Engineering, Policy and Society Series

TISS/NCSU ESI  joins the NCSU Engineering and Policy Society to invite you to attend a panel on hydraulic fracturing in North Carolina  

Doors will open at 4:50 pm. Registration is not required and walk-ins are welcome. However, seats are limited.  You can reserve a seat if you like by completing the online registration form and printing out a ticket which you should present to the ushers on your arrival. These seats will be held for you until 5:10 p.m. on the day of the event - thereafter, they will be released. REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE at  noon  on Monday, April 22nd or when all seats are filled.

 Panelists

• Vikram Rao,   Executive Director , Research Triangle Energy Consortium and member of NC Mining and Energy Commission [Technical and Environmental Questions]
• Kenneth B. Taylor, State Geologist of North Carolina, North Carolina Geological Survey, and member of NC Mining and Energy Commission [North Carolina Resource Questions]
• Amy Pickle, member of NC Mining and Energy Commission,  Nicholas Institute, Duke University [Legal and Regulatory Questions]

 Panelists will initially be questioned by a representative group of Triangle faculty and students. The floor will then be opened to the audience at large for questions and answers.

Vikram Rao has been the executive director of the Research Triangle Energy Consortium since
September 1, 2008. He has been involved in projects involving intellectual asset management
and technology. In 1974, Rao held a position as a senior research engineer. With regards to
endeavors into the energy sector, Dr. Rao serves on the board of Intelligent Well Controls Ltd.
and also advises venture capitalist Energy Ventures AS, and firms BioLargo Inc., Global Energy
Talent Ltd. and Integro Earth Fuels Inc. He also serves as a member of the
North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission. Rao is the author of more than 50 publications
and has been awarded 30 United States patents and foreign analogs in fields that include non-
ferrous metal refining, alloy formulations, and oil and gas technology. In July 2012, Rao wrote a
book on Shale Gas: the Promise and the Peril.  Rao holds a doctorate degree and a master’s in
engineering from Stanford University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in Chennai India.
 
Kenneth B. Taylor is currently the State Geologist of North Carolina
and the Chief of the North Carolina Geological Survey. He also has been the disaster response
and recovery coordinator for the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural
Resources since 2005. Taylor was also the director of the N.C. Division of Emergency
Management in the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety from 2002 until 2005.
His academic achievements include a BS in Geology from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, a Master of Science in Geology from the University of South Carolina at Columbia,
and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Saint Louis University. In 2012, he served on a committee that
was aimed at creating ethical rules for fracking development. He also has done research and
presentations concerning the fracking and its implications on emergency response.
   
Amy Pickle is among 15 members of the Commission legislated by the General Assembly to
develop regulations governing hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” of the state’s underground
shale gas reserves. She is a senior attorney for state policy at the Nicholas Institute for
Environmental Policy Solutions who has been appointed by Governor Beverly Perdue to North
Carolina’s Mining and Energy Commission. As a part of this institute, Amy holds workshops on
shale gas development and the impact on the local government. Amy also served on the
committee in 2012, along with Dr. Taylor, that was tasked with developing and evaluating
ethical rules for fracking. Her academic achievements include a BS in Chemistry and BA in
English from the University of Florida, as well as a law degree from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law

Directions:

Driving along Western Blvd towards Raleigh, take a right onto Varsity Dr. Continue straight across Avent Ferry Rd and into Centennial Campus. Take a left onto Partners Way and into Partners Way Parking Deck II - Pay Lot.

Map

Parking: The Partners Way Deck is a "pay and display" self-pay system; purchase anticipated parking time, pay and display receipt on windshield. Make sure you park in the Pay Lot (Deck II) and not the permit-only lot (Deck I). Once parked, follow the crosswalk and sidewalk along Gold Leaf BTEC Building to entrance. 

Coming from Campus:

Students/Faculty coming from NCSU campus can take Wolfline bus #8: Southeast Loop from the Library or Carmichael Gym and get off at the Partners II stop on Centennial Campus. 

Some NCSU employees and students may be able to take advantage of permit lots.