PetroBeam Appoints AltairStrickland CEO, Jerry Strickland, to Board of Directors


RALEIGH, NC--(Marketwire - January 7, 2009) - PetroBeam, Inc., the leading developer of high energy electron beam processing techniques to upgrade heavy oil and bitumen, announces the appointment of Mr. Jerry Strickland to its Board of Directors. Mr. Strickland is the founder and CEO of AltairStrickland which provides field turnaround services to the refinery and petrochemical industry. He is also the Chairman of the Board of RepconStrickland Inc., which has grown into a $400M+ service company in the energy industry.

Mr. Strickland began his career as a field engineer of oilfield products with Black, Sivalls, and Bryson in Texas and California bringing his experience in heavy crude separation equipment and glycol dehydration in natural gas production.

He later assumed a position in marketing as Director of Market Development at Titanium Metals Corporation. Services provided were applications for titanium in a variety of non aerospace applications with a major emphasis on corrosion resistance properties in the petrochemical industry. Subsequent positions include Marketing Manager for Polaroid Corporation where he was responsible for all non amateur film and photographic products. In addition, Strickland was Vice President of Marketing for Wyatt Industries, a producer of pressure vessels and maintenance services in the petrochemical industries.

Mr. Strickland earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas and studied for an M.B.A. at Babson University. In addition to the RepconStrickland Inc. Board, he is a member of the National Petrochemical Refining Association.

About PetroBeam:

PetroBeam, Inc. is the leading developer of electron beam processing techniques to upgrade heavy oil and bitumen. Founded in 2005, PetroBeam is a privately held technology development company engaged in world class scientific leadership and innovation designed to impact the global petroleum industry. Since inception, PetroBeam has raised over $9.5 million of capital, including a $6 million equity investment from Ion Beam Applications S.A., www.iba-worldwide.com, the global leader in electron beam accelerators with approximately 80% of the installed power worldwide. The company's corporate and engineering offices are located in Raleigh, NC and the Research & Development lab and demonstration plant is on Long Island, New York. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.petrobeam.com.

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