Management Team
The Inventure management team has proven experience with petroleum fuels and bio-based fuel manufacturing and marketing, as well as market and product development.
Ryan Long – Chief Executive Officer
Ryan Long started working for Inventure in the early part of 2009. Initially, he was working in the research and development department on the early stages of the algae to jet fuel grant Inventure received through the Department of Defense (DoD). After this initial work, he became more involved in the organization as a Reactor Engineer and became integral to the development of Inventure’s Mixed Supercritical Fluid platform which was the selected technology by the DoD for the advanced stages of the project. In later years, Ryan became involved with different applications of this platform, one of which was associated with Wilmar International in a specific application around the isolation and purification of nutraceuticals, including methyl esters. In early 2016, he was promoted to Engineering Manager and managed a staff of over twenty chemical engineers and chemists in a variety of different projects (including specialty chemical manufacturing). His work here included the research, engineering, and successful plant commissioning of Inventure’s first technology commercialization at a 10,000 Ton/yr scale. In 2018, Ryan became Chief Technology Officer, where he continued to develop patents for Inventure as he became more integrated on Inventure’s different profit centers (licensing, sponsored research, manufacturing, engineering services, etc). In December of 2019, he was promoted to CEO of Inventure. Ryan is committed to helping Inventure’s clients find solutions that meet their environmental sustainability goals.
William R. Sutterlin, Ph.D. – CSO
Dr. Rusty Sutterlin has a background and pertinent experience in chemical production, analysis, and planning. He has received organizational, local, state and federal recognition for his work, including being a recipient of the prestigious US Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. As a chemist and chemical engineer, Dr. Sutterlin has experience in trouble shooting, interpretation and method development with analytical instruments and process development. His research interests include the conversion of agricultural products (corn, soybean, animal fats, algae, plant and animal wastes and cellulosic materials) and other biomass materials into higher value added chemicals. Typically these higher value added chemicals are a replacement of petroleum products. The majority of Dr. Sutterlin’s research is focused on products that have the potential to go from research and development to commercialization. He is part of the United States and Brazil research collaboration in biomass conversion.
Way Cheng Chai – CFO
Ms. Chai is a chartered accountant (ICAEW) by profession with an honors degree in Finance from Sheffield University, England. Her career spans over 25 years, reflecting a unique combination of finance and investment banking advisory work combined with executive responsibility of a major corporation. With over 15 years of investment banking experience, largely based in Hong Kong with Schroders and Merrill Lynch, responsible for fund raising (equity and equity linked issues), IPOs, M&As, corporate restructuring and general advisory transactions for local and multinational corporations in a variety of industries in North and South East Asia. She has a varied and extensive transactional background of operating and negotiating in the region, and a wide and deep network of contacts acquired throughout the region. Ms. Chai also served as Finance Director of SCMP Group, a HK listed corporation which is one of the largest English language publishing and print media companies in the region.