About Us  Our Lease  Our Concept  Our commitment  FAQ  About oil shale  Peak Oil 

AMSO has an in-house team of leading experts in a wide range of fields, augmented by a number of world class experts who provide consulting services in areas such as process modeling, chemical engineering, geomechanics, reservoir engineering, permitting, hydrology, environment and civil engineering.

We greatly value building and maintaining ties to the region; so we have put an emphasis on hiring talent from western Colorado as we build our team. Our expanded team boasts decades of working and living in the Piceance Basin.


Management

Howard Jonas, Chairman and CEOHoward Jonas

Howard Jonas is the founder, Chairman and CEO of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT).

Mr. Jonas helped revolutionized international telecommunications and lowered international long distance rates by creating international "callback" telephone service, a multi-billion dollar a year industry.

Under the leadership of Howard Jonas, IDT developed the first commercially viable technology to send voice over the Internet or VoIP telephony through its subsidiary, Net2Phone.

These are just a few of the many IDT success stories.

Howard Jonas and IDT are now placing a high priority on AMSO.

He is committed to helping America secure its future and achieve energy independence from foreign oil producers.

AMSO is researching and developing environmentally responsible ways to tap our nation's oil shale reserves.

Howard is a very active supporter of several charities nationally and in his community, and serves as a trustee on numerous organization boards, including New York Presbyterian Hospital, Newark Public Library and International Rescue Committee.

Howard has a B.A. in Economics from Harvard University.

Claude Pupkin, President

Claude Pupkin was appointed President of AMSO Corporation in 2008. He joined IDT in early 2003 and has held several positions, including, most recently, as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for IDT Corporation. Previously, he was Executive Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development for Net2Phone, an IDT publicly traded subsidiary.

Prior to joining IDT, Mr. Pupkin’s career included more than 17 years of finance and investment banking experience at such respected companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley & Co. and Citibank. 

Mr. Pupkin holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and Bachelors Degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.

Alan K. Burnham, PhD , Chief Technology Officer

Prior to becoming CTO for AMSO, Dr. Burnham worked for more than 30 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the areas of oil shale processing, petroleum geochemistry, laser fusion targets, materials for large optics, and energetic materials.

A world renowned expert on oil shale, Dr. Burnham left LLNL for the challenge of leading AMSO's R&D efforts.

Dr. Burnham has published 4 patents and more than 230 journal articles, conference proceedings, and publicly available LLNL technical reports. He has been active in numerous professional societies and has won a Federal Laboratory Consortium award for excellence in technology transfer in 1990.

Dr. Burnham received a BS in Chemistry from Iowa State University and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Roger Day, Vice President of Operations

Roger Day is AMSO's natural resource project developer.

Mr. Day, a mechanical engineer, has previously managed field operations for E.G.L., and has 30 years experience in the Piceance Basin exploiting Federal mineral leases in Western Colorado. 

Mr. Day  pioneered proprietary drilling techniques to recover nahcolite using high temperature solution mining and directional drilling practices that are expected to be translatable to the shale oil recovery process.

In addition to his vast experience and unique professional skills, Roger is also a decades-long resident of the basin who is deeply rooted in the community, and thus embodies our commitment to a responsible development, cautious and mindful of the local community and landscape.

Mr. Day received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech University.  

Bruce Schlanger, V.P.  and Counsel

Bruce Schlanger is a Vice President and Counsel to AMSO.  Before joining AMSO, Mr. Schlanger spent the past few years facilitating business and corporate development ventures at IDT.  

Mr. Schlanger worked as an associate for a number of major law firms in New Jersey before joining IDT.  He has also worked as a director of business and financial analysis in the telecommunication industry  for such companies as AT&T, Teleport Communications Group and Bell Communications Research and Development.  

Mr. Schlanger holds a JD from Rutgers School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in the States of New Jersey and New York.  Mr. Schlanger is also a Certified Public Accountant and holds an M.B.A. from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and a B.S. from Yeshiva University.