John Farina provides petroleum engineering consulting and technical training services to the international and domestic petroleum industry. He has over 30 years experience in production and reservoir engineering, working on projects in Texas, Oklahoma, the North Sea and Siberia. John has a BS in petroleum engineering from West Virginia University, and has previously worked for Shell Oil and Sneider and Merkel Associates. John was a distinguished lecturer for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1989 on the subject of formation damage and its effect on well evaluation and performance and is an active member of SPE, serving on the Gulf Coast Section Continuing Education Committee.

Ron Hinn is the knowledge management lead for Occidental Oil & Gas Co. He has worked in various supervisory, consulting, and engineering positions during his career. Hinn has a BS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa and is an SPE Distinguished Member.

Susan Howes is Engineering Recruitment and Development Supervisor, Technology and Planning at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. Since joining Anadarko in 1982, she has had various engineering assignments in Denver and Houston, including responsibilities in recruiting and career development for engineers, managing acquisition and divestment projects, economic evaluation, reservoir studies and reservoir simulation of conventional and unconventional reservoirs. Susan has a BS in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas and is a registered professional engineer in Texas. She is chair for the 2005 SPE Gulf Coast Section, and has served as Vice Chair, membership chair, scholarship chair, community service chair, secretary, and director. Susan received the 1997 Society of Petroleum Engineers Young Member Outstanding Service Award, and the 2003 Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Member Award.