustee of the University of Southern California (USC), a Professor of Electrical Engineering with a secondary appointment in Classics, the holder of the Malcolm R. Currie Chair in Technology and the Humanities, and the Director of the USC Institute for Technology Enabled Higher Education. He has been at USC since 1991, and in addition to his work as a professor, has served as founding director of the NSF Integrated Media Systems Center, dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering, provost and executive vice president, and president of the university.

Dr. Nikias is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an associate member of the Academy of Athens, a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a life fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He has received the IEEE Simon Ramo Medal for exceptional achievement in systems engineering and the Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He has worked as a consultant for numerous corporations and the U.S. Department of Defense where he has been holder of a U.S. Government security clearance for the past three decades.

Dr. Nikias has been a director of Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) since 2011, a Silicon Valley S&P 500 company where he chairs the compensation committee and a director of Visions-Inc.org a renowned non-profit training and consulting organization, specializing in diversity, equity and inclusion.

John and Julie Mork founded Energy Corporation of America (ECA) which grew to be a large privately owned independent energy company with 5,000 wells and over 1 million acres of properties in the United States.  John recently stepped away from leadership at ECA to start EnerG-ID Solutions Corporation which uses rapid DNA analysis to solve problems in the hydrocarbon industry.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in petroleum engineering from USC, John served in various capacities as an engineer at Union Oil Company before founding ECA. John is a member of the Chief Executives Organization, the World Presidents’ Organization, and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Board of Councilors.  He was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from USC in 2012.  John has served on the USC Board of Trustees since 2006 and is past chairman of the board.

Currently Founder and Managing Director of Engineer Procure Construct LLC which focuses on dry bulk and liquids projects in process industries, power, and mining. He founded Solid Systems Engineering Co. in 1979 to provide and service processing systems in the mining, power and primary metals industries growing the company to five divisions by 2008. In 1994 he started Air Control Science Inc. to focus exclusively on effective design and construction of pollution control systems for the coal-fired power, coal mining and primary metals industries worldwide.  ACS was one of a total of eight single source providers out of tens of thousands of suppliers worldwide for Alcoa (Aluminum Company of America), with 365 locations on all continents.

He has authored and co-authored numerous patents related to leading technology in coal-fired power, primary metals, and pollution control.  He is a University of Colorado Leeds School of Business Board Chairman Emeritus, a past International Board member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, and has been inducted into Boulder County (Colorado, USA) Business Hall of Fame. John Fischer graduated from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management with an MBA, served on its board, and received the single annual Kellogg School Schaffner Award as a distinguished alumnus.  Fischer serves the Secretary of Energy on the National Coal Council.

George Heinrichs serves as CEO of ANDE Corporation, the world’s leading provider of Rapid DNA solutions. Prior to ANDE, Heinrichs was co-founder and CEO of Intrado, a mission critical communication services company that rebuilt and operated much of the North American 9-1-1 infrastructure. During his tenure at Intrado, the company delivered more than 3 billion emergency calls.  Heinrichs led the successful IPO for Intrado on the NASDAQ. Heinrichs was actively involved in national policy development for emergency communication with the US Administration as well as the US House and US Senate. He was directly involved in the passage of the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 as well as the Rapid DNA Act of 2017.  Heinrichs’ formal education and career start was as a software engineer. Heinrichs served as a commissioned law enforcement officer for more than ten years. He was elected to the FBI’s Western Regional Advisory Policy Board and led the Colorado Crime Information Center Policy Advisory Board Working Group.

Heinrichs has received numerous awards, including the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) William H. Stanton  National 9-1-1 Service Award, The Denver Telecom Professionals Executive of the Year, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Technology, and was recognized as the 2009  Person of the Year by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). In 2011 he received the NG9-1-1 Institute’s Industry Professional Award. He served on the Board of Directors of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the 9-1-1 Industry Alliance, and has served as the co-chair of the International Association  of Chiefs of Police Foundation. Mr. Heinrichs was elected a Fellow of the Radio Club of America. He also serves on the Board and Executive Committee of No Barriers – a non-profit committed to fully unleash the potential of the human spirit.

Donald Paul joined the faculty of the University of Southern California (USC) in January 2009 as the Executive Director of the USC Energy Institute, William M. Keck Chair of Energy Resources, and Research Professor of Engineering. The USC Energy Institute supports university-wide research, education, workforce development, and commercialization initiatives with industry and governments in the area of “intelligent energy”, involving the intersection of digital technologies, systems engineering, and energy infrastructures. Major programs include: digital oilfields, smart power grids, cyber-physical security for critical energy infrastructures, and new programs in petroleum informatics and Industrial IoT for oil and gas operations.

Dr. Paul had a distinguished 33-year career with the Chevron Corporation, retiring in June 2008 as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. During his career, he served as the president of Chevron’s Canadian subsidiary and as the senior compliance officer for Chevron’s HSE and global cyber-security functions.

Dr. Paul also serves as a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. and as an academic member of the National Petroleum Council. He has served on advisory boards at several major universities, governments and national laboratories, oil and gas companies, power utilities, and technology companies. In 2019 he joined the Berry Petroleum Company Board of Directors. He holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees from MIT and an Honorary Doctorate in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.