Robert Niven, MSc
Chair and Chief Executive Officer

​​Robert Niven is the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of CarbonCure Technologies, the global leader in carbon dioxide (CO₂) removal technologies for the concrete industry. Rob founded the company in 2012 with the simple goal of making concrete sustainability both profitable and easy for the industry. With Rob at the helm, CarbonCure and its partners are achieving their mission to annually reduce and remove 500 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions from the atmosphere by 2030.

Under his direction, CarbonCure has won numerous international awards honouring leadership in sustainability, innovation and technology development including the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, Cleantech Group's 2020 North American Company of the Year, the BloombergNEF New Energy Pioneers Award and recognition as one of the Top 100 Global Cleantech Companies for seven consecutive years.

Featured as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 for his leadership in CO₂ utilization, Rob holds an MSc in Environmental Engineering from McGill University and a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Victoria, British Columbia. In his spare time, Rob is an avid outdoors enthusiast and devotes his time to nature conservation and environmental community events.

Dean Forgeron, PhD, PEng
Chief Technology Officer

As a concrete innovator, Dean is responsible for the engineering and product development activities at CarbonCure. Along with industry partners, Dean has successfully developed and commercialized technologies for the concrete sector that have been adopted in international markets. His background includes development of concrete macro-synthetic fiber reinforcement, material characterization of fiber reinforced concrete, self-consolidating and self-leveling fiber reinforced concrete, and green concrete technologies.

Dean completed his BEng at TUNS in Halifax before completing his PhD at Dalhousie University. Outside of work, Dean enjoys traveling, outdoor activities and motor sports.

Sean Monkman, PhD, PEng
Senior Vice President of Technology Development

Sean oversees CarbonCure’s research and intellectual property activities. His focus is on the scientific and materials performance aspects of the company’s offerings. 

Sean holds a Doctoral degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University. His career has included more than 25 years working in concrete materials including 15 years working on CO₂ utilization approaches.

He is active within the American Concrete Institute on the Materials, Admixtures, Nanotechnology and Performance Specification committees and is the chair of the Sustainability committee. Sean has authored more than four dozen papers and presentations on beneficial CO₂ utilization in concrete production and is a co-inventor on more than 40 issued and pending patents related to the work.

In 2019, Sean was recognized as the Mission Innovation Champion for Canada at the Fourth Mission Innovation Ministerial (MI-4) in Vancouver.

S. Gabriel Carrero
Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing

As Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Gabriel is responsible for driving exponential growth of CarbonCure across markets, directing our global sales team and marketing strategies. He is a seasoned executive with more than two decades of business development, marketing and operations experience in the construction materials industry, offering special expertise in chemicals and technologies that improve efficiency in ready mix concrete production.

Carrero earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Tecnológica del Centro (UNITEC) and completed MBA coursework for Marketing Management at Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela. He now lives in Orlando, Florida with his wife and four children. In his free time, Carrero enjoys social & family gatherings, good dining, following sports and playing tennis.

Kim Saunders
Vice President of People & Culture

As VP of People & Culture, Kim brings empathy and a focus on growth, learning and development to CarbonCure. Kim is laser-focused on building an engaging workplace where our employees feel heard, where equality is fundamental, and where we can all grow into strong professionals.

A veteran People leader in the tech sector, Kim has successfully built high-performing teams and developed People & Culture Operations for Employee — and Company — success. Kim has been a passionate leader through multiple acquisitions and integrations, always intent on empowering and inspiring people to do their best work.

Kim lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia with her partner and she is mom to a grown daughter. Time with family, hiking, gardening and sailing are her happy pastimes.

Christian Weisenburger
General Counsel

In his role as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Christian oversees the legal aspects of the business arrangements of CarbonCure and participates as a member of the leadership team. Joining the company near its inception in 2009, he has guided from a legal perspective each stage of the company’s growth. 

Robert Niven
Chair and Chief Executive Officer, CarbonCure Technologies

Robert Niven is the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of CarbonCure Technologies, the global leader in carbon dioxide (CO₂) removal technologies for the concrete industry. Rob founded the company in 2012 with the simple goal of making concrete sustainability both profitable and easy for industry. With Rob at the helm, CarbonCure and its partners are achieving their mission to reduce 500 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually by 2030.

Under his direction, CarbonCure has won numerous international awards honoring leadership in sustainability, innovation and technology development including the $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, Cleantech Group's 2020 North American Company of the Year, the BloombergNEF New Energy Pioneers Award and recognition as one of the Top 100 Global Cleantech Companies for seven consecutive years.

Featured as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 for his leadership in CO₂ utilization, Rob holds an MSc in Environmental Engineering from McGill University and a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Victoria, British Columbia. In his spare time, Rob is an avid outdoors enthusiast and devotes his time to nature conservation and environmental community events.

Lisa Bate
Global Sustainability Lead + Advance Strategy, Senior Principal at B+H Architects

Lisa is the Immediate Past Chair of the World Green Building Council Board and sits on B+H's five person Global Management Board. Adopting a big picture perspective with focus on Climate Action under three global goals of Advancing Net Zero Carbon, Health & Wellbeing, Resources & the Circular Economy, Lisa unpacks the complexities that are inherent in every problem and project she works on to identify key objectives that may not have otherwise been considered. By applying a comprehensive project methodology from visioning through to measuring performance in occupancy, Lisa optimizes design solutions to help clients build and develop their people, culture, and business portfolios. Her focus is on ROI, ROSR (Return on Sustainability & Resiliency) and ROHC (Return on Human Capital) to ensure the best design and technical performance for People + Planet + Profit.

B+H acquired Lisa's firm in 2007. Her design experience spans across Canada to China, the US, the Caribbean, SE Asia, and India. From 2012 to 2016, she was based in Shanghai as B+H’s Managing Principal, China and EVP, Asia. From 2016 to 2018, she was B+H’s Regional Managing Principal for the Americas. Lisa has built trust with her clients and colleagues over the years by being a careful listener who uncovers the most important elements of the goals for every project and tailors the process to deliver on them. Her focus on project schedules and design quality – coupled with her determination to innovate for high performance and a commitment to lifelong learning – tie all the pieces together to inform strategic, successful outcomes.

Lisa is a passionate advocate for environmental, economic, and social sustainability and resiliency. Her recent leadership roles on large-scale complex projects include Mohawk College's Net Zero Carbon Design and Operational Performance Certified Joyce Centre for Partnerships & Innovation and Humber College's Passive House EnerPHiT and Net Zero Carbon Design Certified Building Nx, the retrofit of a 1980s structure. Lisa led the firm’s delivery of over a dozen venues for the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. Lisa has helped mentor many future leaders in the design and construction sector. Lisa is extremely proud that B+H’s Global Director of Specifications, Matt Roberts, had the foresight to have CarbonCure as base specification for more than a decade.

Lisa’s experience with supporting global studios combined with the broader Surbana Jurong group of companies equips her with a global perspective of how to serve clients, grow their as well as B+H’s and Surbana Jurong’s business, and deliver meaningful sustainable and resilient projects.

Michael S. Burke
Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AECOM

Michael S. Burke is the Retired Chair and Chief Executive Officer of AECOM (NYSE: ACM), a premier, fully integrated infrastructure firm that designs, builds, finances and operates infrastructure assets in more than 150 countries through nearly 60,000 employees.

After joining the company in 2005, Mr. Burke served as a key AECOM leader and was instrumental in the evolution of AECOM from a private company to a public firm whose staff of architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management and construction professionals serve clients virtually anywhere in the world. Mr. Burke directed the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which was one of the 10 largest NYSE listings for 2007, and one of the largest engineering industry IPOs of all time.

Mr. Burke is a former member of the Business Roundtable Board of Directors and Chair of its Infrastructure Committee. The Committee is leading the organization’s efforts to advocate for the modernization of U.S. infrastructure assets. Globally, he is the former Co-Chair of the Steering Committee, Infrastructure and Urban Development Industries, World Economic Forum. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Archer Daniels Midland Company, one of the world’s largest agricultural processors and food ingredient providers.

Geoff Catherwood, P.Eng., ICD.D
Partner at BDC Venture Capital, Industrial, Clean & Energy (ICE) Technology Fund

Geoff is a registered professional engineer, non-practicing, with 14 years of experience in industrial automation and process control and more than 20 years of venture capital experience. Prior to joining BDC Venture Capital in 2001, he worked for Bailey Canada and Asea Brown Boveri - large multi-national industrial process automation suppliers. He has diverse operational experience in the process automation industry, including field service, system commissioning, engineering, management and sales.

Geoff administers much of BDC Venture Capital’s Industrial, Clean and Energy Technology portfolio in Canada. In addition to CarbonCure, he is active on the boards of a number of companies. He also volunteers in a number of programs that promote entrepreneurship, including chairing the final jury for New Ventures B.C. for many years.

Geoff holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University. He has also completed the Canadian Securities Course and the Institute of Corporate Directors - Rotman Directors Education Program (September, 2019).

David Green
President of Carmanah Management Corporation

David Green founded Carmanah Management Corporation, a private corporation incorporated in 1988, in Victoria, British Columbia. David spent three years as a Technical Expert with the Commonweath Secretariat at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, and then returned to start Carmanah Management. Carmanah has been involved in the development and commercialization of technology since 1993. Carmanah also runs a Technology Centre to house technology companies.

In addition, David is the founder of the publicly traded company Carmanah Technologies Corporation, which provides signalling and solar lighting solutions for infrastructure projects around the world. 

David is a professional engineer who graduated from the Royal Military College in Engineering Physics (B.Eng.), and from the Institute of Oceanography at the University of British Columbia (Ph.D).

William C. Holden
Chair of the CarbonCure Industry Advisory Council

As Chair of the Industry Advisory Council, Bill Holden helps guide CarbonCure on the issues that matter most to today's concrete producers. Holden possesses over thirty years of executive and general management construction materials experience in aggregates, ready mix, masonry products and building materials.

Bill served as the President of Block USA, one of the leading concrete masonry producers in the country, and as President of Couch USA, a major producer of ready mix, block and building materials serving the Southeast USA. As well, Bill was formerly Chairman of the Board of the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) and Alabama Concrete Industries Association, and Chairman of the NCMA’s Long Range Planning Committee. Bill currently serves as a board member of The Concrete Industry Management Program.

Chris Poirier
Member of Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Over the last 25 years, Chris has started or led six technology-based companies that span industries ranging from medical device manufacturing to design automation software to energy technology. Prior to joining BEV, Chris was the Chairman & CEO of CoalTek, Inc., a clean coal technology company. During his 12-year tenure at CoalTek, Chris led the company’s entry into the China market. Chris continued to serve on the board of CoalTek and CoalTek’s joint venture company in the PRC through 2018.

Chris was a three-time appointee to the National Coal Council, a special advisory committee to the US Secretary of Energy, under both the G.W. Bush and Obama administrations. He is an investor in and a member of the board of directors/advisors for a number of traditional technology, energy/environmental technology and materials companies. 

Chris earned his bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from Boston College. Chris lives in Wellesley, MA with his wife and four children.

Kevin Cail, PEng
Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board

Kevin was formerly the Director of Sustainability and Commercial Innovation at Lafarge North America. In his previous positions he was responsible for commercial development, management and policy development of various innovation projects and product changes.

Kevin has served on the board of directors for the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) and the Strategic Development Council of the American Concrete Institute, working on industry issues related to sustainability. Kevin is a native of Eastern Canada and a graduate of the University of New Brunswick in Civil Engineering.

Steven Cox
Vice President of Business Development, Command Alkon

As Vice President of Business Development at Command Alkon, the global innovation leader in integrated software solutions for the construction materials industries, Steve Cox provides insight into the unique sales and customer service needs of the concrete industry. Steve brings additional concrete sales experience as the former North American Sales Director for W.R. Grace’s Concrete Admixture business.  

Jeff Davis
Former Vice President, U.S. Concrete Inc.

Prior to serving as Vice President of U.S. Concrete from April 2017 to October 2018, Jeff Davis served as Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Concrete’s northern California business units, including Central Concrete. Under Jeff’s direction, Central Concrete consistently spotted and capitalized on emerging industry trends, becoming a leader in low-carbon concrete solutions, developing thousands of high performing, low-carbon mixes and the first ready-mixed concrete company in North America to publish Environmental Product Declarations. In addition, Central Concrete was a founding member of the Carbon Leadership Forum and actively participates in legislative actions to streamline the adoption of sustainable technologies, products and processes.

Bob Haldrup
President, Irving Materials, Inc. North Division

Bob Haldrup is the President of the North Division of the family-owned Irving Materials, Inc. (imi), which has 155 active ready mix locations spanning through the states of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Founded in 1946, imi has been at the forefront of concrete innovation, including the development of the front discharge concrete mixer that is now an industry staple. In January 2019, imi announced the adoption of the CarbonCure Technology across 15 of its concrete plants.

William C. Holden
Chair, CarbonCure Industry Advisory Council

As Chair of the Industry Advisory Council, Bill Holden helps guide CarbonCure on the issues that matter most to today's concrete producers. Holden possesses over thirty years of executive and general management construction materials experience in aggregates, ready mix, masonry products and building materials.

Bill served as the President of Block USA, one of the leading concrete masonry producers in the country, and as President of Couch USA, a major producer of ready mix, block and building materials serving the Southeast USA. As well, Bill was formerly Chairman of the Board of the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) and Alabama Concrete Industries Association, and Chairman of the NCMA’s Long Range Planning Committee. Bill currently serves as a board member of The Concrete Industry Management Program.

Alan Wessel
President, Thomas Concrete Inc.

Alan Wessel is President of the US division of Thomas Concrete, a leading supplier of high quality ready-mix concrete in the Southeast USA. Thomas Concrete is known for its innovative concrete solutions and its commitment to sustainability. Under Alan’s direction, Thomas became the worldwide leader in the production of concrete made with carbon dioxide (CO₂). Thomas Concrete was also a member of the Carbon XPRIZE team, helping Team CarbonCure advance into the final round (which they won). Thomas Concrete has supplied over 3 million cubic yards of concrete made with CarbonCure to construction projects, resulting in over 35,000 tons of CO₂ saved.