Dr. Mariano Gurfinkel

Project Manager
Bureau of Economic Geology
Jackson School of Geosciences/ University of TX, Austin

Dr. Gurfinkel serves as Project Manager, CEE at the Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Gurfinkel’s main areas of interest are the development and implementation of technology for unconventional resources, with special focus on producing and handling heavy oil and strategic planning under conditions of uncertainty, with special focus on the identification and valuation of real options. At CEE, Dr. Gurfinkel also serves as the team leader for liquefied natural gas research and outreach. Before joining CEE, Dr. Gurfinkel was responsible for the establishment, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy, of the Center for Energy and Technology (CETA) of the Americas at Florida International University. Prior to CETA, Dr. Gurfinkel led technology development efforts on heavy oil at the research and development center of PDVSA. Dr. Gurfinkel holds 3 patents, Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. degree with honors in mechanical engineering from Universidad Simon Bolivar, Venezuela.

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