James (Jim) E. Chitwood, P.E.

Safe Marine Transfer, LLC. – Partner

Mr. Chitwood, co-founder of Safe Marine Transfer, LLC (SMT), has 45 years of Industry experience in offshore engineering and R&D working both domestically and internationally. His principal project from 1991 to 2014 was the Chevron led DeepStar Project where he managed joint industry R&D projects. He and his SMT partners are currently working a RPSEA sponsored project to develop a largesubsea chemical storage and injection system for deepwater.

Mr. Chitwood has worked for various engineering, manufacturing, and production companies both as an employee and as a consultant throughout his career. He has authored numerous technical articles and papers and holds fourteen patents.

Mr. Chitwood has a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. He is a registered Engineer in the State of Texas and a member of both ASME and SPE.

Arthur J. Schroeder, Jr.

Safe Marine Transfer, LLC. – Partner

Art co-founded Safe Marine Transfer, LLC (SMT) in 2013. Prior to SMT, Art founded Energy Valley, Inc., in 2001 and focused the company on assisting entrepreneurial start-ups while also consulting with DeepStar and large oil and service / manufacturing companies defining technical needs and then leveraging for commercial advantage. Prior to Energy Valley he spent 25 years in upstream operations, engineering, construction, strategy development, and crisis management with Amoco and BP. Art also has served on numerous professional, corporate, and civic boards and has published over 100 technical papers and has been granted patents on his innovations.

Art was graduated from Georgia Tech with both a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Engineering, and from the University of Houston with an MBA, major in Finance and International Business. He has also completed several post graduate certificate programs and lives with his family in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Tom A. Gay

Safe Marine Transfer, LLC.  – Sr. Advisor

Tom’s recent experience included support of BG Group’s surface technology and upstream engineering activities in Houston.  Tom represented BG in a number of DeepStar and RPSEA projects.  Tom was BG’s Group Technical Authority for Floating Production Systems from 2008 through mid-2014 and supported BG Group’s Floating Production interests.  He joined BG Group in 2008 after 31years with the ExxonMobil organization.  Tom’s experience includes research, engineering, project, commercial, and integrity for floating production, and related subsea, flowline, and riser systems with assignments in the US, Norway, the UK, and France.

Tom was educated at Oklahoma State University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Texas, Austin. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas.