Dr. Sergio Kapusta

Dr. Kapusta is the Executive Director at the Rice University Energy and Environment Initiative. The EEI engages expertise from multiple research disciplines, along with industry leaders and government agencies, NGOs and the public to develop safer, more affordable and environmentally sustainable carbon-based fuels. EEI commitments include: (1) Reducing the environmental footprint associated with energy production and consumption, (2) Maximizing the impact of putting nanotechnology and biotechnology for the treatment of water in fracking and unconventional exploration, and (3) Educating the next generation of energy leaders to ensure they have a holistic understanding of the technological, economics, policy and human dimensions of energy.

Dr. Kapusta (Rice PhD 1979, MBA 2006) retired as Chief Scientist of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in 2015. During his 32 years with Shell, Dr. Kapusta worked in all sectors of the oil business, from research and engineering to operations and maintenance. He is a world-‐known expert in materials and corrosion, and in the application of nanotechnology to the oil field. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 papers related to materials, corrosion, asset integrity, and risk analysis. He re-‐joined the Rice Faculty in 2016 as Adjunct Professor in the MSNE and Physics departments. He also lectures on Management of Innovation and Technology course for MBAs at the Jones Graduate School of Business.