Our Team
Rich brings a unique combination of corporate development, operations and finance expertise in industrial biotechnology. Mr. Troyer was previously the Chief Business Officer at Coskata, where he oversaw business development, strategic planning, project development and external relations. Before joining Coskata, he was a Managing Director at The Blackstone Group, where he was responsible for investments in biofuels and bio-chemicals companies. Earlier in his career, he was an equity research analyst at AllianceBernstein, Credit Suisse First Boston, and Piper Jaffray, where he focused on the clean technology and biotechnology sectors. Rich received his M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.B.A. degree in accounting from Baylor University.
Management and Board of Directors
The Comet management team brings a wide range of cross-disciplinary experience to the challenge of commercial bio-processing. The team is aligned around the challenge of developing large scale bio-refineries to cost-effectively deliver new supplies of sustainable raw materials necessary to drive the modern bio-economy. The Comet team has over 100 years of experience in non-food biomass conversion, clean technology development, finance and associated product and market development.
Rich Troyer
Chief Executive Officer
Andrew Richard
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
As Comet’s founder Andrew brings expertise in process development and commercialization of new technologies. He is a recognized expert in the field of biomass conversion, pre-treatment, biorefining and biomass based fuels and chemicals, including cellulosic sugars. Andrew has a successful track record of developing and scaling biomass conversion processes and the production of linerboard pulp from ryegrass straw, including converting cellulose derivatives, ethanol and butanol, into transportation fuels. Andrew has worked on successful platform chemical projects converting both forestry and agricultural residues into chemicals and hemicellulose and lignin co-products. Andrew received his B.E.Sc. degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from The University of Western Ontario , an M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business and Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering at The University of Western Ontario.
Dennis D’Agostino
Vice President - Operations
Dennis has 25 years of experience in project management, project engineering, process development, equipment design and plant operations in the field of biomass conversion, pre-treatment, biomass based fuels and environmental technology industries. Dennis has proven ability to organize, manage and implement technical projects from inception to commissioning and is an expert in conducting technical evaluations, design layouts and improving production capacity and quality in biomass programs. Dennis has extensive international experience in the design, scale-up, installation, start-up and operation of several proprietary biomass conversion process systems. Dennis received degrees in Chemical Technology with honours from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology. He has also completed a wide range of professional certification courses including Kaizen, 5S, Lean Manufacturing Principles, Process & Manufacturing Development, Pulp Bleaching Technologies, Project Management, and Occupational Health & Safety Programs.
Doug Gray
Vice President - Engineering
Doug has a strong background in leading the design, construction and operations of new technologies within the alternative chemical processing field. Doug is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng) and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). He has extensive experience in designing and implementing biomass conversion processes and facilities with overall project and budgetary responsibility. Doug has worked on a range of biomass feedstocks including wheat straw, corn stover, grasses, and woodchips for the production of cellulosic ethanol, and bio-based chemicals. Doug received his B.Eng. Mechanical Engineering; Royal Military College (RMC), Kingston, Ontario, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario.
Loula Merkel
Vice President - Business Development
Loula has over 15 years of experience in agribusiness and energy industries. Previously the Director of Project Development at Coskata, she was responsible for the development and financing of commercial projects. She also spent 8 years at McKinsey & Company, serving clients at the intersection of chemicals and agribusiness industries, including multinational fertilizer, agrochemical and food companies. Loula has an M.A. in Economics from John Hopkins University SAIS and a B.A. in Economics from Loyola University Chicago.
Mark Kzyonsek
Project Manager
Mark’s brings over 20 years of technical, hands-on manufacturing and operational experience in the hydrocarbon and petrochemical industry. Prior to Comet, Mark worked at WorleyParsons and Nova Chemicals where he held multiple senior-level roles such as Manufacturing Team Leader, Commissioning and Operations Lead and Area Engineer. He has experience managing daily facility operations including maintenance, logistics, product quality, safety, innovative improvement technology, training, commissioning and reliability. Mark received his M.B.A. from Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario and his M.A.Sc in Chemical Engineering from University of Waterloo.
Board of Directors
Bruce Jamerson
Chairman
Bruce brings a wealth of experience to Comet. As President of Conifer Investments, LLC, a strategic advisory firm, he has experience in finance, bio-products, agriculture and energy. Mr. Jamerson serves as a Board member for Ensyn Corporation and Benefuel Inc. (biofuels) and Senior Advisor to Novita Nutrition and Prairie Aquatech (animal nutrition). He recently advised GTUIT LLC (natural gas processing), Proviera Biotech (probiotics); Benson Hill Biosystems, (agricultural biotech, Board member); Intrexon Corporation, (synthetic biology), and Osage BioEnergy (biofuels, Board member). Mr. Jamerson served as Chairman and CEO of Mascoma Corporation (industrial biotech) acquired by Lallemand Inc. He served as President, CFO and Board member of VeraSun Energy (biofuels) acquired by Valero Energy. Mr. Jamerson founded Conifer Investments, previously a boutique investment banking firm. He served as Vice President of U.S. Natural Resources, Inc., an affiliate of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Company. He also worked at The First Boston Corporation (acquired by Credit Suisse) and Citibank. Mr. Jamerson earned a M.S. degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.G.S from the University of Michigan.
Joško Bobanovic
Partner, Sofinnova Partners
Joško Bobanovic joined Sofinnova in 2010 as Partner of the Sofinnova Green Seed Fund dedicated to seed activities in renewable chemistry and bio-energy. Prior to joining Sofinnova he spent eight years in venture capital with iNovia Capital and its fund MSBi Capital in Montreal, Canada. Joško was responsible for cleantech investments at the fund, and focused on seed and early stage investments in cleantech and information technology. Prior to his venture capital career he created an internet startup and a software company. After completing his PhD studies Joško developed real-time ocean forecasting systems still used at Environment Canada for coastal ocean management. Joško holds a BSc. in physics from University of Zagreb, a PhD. in physical oceanography from Dalhousie University and an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from McGill University.
Marco Brunazzo
Investment Manager, PM Equity Partner
Marco has been Investment Manager of PM Equity Partner since 2015. He was a key Member of the PMI M&A and Corporate Planning Team since 2012 until 2015. He is an Engineer versed in classical languages and combines deep financial and business planning expertise with solid technical understanding. Early in his career, he moved to the UK to join a high-tech start-up before he joined PMI in 2006. He held several positions in financial management and business planning. Mr. Brunazzo serves as a Member of Advisory Board at TreaTech Sàrl.
Andrew Richard
Founder and Chief Technology Officer
As Comet’s founder Andrew has deep expertise in process development and commercialization of new technologies. He is a recognized expert in the field of biomass conversion, pre-treatment, biorefining and biomass based fuels and chemicals, including cellulosic sugars. Andrew has a successful track record of developing and scaling up biomass conversion processes and the production of linerboard pulp from ryegrass straw, including converting cellulose derivatives, ethanol and butanol, into transportation fuels. Andrew has worked on successful platform chemical projects converting both forestry and agricultural residues into chemicals and hemicellulose and lignin co-products. Andrew received his B.E.Sc. degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from The University of Western Ontario, an M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business, and completed his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering at The University of Western Ontario.
Rich Troyer
Chief Executive Officer
Rich brings a unique combination of corporate development, operations and finance expertise in renewable chemicals and biofuels. Mr. Troyer was previously the Chief Business Officer at Coskata, a bio-chemicals company, where he oversaw business development, strategic planning, project development and external relations. Before joining Coskata, he was a Managing Director at The Blackstone Group, where he was responsible for investments in biofuels and bio-chemicals companies. Earlier in his career, he was an equity research analyst at AllianceBernstein, Credit Suisse First Boston, and Piper Jaffray, where he focused on the clean technology and biotechnology sectors. Rich received his M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.B.A. degree in accounting from Baylor University.
