Standards that safeguard our people and our planet

President, Engineering & Technology

Carlo Badiola is the Senior Vice President of Technology and Engineering for Encina Gulf Coast. He previously served as a technical expert for the ExxonMobil Corporation with a focus on pyrolysis steam cracking, field operations, and product optimization. His experience includes detailed reactor design, operations and maintenance, technology implementation, and continuous asset value improvement. His achievements include successful design of a commissioned pyrolysis asset, economic improvements in asset optimization, yields, safety, and reliability in various United States and Singapore facilities. He provided leadership to commercialize novel technology concepts into ExxonMobil’s pyrolysis steam cracking fleet. His work optimized bottom line results in chemical processing facilities through improved fleet availability and enhanced performance.

He holds B.S. degrees in both Mechanical and Chemical Engineering as well as an M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Carlo Badiola has also completed extensive prior research in the areas of high temperature combustion/metallurgy and material characterization. He has authored several publications related to combustion science and material synthesis.

SVP, Projects & Engineering

Shirley Hammond is the SVP of Engineering for Encina Gulf Coast. Previously with ExxonMobil, she served as a Project Development Manager along with other technical roles providing her with over 15 years of manufacturing and process design experience. She has led projects through detailed engineering design with in-house and EPC contractors across numerous $1B+ projects in domestic and international locations. Prior to her project management role, Shirley gained technical expertise in heavy revamp equipment design, process modeling, product optimization and field operations diagnostics/support.

Shirley earned a B.S. Degree with Honors in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Engineering Fellow

Dr. Paul Blommel is the Engineering Fellow for Encina Gulf Coast. He has extensive experience in production of BTX chemicals from conventional and alternative feedstocks. Most recently at Virent, as Director of Technology Development, Dr. Paul Blommel lead the development of multiple pathways to convert biomass derived feedstocks into commercial grade paraxylene and benzene as well as renewable gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel. In cooperation with industry partners such as Coca Cola this effort culminated in the first demonstration scale production of fully renewable PET polyester for beverage bottles and clothing. Prior to Virent, he served in several roles at UOP ranging from catalyst and process development to Chief Technical Advisor for commissioning, startup, and troubleshooting of commercial aromatic chemical production facilities. As a technology innovator, he is an inventor on more than 30 US patents and an author of more than 10 peer reviewed publications. He holds a B.S degree in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Biophysics, both from the University of Wisconsin.

SVP, Global Purchasing

Mylinda Jacobsen is the SVP of Global Purchasing for Encina Gulf Coast. She is an international purchasing and business development expert, and relationship driver with thought leadership in the plastics recycling industry for more than 25 years. Previously with Envision Plastics, Ms. Jacobson led the global purchasing team in raw material sourcing efforts, where she grew the supplier base, built deep scrap plastic supplier relationships, cut waste, and improved logistics efficiency. Prior to Envision, she served as the solid waste programs coordinator for the Town of Kernersville Public Works, where she created a practical, widely adopted municipal recycling program, and led other environmentally friendly initiatives such as increasing recycling rates to growing revenue.

Ms. Jacobson earned a B.A. degree from the College of Charleston. She is certified as a Recycling Coordinator, Landfill Ops Manager, and Biosolids Composting Technician. She has been active in several industry associations, including the Olefins/Rigids Committee of the Association of Plastics Recyclers and has served on the board of the Carolinas Recycling Association.

SVP, Global Product Management

Florian Jardin is the SVP of Global Product Management for Encina Gulf Coast. He is a professional in supply chain management with a passion for sustainability and the reduction of industrial carbon footprint. Previously with DSM, a science-based company, Mr. Jardin served as the global category manager, responsible for supply chain management of polyesters, monomers, polymers, tolling, and other materials. He has led cross-functional and cross value chain sustainability projects to enable fully renewable and circular product lines, and GHG emissions reductions to reach the company targets. Mr. Jardin has won three awards at DSM. Before DSM, Mr. Jardin worked at Novares, a global company in its UK, China, and Monaco offices with progressive supply chain management roles.

Mr. Jardin has served as the Ambassador at One Young World since October 2018, a global forum for young leaders around the UN sustainable development goals. Mr. Jardin holds a BA in Purchasing from Université d’Angers and an H.N.D. in Trade and Marketing.

SVP, Global Development

Victor Flansburg is the SVP of Global Development for Encina Gulf Coast. Mr. Flansburg brings extensive experience which he has gained during his 20+ years career in the Petrochemical and Refined Product industry. He began his career at TPC Group, where, over a period of 15 years, he served several roles in various departments including operations, engineering, R&D, and business development. Before leaving, Mr. Flansburg served a critical role in the successful funding, execution, and startup of a $400 MM project to rebuild an Isobutane Dehydro. In 2015, he joined a private equity backed company, Next Wave Energy Partners, and helped the firm achieve funding for a $1 Billion Ethylene to Alkylation project. While there, he provided critical support and leadership in various areas including the design and execution of the commercial feedstock and offtake contracts, site selection, logistic design, and financial modeling. Mr. Flansburg received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston.

Director of Sustainable Technology

Samantha Albright is the Director of Sustainable Technology for the Encina Gulf Coast. She previously served as a Process Engineer for synthetic biology start-up Cemvita Factory Inc, where she designed and modeled the back-end operations for various chemical products. Prior to her experience at Cemvita, she held similar positions at ExxonMobil – including first-time start-up support for their largest Ethylene train, as well as holding positions as the Improve Engineer and Energy and Sustainability Coordinator for that site. Through her experience at both companies, she has extensive knowledge of process design and operation, bringing 6 years of manufacturing experience to Encina. She earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Senior Project Manager

Caitlyn Labonte is the Senior Engineering Project Manager for Encina Gulf Coast. She previously served as the Senior Facilities Planner and Capital Budget Coordinator at ExxonMobil’s largest polyethylene plant, leading several of the site’s most essential projects while managing an investment portfolio of over 60 active projects. Also at this site, she held a process manufacturing engineer position where she maximized the performance of 3 extruder lines and implemented optimizations capturing significant opex and production-loss savings. Her expertise include project management, brownfield facilities design and revamp, business case development, detailed engineering support and contractor coordination. She has a passion and aptitude for building and leading teams and has been continually involved in mentorship throughout her career. Caitlyn holds a B.E. degree in Chemical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Technology Team Lead

Dr. Song Wang holds a Ph.D degree in Chemical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology. His experience includes development and characterization of multi-functional particles. Extensive research experience of powder particles in combustion dynamics and ignition kinetics. During his Ph.D career, he has built a 3D-CFD modeling of a complex flow system and develop a theoretical model to describe the performance of new reactive materials quantitatively. He has authored 12 publications related to biocidal, metal combustion and material synthesis.

Director of Government Relations & Compliance

Michael Marr serves as the Director of Government Relations & Compliance for Encina.

From 2012 to 2021, Marr worked for Shell in various roles covering Shell’s US Chemicals assets and Shell’s petrochemical project in Beaver County, PA. For the five years preceding Marr’s employment with Shell, he served as the public affairs lead at the former BP Texas City site, which housed the nation’s third largest oil refinery, an integrated chemical plant, and a power plant.

From 1998-2007, Marr served in a variety of roles for New York Governor George Pataki – including as the Governor’s official press secretary, the Governor’s campaign press secretary and as the State’s lead economic development spokesperson in the 18 months that followed 9/11. Prior to serving in the Governor’s office, Marr worked on Capitol Hill – on both the House and the Senate side.

Marr received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University; he is completing a Master of Science degree in Environmental Management at the University of Maryland, Global Campus with graduation anticipated in May 2022.

Project Director

Wes Stringfellow is the Project Director of Encina’s Point Township Project. Wes brings with him 30 years of industry experience in Project Management, Construction, Global Contracting and Supply Chain. Most recently, he worked as the Project Manager for the PTA Unit for Corpus Christi Polymers on the TRIumph project.

Wes has made significant contributions to billion and multibillion-dollar projects: Point Township Circular Manufacturing Facility during his time with Clough, Plaquemines LNG, Goldboro LNG, and the JKC INPEX ICHTHYS LNG Onshore Project in Australia. Wes has experience with Lump Sum and Reimbursable project in the Petrochemical, Oil & Gas, LNG and Manufacturing.

Early in his career, he was in a leadership position for the EPC Contractor for the construction of the Phenolchemie Project for a Phenol plant in Theordore, Alabama. Additionally, Wes’s international exposure includes establishing supply chain partnerships in Asia for Tyco Flow Control, Halliburton Company and KBR. Wes has a BS in Business and Commerce from the University of Houston – Downtown.

Technology Engineer

Christine Padalino is a Technology Engineer for the Encina Gulf Coast. She graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2022. She completed her M.S. degree in Climate Science in 2023. Her research portfolio includes studying oceanic carbon uptake in the Pacific Ocean, predicting heatwave frequencies using climate models, and analyzing phytoplankton blooms with satellite imaging.

Sales and Marketing Manager

Corbin White is the Sales and Marketing Manager for Encina Gulf Coast. He is a business development and procurement professional with more than 10 years of experience in strategic feedstock sourcing, supplier development, and market expansion within the waste and recycling industry.

Prior to joining Encina, Mr. White served as Assistant Non-Ferrous Operations Manager at Mike’s Scrap Recycling, where he led procurement and sales activities, developed new supply channels, and spearheaded operational efficiency and market development initiatives across consumer and industrial material streams.

Mr. White earned an MBA from the University of Florida and a B.A in Managerial Economics. He brings a commercially focused, operationally driven approach to building scalable and sustainable material supply chains.