Zeomatrix Personnel

Dr. Susan MacKay - President:

Dr. MacKay has overall responsibility for business development and project management for Zeomatrix. She has worked as an independent consultant, in research and development for 3M Corporation, and in product development for Physical Electronics, Inc. She received her B.S. in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary in Virginia and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. She has prior experience in technical marketing, as a Q90s team leader (3M internal quality improvement program), and has co-authored more than 15 scientific publications. Email Susan

Dr. Karl Bishop - Vice President:

Dr. Bishop is in charge of implementing the technical aspects of product design and development. He has experience in both industry and academia in the fields of bio-technology, and materials characterization using NMR, and mass spectroscopy. He holds a B.A. in Chemistry and Physics from Western State College in Colorado and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Syracuse University. He has experience in product development for a biotech company, computational modeling, and has co-authored 17 scientific publications. Email Karl

Dr. Donald MacKay - Director, Finance and Marketing:

Dr. MacKay performs a variety of roles within the company. He is the primary adviser for business development and marketing strategy. He oversees financial aspects of the business and directs the market research effort. He has worked in business and real estate valuation and investment analysis. He holds a BA in Economics from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, and a Ph.D. in Forestry (with a specialization in economics and administration) from the University of Minnesota. Don has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Email Don M.

Donald Bragg - Mechanical Engineer:

Achieving his MS in Mechanical Engineering in 2007 at The University of Maine, Don's main responsibility at Zeomatrix is the designing and manufacturing of operations. His prior career experience includes developing prototype scientific equipment for the University of Maine Department of Physics, also product development engineering for a leading automotive parts manufacturer and industrial manufacturing for the textile industry. Don is experienced in solid modeling (Solidworks, Pro Engineer) and CAE (computer aided engineering; Abaqus and Ansys) which is used in the design of our combinatorial screening reactors. Email Don B.

Tyler Kirkmann - Engineering Physicist:

Achieving his BS in Engineering Physics in 2006 from The University of Maine, Tyler is responsible for our statistical software design and hardware interfacing, utilizing his experience in computer interfacing, database design, network administration and Auto-Cad. Tyler's other duties include zeolite synthesis and x-ray diffraction characterization. He is researching and developing the infrastructure for the ZeoJet, a device using ink jet technology for the automated deposition of materials used in combinatorial arrays. Email Tyler

Karen Childs - Business Office Manager, Marketing & Communications:

Karen is the newest member of our team. She is responsible for our accounts receivable and payable departments, for marketing our company via the Internet, for conducting various market research projects, and for projecting our company's image at trade shows. Karen has a AS from Beal College in Bangor, ME and completed course work in Web Design and Graphics from New Horizons Computer Learning Center in Burlington, MA. Email Karen


Zeomatrix Business Advisory Board

Mike Bilodeau
Mike Bilodeau is currently Director of the Pulp and Paper Process Development Center at the University of Maine in Orono.  The Center is part of the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and provides research and technical services to the Forest Products Industry.  The Center has a full-time staff of 13 scientists and engineers completing more than $1.25 million of research in 2005. Mike is also an Associate Director of the Forest Bioproducts Research Project at the University of Maine.  The University has recently been awarded more than $10 million by the National Science Foundation and the State of Maine to study the conversion of Forest products into transportation fuels, energy and high value chemicals.  As many as 40 faculty, staff and students will be involved in the research project over the next three years. Prior to joining the University in 2003, he worked for Sappi Fine Papers North America for nearly 20 years in Research and Development and Corporate Engineering roles, including Manager of the Papermaking Development group at the Technology Center in Westbrook, ME. Mike received his degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maine in 1983. He and his family currently reside in Brewer, ME.

Monica Mayer

Monica Mayer is currently based in Maine as a Medical Center Sales Representative for Sanofi-Aventis, the world’s third largest pharmaceutical company. Prior to Sanofi she spent 5 years at Merck & Co. as a Professional Representative both in Maine and Florida.  In addition to her sales experience in pharmaceuticals, Monica has been a Director of Sales and Marketing for Host Management Group, a sports marketing firm headquartered in Lexington, KY. During her sales and marketing career, Monica has participated in product launches, supervised and directed an international sales team, created both sales and marketing plans, and performed market research. Monica received her B.A. from the University of Kentucky in 1996. She and her family currently reside in Old Town, ME.

James Burkstrand

James Burkstrand was formally the Director, Sales and Marketing of Hysitron, Inc. He now is a consultant with Marketing APA. James spent nearly 20 years at Physical Electronics in Eden Prairie, MN, in various technical marketing and management roles, including Vice President, Sales and Marketing and General Manager, Japanese Operations.  From 1972 to 1981 he was employed as a Senior Staff Scientist for General Motors Research Labs in Warren, MI. where he was active in numerous areas of basic and applied research in materials science. James received his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of Illinois and his B.S. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  He has more than 30 articles published in refereed technical journals; numerous others in various trade magazines. He is also the co-author of several patents. He is a member of the American Vacuum Society, the American Physical Society, and the Materials Research Society.


Zeomatrix Scientific Advisory Board


Douglas M. Ruthven

Dr. Douglas Ruthven earned his BA(with honors) in Natural Sciences, M.A. (with honors) in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, England.  After earning his Ph.D. he has held faculty appointments at the University of New Brunswick, Frederickton, NB, University of Queensland, Australia, and the National University of Singapore.  During his tenure at the University of New Brunswick he spent a year at Exxon Research and Engineering in Linden, NJ.  Since 1995 he has been a Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Maine.  Throughout his career Dr. Ruthven’s research has focused on the fundamentals of adsorption and development of adsorption separation processes of zeolites and microporous solids.  His international stature as a scientist and engineer has been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada as an elected Fellow, from the University of Cambridge with an honorary Sc.D., Max Planck Research Prize awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Max Planck Society, Century of Achievement Award from the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, and his election as President of the International Adsorption Society.  His work has resulted in the publication of 2 encyclopedia articles, 4 books, and over 250 refereed publications. 

Mitchell R.M. Bruce

Dr. Mitchell R. M. Bruce earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University under the direction of Professor David R. Tyler, and worked as a post-doctoral research associate at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in the lab of Professor Thomas J. Meyer. For the last 19 years, he has been on the faculty in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Maine. His research areas include inorganic, organometallic, bioinorganic, and chemical education with topics such as the structure and photochemistry of organometallic complexes; mechanistic studies of catalytic reactions; activation of small molecules; electrochemistry of transition metal complexes, metal-thiolate disulfide exchange, formation and reactivity of small metal-thiolate clusters, bioinorganic studies involving metal-mediated protein-sulfur reactions, and development of novel sensors for improved metals detection in the environment.  He has published about 50 papers and holds a patent. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Petroleum Research Fund, and the United States Department of Education. He holds an elected position as Councilor for the Maine section of the American Chemical Society, and was recent Chair of the American Chemical Society Council Committee on Project SEED. He has been on the editorial board of the journal Metal Based Drugs, and has reviewed numerous manuscripts for publication for journals such as Journal of the American Chemical Society, Inorganic Chemistry, and Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry.