David W. Brekke has held the position of Quality Assurance Manager at the EERC since 1997. His position involves developing, implementing, and maintaining an organizationwide quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. He provides QA/QC assistance to project managers, principal investigators, and laboratory managers and serves as the EERC representative on quality matters. Mr. Brekke's principal areas of interest and expertise include quality assurance systems, combustion and gasification ash formation and deposition, geology, mineralogy, environmental geology, and analytical techniques applied to geologic and material science problems. Mr. Brekke received his M.A. degree in Geology from UND and his B.S. degree in Earth Science and Geography from North Dakota State University. Prior to his current position, he was an EERC Research Manager for 8 years, engaged in research and project management involving combustion and gasification ash formation and deposition, scanning electron microscopy/microprobe analysis, and geologic materials. Before arriving at the EERC, Mr. Brekke worked as a Geologist for the North Dakota Geological Survey and the University of North Dakota Mining and Mineral Resources Research Institute. Mr. Brekke serves as the corporate representative to the American Society for Quality and is a member of several professional organizations, including Sigma Xi and the North Dakota Academy of Science. In addition, he has authored or coauthored over 50 publications.