Executive Biographies
Jie Zhang
Founder, Chief Scientist, and Chairman
Dr. Jie Zhang earned his Ph.D. in Geophysics from MIT and founded GeoTomo in 1998, where he pioneered innovative imaging technologies for energy resource discovery. His achievements include the STAR Award from the EPA (1994), the Antarctic Service Award from NSF (1995), the Reginald Fessenden Award from SEG (2012), the Outstanding Educator Award from SEG (2015), the SEG Honorary Lecturer Award (2016), and SEG Life Membership (2020). In 2015, Fast Company ranked Dr. Zhang No. 1 on its list of the "100 Most Creative People in China." He has taught Geophysics at MIT, Stanford, and USTC. In 2020, he was elected to the United States National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Dr. Zhang has also served in several prestigious roles, including Vice President of SEG (2016-2017), member of MIT's Visiting Committee (2011-2019), and member of the Board of Governors at the Asia School of Business (2018-present).
Mark Zoback
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Mark D. Zoback received his Ph.D. in Geophysics from Stanford University in 1975. He is the Benjamin M. Page Professor of Geophysics, Emeritus, at Stanford University. Dr. Zoback is the author of two textbooks and has published or co-authored approximately 400 technical papers. His most recent book, Unconventional Reservoir Geomechanics (co-authored with Arjun Kohli), was published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. His online course, Reservoir Geomechanics, has been completed by more than 12,000 learners worldwide. Dr. Zoback has received numerous honors, including election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2011. In 2013, he was awarded the Einstein Chair Professorship by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in 2015, he received the Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). In 2024, he was awarded the Maurice Ewing Medal—the highest honor of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG).
James C. Jackson
President
James C. Jackson received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a Technology Marketing Certificate from the California Institute of Technology. James worked for Baker Hughes for 26 years where he held a variety of management and engineering positions. During this time, he gained vast international experience while on assignments in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Canada. James envisioned and led the formation of VSFusion L.L.C., a Baker Hughes – CGGVeritas Company, and became the Managing Director for 5 years. He has several United States Patents relating to the geophysical industry and has authored/co-authored many SEG and EAGE technical publications.
Oz Yilmaz
CTO
Dr. Öz Yilmaz received his Ph.D. in Geophysics from Stanford University in 1979, with a focus on exploration seismology. In addition to numerous publications covering all aspects of seismic data acquisition, processing, and inversion, he has authored four major books: Seismic Data Processing (SEG, 1987), Seismic Data Analysis (SEG, 2001), Engineering Seismology (SEG, 2015), and Land Seismic Case Studies (SEG, 2021). Dr. Yilmaz received the Virgil Kauffman Gold Medal from the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) in 1991 and the Conrad Schlumberger Award from the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) in 1992. He was elected to the European Academy of Sciences in 2002 and to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2022. He was named an Honorary Member of SEG in 2011 and was elected Distinguished Scientist by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2022. That same year, he received SEG's highest honor—the Maurice Ewing Medal.
Weizhong Wang
Vice President
Dr. Weizhong Wang received his Ph.D. in Automation from Tsinghua University in China. He then became a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Toronto. Dr. Wang worked on geophysical technology development at Veritas, GeoCenter, and PGS before joining GeoTomo in 2005. He has been leading the efforts of technology development and customer support at GeoTomo.
Michael Shui
Software Development Manager
Michael Shui received his BE and MS in Computer Science from the University of Science and Technology of China. He previously worked for Interactive Network Technologies, Inc as technical lead, Plaint Tech, LLC as front end system architect and PROS Revenue Management, Inc as lead developer. Since joining GeoTomo in 2007, he has been responsible for managing the software development, quality assurance, product release and customer support.
Steve Syme
Technical Support Manager
Steve Syme received a BS in Geological Engineering from Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. Steve has worked for 19 years as a Processing Geophysicist, mostly at Veritas GeoServices and, most recently, Sensor Geophysical. He has held both technical and supervisory roles in offices in both North and South America. Steve will lead the effort in all aspects of customer support, including customer problem resolution, license renewal, customer training, and data processing.