Leadership

KC Woody

President and Chief Executive Officer

KC Woody is President and Chief Executive Officer of Midrex Technologies, Inc. He joined Midrex in 2010 as Plant Sales Manager responsible for commercial activities in Australia and Southeast Asia and has served in a variety of commercial roles including the first Managing Director of Midrex India Private Limited and Vice President-Commercial of Midrex Technologies, Inc. KC was named Director – Plant Sales in 2014, with responsibility for Midrex India and Midrex China (Shanghai). In 2016, he was promoted to Vice President – Sales & Marketing and was named Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2020, with primary focus on the integration of the Midrex Operations and Sales & Marketing teams and the activities of the Midrex offices in India, China, Russia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

KC is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served on active duty as an officer in the US Army prior to Midrex.

Will Dempsey

Chief Operating Officer

Will Dempsey, current Chief Operating Officer was most recently Vice President of Commercial at Midrex, responsible for all commercial activities including plant sales, marketing and communications, and the aftermarket group, Global Solutions. In his 13 years at Midrex, he has developed an extensive background in process engineering including lead design and commissioning roles and held positions as Chief of Process Engineering and Director of Engineering. Will believes the best engineering solutions are ethical, elegant, practical, and completely satisfy our clients’ needs.

Dempsey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Gerry Gill

Chief Financial Officer

Gerry joined Midrex Technologies in 2016 as the Chief Financial Officer. Gerry has more than 25 years of diversified experience leading accounting, finance, customer service and administrative units. He is responsible for all finance and accounting aspects of the company, including overseas offices located in UK, India, China, and UAE. Additionally, Gerry leads the MiTeam program at Midrex, which focuses on employee engagement, talent management, and corporate culture initiatives.

Gerry is a CPA and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Florida State University.

Todd Astoria

Chief Technology Officer

Todd Astoria is Chief Technology Officer for Midrex Technologies responsible for ensuring the company’s technical leadership in the dynamic direct reduction market. He will work closely with the Commercial and Operations Groups to deliver to clients the most advanced solutions that produce exceptional results. Todd joined Midrex in 2005 and has worked in various technical roles including process engineering, proposals, plant commissioning and start-up, and most recently as the head of research and technology development. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in North Carolina and Louisiana.

Sean Boyle

Vice President - Commercial

As Vice President – Commercial at Midrex Technologies, Inc., Sean will lead the Commercial Team as Midrex continues to grow in this transitional time for the international steel industry. Sean joined Midrex in 2013 and has served in various roles, most recently as Director-Plant Sales. He was an integral part of the effort to secure the Stegra project.

His other Midrex assignments have included Global Solutions Mechanical Engineer, Project Engineer, and Lead Mechanical Engineer for the Cleveland-Cliffs Toledo HBI Plant.

Sean earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech.

Chris Hayes

Vice President – Operations

Chris Hayes is the Vice President – Operations at Midrex Technologies, Inc. Chris is currently responsible for leading Midrex Operations including Project Management and Controls, Engineering and Procurement. Since joining Midrex, he has held roles in Engineering, Project Management, and the Global Solutions department and has been actively involved in the design, start-up and upgrade of many of the Midrex plants around the world. Chris earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The State University of New York at Buffalo.

Chris Clancy

Director - Procurement

Chris has been a Midrex teammate for 15 years, during which he has held several positions including Key Account Manager – North America and General Manager, Global Solutions. In these roles, Chris has visited many MIDREX® Plants and helped them with aftermarket support and upgrades. Prior to his arrival at Midrex, he worked in the titanium industry for about 20 years, where he had roles in both sales and operations.

Chris has three children and enjoys golf, tinkering with cars, and craft beer. His proudest moment at Midrex was when he instituted a program to hire local special needs students to help them with their high school graduation requirements.

Chris has a Bachelor’s Degree from Wake Forest University and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.

Dave Durnovich

Director – Global Solutions

David has worked in the iron and steel industry for more than 40 years and held senior management positions in direct reduction, steelmaking, and manufacturing. During his career, David has operated steel plants all over the world and prior to joining Midrex, he was the Vice President of Operations for the Lion Group – Banting.

In 2017, David joined Midrex as the General Manager – Global Solutions. Global Solutions is the Midrex aftermarket group, which focuses on offering valuable solutions to operating DR plants. Under his leadership, Midrex expanded it’s service offering to include plant services, spare parts, equipment supply, engineering solutions, water treatment, RPS and MidrexConnect.

Kim Jones

Director - Global Legal Affairs

Kim joined Midrex in 2021 and serves as the Director of Global Legal Affairs, providing legal support for Midrex’s global and domestic operations and activities.

Kim’s legal career began as a construction lawyer at a large commercial law firm in Melbourne, Australia. In this role, she represented contractors involved in significant infrastructure projects during contract negotiations and litigation. Additionally, she has served as in-house counsel for international companies in both Australia and the United States within the construction industry. Furthermore, Kim has experience in contract management related to IT in both countries.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws and also a Master of Laws in American Law.

Mark Lowery

Director of Engineering

As Director of Engineering at Midrex Technologies, Inc. Mark is responsible for all engineering disciplines associated with the execution of major projects including new plants, plant upgrades, and technology development.  He began his career at Midrex in 2005 as an entry-level mechanical engineer on the Hadeed Module E project, and then continually grew from there. His career highlights include research and development at the Midrex Research and Development Technology Center, Project Manager of Global Solutions, Project Manager for the Cleveland Cliffs Toledo HBI project, Project Manager for various plant proposals, and most recently, his role as Chief of Mechanical Engineering / Mechanical Equipment Engineering Department.

Mark has almost 20 years of experience with Midrex serving in lead engineering, commissioning, training and mentoring, project management, and leadership. He was also the recipient of the 2021 Midrex Iditarod Award, which is presented annually to recognize a teammate who exemplifies perseverance, initiative, and integrity, while being a respectful, dependable team player, going above and beyond to lead projects to success, no matter the challenges or obstacles along the way.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Nigel Phillips

Director - Operations | Global Project & ECA Finance, Risk Management

Nigel joined Midrex in the summer of 2019 to lead Midrex UK into its second decade of operations. Prior to this his 30 year career in the finance he embraced a variety of trade and insurance related roles with UK, Dutch, French and Spanish financial institutions. He has majored on project and export finance, financing the cross border sale of capital goods and services. He brings a wealth of knowledge of the finance market, structures as well as risk mitigation provided by the private insurance market. He has a BS in Economics. 

 Nigel is married with four children (two boys, two girls 14-21 years old) and enjoys most sports, hiking and family travel. 

Brandy Reese

Director - People and Culture

Brandy joined Midrex Technologies in 2019 as Director – Talent Development. Brandy has more than 20 years of global experience leading recruitment, learning and development, organizational design and performance management efforts. Brandy leads the MiTeam program at Midrex, which focuses on employee engagement, talent management and corporate culture initiatives. Brandy holds a Masters in Instructional Technology from Towson University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Stevenson University.  She is a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional, SHRM-SCP.

Scott Updike

Director - Projects

Scott Updike is the Director of Projects at Midrex Technologies, Inc. where he oversees project management, construction oversight, project controls, cost estimation and quality assurance for all new plant projects.  Scott brings more than 20 years of experience leading complex industrial, energy and defense sector projects. He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, a Master’s in Civil Engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology and a Bachelor’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering from West Virginia University.  Scott is also a licensed Professional Engineer and certified Project Management Professional.

Aashima Vadhera

Director - Finance (Asia, Middle East and North Africa)

Aashima joined the Midrex Group in 2012 at its India office and is responsible for all financial and administrative aspects of the India and Shanghai offices. She also sits on the board of Midrex Gulf Services and supports in its financial supervision. Aashima works closely with the Midrex Commercial Team on inter-alia tax and contractual advisory issues. Prior to joining Midrex, Aashima worked with E&Y and PwC and has extensive experience on international tax and regulatory issues and transactions. 

Aashima is a qualified Chartered Accountant and also holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in law and the other in commerce. She also graduated from Midrex Leadership Institute Cohort 2. 

Rogerio de Gaspari Valdejao

Director - Global Business Development

Rogerio serves as the Director of Global Business Development, bringing with him a wealth of experience accumulated over 30 years in international roles spanning sales, technical service, and product & market development. His expertise extends across various industries, and his multicultural background has been instrumental in successfully navigating business assignments in the US, LATAM, and APAC. In his current capacity, Valdejao is dedicated to building and enhancing teams, processes, and business models to ensure sustainable, long-term growth in the ever-evolving global business landscape. 

Rogerio is a graduate of State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Brazil, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering.