our people

Justin Bzdek, President & CEO
Prior to founding Symbios Technologies and Symbios Plasma, Mr. Bzdek was founder of Blue Sun Energy, Inc., which established the biodiesel market in the Rocky Mountain region. Mr. Bzdek holds a patent in membrane technology, has sourced more than $100 million in grants and debt/equity financing, and has extensive experience launching new technology companies and products. He leads development teams focused on water treatment and greenhouse gas-mitigating conversion of industrial and agricultural waste streams to clean energy, organic fertilizer, and clean water, and has led the development of Symbios Plasma’s patent-pending innovative low-energy water treatment technology. Other examples of his team’s recent work include engineering design and process modeling for a patent-pending supercritical fluid oil extraction and biofuel process technology and a proprietary engineering model for a patent-pending biogas/solar thermal hybrid electric power generation system. A Hach Scholar, Mr. Bzdek is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Colorado State University.

Brooks M. Hybertson, MBA, Ph.D. – Vice President,
Research & Development
Brooks M. Hybertson, MBA, Ph.D. is Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and President of Salina Solutions, LLC. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Lifevantage, Inc. Dr. Hybertson has an extensive background in scientific research and development, is an author on more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, is an inventor on 6 issued patents, and has been a principal investigator for over fifteen years on research projects pertaining to green technologies, supercritical fluids, oxidative stress, and biotechnology. In addition, he has served as a reviewer for both Federal and private granting agencies and for several scientific journals. His professional background includes experience in laboratory research, product development, and customer support. He has been on the University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty for over 15 years, and has held senior technical management positions at two startup companies. Dr. Hybertson earned his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Colorado at Boulder, received postgraduate training at the Webb-Waring Institute for Biomedical Research in Denver, where he was awarded the Oxygen Society Young Investigator Award, and earned his M.B.A. from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
 
Kenneth Ogan, Ph.D., Senior Consultant
Dr. Kenneth Ogan is an R&D manager with 30+ years’ experience in the development of analytical instruments and methods in pharmaceutical, environmental, and biotechnology fields. He has held senior technical management positions in 3 major companies and in 4 start-up companies, with responsibility for new technology assessment and directing new product development. He has a proven record of building motivated teams. Dr. Ogan’s experience includes 9 years as CTO and VP of Technology for Hach/Danaher in instruments and chemistries for water quality monitoring, and subsequently 5 years working with start-up companies in a variety of water quality monitoring and water treatment technologies. His earlier experience at Perkin-Elmer Corp. included work on a novel GC detector based on argon and helium plasmas. His technical experience covers a wide range of analytical methods, including chromatography, UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, electrophoresis, NMR, and mass spectrometry, from which he has generated 25 peer-reviewed publications, and 5 patents.

Derek Johnson, Ph.D., Symbios Plasma Reactor Inventor
Dr. Derek Johnson was part of the first-generation plasma reactor research team with Colorado State University, the University of Wisconsin, and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. During this time he earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Colorado State University with a focus on aqueous plasma reactors for nanoparticle synthesis and water remediation. Dr. Johnson has since completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Dr. Amy Prieto’s research group working on nanoscale synthesis of inorganic materials. His Ph.D. and postdoctoral research as well as his role as Symbios’ senior scientist and engineer have led to nine peer-reviewed publications and three provisional patents in a number of multi-disciplinary subjects. Dr. Johnson has extensive experience in determining and predicting oxidation mechanisms of organic pollutants as well as analyzing reaction kinetics. He also has demonstrated a proficiency in the design and fabrication of plasma and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactors, which will help expedite the construction of the prototype bench-scale Symbios Plasma Reactor. His knowledge of CVD systems and thin-film deposition are critical to the patent-pending nanotechnology advancements associated with the plasma reactor. In addition, Dr. Johnson serves as an expert reviewer for Environmental Science & Technology, Water Research, Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, and the Water Quality Research Journal of Canada, scientific journals that publish scholarly work focused on plasma and water treatment processes.
  
Gregory Fuhrman, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
Greg Fuhrman has experience capitalizing early stage tech companies, extensive joint venture structuring experience, and has executed more than $1 billion in banking and investment transactions. Prior to joining Symbios, Mr. Fuhrman served as the Manager of Commercial Real Estate Lending for Fort Collins and Loveland for Guaranty Bank and Trust Company. Mr. Fuhrman also spent six years with Ernst & Young in Los Angeles, with significant experience in the mergers and acquisitions and real estate audit practices, with a diverse client base ranging from joint venture partnerships to publicly traded companies, including several IPOs. Mr. Fuhrman spent five years as Chief Accounting Officer at a private real estate investment company, specializing in debt and equity investments and closing on nearly $1 billion in annual transactions. Mr. Fuhrman also has raised capital for start-up companies with unique and commercially appealing technologies. Mr. Fuhrman holds a B.S. in Business Administration from California State University at Northridge with an Option in Accounting Theory and Practice.
 
Buzz Walker, MBA – Vice President, Marketing & Business Development
Buzz Walker has more than 25 years’ experience in systems, software, and technology ventures. Mr. Walker and his team are currently responsible for leading business development and marketing strategy and execution for all of Symbios Technologies’ platforms. This includes go-to-market strategies, market analysis, market segmentation, product positioning, messaging, target market, pricing, distribution/channel planning and partnerships, and sales. Prior to joining Symbios, Mr. Walker was VP of Marketing and Channels for ProStor Systems in Boulder, Colorado, maker of energy efficient data storage systems. Prior to joining ProStor, Mr. Walker was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development leading all marketing, product management, marcom, branding, strategy and alliance activities at Arkivio, Inc., a leader in delivering Data Management software solutions for enterprise file system management. Mr. Walker also has held leadership positions at Hewlett-Packard, focused on sales, marketing, and strategy in Storage, OpenView software, and Office Automation businesses. In his most recent position with HP, he was Director of Business Ventures, responsible for mergers, acquisitions investments and technology alliances in the Storage Industry. Before that, he was the Business Unit Manager for branded Enterprise and Commercial Data Protection Solutions. Prior to joining HP, Mr. Walker was a research and development manager for Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a founding senior member of Symbios’ Management Advisory Board. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Edward C. Giordano, M.S.– Director of Engineering & Manufacturing
Ed Giordano brings to Symbios Technologies 30 years’ experience as an engineer, technical director, and consultant, primarily in fluid treatment. As a chief engineer, Ed’s design work has influenced industrial, commercial, and consumer product brands including 3M-Cuno-AquaPure, Water Pik, Watts, Pentair, Ecolab, Culligan, and Whirlpool. Mr. Giordano is a former partner of Hydro Systems International, a supplier of OEM and private-label systems and components to filter device manufacturers. Prior to joining Symbios Technologies, Mr. Giordano served as Director of Engineering and Manufacturing for Ice Energy, Inc., manufacturer of the Ice Bear®, a utility-scale, distributed thermal energy storage system. The Ice Bear has won numerous cleantech industry awards for innovation and has 20+ U.S. patents issued or pending. Before joining Ice Energy, Mr. Giordano was Chief Product Engineer for Teledyne Water Pik, and previously was Group Leader, Product Engineering - Consumer & Industrial Products for 3M-Cuno, Inc., a leader in water filtration technologies. With his technical leadership positions in market-leading fluid treatment companies, and as a consultant, Mr. Giordano brings a valuable breadth and depth of skills and experiences in product development, regulatory compliance, manufacturing/quality management, and global sourcing. He holds 27 U.S. patents and has served as a member of the NSF Joint Committee for Drinking Water Treatment units and on the Water Quality Association’s Science Advisory Board. Mr. Giordano received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.