John Tonner, age 52, our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer joined the company in September 2011. He is the former President and a partner in Water Consultants International, a leading desalination consulting firm. Mr. Tonner began working in the desalination and water treatment industry in 1985, and worked for Cayman Water from 1986 until 1990 where he was responsible for our Company’s first seawater reverse osmosis plant. He has broad practical and engineering experience involving all commercially viable desalination processes.
Mr. Tonner has published approximately 20 technical papers and lectured extensively on all aspects of desalination technology. He has more than 20 years of experience with reverse osmosis and membrane technology, including reverse osmosis energy recovery techniques. Mr. Tonner has provided due diligence oversight services for the largest desalination projects in Asia, Australia and the Middle East.
Mr. Tonner holds an honors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Paisley in Scotland. He has been a member of the International Desalination Association since the late 1980s, serving on the Board of Directors from 1999 until 2004. He was a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Desalination Technical Committee and served on the U.S. National Academy of Science’s Research Committee for Advancing Desalination Technology.
