About the Chamber
Founded in Houston in 2017, the Polish American Chamber of Commerce in Texas is a non-profit organization serving to connect and facilitate business interests between Poland and Texas; and in a broader sense between Poland and the USA.
We aspire to collaborate with businesses regardless of industry and ranging from the smallest businesses to the largest multi-nationals on both sides of the Atlantic as well as with all relevant governmental, academic and non-profit organizations.
Management & Board
Art Dunal, Ph.D. - President and Chairman of the Board
Art is a senior financial leader with 18 Years of Manufacturing/Commercial Finance, Corporate/Private Equity experience. He holds PhD in Economics (University of Gdansk) and a Master of Economics with a specialization in IT and Econometrics (Poznan University of Economics). He lives in Houston, TX with wife and three children.
Slawek Piankowski - Vice President and board member
Slawomir is a highly accomplished maritime professional with a Master of Science degree, obtained upon graduating from Gdynia Maritime University in 2002. He began his career as a junior officer, gaining invaluable experience on various vessels. Joining Chipolbrok lines in 2005, he swiftly advanced within the company and earned the esteemed position of ship Captain in 2012. In 2014, he joined Chipolbrok America Inc at Houston, TX, assuming the role of President in 2016. As President, he demonstrates exceptional leadership, guiding the company towards continued success and establishing a strong presence in the maritime industry.
Thalía Krüger - Secretary and Founding Board member
Thalía is the Global Offshore Manager at ABS (American Bureau of Shipping). A native of Ecuador, she obtained here Masters in Ships Structures at the Gdańsk Technical University, Poland. She is a Naval Architect with over 20 years experience providing innovative strategies, execution of complex maritime projects and delivering technical and project management. Thalia is an engaging mentor with a passion for empowering women to pursue STEM careers. Thalia is active with the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers (recently appointed as a SNAME Fellow), Offshore Technology Conference and the International Association of Drilling Contractors. Thalia and her Polish husband, Jacek, are very active in the Polish Houston Parish and are proud of their three daughters and three grandchildren.
Horacio Licon - Treasurer and Founding board member
Horacio is the Vice President of International Investment & Trade at the Greater Houston Partnership; Houston's private sector Economic Development Organization. He leads Houston's World Trade Center and is the World Bank's Private Sector Liaison Officer for the region. Horacio also worked at the Mexican national oil company, PEMEX, on international procurement. Horacio also has 15 years of international economic development experience working in Mexico for the city of San Antonio, for Trade Partners UK, as deputy Head of Trade & Investment for the UK Embassy followed by work in Houston as Head of Trade & Investment for the UK Consulate. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Industrial & Systems Engineering (Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico).
Mat Podskarbi - Founding board member
Mat leads the upstream business strategy development (technology development, partnership management and M&A) of Japanese multinational Yokogawa. His 15+ yrs of experience in oil & gas covers projects from planning through engineering, construction, operations & offshore drilling & completion. Mat is specialized in technology management and new business development; having led teams developing real time subsea production monitoring systems. He has deep knowledge of sensor technologies, data management systems, software solutions & advanced data analytics including authorship of 15 papers & contributions to international codes. Mat is also experienced leading entrepreneurial teams with private and venture funding. Mat has a Structural Eng. MSc (Cracow).
Magdalena Milewska - Director of Operations
Magda is highly effective human resources professional with 11 years of proven and awarded
experience in recruitment, training, and raising employee efficiency gained in Antal International and
People Ltd. She had worked with international companies from different sectors including FMCG,
financial shared service centers, real estate, consulting, pharma & medical devices, manufacturing.
Magda holds a Masters of Science in Human Resources Management from The Nicolaus Copernicus
University in Toruń. As of August 2018 Magda is based in Katy, Texas with her husband and two
daughters. She also actively supports organization of Polish Festivals in Houston.
Greg Kusinski, Ph.D. - Founding board member
Greg is the Senior Advisor of Technology Strategy & Acceptance of the Regulatory Affairs department of Chevron. Greg has over 20 years of industry experience spanning major capital project execution, regulatory acceptance and technology development & commercialization. Greg holds a Ph.D and M.S in Engineering (UC Berkeley) and an Executive MBA (Rice University) with over 30 patents registered. He is active in the industry in the capacity of Chair of the Technology Policy Committee of the NOIA, Chair of the OTC TMS Program, an Advisory Board Member of the WorldOil HPHT Drilling, Completions & Production Conference, Board Member of the Rice Jones School of Business and Advisory Board Member of the UC Berkeley Materials Science Department among others.
Dr. Waldemar Priebe, Ph.D. - Founding board member
Dr. Priebe (Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Warsaw) is a Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Prof. Priebe also holds the title of Professor of Chemistry in the Republic of Poland, as granted in 2004 by former President of Poland, Alexsander Kwaśniewski, in recognition of his seminal contributions in the field of Chemistry. His research is focused on the discovery & development of new anticancer therapies and he is the founder of 5 biotechnology companies and has served on the scientific advisory board of several pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Priebe is also in active collaboration with Polish researchers at several Polish institutions, with over 40 researchers from Poland having trained in his laboratory. In 2013, Prof. Priebe received the Polish Academy of Sciences Medal and the Order of Polonia Restituta (Officer's Cross Class). In 2015, He was appointed by the President of Poland to the National Development Council of Poland (Narodowa Rada Rozwoju) and received the Outstanding Polish Scientist award. Prof. Priebe is also a Trustee of the Kościuszko Foundation and President of the foundations' Texas Chapter. Prof. Priebe and his wife, Dr. Teresa Szwarock-Priebe, reside in Houston and have two daughters and a son.
Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, Ph.D. - Founding board member
Prof. Jim Mazurkiewicz serves as a Regents Fellow, Leadership Program Director and Professor of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. He is a fifth generation Polish American and a native of the Brazos Valley. His family originally settled in Washington County at the end of the ninetieth century and they still own and operate the family farm in Chappell Hill, Texas. He graduated from Waller High School and received a B.S. and Ph.D. from Texas A&M University and a Masters from Texas Tech University. He is currently President of the Polish American Council of Texas, an organization bringing together all of Texas Polonia. Jim is vested in building bridges between Poland and Texas. As of January 1, 2018, 380 Texans have visited Poland and 221 Poles have visited Texas through programs and bilateral visits run by organizations he leads. Jim has been the recipient of several awards and some of these include the Regents Fellow in 2012, the Bryan /College Station Volunteer of the Year Award in 2013, the Medal of Merit from the Polish President in 2016 and the Medal of Honor from the Polish Minister of Agriculture in 2011. Jim married Kathy Gore from Houston in 1978 and they are the proud parents of three children.
Dr. Zbigniew Wojciechowski - Founding board member
Dr. Wojciechowski is an Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology at the Institute for Academic Medicine at the Houston Methodist Hospital (Weill Cornell Medical College). Dr. Wojciechowski obtained his MD at the Jagiellonian University School of Medicine (Kraków, Poland) and his Clinical Fellowship at the University of Washington. Dr. Wojciechowski served the Houston Polish community as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland from 2003 until the opening of the new Polish Consulate in 2017. Dr. Wojciechowski is also the lead organizer of the successful annual Polish Film Festival in Houston.
Adam Urban - Founding board member
Since joining Shell in 2005, Adam has held various production, operations, technical leadership roles and corporate strategy roles across Shell's upstream deepwater and onshore shale businesses in both Houston and Rio de Janeiro. He is based in Houston in his current role as Production Excellence Lead for Shell's onshore North and South American assets. Adam holds a Masters degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan and is a native of the Silesia region of Poland.
Advisory Board
Piotr Przybylski, Ph.D. - Energy Industry Advisor
Dr. Przybylski is an accomplished Geoscientist and Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the Oil&Gas Industry and Academia. He holds a PhD in Geophysics (Purdue University) as well as Masters in Mining & Geology (Kraków, Poland) and Masters in Mine Surveying & Geodesy (Freiberg, Germany). As a former Deputy Lead of the Unconventional Resources CoP at BP, Dr. Przybylski is an expert in sharing the best practices and recent technologies in shales, tight sands, conventional sands, and carbonates. He is currently working for Berger Geosciences LLC as a Geopressure Geologist III, where he estimates formation pore pressure and fracture gradient and monitors pressure of deep offshore wells while drilling. Dr. Przybylski also serves as the Vice President of the Polish American Council of Texas and lives with his wife and three children in Houston, Texas.
Ben Smolij - Legal Advisor