Executive Director of Ben Franklin’s Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center Named to Prestigious Panel of Judges
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 19, 2014
Executive Director of Ben Franklin’s Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center Named to Prestigious Panel of Judges
STATE COLLEGE, PA – Bill Hall, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania-based Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (www.SGICC.org), was recently named a judge for this year’s 2014 prestigious Oil & Gas Awards. The awards, which serve as a platform for the oil and gas industry to celebrate the advances made in a variety of areas such as environmental stewardship, efficiency, innovation, corporate social responsibility, and health and safety, are judged by the industry’s most comprehensive independent panel. One hundred industry leaders, representing a wide range of expertise, will focus on categories relevant to their skill set.
In his role of Executive Director for SGICC, Bill Hall initiated Pennsylvania’s first Shale Gas Innovation Competition. Now, in its third year, the contest has grown to include four $25,000 prizes and was co-sponsored by 17 industrial sponsors as well as Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern PA (http://www.cnp.benfranklin.org). This year’s award event, held on May 15, 2014 in Pittsburgh, drew an audience of more than 150 participants and included an Innovation Showcase and reception.
Prior to accepting his position with the Ben Franklin Program in 2011, Mr. Hall, who is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a certified professional geologist, worked in the Dominican Republic as Chief Operating Officer of an environmental consulting firm, the Dunn Corporation. He also started a pipeline services group for Severn Trent Services, a wastewater utility company, and spent nearly two years as President of Bioengineering Group, a Massachusetts-based company that worked in New Orleans to control flooding after Hurricane Katrina.
Mr. Hall commented, “I’m honored to be named a Judge for this year’s Oil & Gas Awards. We are in the midst of an energy revolution as oil and gas from tight rock formations are changing the global landscape. Having the chance to identify and help innovators in the industry create new jobs and new wealth in Pennsylvania and across the United States is very rewarding.”
About the Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center
The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org) is designed to harness innovation and new technologies as a means to maximize the economic return to Pennsylvania’s citizens from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. The Center’s goal is to increase sustainable employment and wealth creation in Pennsylvania that has the potential to outlast the initial exploration, production and transportation of natural gas from the formations. The Center will also identify, support and commercialize technologies and early-stage businesses that enhance responsible stewardship of the environment while properly utilizing this transformative energy asset.
