Jim Lauria
Amiad Filtration Systems
2220 Celsius Ave., Unit B
Oxnard, CA 93030
[email protected]
Phone: (800) 969-4055, Ext. 219
Fax: (800) 776-3458
www.amiad.com
Jim Lauria, Amiad Filtration Systems 2220 Celsius Ave., Unit B. Oxnard, CA 93030 Phone: (800) 969-4055, Ext. 219 Fax: (800) 776-3458 [email protected] www.amiad.com
Jim Lauria is Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Amiad Filtration Systems, a manufacturer of clean technology water filtration systems for agricultural, industrial and municipal applications. He has over 25 years of experience in liquid/solid separation processes and water treatment. Before joining Amiad, Lauria owned Team Chemistry LLC, a consultancy that focused on developing new business opportunities for clients’ water treatment technologies.
Prior to that, Lauria was President of EaglePicher Filtration & Minerals, an $80M (USD), 300-person filter media company. During that time he provided peer review for the World Health Organization’s publication on drinking water treatment and, in partnership with a university, led a team that pioneered arsenic reduction in drinking water. Lauria was also formerly President of Synergistic Performance Corporation, a $15M (USD) specialty chemical and filter media distributor. He successfully positioned the company to be sold to a $100M (USD) national distributor.
Before that he worked 10 years for World Minerals, a global producer of filtration media. He started as a technical sales rep in the Northeast and progressed to the position of Vice President of Sales & Marketing. As General Sales Manager, Asia Pacific, Lauria launched a sales and marketing office in Hong Kong where he achieved nearly a 30 percent top-line increase in his Pacific Rim territory in two years.
As a filtration industry consultant, he developed a comprehensive marketing plan that presented filtration equipment to the various segments of the sugar industry in the US, Caribbean and Latin America. For the first 10 years of his career, Lauria worked in progressively responsible process engineering, environmental and management positions in the sugar industry.
Lauria holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Manhattan College. He is active in a number of trade industry associations, including the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and has published a number of technical articles on filtration and water treatment, as well as serving on the WC&P Technical Review Committee.
How did you get started in the water conditioning and purification marketplace? What was your first job in it?
I received my degree in chemical engineering from Manhattan College and my first job was as a process engineer in the sugar industry. This position afforded me an opportunity to develop process optimization skills in a number of filtration and separation processes such as centrifugation, media filtration, carbon adsorption, ion exchange, etc. that I carried over into water treatment.
How/why did you start/maintain your professional involvement?
I always wanted to be a leader in my industry and stay on the cutting edge of what are the most promising technologies in my field. I also wanted to network with the thought leaders in my chosen profession.
What are you most proud of in your profession?
The dedicated men and women that I have come into contact with throughout my career.
What are you least proud of in your profession?
The lack of value placed on the conservation of water as a solution to water scarcity and water quality issues.
What gives you the most joy in your professional life?
Networking with professionals to discover what the future looks like in the water industry.
What do you dislike most in your professional life?
Time away from my family.
If there were three portraits on the wall behind your desk, not of family, who would they be and why?
All three would be scientists, inventors and engineers.
- Albert Einstein
- Benjamin Franklin
- Thomas Edison
If you were not in the water conditioning and purification industry, what would you be doing?
I would be involved in some other type of process industry, i.e. chemicals, food and beverage, paint and coatings, etc.
Why would you do that?
Process and resource optimization is one of my best skills and favorite avocations.
Polish up your crystal ball…what will be the three most important issues in our industry within the next five years?
- The interdependence between water and energy
- Water conservation
- Water recovery and recycling, i.e. storm water, municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater, etc.