Michele LaNoue co-founded Headworks in 1993 and oversees all aspects of the Company, particularly its financial, legal, and business operations.
Prior to founding Headworks International, Ms. LaNoue practiced as an attorney specializing in international mergers, acquisitions and corporate business. From 1984 through 1991, she served as senior counsel at Hughes Tool Company and Baker Hughes Inc., its successor, and subsequently as general counsel and corporate secretary at its offshore division, Vetco Gray Inc., now GE Oil & Gas. She then worked in Vienna, Austria, specializing in assisting foreign businesses with legal advice and financing for their ventures outside of Austria.
Ms. LaNoue received her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from Texas A&M University in 1976 and a Doctorate in Jurisprudence from the University of Houston in 1982 where she was managing editor of the Houston Journal of International Law and an exemplary leader for Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity, acting as Vice President in 1980 and President in 1981. Ms. LaNoue graduated from the Owners & Presidents Management Program at Harvard University’s School of Business in 2012.
Ms. LaNoue’s professional affiliations include: Ms. LaNoue is a Trustee of the Houston Grand Opera and a member of its Finance Committee. She is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, Houston; Water Environment Federation (WEF), a founding member of Clean Water America Alliance, and a member of the International Women’s Foundation, Houston. She was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce and served as a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s District Export Council – Houston Chapter, and as its Chair from 2006 to 2008. She is a frequent speaker at water and export related conferences.
Gerald Seidl co-founded Headworks in 1993 and heads its Sales and Marketing, as well as, the Engineering Team’s research and development efforts. He is a 35+ year veteran of the wastewater treatment industry.
Mr. Seidl holds several U.S. and international patents for water treatment equipment and processes. Mr. Seidl earned a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering, specializing in water and wastewater plant design, from the University of Technology in Vienna, Austria. After earning his degree, Mr. Seidl became the regional business development manager for several years on behalf of two Austrian contracting companies in various countries in the Middle East, including Egypt and Kuwait.
In 1987, Mr. Seidl established the successful enterprise MBC in Hong Kong. There, he opened the market to the MS® Bar Screens and eventually captured a 95% market share. In 1993, he sold his interest in MBC and began focusing his efforts on Headworks International Inc.
His expertise in developing new markets has established Headworks as the market leader in the USA and enabled the company’s expansions into the Middle East, Africa, South America and Asia. He has been an active member in the Water Environment Federation (WEF) since 1994.
Mr. Seidl is a regular speaker and panelist at environmental conferences where he shares his expertise on market expansion and development of new sales territories. Events include the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) forum at WEFTEC (Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference), the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Austrian Embassy, Hong Kong Trade Development Council and InvestH2O.
Additionally, Mr. Seidl holds the title of Honorary Consul of Austria, and is responsible for Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas areas.
Wayne McCauley joined Headworks in 2000 and oversees all product lines and manages the product development and implementation of new technologies.
Mr. McCauley is an 18+ year veteran of the wastewater treatment industry. He is a highly-technical Sales & Manufacturing Management Leader recognized for contributions in the restructuring, transformation and expansion of manufacturing, production and procurement operations. Mr. McCauley is a catalyst for change, innovation and automation at Headworks. He plays a key role in the successful introduction of continuous process improvements to enhance competitiveness, reduce costs, increase profitability and improve efficiencies. Mr. McCauley attended Sam Houston State University in Texas.
Afnan Din joined Headworks in 2010 and has over 17 years of experience in the water industry in both Europe and the Middle East.
Prior to joining Headworks International, Mr. Din was at MWH as a process engineer on several leading water, wastewater, and sludge treatment processes. Subsequently, Mr. Din joined Halcrow (now CH2MHill) in UAE where he was primarily responsible for developing Halcrow’s process capability and process team in the region, building significant experience in several advanced water and wastewater technologies, including working on the detail design and commissioning of MBR, MBBRs, IFASs, SBRs, RO and ozone treatment plants.
Since joining Headworks, Mr. Din has focused on designing and delivering MBBR and IFAS plants for both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment systems and has led a team of process engineers delivering process design for petrochemical, textile, leachate, food and beverage, and municipal wastewater, providing complete solutions to meet customer requirements.
Mr. Din graduated from University College London in 2001 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering, is a member of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, and a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Water and Environmental Management.
Somnath Basu, PhD, PE joined Headworks in 2016 and leads its water and wastewater engineering, and new process and technology development efforts across multiple applications.
Dr. Basu has experience in municipal, industrial, upstream & downstream oil and gas, chemical & petrochemical, food & beverage, pharmaceutical and power generation industries. Dr. Basu has over 30 years of experience in multiple areas of process engineering – design; operation, start-up and commissioning; and R&D. Prior to joining Headworks, Dr. Basu worked at Shell Technology Center in Houston and in Bangalore, India, leading R&D projects for produced water, LNG, and refinery wastewater collection and treatment systems. Dr. Basu also has years of experience developing the water & wastewater treatment market in parts of Asia, leading industrial waste treatment systems using chemical and biological processes, designing water treatment systems for steam and power plants, as well as, pharmaceutical wastewater treatment projects and much more.
Dr. Basu has successfully published numerous academic and technical papers on wastewater and oil & gas industry topics, including wastewater treatment fundamentals for petroleum refineries, enhanced biological phosphorus removal, oil and gas field extraction guidelines for water reuse, hydrofracturing operations, and much more. He also serves on the Water Environment Federation’s Industrial Waste Treatment Committee and its Government Affairs Committee.
Dr. Basu received his M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also a Board Certified Environment Engineer (BCEE) and a Registered Professional Engineer.
Siva Angappan joined Headworks in 2009 and specializes in the process design of wastewater treatment systems in the municipal, industrial, and marine industries.
Mr. Angappan has more than 25 years of experience in environmental engineering including 18 years of experience in designing moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems and integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) systems. Prior to joining Headworks and its predecessor, Hydroxyl Systems Inc., he worked with major consulting companies in the U.S. including Rust/Raytheon Engineering and Jacobs Engineering. He is a co-inventor in two MBBR process patents, has designed hundreds of MBBR and IFAS wastewater treatment processes throughout the world.
Mr. Angappan has a Bachelor’s in Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Annamalai University in India, a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University in Alabama, and an MBA in International Business from University of Victoria in Canada.
Paul Sun, PE, PhD, holds a 1975 doctorate from Purdue University in environmental engineering.
Dr. Sun worked for Shell Oil Company for more than 30 years as an environmental engineer: upstream (produced water and fracking return waste), refinery, petrochemical (effluent treatment) and product transportation terminals, and retail businesses (contaminated groundwater). He retired from Shell as the Technical Leader in effluent treatment.
Dr. Sun has published more than 30 technical papers and received several awards from organizations such as; Water Environment Federation and Chemical Engineering (G.B.).
