William A. “Bill Poe is a Senior Principal Technical Consultant at AVEVA, the United States. He has over 35 years of international business and industrial experience in design, operations and project management of gas processing plants with a special focus on automation, multivariable predictive control (MPC), advanced process control (APC), optimization design and implementation, and real-time performance monitoring. Bill started his career at Shell Oil Company, USA, in 1981, working over a decade in natural gas processing plants operations and engineering as well as management of multimillion-dollar projects. In 1993, he joined Continental Controls to lead the process engineering department in support of executing contracts with the Gas Research Institute, USA, where he developed new multivariable control applications in the natural gas industry. After joining GE as part of the Continental Controls acquisition, he became vice president of this division of GE where his responsibilities included direction of product development, projects, technical sales support, and customer service for multivariable control and optimization applications in the natural gas industry. In 2001, Bill joined Invensys Process Systems, USA, where he has developed APC and Optimization Master Plans for international companies such as Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, Statoil, and PDVSA, as well as automation and advanced process control feasibility studies for over 100 natural gas processing plants worldwide. After Schneider Electric acquired Invensys Process Systems in 2014 and merged its software division with AVEVA in 2018, he has continued to work with the top gas processing companies. Bill is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Natural Gas Science & Engineering, has authored or co-authored more than 60 technical papers, and made numerous technical presentations at prestigious international conferences. He received the GE Innovators Award in 1999 and attained the Invensys Circle of Excellence in 2011. Saeid Mokhatab is an internationally recognized process technology expert in the fields of natural gas transmission, processing, and liquefaction. For over two decades, he has been actively involved in various phases of several large-scale midstream natural gas projects—from conceptual design through facility start-up and operational support. Beyond project work, he has provided strategic guidance and technical expertise to a number of international companies in Canada and Europe. He has made significant contributions to his fields of expertise through more than 300 technical papers and 4 authoritative reference books published by Elsevier. Notably, two of these books have been translated into multiple languages and are widely regarded as essential resources in both industry and academia. Driven by a passion to bridge the gap between industry and academia, he established an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to natural gas science and engineering, which has since become a leading publication in the discipline. His contributions also extend to editorial roles with top-tier journals and industry publications, as well as active participation in professional societies and global conferences.
