Jan Harmsen is principal process developer at Shell. He has thirty-two years of industrial experience at Shell with positions in the following departments: exploratory research, development, process design, and chemicals manufacturing. He is also, since 1997, part-time Hoogewerff Professor of Sustainable Chemical Technology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Joseph B. Powell is Shell's Chief Scientist, Chemical Engineering. He joined the Process Development Department at Shell's Westhollow Technology Center (Houston) in 1988, where he has led major R&D programs. Dr. Powell has been granted forty-five U.S. patents and several industry awards, including the A. D. Little Award for Chemical Engineering Innovation (AIChE 1998).