Valerie Schafer is a Licensed Professional Engineer with more than 35 years of experience. She has a BS in chemical engineering with honours from University of Virginia. She is an OSHA-authorized safety trainer and a Root Cause Failure Analysis leader. Valerie began her career at ExxonMobil where she served as the head of an international network of gas treatment plants. She audited refineries for energy optimization. She has held positions of Process Engineering Manager and Vice President of Engineering where she supervised multi-cultural teams. Valerie’s areas of expertise include leading concept studies, thermodynamic modelling, engineering design, contractor design review, and plant construction, commissioning, operations, and troubleshooting. She has led risk assessments and incident investigations. She worked closely with power plants in roles such as Lead Process Engineer at one of ExxonMobil’s largest refineries and as Operations Superintendent of a gas plant in Kurdistan, Iraq. Valerie has lived and worked in the Middle East, Asia, South America, Europe, U. K. and Canada. Valerie is well-versed in American and international design standards and speaks 4 languages.