Ivan Katz Email & Phone Number

Houston, Texas, US

North Sydney, NSW, AU

• Manage plant operations for the UCLA Cogeneration Facility, a combined cycle cogeneration facility supplying electricity, steam, chilled water, and compressed air to the UCLA campus.
• Ensure efficient plant operation and compliance with dispatch parameters prescribed by the customer.
• Review daily reports to optimize plant performance and reduce waste.
• Report plant operations metrics defined in the facility O&M contract to the customer.
• Manage work safety programs including Job Hazard Analysis, Lock-Out-Tag-Out, Confined Space, and Hot Work.
• Coordinate operations support for equipment outages and projects, including major overhauls and gas turbine repower.

North Sydney, NSW, AU

• Managed plant maintenance for the UCLA Cogeneration Facility.
• Managed maintenance activities for all facility equipment, including gas combustion turbine generators, heat recovery steam generators, steam turbine generator, high pressure boilers, centrifugal chillers, absorption.
• Supervised maintenance staff, onsite contractors, and offsite repair services.
• Planned, scheduled, and executed maintenance outages, major equipment overhauls, and inspections for renewing operating permits (CalOSHA, SCAQMD, Los Angeles Fire Department).
• Utilized facility drawings, equipment literature, and maintenance records to troubleshoot equipment failures, develop repair plans, and schedule preventative maintenance.
• Developed maintenance strategies that minimize impacts to plant operations and best utilize plant resources.

North Sydney, NSW, AU

• Supervised daily operations and maintenance for a combined cycle cogeneration facility supplying electricity, steam, chilled water, and compressed air to the UCLA campus.
• Operated all facility equipment for supplying electricity, steam, chilled water, and compressed air to the UCLA campus.
• Efficiently operated cogen facility, meeting or exceeding dispatch parameters prescribed by the customer.
• Responded to unplanned outages by executing Emergency Operating Procedures for reinstating dispatched services.
• Performed preventative maintenance and troubleshooting on plant equipment.
• Coordinated plant activities by directing the work of Operations and Maintenance staff and contractors.

North Sydney, NSW, AU

• Provided operations, maintenance, and engineering support for a combined cycle cogeneration facility supplying electricity, steam, chilled water, and compressed air to UCLA campus facilities.
• Operated all facility equipment for supplying electricity, steam, chilled water, and compressed air to the UCLA campus.
• Efficiently operated facility, meeting or exceeding dispatch parameters prescribed by the customer.
• Responded to unplanned outages by executing Emergency Operating Procedures for reinstating dispatched services.
• Executed and enforced work safety procedures including Job Hazard Analysis, Lock-Out-Tag-Out, Confined Space, Hot Work permits.
• Performed preventative maintenance and troubleshooting on plant equipment.

Los Angeles, CA, US

• Provided engineering support for on- and offshore fluid transport, phase separation, and gas processing facilities at THUMS, Tidelands, Huntington Beach, and Sansinena assets.
• Managed pipeline mechanical integrity inspection and maintenance programs, ensuring 100% regulatory compliance (DOT, DOGGR, CSLC).
• Constructed pipeline risk algorithms for Sansinena, Huntington Beach, and offshore assets.
• Conducted facility and pipeline failure analysis, identifying and correcting failure trends through detailed data collection and analysis.
• Managed startup, maintenance, and regulatory compliance for THUMS shallow gas production.
• Managed facility shut-in projects, assuring completion of critical path work within allotted timeframe.

Houston, TX, US

• Provided engineering support for on- and offshore fluid transport, phase separation, and gas processing facilities at THUMS and Tidelands assets.
• Managed pipeline mechanical integrity inspection and maintenance programs, ensuring 100% regulatory compliance (DOT, DOGGR, CSLC).
• Constructed pipeline risk algorithms for Sansinena, Huntington Beach, and offshore assets.
• Conducted facility and pipeline failure analysis, identifying and correcting failure trends through detailed data collection and analysis.
• Managed startup, maintenance, and regulatory compliance for THUMS shallow gas production.
• Managed facility shut-in projects, assuring completion of critical path work within allotted timeframe.

Los Angeles, CA, US

• Assisted with communications and composed content for the USC Global Energy Network (GEN) and Center for Geothermal Studies (CGS).
• Wrote the USAID grant “US-Indonesia Geothermal Education Capacity Building” on behalf of the USC CGS, which was awarded to the CGS in the amount of $2 million.
• Assisted in official communications and progress reporting with USAID.
• Composed content for USC GEN and CGS websites and informational materials.
• Represented USC at geothermal industry conferences and tradeshows.

Houston, TX, US

• Evaluated power plant performance and efficiency at The Geysers geothermal power generation facility, working directly under the principle engineer in charge of power plant operations.
• Evaluated power plant performance with General Electric’s GateCycle software, becoming the first in-house user of the software and performing analyses previously contracted to a consultant.
• Designed and modeled cooling water flow system project with accompanying economic analysis, which received final approval from management for construction.
• Designed H2S removal system utilizing preexisting and unused infrastructure to minimize cost.
• Performed comparative analysis of geothermal wellbore databases in cooperation with the Reservoir Management Team.

Santa Rosa, California, US

• Planned and executed geochemical sampling and analysis in addition to steam quality/purity and enthalpy measurements in the field, providing Thermochem’s broad range of services to geothermal lease holders and power.
• Redesigned and built the two-phase tracer injection system along with infield analyzers, now the standard for enthalpy measurement in two-phase flows.
• Authored (2nd) a technical paper published in the Proceeding of the World Geothermal Congress.
• Conducted greenfield exploration and geochemical surveys for geothermal developments worldwide.
• Performed steam purity and quality analyses at geothermal power plants in the US and abroad.
• Injected tracers for characterization reservoir properties and fluid flow at numerous geothermal and oil and gas fields in the US and abroad.

Santa Rosa, California, US

Conducted laboratory analyses of geochemical analytes and tracers, built field sampling and analysis equipment, and supported fieldwork worldwide.

Santa Rosa, California, US

Conducted laboratory analyses of geochemical analytes and tracers.

Apprenticed to carpenter contractor and supervised jobsite laborers.

Formulated a line of liquid acid dyes for use on natural fibers.

Conducted excavation, apprenticed to carpenters, and supervised day laborers.

Master Of Science (M.S.), Chemical Engineering

Bachelor Of Arts With Honors, Biology-Chemistry (Dual Degree)