Vice President, Engineering Division
johns@southernresearch.org
Michael Johns was named Vice President of the Engineering Division in 2004, and has more than nine years of engineering management experience at Southern Research. Johns has led and managed numerous high-profile research and commercial projects, including problem solving and process optimization of space shuttle materials for NASA.
Johns has developed innovative technical programs for new business expansion, including an automotive research group and The Engineering Solutions Group; an engineering consulting business based on computational sciences. Johns has a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master's degree in Business Administration from The University of Alabama. He is a founding member of the Society of Automotive Engineers - Alabama Section, and serves as its treasurer. Johns also serves on the Engineering Foundation Council at The University of Alabama at Birmingham and on the Leadership Board of The University of Alabama's College of Engineering. He also serves on the advisory boards for the Department of Mechanical Engineering at both schools.
Director, Power Systems and Environmental Research
dahlinr@southernresearch.org
Bob Dahlin was named Director of the Power Systems and Environmental Research Department in 2007, and has more than 28 years of experience in engineering, design, and evaluation of advanced technologies in gasification, combustion, and hot-gas cleanup. His research work at the Power Systems Development Facility led to the first published procedure for sizing hot-gas filter systems in gasification applications and one of the first successful demonstrations of procedures and additives for preventing agglomeration problems during the gasification of high-sodium lignite.
Dahlin has managed and participated in a wide variety of research projects, including demonstration of an improved sorbent injection process for in-furnace sulfur capture, evaluation of a wet precipitation system for control of acid mist emissions, demonstration of an enhanced ozonation process for wastewater treatment, and development of a novel method of stabilizing and recycling waste products from flue gas desulfurization. He holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from West Virginia University, The University of Kentucky, and The University of Alabama. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Alabama and North Carolina.
Director, Engineering Solutions Group
danduke@southernresearch.org
Dan Duke joined Southern Research in 2006 as the Director of the Engineering Solutions Group. Duke has extensive experience in industrial, aerospace, defense, government, commercial and academic applications. At The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), he served on the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering where he conducted applied research in solid mechanics and taught various courses in structures and solid mechanics including Finite Element Analysis and Structural Dynamics. He also worked as an independent consultant for equipment manufacturers, design engineers, product development specialists, and end-users throughout the United States. End products and facilities include industrial, commercial, government, defense and anti-terrorist applications for both domestic and international locations. Southern Research was one of his regular clients dating back to 1988.
Duke earned both his Bachelor's degree and Master's degree in Engineering from UAB. His undergraduate focus was in Machine Design while his master's work was primarily associated with Structural Mechanics. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from The University of Alabama where his doctoral research involved nonlinear finite element analysis. He is a registered Professional Engineer in several states including Alabama.
Director, Materials Research
koenig@southernresearch.org
Koenig's main interests have been in the evaluation of the response of materials in unique and extreme environments. Key technologies include mechanical and thermal characterization at cryogenic and ultra high temperatures, non destructive inspection techniques, physical and metrological measurements and environmental response testing.
He has lead the Southern Research efforts in support of return to flight which includes the RCC characterization efforts for the Dynas impact modeling team, the materials evaluations for the RCC Aging Team, preparation and inspection of samples for the Impact Team, evaluation of tile materials, membership in each of the repair teams including the over wrap, plug, patch, small area repair and the R&D team. He has also managed and been active in the BSM debris studies. These efforts have provided the basis for high confidence in the return to flight (STS-114) and future STS mission. He has a BS from Rutgers University and a MS from Ohio State University.
Director, Advanced Energy & Transportation Technologies
piccot@southernresearch.org
Piccot has more than 22 years experience executing and managing environmental research projects for the U.S. EPA, the U.S. DOE, state regulatory agencies, industry trade organizations, government associations, private industry, and consulting firms. As director of the Environment and Energy Department, he manages four research operations located in Alabama, Florida and North Carolina.
He has managed GHG research projects in areas of methane and nitrous oxide source emission measurements, development of GHG source measurement methods, site-specific control technology evaluations for coal mining operations and electric utilities, CO2 emission and energy forecast model development, and GHG inventory development and policy analysis. He is uniquely familiar with the testing requirements and technologies associated with sources of emissions in the coal, oil, gas, landfill, refrigeration, IC Engine, distributed generation, and other industries. He also has experience with source-specific engineering and economic analyses and field demonstrations of emission control technologies.
Since 1997, Piccot has advised several global organizations on technology performance verification issues, including the World Bank, the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.S. EPA, Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce-New Deli, the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets, and others. He earned a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, where he has also completed graduate-level course work in Environmental Engineering.
Director, Systems Development
west@southernresearch.org
For almost 10 years, West has directed the Systems Development Department which specializes in specific specification/analysis, design, fabrication, assembly and debug of electronic and electro-mechanical systems for military and commercial customers. While Senior Program Manager for the group, he negotiated a multi-million dollar, multi-year contract for the design, fabrication, assembly and qualification of two major subsystems for the Army Enhanced Fiber Optic Guided Missile program, managing the program within budget and on schedule.
Before joining Southern Research, West was Vice President/General Manager of the Oxmoor Corp. subsidiary of IMAX Corporation headquartered in Toronto, Canada where he directly managed the research and product development group that developed OEM products for Oxmoor, IMAX and other companies. While at Quality Micro Systems in Mobile, Ala., he was director of Systems Engineering where he managed the international regulatory affairs, manufacturing engineering, document control and component qualification departments. West also established and chaired the first pre-production design review process which resulted in a 96 percent reduction in field returns compared to those products that were not reviewed through this process. His early career also includes stints in Dallas, Texas as director of Research and Development for Quest Medical, Inc., Consumer Products Department Manager for George Goode and Associates, and Electrical Design Engineer for Texas Instruments, Inc.
West earned both a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University, and an MBA from The University of Dallas.