Navigating the Water-Energy Challenge

Andreas Neuber is Director Environmental Services at Applied Materials. His team is responsible for reducing the environmental impact of semiconductor manufacturing, helping lower costs and meeting the EPA reporting regulations for greenhouse gas emissions. Andreas brings 25 years of technology-focused product experience in environmental engineering and contamination control. Prior to joining Applied, Andreas was Vice President of Manufacturing Technology at M+W Zander FE. His technical qualifications include MS and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Technology, Dresden. He has authored ~100 journal and conference publications and holds two U.S. patents.

Dr. Azam Thatte is the Chief Scientist at Energy Recovery, Inc. where he leads the fundamental research in developing novel sustainable energy systems like Trans-Critical CO2 Refrigeration & Heat Pumps, Supercritical CO2 Power Cycles and Turbomachinery, Thermal Energy Storage, Geothermal Power Generation and Seawater Reverse Osmosis Desalination. Dr. Thatte is the inventor of the revolutionary PXG technology (Trans-Critical Rotary Pressure Exchanger), which recently won the Innovation of the Year award from ATMO for fundamentally transforming the low global warming refrigeration systems and improving their efficiency significantly. Previously Dr. Thatte was a lead scientist at GE’s Research Labs, where he led development of the next generation aircraft engines like LEAP and GE 9X and several gas turbine technologies. As the P.I. on U.S. Dept. of Energy’s PREDICTS program, Dr. Thatte led the development of the first megawatt scale supercritical CO2 turbine in the world. As a part of the NASA team, Dr. Thatte has also made the first discovery of an organic molecule outside our solar system. He is the author of more than 40 journal and peer reviewed conference publications and has more than 30 U.S. and international patents to his name. Dr. Thatte is the recipient of the Young Scientist award from STLE, Paul Cook Innovation award from Energy Recovery, Inc. and an invention medal from GE. Dr. Thatte received his Ph. D from Georgia Tech and was an invited scholar at MIT.

Benjamin Sparrow is the Chief Engineer and CEO of Saltworks Technologies, and a professional mechanical engineer with over 20 years of experience. He leads Saltworks’ team of engineers and innovators in developing advanced modular industrial desalination and lithium refining solutions for global industries. Ben’s background spans heavy construction, innovation, process development, manufacturing, modularization, digitization, and technology commercialization. He brings deep expertise in business strategy, leadership, and project execution—successfully delivering complex technologies to industrial clients worldwide.