PCS Management

PCS Management

James A. Rehkopf - Founder, Owner, President
James Rehkopf's involvement in pulse combustion technology started in 1987 when he was president of a small R&D company that developed and patented the world's first quiet, controllable and reliable pulse combustor. In 1995, Mr. Rehkopf founded J. Jireh Corporation (dba Pulse Combustion Systems) to build upon earlier achievements and to expand industry adoption of pulse combustion spray drying. He built a state-of-the-art demonstration facility in the foothills above Phoenix, Arizona in 1999, and added a production facility there in 2001. In 2005, he purchased a neighboring facility to accommodate additional production capacity.

Prior to his work in pulse drying, Mr. Rehkopf served as a submarine officer in the United States Navy for eight years, and later was the Chief Operating Officer of an alternative energy development company.

Mr. Rehkopf holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the United States Naval Academy, a Master of Science degree from the University of California at San Diego, and a Masters in Business Administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.

David A. Mirko - V.P. Operations
Dave Mirko first encountered PCS's pulse drying technology in early 2003, and became PCS's Vice President of Operations and Engineering in March 2004. Mr. Mirko has 24 years of experience in spray drying operations and management, including hands-on supervision of maintenance, production, IT, and process engineering. In addition, Dave has project engineering and design/build experience in spray dryers, evaporators, and distillation systems.

Mr. Mirko has devised and implemented numerous improvements to the PCS dryer that have improved the quality of our powders, increased the throughput and operability of our dryers, and enlarged our ability to handle difficult-to-dry products.

Mr. Mirko holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from San Jose State University.

Marius Grobler - V.P. Engineering
Marius Grobler became involved with PCS in 1995 while he was working on a pulse combustion dryer PCS had sold in Arizona. He was born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. There he also earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. After serving in the South African Infantry, he worked with a semi-private engineering company for 8 years, designing armored vehicles for the military. This was followed by a time working for a German owned company, where he designed fire-fighting vehicles and equipment.

After two years, Mr. Grobler partnered with another engineer and registered a private design and consulting engineering company. It was during this time that he became interested in pulse combustion technology and eventually encountered PCS. Mr. Grobler has been designing pulse combustors for PCS for several years. He is currently responsible for the design of all of the different pulse combustors in the PCS series and oversees their construction.