Our Team

Professor Eric May

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director

Managing Director, Nominations and Remuneration Committee Member, Audit and Risk Committee Member and Commercialisation Committee Member 

Eric May is Managing Director of the Future Energy Exports (FEnEx) CRC and was named the 2021 Western Australian Scientist of the Year. His research team works closely with industry, conducting projects in hydrogen liquefaction, LNG production and decarbonisation, gas separations, CCS and fluid property prediction. Eric was awarded the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year as part of the 2012 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science. In 2017, he co-established Gas Capture Technologies Pty Ltd, a spin-out company for patented technologies to capture methane from coal mines, land-fill gas and other sources. Launched in 2020, the FEnEx CRC brings together 35 industry, government and university partners with resources of $163 million to conduct industrial-scale research that supports LNG and Hydrogen exports from Australia.

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Jill Stajduhar

Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary

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Professor Michael Johns

Research Director (University of Western Australia)

Mike Johns has been conducting research regards the application of magnetic resonance for over two decades, covering a very wide remit from food to oil and gas engineering.  Mike completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge in 1999 and was a Reader in Engineering Colloids at the University of Cambridge before relocating to a Chair in Chemical and Process Engineering at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 2011.  At UWA he co-leads the Fluid Science and Resources Research Group¹ which houses over 70 research workers.   He currently develops methods to characterise oilfield emulsions, oil contamination in discharge water, shales, early detection of fouling in desalination modules and para-hydrogen content of liquid hydrogen. He has published over 220 international peer-reviewed papers, has an H-index of 39, holds several patents and has participated in three spin-off companies.  He serves on the executive committee of the Ampere Society for Spatially-resolved Magnetic Resonance (previously as chair) and from 2015-2018 was Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at UWA.

¹ http://fsr.ecm.uwa.edu.au/

Chair of Chemical and Process Engineering Fluid Science & Resources Research Group
Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences The University of Western Australia (UWA)

Daein Cha

DeepC Store Managing Director and FEnEx CRC Senior Projects Manager

With over 25 years of energy and resources industries experience and through senior roles for international business development, major capital project management, and commodity sales and trading at Tokyo Gas and Chevron, Daein brings extensive expertise, experience and network to originate and develop multi-billion dollars industrial projects.

 Daein is currently the Managing Director of deepC Store, Senior Projects Manager for Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Center, and Director for Transborders Energy.

 Daein received his Bachelor’s degree from the International Christian University in Japan, Master’s degree from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in USA, and qualification as Certified Cost Professional of AACE International.  Daein is also a certified member of the Association of International Energy Negotiators and the Society of Decision Professionals.

Dr Luke McElroy

Engineering Study Manager

Dr. Luke McElroy is Engineering Study Manager at Future Energy Exports CRC.

Luke is an experienced process engineer, project lead, and industry-focused researcher, having worked for more than ten years in a range of roles in the Energy industry.

Luke is skilled in process engineering for offshore and onshore oil & gas assets such as LNG plants, having worked for Woodside Energy for four years—including two years of site support at Karratha Gas Plant.

In addition to oil & gas operations experience, Luke has had detailed involvement in front-end project development for LNG and H₂ capital projects through his work with the Australian Centre for LNG Futures and Future Energy Exports CRC.

Past roles with DuPont and Arup have deepened Luke’s experience in delivering engineering services to a range of clients in industry and government.

Luke obtained his PhD from the University of New South Wales in 2010 and has collaborated with industry partners on decarbonization research projects, including carbon capture and sequestration, liquid CO₂ transport, and fugitive emissions management, building his expertise in these emerging areas of interest to the Energy industry.

This broad range of work was conducted in small groups, large multidisciplinary teams, and industry consortiums, adapting and expanding Luke’s knowledge and skills in many areas.

Luke’s passion is to develop and implement strong technical and regulatory solutions to decarbonize the Energy industry.

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