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.
After holding positions in graphic design for Landor associates and product planning in the Office furniture industry for Haworth, FRANCOIS FARION joined his long-time industry of choice, automotive, in year 2000 for PSA-Peugeot Citroën, then joined Nissan North America in 2005 for 13 years, including responsibility for Bodycolors for the Nissan group in Atsugi, Japan from 2015 to 2018.
He has been Director of CMF (Color Material & Finishes) for Groupe Renault since 2018, based in Technocenter near Paris.
He’s married to Nathalie, with whom he had a daughter Anaïs, 22, a bachelor in Neurology, Physiology & Behavior of UC Davis, who now studies Cosmetics formulation in Italy.
Their son Mahé just started engineering at McGill in Montreal.
He’s an avid photographer, cyclist and skier. Among other Italian cars, he has owned and enjoyed a Bianco Fuji 2005 Maserati GranSport.
David works at Venator, formerly the Pigments and Additives Division of the Huntsman Corporation, and provides global support to the business on toxicological and product stewardship issues for its new and existing products.
He also provides technical (scientific) leadership to industry-wide trade associations, consortia and task forces involved in human health research, risk assessment, and regulatory agency interaction.
David is the Chair of the Titanium Dioxide Manufacturers Association (TDMA) Scientific Committee and CLH Task Force.
After receiving his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Sunderland, David obtained a MSc in Toxicology from Birmingham, PhD in Biochemical Toxicology from Newcastle and Post Doctoral Studies in Molecular Toxicology from Dundee.
He has been a European Registered Toxicologist (ERT) since 2008 and is a member of the British Toxicology Society (BTS).
David has over 15 years industrial experience working as a toxicologist in the Pharmaceutical, FMCG, Chemical, Retail and Consultancy sectors in the UK.
Dr. Karin Tynelius holds a MS and a PhD in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering. She is the Director of Mineral Markets and provides consultancy, training and market intelligence on titanium-dioxide (TiO2) and the mineral sands industry. She has 30+ years of experience in the metals and mining industry and was in charge of the market research for TiZir until 2018.
Karin also holds a Director’s Certificate (IDP-C) from INSEAD and is a Non-Executive Director of Keliber.
Robert Gibney is General Manager Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) Sales for Iluka Resources, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.
Mr. Gibney has over 35 years of pigment industry experience, having spent over 21 years with Tronox/Kerr-McGee Chemical in a wide variety of senior management positions, including Vice President Global Pigment Marketing, Vice President Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs, Senior Vice President Global Supply Chain and Chief Administrative Officer.
Having joined Iluka on February 1, 2014, Mr. Gibney is focused on developing Iluka’s TiO2
feedstock sale strategies along with increasing the TiO2 expertise within the company.
Gerry Colamarino is currently the Managing Director of TiPMC Solutions LLC, which he founded in 2014.. He has over 30 years of international experience within the chemical, mining, and energy industries, having had multiple professional and leadership positions within the former DuPont Titanium Technologies (Chemours), Iluka Resources, and Bloom Energy.
TiPMC is a recognized thought leader and independent resource for all subjects pertaining to the TiO2 value chain, with a strong focus on TiO2 pigments and Mineral Sands. TiPMC employs a unique network of industry and functional experts, providing boutique consulting and advisory services, industry publications, and data services to financial institutions and industry participants world-wide.
Gerry is a graduate of Rutgers University, earning a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. He currently resides with his family in Nashville, TN.
Prof. Dr. Damjana Drobne (female), head of the group for Nanobiology and Nanotoxicology at the University of Ljubljana and professor for toxicology and professor for zoology with thirty years of research experiences. She is the founder and principal investigator of a research group for nanobiology and nanotoxicology (http://www.bionanoteam.com/). Her group participated in different EU projects (NanoValid, NanoMile, NanoFase, NANOROGO, Pandora, PlasticsFatE, Papillons and NOVA). At a national level, her group is partner in two national centers of excellence (CO NAMASTE and CO NanoCentre). She has been involved in the TiO2 CLP classification process and presented the scientific view on the process at two previous TiO2 World Summits (in Alicante in 2017 and in Berlin in 2019).
Dr. Jan Prochazka, has spent over two decades in nano-technology research, mainly in the USA and in the Czech Republic. Dr. Prochazka is an author of over two hundred patents, while most of them were brought to the commercial stage.
After joining the Advanced Materials-JTJ in 2006 his team have brought the air purification photocatalytic technology FN NANO® to the global market.
The technology is based on nano TiO2 coatings and provides strong air purifying and self-cleaning properties. It is patent-protected worldwide.
In the last 3 year, intensive focus on air purification and practical testing in contaminated part of city of Prague brought an exact methodology, how to determine the environmental benefits of FN NANO® coated objects such as buildings, sound barriers, concrete constructions and even the whole urban structures and cities.
This technology is a critical part of Smart City design now, providing clean air, water, healthy environments and energy savings. It is certified by the US Cool Roof Council as a cooling urban heat island system.
J. Russ Snider joined Tronox in April 2019 as part of the Cristal acquisition. He leads a team of Marketing professionals and is responsible for global marketing strategy, margin improvement, segment portfolio optimization, new product direction, product promotions and branding. He has 25 years of titanium dioxide experience including international assignments in Switzerland and the Netherlands. He previously held roles in Sales, Sales and Operations Planning, R&D and Engineering. Mr. Snider holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee.
Rebecca Major is a lawyer and partner at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP. She runs the Energy And Natural Resources team in our Paris office. She is a British and French national and has worked in Paris, London and Tokyo. She advises on international commercial contracts, disposals, acquisitions and project developments both under English and French law. She was voted "Best Mining Lawyer in France" by Best Lawyers in 2021.
Julie has 21 years’ experience in the titanium dioxide pigment manufacturing industry and 27 years in the chemical industry. She is currently Marketing Director at LB Group (formerly known as Lomon Billions Group), one of the world’s top 3 manufacturers of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments, and No. 1 in China. Prior to joining LB Group, Julie spent 14 years with Huntsman in its Pigments division (now Venator), where she held various positions within Marketing and R&D. Julie studied at Heriot-Watt University, UK, for her Chemistry degree and holds a Professional Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Philippe Guillemaille is a highly experienced sales and marketing professional in the chemical industry with academic studies including a degree in chemistry from the Lyon Institute of Technology in France. He gained experience in trading with companies like Fuji Film (Japan), Metallgesellschaft (Germany) and Monsanto/Exxon Chemicals (U.S.) among others. He began his career in the TiO2 industry 25 years ago with Kronos, Argex Titanium and now with TNG Ltd.
Fossum holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. He has previously held various managerial and commercial positions in the Hydro Group, within the oil and gas industry and the fertilizer industry, and in FMC Technologies. Fossum has been general manager of Norsk Hydro East Africa Ltd in Nairobi, Kenya. Mr. Fossum has served as CEO for Nordic Mining ASA since founding in 2006.
Klaas van Gorp has served as the Global Business Director, Active Materials at Venator for 5 years. Dr. van Gorp has 26 years of industry experience relating to high purity inorganic materials, which was gained in his work with several multinational companies. Dr. van Gorp is of Dutch nationality and holds a PhD in Heterogeneous Catalysis, earned at Utrecht University in The Netherlands
Mr. Vollant is highly experienced in the sales and marketing of metals and minerals and has specialized in strategic metals, particularly included vanadium and titanium. Mr. Vollant's experience includes holding the position of General Manager of Sales and Marketing at TNG Limited, Shanghai, where his responsibility included the setup and operation of TNG's vanadium, titanium and iron products distribution strategy. Mr. Vollant was a founding Director of global commodity distribution company Element Commodities which is specialized in vanadium and titanium and was formerly with the Noble Group in London and Hong Kong. He is a Director of the HLG Group and Non-Executive Director of Nairobi Securities Exchange. Mr. Vollant holds a M.Sc in finance and international business from the University of Lyon ESDES Business School.
