Selda Gunsel is the Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President of Technology for Shell. Responsible for Shell’s technology strategy, Selda leads a global team of scientists and engineers focused on developing innovative technologies and products for the energy industry. Selda also presides over Shell’s collaborative relationships with businesses and academic institutions. Her previous roles in Shell included Vice President of Global Lubricants, Mobility and Fuels Technology and Vice President of Global Commercial Technology.
Selda was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in the U.S. in 2017 in recognition of her distinguished contributions to engineering, “for leadership in developing and manufacturing advanced fuels and lubricants to meet growing global energy demand while reducing CO2 emissions”.
In 2015, Selda was awarded the STLE International Award – the highest technical honor awarded by the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. Throughout her career, Selda has received numerous other awards including STLE Fellow, Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers Career Achievement Award, Business World Energy Leadership Award by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources in Turkey, R&D 100 Innovation Award, Society of Automotive Engineers International Excellence Award, STLE Captain Alfred E. Hunt Best Paper Award, Penn State Outstanding Engineering Alumna Award, Fisita Global Mobility Engineering Technical Leadership Award 2023, and Shell internal awards for both Innovation and Leadership in Diversity and Inclusiveness.
She received her BSc in Chemical Engineering from the Istanbul Technical University in Turkey and her MSc and PhD also in Chemical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, U.S. While working in the industry, Selda has held sabbatical assignments at Imperial College, London, UK and Honorary Professorship at Tsinghua University, China.
Published extensively in scientific literature, Selda has received patents for her work and is well known and widely respected in the industry. She has served as the President of the STLE and the Chairman of the SAE Lubricants Research Award Board. She has served as a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of Penn State University’s Chemical Engineering Department and on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Lubrication Science, UK, and Tribology Transactions, U.S. She has chaired and delivered keynote addresses at numerous international conferences. She currently serves on the Boards of Center for Houston’s Future, Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST), The Penn State Research Foundation and Houston Grand Opera. She also serves as the executive sponsor of Shell-Prairie View A&M partnership, University of Houston Energy Transition Institute and Louisiana State University’s Energy Innovation Institute.