Segetis is focused on combining biomass-derived carbohydrates that enables the company to commercialize a wide range of industrial chemicals and plastics that are ultimately derived from non-food agricultural and forestry sources, stated Jim Stoppert, chief executive officer. Over the last 6 months we have added industry veterans with more than 60 years of experience to our leadership team which has accelerated our progress in applications, process and commercial development. The successful start-up of our semi-works facility and robust development pipeline is a testament to what experience can bring to a start-up organization.
Prior to joining Segetis, Desai was vice president and chief marketing officer of NatureWorks LLC, the first company to offer a family of commercially available low-carbon-footprint polymers. In this role, Desai led strategic development and global execution of the marketing, sales and development teams for the company during an explosive growth period from 2003 to2008.
Prior to working for NatureWorks LLC, Desai held various positions in sales, marketing, business development and TS&D across specialty chemicals and plastics business units in The Dow Chemical Company.
Cora Leibig leads the development of high-performance products from Segetis technology. She brings to Segetis more than a decade of product development experience at Dow Chemical. Leibig has developed an extensive track record for blending business acumen and market input with a technical team firmly grounded in scientific principles to rapidly invent and develop products with strong market acceptance worldwide. Leibig studied polymer physics and dynamics as a Hertz Fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering. Leibig also has a master’s degree in chemical engineering practice and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As director of process engineering and development, Steve Donen brings more than 30 years of experience in the chemical processing industry, including executive leadership positions in manufacturing, engineering and technology development. Most recently, as director of manufacturing technology and Engineering for NatureWorks LLC he led the cross-functional team in developing, designing, constructing and starting up the first ever world-scale polymer plant that makes plastic from corn. Before NatureWorks LLC, Donen was the global technology manager for Dow Chemical’s polystyrene business in Midland, Michigan.
