Meet the Team
Our Team of Adsorption Experts
ARI consists of a highly skilled team of professionals uniquely qualified to tackle your most challenging separation and purification projects.
Kent Knaebel, PE, Ph.D.
Founder & President
Dr. Kent Knaebel is the founder and president of ARI and has overall responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the firm. Considered one of the world’s foremost adsorption experts, served as editor-in-chief of the journal, Adsorption, for its first 16 volumes, and is a founder of the International Adsorption Society. He co-authored the textbook, Pressure Swing Adsorption, as well as the mass transfer chapter in the 7th, 8th, and 9th editions of Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook. Dr. Knaebel holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kentucky, and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware. He taught at Ohio State University for twelve years in the chemical engineering department. Prior to his teaching career he worked for Eastman Chemical Co. He is a Professional Engineer, registered in Ohio. Dr. Knaebel has been awarded 16 US patents.
Heungsoo Shin, Ph.D.
Senior Research Fellow
Dr. Shin is Senior Research Fellow for ARI and holds bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering. His doctoral thesis was on pressure swing adsorption, from the Ohio State University. Dr. Shin’s areas of expertise are in process development and computer modeling of adsorption processes. Prior to joining ARI, Dr. Shin taught chemical engineering in South Korea for 10 years.
Linda Kerscher, PE
Director, Engineering & Controls
Ms. Linda Kerscher is the Director of Engineering & Controls at ARI. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Ohio State University and is a licensed Professional Engineer registered in the state of Ohio. She has been with ARI since 1993, and her specialties are process development, adsorbent evaluation, system troubleshooting, data acquisition, and process control.
Seth Knaebel, MS
Vice President, Engineering & Operations
Mr. Knaebel is a chemical engineer and Vice President at ARI. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. His master’s thesis focused on simulation and optimization of pressure swing adsorption systems. He joined ARI in 2004 and his specialties include biogas upgrading, natural gas processing, air separation, carbon dioxide capture from flue gas, adsorbent evaluation under extreme conditions, pilot plant studies, process controls, process integration, plant startup, and plant optimization.
Jarret Chirafisi
Vice President, Marketing & Business Development
Mr. Chirafisi serves as Vice President, Marketing & Business Development. He leads the company’s brand building initiatives, business process refinement, and go-to-market strategy development & implementation in new and existing markets. He joined ARI in 2014 and brings over 20 years of marketing and portfolio management experience. He is skilled at building and refining product portfolios that deliver outstanding stakeholder value, leveraging key consumer insights to drive meaningful product innovation, and P&L management. He earned his MBA from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, as well as a BS in Multinational Business Operations and a BS in Information Studies from the Florida State University.
Pam Knaebel
Office Manager
Mrs. Knaebel graduated from East Tennessee State University with a BS degree in Microbiology. Prior to starting up ARI with Dr. Knaebel, she worked in both medical and industrial microbiology. Pam has been with ARI since its inception and enjoys the various challenges that come with wearing many hats as a small business owner.
Stephen Riley
Laboratory Researcher
Mr. Riley graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in Physics and a minor in Geology. Obtained an associates degree in Forensic Science. Has worked at Adsorption Research Inc. since 2009 as a laboratory researcher.
Reid Almand
Engineering Project Manager
Mr. Reid Almand is an Engineering Project Manager at ARI. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering & Public Policy. Reid’s expertise lies within large-scale project management, implementation, and innovation. Prior to joining ARI in early 2022, he worked in the automotive industry as a Project Engineering Manager specializing in new model vehicle development and mass production launches.
Matt Pedroza
Commissioning Engineer
Mr. Pedroza is a Commissioning Engineer at ARI. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVry University. He joined ARI in 2022 and brings over 15 years’ experience in design, fabrication and testing of parts and processes for challenging engineering projects. In his current role, he assists with process commissioning, troubleshooting, and maintenance or upgrading of ARI PSA systems. He researches and answers customer questions regarding system features, issues, and upgrades.
Darilyn Craw, EIT
Process Engineer
Ms. Craw is a Chemical Process Engineer at ARI. She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biological engineering from Colorado State University and is a licensed Engineer in Training. Her expertise lies in process design and optimization of adsorption processes. Prior to joining ARI, she worked in the cement industry as both Process Superintendent and Shipping Superintendent.
Erich Bobeck
Commissioning Engineer
Mr. Bobeck is a commissioning engineer with ARI. He earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Michigan with a focus in sustainable energy infrastructure. He worked as an operations technician at a renewable natural gas facility before joining the ARI team in 2022, with specialties including plant optimization, process optimization, and system troubleshooting.
Michael Yao, EIT
Controls Engineer
Mr. Yao has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from The Ohio State University. His academic focus was on linear systems and digital signal processing. He joined ARI in 2022 with over 14 years of experience as a control system engineer in the oil & gas and OEM equipment manufacturing industries. Mr. Yao has experience with Rockwell, Siemens, Beckhoff, and Aveva control system platforms.
Bruce Green
Engineering Project Manager
Mr. Green is a Columbus, Ohio native and graduate of The Ohio State University (BSW&IE) and Otterbein University (MBA). He has broad experience in engineering and construction project management for the aerospace, welding, gas, and electric utility business sectors. His career interests focus on earned value analysis, servant leadership and team building in project management.
Stephen Ragland
Project Coordinator
Mr. Ragland holds an Associates Degree in Logistics Engineering Technology from Columbus State Community College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Operations Management from Ohio University. Complementing his academic achievements, he has acquired certificates in Lean Six Sigma Methods and Technical Project Management from Ohio University.
Anthony Stoner
Controls Engineer
Mr. Stoner is a controls engineer at ARI. He earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at The Ohio State University. He joined ARI in 2023 with over 10 years of experience in electrical design, robotics, and control system engineering in the Automotive and OEM equipment manufacturing industries. Mr. Stoner has experience with Mitsubishi, Rockwell, Beckhoff, and Aveva control system platforms.
Charlotte Geary, CAPM
Marketing Coordinator
Ms. Geary is a Marketing Coordinator at ARI. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing from The Ohio State University and is a certified associate in project management. Her interests lie in business development, operations, and design. Prior to joining ARI, she worked in the hydrogen fuel cell industry.
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