Combustible Dust Roundtable

Dr. Ashok Ghose Dastidar specializes in chemical process hazards analysis, specifically - flammable dusts, liquid & vapor explosions and combustion hazards analysis and testing as well as electrostatic hazards analysis.

Jason Krbec is the Director of Business Development at CV Technology. Jason has spent the last 16 years working on reducing the impact of dust explosions in industrial facilities. Jason has a deep focus on education around safety with a strong focus on serving clients managing combustible dust hazards with innovative explosion and fire protection solutions. In addition to his role at CV Technology, Jason is NFPA Technical Committee Member on several of the technical committees that comprise NFPA 660, NFPA 68, and NFPA 69. Jason is professionally licensed engineer in the State of Florida (PE) and holds mechanical engineering and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees from the University of Florida.

Andreas Brandl currently serves as the chief technology officer at IEP Technologies in Marlborough, Massachusetts, where his professional endeavors concentrate on industrial explosion protection. With an extensive background in the oil and gas services industry prior to his present role, Andreas brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the realm of safety and risk management. In addition to his executive responsibilities, Andreas is a member of the technical committee on combustible metals and metal dusts of NFPA660. Andreas earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the Vienna University of Technology and his MBA at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.

Jonathan McPherson is the director of K-State's Advanced Manufacturing and Bulk Solids Technology Center. Jonathan comes from industry having spent 11 years designing and commissioning material handling projects as a project engineer and developing business relationships in the markets of performance materials, battery and general industry as an account executive. His project backgrounds include plastics, PVC, paint, lead-acid battery, food and confectionary. Jonathan works to support the development of advanced manufacturing training by offering industry-focused short courses on bulk solids and material handling. Jonathan also manages the advanced manufacturing research program, which focuses on solving real industry problems. The program includes two lab spaces; The Materials lab focuses on the Flowability, Particle Size, Abrasion Characteristics, and other critical properties of powders and dry materials. The Process lab includes a full scale convey system, and is a new addition to K-State Olathe set to come on line in the summer of 2025.

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