u.s. energy storage summit 2016

Olya Anguelov is a Principal in PG&E’s Integrated Grid Planning organization. She manages the PG&E owned IFTM Energy Storage installations, Energy Storage pilots and utility owned projects in the bi-annual Energy Storage RFO. In her prior role, as a Sr. Manager of Process Improvement, she led a team of Lean Six Sigma professionals and drove operational improvement in PG&E’s Electric T&D business. Prior to PG&E, Olya developed software and designed PCBs for Analytical Instrumentation applications.  Olya holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada and an MBA from the University of California Los Angeles.

Alex Au leads NEXTracker’s technology and engineering, driving the creation of the NEXTracker120 and SPT products and now the NX Horizon and NX Fusion. The NEXTracker co-founder has over 13 years of PV product development experience, ranging from residential to utility scale applications. As director of advanced technology R&D at Akeena Solar, he helped to invent the Andalay AC module. At SPG Solar he led the SunSeeker G3.2 tracker design, reducing cost by more than 30% compared to previous versions. Au is listed as the sole inventor for the first PV tracker designed to stow for high wind speeds up to 155 mph, and he holds design patents on the Andalay rack and framing, the SunSeeker tracker, and the NEXTrackerSPT. He studied mechanical engineering at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

Scott Baker is a senior business solutions analyst in the Applied Solutions department of PJM Interconnection and leads PJM’s Emerging Technologies Pilot Program. As a senior business solutions analyst, Mr. Baker evaluates emerging technology and policy issues in the electric power sector.  In this role, he administers technology demonstration projects with PJM members, research institutions, and the industry at large.  Recently, this work has focused on market evolution initiatives related to Demand Response and Energy Storage technologies participating in the PJM Capacity and Ancillary Services markets. Prior to joining PJM, Mr. Baker worked as a researcher and project manager at the University of Delaware’s Center for Carbon-free Power Integration on Vehicle-to-Grid technology, helping to successfully deploy the first electric vehicles to provide ancillary services to the electric system in October 2007. Mr. Baker has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Environmental Science from Ithaca College in New York, and a Master’s degree from the University of Delaware studying the offshore wind power resource in the Atlantic Ocean and the related electric system integration issues.

Commander Jesse Black is an Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) currently serving as a Federal Senior Sustainability Officer for Energy in White House Counsel of Environmental Quality. Here he assists agencies with implementation of various sustainability and energy focused initiatives, Executive Orders, and Presidential Memoranda.  He facilitates the use of innovative financing and contracting mechanisms to assist meeting Administrative energy goals. His portfolio includes Renewable Energy and Alternative Energy, Energy Finance and Contracting, including Energy Savings Performance Contracts, and Power Purchase Agreements.  He is also working on Green Building Energy.

His pervious Engineering Duty assignments have included major overhauls of the fast attack submarine USS Topeka (SSN 754) and the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower (CVN 69).  His last assignment was Assistant Program Manager for the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) where he was responsible for the delivery of the ship’s propulsion and electric plant. This is the Navy’s newest first of a class stealth destroyer. Commander Black also served as the shipyard Docking Officer for both Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where he was responsible for taking ships and submarines in and out of the water. As a Surface Warfare Officer, he served four years on board USS Cape St. George (CG 71).  His assignments included, Electrical Officer, Main Propulsion Assistant, Assistant Chief Engineer, Combat Information Center Officer, and Navigator. In 2003 the ship deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Commander Black entered the Navy in 1990 as an Electronics Technician and graduated from the Navy Nuclear Power pipeline in 1992. He served on board USS Bainbridge (CGN 25) from 1992 to 1995.

Commander Black graduated from the University of Idaho in 2000 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in hydro dam construction and environmental engineering.  In 2007 he earned a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis in power from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Richard Brody is Director of Sales and Marketing for Energy Storage at Lockheed Martin Energy.  Richard joined the company in July 2015, and has more than 15 years of executive-level sales and marketing leadership experience.  Throughout his career he has acquired deep domain knowledge in energy storage and distributed generation, as well as a proven track record developing strategy, sales channels, joint ventures and partnerships in the United States, Asia and Russia. Prior to Lockheed Martin, Richard was vice president of Business Development and Sales at Primus Power, a flow battery company, where he led the customer-facing team.  Before that, Richard led product, market and partnership initiatives at SustainX, a developer of isothermal compressed air energy storage systems.  Previously, Richard was vice president of Business Development and Strategic Marketing at PowerGenix, where he helped re-target the company’s Ni-Zn battery solutions for electric vehicles, stationary storage and military applications.  In nearly a decade at United Technologies Corporation (UTC), he served first as president of International Operations in Moscow, then as vice president of International Business Development at UTC Power, where he established the company’s clean and renewable power generation business in Asia and Europe.  Prior to UTC, Richard worked at the White House as special advisor to Vice President Al Gore on International Affairs.  Richard has a B.A. from Columbia University and an M.A./Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

As Chief Commercial Officer, Karen is responsible for building and leading Stem’s commercial enterprise, including: strategy, policy, sales, marketing and product management. Her team at Stem has successfully deployed a large fleet of customer-sited storage with software and analytics that serve both commercial customers at the site and electric utilities and wholesale markets. Prior to joining Stem, she was a Managing Director in the commercial systems group at SunPower. Her teams successfully deployed large PV systems on DOD, DOE and VA facilities throughout the United States. Additionally, Karen led the key account efforts at SunPower with responsibility for Apple, Verizon, Macy’s and other Fortune 500 customers. Karen has consulted in utility-scale energy programs and spent 10 years at Honeywell Grid Solutions designing and delivering energy efficiency, demand response and smart metering programs. She currently serves as Treasurer on the board of directors of the Energy Storage Association ESA and holds a board seat on the SmartElectric Power Alliance (SEPA). Karen graduated from Bowdoin College with a BA in economics.

David B. Chiesa is the Senior Director of Global Business Development for S&C Electric Company.  In this role, David is responsible for the Profitable growth of S&C's Market Segments Globally.  This position is focused on expanding the reach of S&C's products and services within the Market Segments of Renewables, Energy Storage, Data Centers, Microgrids, and Reactive Compensation.  He brings 16 years of experience in the direction and management of sales teams across the United States.

Mr. Chiesa began his career in the United States Army, serving as a maintenance company commander, a general officer aide-de-camp, and the U.S. forces maintenance manager for the NATO troops conducting peacekeeping operations in Bosnia.

He holds a BS degree in Engineering from the United States Military Academy and an MBA from the University of Maryland.  He is a certified Master Black Belt in the Six Sigma quality program and is an active member of IEEE, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Clay was most recently the Co-Founder and CEO of Akuacom, the inventor of the full suite of software and hardware that created the Automated Demand Response market and led to the OpenADR standard with the support of Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and the California Energy Commission. Honeywell acquired Akuacom in 2010 and Clay spent three years in Business Development domestically and internationally.

Clay received a B.A. in Physics from UC Berkeley, and has patented multiple technologies in the areas of geospatial and energy systems and software.

Simon Daniel is a serial innovator, and founder of Moixa – a UK pioneer in new energy R&D, Distributed Energy Storage, and DC Microgrids. Moixa is the UK leader in home energy storage and VPP/Aggregate storage models, with over £5m of UK delivery across Utilities, DECC, Networks. Simon also joined the former PM at the Northern Future Forum to discuss new Energy Pension finance model for behind meter assets. Simon holds multiple patents on advanced mobile interfaces, consumer and smart battery technologies. He was previously at Accenture as a senior manager/tech evangelist and holds an MA in Physics from Cambridge, attended the inaugural Singularity University Summer in 2009. [url=http://www.moixa.com]http://www.moixa.com[/url]

Jacqueline assists her clients to evaluate and integrate emerging technologies into the energy markets. She is an expert in the energy regulatory arena and wholesale market rules. She helps her clients with interconnection, pricing, contract evaluation, and understanding the requirements for participation in the wholesale market.  Jacquie has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry. Prior to joining CES in 2007, she worked for the California ISO in the market design and account management areas.  She has also worked on international energy sector restructuring matters for the USAID, and in project development for an independent power producer.  She began her career at the FERC. Jacquie has a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.B.A. from George Washington University.

Dan is the head of the Energy Storage team at Wood Mackenzie (formerly GTM Research), where he focuses on front-of-the-meter energy storage applications. He previously worked as a Senior Consultant with DNV GL where he focused on competitive energy markets and the intersection of emerging energy business strategies within the broader evolving technological and regulatory environment. Prior to DNV GL Dan worked with Navigant Consulting and the Department of Energy.

Dan has 10 years of experience in the energy space as a researcher, consultant, and analyst. Dan holds a Master’s of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst Wind Energy Center and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics-Physics from Brown University.

Josh Gerber is Manager of Smart Grid at San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), a Sempra Energy utility. In his role leading enterprise-wide smart grid strategy, policy, and project alignment, Josh manages the development and implementation of SDG&E's Smart Grid Deployment Plan. Prior to joining Sempra, Josh was a Systems Engineer at Inflow, Inc., now part of SunGard Availability Services. In his 10+ years with the Sempra utilities, Josh has held multiple senior positions involving the planning, architecture, and implementation of smart grid, advanced metering, and other technology infrastructure.

SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 840,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties.

Ervan Hancock, Manager of Georgia Power’s Renewable Implementation Department and is responsible for development of the company’s renewable generation portfolio, research programs and strategy.  In this role he has been pivotal in the development and implementation of the Company’s Advanced Solar Initiative and creation of the recently approved Renewable Development Initiative (REDI) which will increase the total amount of solar and renewable energy under contract in Georgia Power’s service territory to almost 3400 MWs by 2022.  
This will make Georgia one of the national leaders in solar development with the one of largest portfolio of solar photovoltaic on the east coast.  Mr. Hancock is also responsible for the company’s other efforts in the area of renewable leading the acquisition of 250MW of wind generation and more than 270MW of biomass generation. 
Ervan previously served on the Board of Directors of the Smart Electric Power Association (SEPA) and currently serves on Solar Energy Trade Show Association (SETS).  SEPA is an educational nonprofit organization dedicated to helping utilities integrate solar power into their energy portfolios.  SETS plays a pivotal role in supporting the rapid growth of the U.S. solar industry, significant job creation and increased energy independence.  SETS is responsible for the largest solar industry trade show, Solar Power International, with over fifteen thousand solar industry professionals in attendance.
Hancock earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in May 1999 and has attended executive education at the Wharton School.

Since 2014, Fabrice Hudry is the Vice President of Samsung SDI's Energy Storage Solutions business for the Americas, dedicated to transforming the energy world by creating innovative and practical value propositions for the successful development and implementation of Energy Storage Systems with local teams, partners and customers, across the energy sectors ranging from utility-scale and Commercial & Industrial to Telecommunications, Uninterruptible Power Supply, Battery Backup Units, and to residential end users.

With over 19 years of technical and international business experience in the energy, electricity and software industry, Fabrice began his career with Cegelec in France as a Power Systems Engineer working on Energy Management Systems software before transitioning in 1997 to Cegelec's Automation Unit in WA, USA, which subsequently became Alstom Grid. There he managed the Dispatcher Training Simulator (DTS e-terra simulator) business creating state-of-the-art training & testing simulation systems. In 2005, he received the Frost & Sullivan Energy Industry Training Product award for his industry achievements.

In 2007, Fabrice was appointed head of Alstom Grid’s New Zealand business, developing and executing Transmission & Distribution projects with its strategic key accounts, ranging from the National Control Center Markets & Energy Management Systems to large Gas Insulated Switchgear and HVDC/FACTS turnkey substations.     

Upon returning to the USA in 2009, Fabrice served as Alstom Grid’s Business
Development Director and then as Smart Grid Director for North America, across a wide range of Product Lines, technologies and solutions including: smart control center solutions, smart power electronics, digital substations, condition monitoring & assets management, microgrids, Energy Storage Solutions, and renewable integration.

Fabrice received his Master's Degree in Power Systems from the French École Spéciale de Mécanique et d’Électricité Sudria school of Paris. He has also completed the Harvard Business School's Corporate Executive Program and has been an IEEE Power Engineering Society member since 1999.

Mateo Jaramillo is the Vice President of Products and Programs for Tesla’s stationary energy storage program. He conceived of and started the effort in 2009, securing initial funding and leading all aspects of business and engineering development along with product deployment. He is currently responsible for Tesla Energy's product line and business model definition, and as well global policy and business development. Mateo joined Tesla in 2009 as the Director of Powertrain Business Development, serving as commercial lead and primary negotiator on over $100M in new development and $500M in production contracts signed for electric powertrain sales. Prior to Tesla, Mateo was Chief Operating Officer and part of the founding team at Gaia Power Technologies, an early distributed energy storage firm. There he pioneered residential and commercial markets for first turn-key energy storage systems and led three generations of product development that grew company sales by 400%. Mateo began his career in the software industry as a Product Manager with Predictive Networks, an interactive TV software provider. Mateo earned his A.B. in Economics from Harvard in 1999 and a Masters in Theology from Yale Divinity School in 2004 where he won the Tew prize for outstanding coursework in Ethics, Philosophy, and History. He is a member of the 2016 Class of Henry Crown Fellows and the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Mark Johnson is Smart Cities Chief of Schneider Electric and ‘graduated’ from the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC. He founded the clean energy nonprofit Helpanswers.org. He earned his MBA from Loyola Chicago, and his BA from the University of Notre Dame.

Susan served for two decades at the highest levels of state and federal government, most recently as chief of staff to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, cabinet secretary and deputy chief of staff to Governor Gray Davis and communications director for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. She served from 2003- 2006 on California's Public Utilities Commission, regulating the state's investor- owned electric utilities, telecommunications providers and private water companies. Susan was at the center of many of California's groundbreaking environmental policies, including the carbon reduction mandate and cap-and-trade program under AB 32, the Low-Carbon Fuel Standard, auto emission standards and Renewable Portfolio Standard. She coordinated the State's emergency demand response efforts during the energy crisis of 2000-2001 and as a member of the PUC she authored what was then the largest energy efficiency program in utility history. She holds a B.A. in Management from Saint Mary's College of California.

Peter Klauer is a Senior Advisor, Smart Grid Technology, at the California Independent System Operator Corporation in Folsom California. The California ISO provides open and non-discriminatory access to over 80% of the state’s wholesale electricity transmission grid, supported by a competitive energy market and comprehensive infrastructure planning effort.

Peter is responsible for supporting smart grid research and facilitating the integration of emerging smart grid technologies into the ISO’s wholesale energy markets and operational systems.  Peter acts in an advisory role on technical programs and research initiatives, including, the California Energy Commission’s EPIC Program, the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-e agency, national laboratory research initiatives, EPRI, and California Investor Owned Utility demonstration projects with the ISO. 

Peter also supports state energy policy development in emerging renewable and smart grid technology areas within the California Public Utilities Commission’s Energy Division and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.

As president and a 23-year veteran of Dynapower, Adam has led the Vermont-based power conversion developer and manufacturer through several stages of growth and product line development including the establishment of the company’s Energy Storage Group in 2007. Since then Dynapower ESG has worked alongside utilities, government agencies, universities, developers and battery suppliers to deploy over 250 MWs of energy storage inverters worldwide. Notable Dynapower energy storage projects include America’s largest wind energy storage project in Notrees, Texas developed with Duke Energy, and the Stafford Hill Solar Farm developed alongside Green Mountain Power. Strafford Hill was recently recognized in the 2016 Grid Edge Awards from Green Tech Media for innovation and leadership in energy storage. Working with ESG sales leader, Chip Palombini, and his team, Adam has overseen the development of utility scale installation partnerships with battery manufacturers and the commercializatin of Dynapower’s GEN 3 family of energy storage inverters. In addition to offering custom inverter development and manufacturing from its 150,000 sq. ft. vertically integrated manufacturing facility in Vermont, Dynapower is the only PCS manufacturer to offer a full line of commercial energy storage inverters from 100 kW to 2200 kW for utility-scale, C & I, and solar plus storage applications. Prior to becoming president, in his role as COO, Adam, led the first large market introduction of “Chopper” technology (high frequency converter AC to DC megawatt systems) in the mining and electrochemical industries.

David Lentsch specializes in distribution, transmission and generation including utility scale renewable, alternative energy and distributed energy projects.  He is experienced in the planning, origination, development and implementation of utility T&D projects, distributed and renewable energy generation systems and grid level renewables integration with major investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities and electric cooperatives. David is also experienced in utility and industrial, commercial, government and institutional level microgrid projects.

Mr. Lentsch’s responsibility at Maxwell Technologies is business development for advanced energy storage systems. He is responsible for utility and partner engagement and regulatory matters. His objective is to apply Maxwell’s energy storage products, technologies and advanced energy storage skill to produce effective, timely and cost-effective solutions that meet utility, PUC, state and federal objectives.

Prior to joining Maxwell Technologies, Mr. Lentsch held senior positions with utility energy leaders for which he led renewable and alternative energy, smart grid, distributed generation and demand response initiatives and projects.  He served as Director Business Development with Gridco, Vice President with utility solar developer 8minutenergy Renewables, Director with Uni-Solar, and Director with Comverge, a supplier of energy and capacity to utilities for demand response systems. He also served as VP, Product and Technical Marketing for Gould.

Mr. Lentsch earned a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from Kent State University in Ohio where he graduated magna cum laude. He also graduated from the U.S. Naval College in San Diego where he majored in electronics and physics.  Mr. Lentsch is a military veteran having served in the United States Coast Guard.  Married with one daughter, he enjoys sailing and travel.

Roger Lin is Senior Director of Product Marketing at NEC Energy Solutions, where he leads all product management and marketing activities for the company. Focusing on grid energy storage solutions as well as battery systems for commercial and industrial applications, he has over ten years of experience in energy storage technologies and applications. In past roles he was responsible for several successful development efforts ranging from high power energy storage systems for hybrid buses to core lithium ion cell technologies at A123 Systems. Prior to joining NEC, he held roles in early stage venture capital fund YankeeTek Ventures, and business development and materials science research and development at Saint-Gobain. Roger received his Master of Engineering degree in Materials Science from MIT, his Bachelor of Science in Ceramic Engineering from Rutgers University, and is an inventor on nine United States patents.

Elena is co-founder and CEO of UtilityAPI, a company that automates the process of collecting electricity data for solar, energy storage, and energy management companies. Elena began her career at PG&E, where she worked on low income energy efficiency programs and distributed generation. Forbes named her 30 Under 30 in 2016. She is on the board of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability and co-chair of the finance committee. She holds a Master’s of International Economics with a focus on econometrics and energy policy from UC San Diego.

Steve Malnight is Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, for Pacific Gas and Electric Company. He is responsible for developing, coordinating and managing policy with state and federal regulatory agencies, including the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). He also is responsible for developing and filing rate proposals with the CPUC, and for oversight of the company’s gas and electric tariffs. Malnight joined PG&E in 2002 and has held diverse leadership positions within the company. After serving as Director of Customer Strategy and then Senior Director of Finance, leading the company’s budgeting and planning process, he became Special Assistant to the Chairman of PG&E’s Corporation in 2007. Subsequent roles included Vice President of Renewable Energy and Vice President of Customer Energy Solutions, an organization providing integrated energy solutions to help customers save energy and money. He was appointed Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs in September 2014. Malnight holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He serves as Chairman of the Board of the Smart Electric Power Alliance, an organization focused on facilitating electricity utilities in the transition to a clean energy future through research, education, and stakeholder collaboration.

Peter Mathews leads the North America team as General Manager for SolarEdge in the Americas and is responsible for all business activities. He is a veteran of more than 25 years in the global semiconductor and solar industries in senior sales, marketing and business development roles.  He has led various companies through the start-up, IPO and growth phases including Enecsys, Solyndra and FormFactor.

Dirk Michels, a partner in Ballard Spahr's Energy and Project Finance Group, is one of the leading energy technology and renewable energy attorneys in California. He represents energy technology and renewable energy companies, as well as investors, developers, lenders, and equipment vendors, in developing and financing solar, biomass, wind, thermal, transmission, storage, smart grid, and other energy projects in corporate, M&A, energy project development and financing, debt and equity financings, tax equity financings, joint ventures, and other strategic alliances within the United States and abroad.

During a 20-year career practicing law in California and Germany, he has advised publicly traded and privately held clients in venture funding, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and project financing transactions worth billions of dollars. A recognized leader in the domestic distributed solar energy industry, Mr. Michels has been at the forefront of representing solar, wind, and energy storage projects involving collaboration between U.S., German, and Canadian companies.

A co-founder, Ken leads company operations, strategic development, corporate financing and M&A activity. Ken’s core focus is building Sunverge into an energy services company on the leading edge of smart grid optimization and virtual power plant services through innovative energy storage solutions comprising best-in-class hardware and software. Prior to starting Sunverge, Ken held various executive management roles with Inertia Engineering, Kinetec, Inc. and Motion Control Engineering, Inc. He holds a B.A. degree from California State University, Sacramento, and an MBA from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Julia Pyper is a Senior Editor at Greentech Media covering utilities, grid issues, electric vehicles, the solar industry and energy storage. Find her on Twitter @JMPyper.

Amrit earned his B.S. in Atmosphere/Energy Engineering at Stanford University. He has relevant domain experience in sales, project management, business development, and engineering.
After completing his degree, he worked at QBotix (which made robotic tracking systems for solar PV) as an assistant to the CEO where he helped to build the business case, develop the marketing materials, and deliver the sales presentation that led to the company's first sale.
He spent three years at Clark Energy Group (CEG), where he co-led the sales, development, and engineering of a $100MM energy efficiency retrofit project for a national supermarket chain. The project included a broad set of energy and water upgrades in 74 supermarkets, but it could not effectively address the single-largest portion of the supermarkets’ energy bills: refrigeration. Amrit ultimately left CEG to solve this painful problem. While at CEG, he also co-led the development of a $13MM energy efficiency project, helped craft the go-to-market strategy for new market verticals, and helped to grow the company's sales pipeline by over $80MM.
Amrit and Anthony Diamond co-founded Axiom Exergy in November of 2013 in order to bring this disruptive energy storage solution to market. He developed the company's product market-fit, helped build a world-class team, recruited a strong advisory board, co-led early technology development, helped develop a sales pipeline of over $10MM with multiple national supermarket chains and electrical utilities, and led Axiom Exergy through two successful rounds of fundraising.
Amrit is a Certified Energy Manager (Association of Energy Engineers) and a jazz/reggae/funk/salsa trumpet player.

Bob Rudd has been with SolarCity for over 4 years and currently serves as SolarCity’s Vice President, Project Development, Energy Storage & Microgrids.  In this role, Mr. Rudd is responsible for all business development activities in the C&I / Utility energy storage space, as well as in the provision of holistic microgrid solutions for utilities, governments, and other unique energy consumers.  Under Mr. Rudd’s leadership, SolarCity has contracted over 100 MWh of energy storage projects, including several marquee customers in the F500, Public Sector, and Utility market segments.  Prior to SolarCity, Mr. Rudd spent many years in leadership positions within the solar industry, most recently working for Sharp Electronics focused on M&A of utility scale solar projects both domestically and abroad.  Mr. Rudd holds a B.S. in Finance from the University of Colorado and was an NCAA Division 1 swimmer.

After graduating from university, Philipp Schröder founded a consulting company for renewable energy. From 2011 to 2012 he had a managing position in the photovoltaics division of Juwi, a nationwide project developer for renewable energy. In 2012 he became head of sales and business development of sonnen GmbH, market leader for smart lithium storage systems in Germany. In 2014 he left sonnen, becoming Country Director Germany of Tesla, where he vastly increased sales and presence of Tesla. In the end of 2015 he returned as a Managing Director to sonnen where he became Chief Sales and Marketing Officer.

Brett Simon is a senior energy storage analyst at Wood Mackenzie - formerly GTM Research, focusing on the U.S. behind-the-meter energy storage market. He leads GTM Research’s quarterly U.S. storage market report, The U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, published in collaboration with the Energy Storage Association. Prior to joining GTM, Brett earned a Master of Science degree in sustainable systems at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment. He first became interested in energy storage systems and their potential to revolutionize the energy sector through his coursework and master's project. Brett also holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and environmental studies from New York University.

Leland R. Snook is Arizona Public Service Company’s Director, Rates and Rate Strategy. Mr. Snook’s areas of expertise include development and analysis of electric utility revenue requirements, modeling of cost of service, rate schedule design, embedded and marginal cost analysis and formulation of utility service policies. Mr. Snook has previously testified before the Arizona Corporation Commission on customer contracts, cost recovery mechanisms, fair value of utility property, rate schedules and pricing. Mr. Snook holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University and is a registered professional electrical engineer in the state of Arizona.

Dan Sowder, P.E. is Vice President of Power Systems Integration at Doosan GridTech, responsible for the design, installation, and deployment of operational energy storage hardware and software projects for electric utilities.  Dan is a recognized industry expert in energy storage and distributed energy integration, leading the design, installation, and operations of multiple utility-scale energy storage systems while at Doosan GridTech (formerly 1Energy Systems) and previously in Duke Energy’s Emerging Technology Office. He has led multiple grid technology deployments and business model initiatives designed to enhance the value of renewable energy on the grid.  Prior to working at Duke Energy, Dan served as a nuclear submarine officer in the U.S. Navy.

Doug Staker is an energy professional that has worked globally for 30 years. He has been a pioneer in the world of smart grid technologies with a focus on smart metering and intelligent energy storage.  He is currently Vice President of Business Development at CarbonQuest and is focused on technology that can increase decarbonization now. Prior to joining CarbonQuest, Stake was Vice President of Utility Business Development for Enel X, a global power company. Enel X acquired Demand Energy, in 2017, where Stake was a cofounder and a specialist in distributed energy storage systems. Prior to Demand Energy, Stake was a Vice President in various roles at Itron, a global leader in smart metering.  Stake is applying his experience in developing new markets for emerging technologies that can have impact today. He is a third-generation power engineer who grew up in the energy industry. Stake is an active industry participant and his ability to explain complex technology into understandable terms has resulted in groups requesting his contribution in frequent speaking events and industry panels.

Rick Thompson co-­founded Greentech Media in 2007, leading the company from unknown upstart to the authoritative information services provider covering the transformation of the global electricity system.

Prior to GTM, Thompson spent 15 years at leading technology start­ups, incumbent networking and telecommunications companies, and technology media and market research firms. Rick was senior telecom analyst at Light Reading/Heavy Reading, the dominant online media & research firm in the telecommunications market, acquired by CMP Media in 2005. Mr. Thompson previously served as the vice president of marketing at PanGo Networks, a wireless software startup, and as director of product management and marketing at Sycamore Networks Inc., where he defined the product strategy and launch of the industry’s first intelligent optical switching platform through their IPO in 1999. Under his leadership, Sycamore deployed several of the world’s largest intelligent optical network infrastructures. Prior to joining Sycamore, Rick held product management positions with Packet Engines, a pioneer of Gigabit Ethernet switching that was later acquired by Alcatel; and FORE Systems, a leader in ATM networking that was later acquired by Marconi and, subsequently, Ericsson. Mr. Thompson earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

With more than 30 years of experience, Ron Van Dell has an exceptional track record of success and proven leadership skills in early-stage, turn-around and established businesses. His background covers a broad range of industries in semiconductors and electronics – power, communications, computing, industrial control, electrical distribution and clean tech. As President and CEO of SolarBridge Technologies, Van Dell led the development and launch of a ground-breaking microinverter solution for AC Solar Modules, reaching eight digits in sales, while raising four rounds of funding. Before SolarBridge, Van Dell served as President and CEO at Primarion (sold to Infineon), President and CEO at Legerity (spin off of Communication Division of AMD), General Manager for Dell Computer’s Dimension Line of Business ($6B in sales), and VP-GM of the Communication Products Business at Harris Semiconductor (now Intersil Corporation). He also held previous international management positions in the U.S. and in Europe at Groupe Schneider, Square D Company and General Electric.

Van Dell graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, with honors, from Michigan Technological University and was a member of Eta Kappa Nu. He received Key Technologist and Management Awards at General Electric, served on the Board of Directors - NC State University Engineering Foundation, on the Europe Committee of the Confederation of British Industry, was Cited as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and Co-chaired a Session on High Performance Teams at the World Economic Forum, served as Chairman’s Delegate to the US-ASEAN Business Council, received the first-ever Technology Achievement Award by B’nai B’rith International, was inducted into ECE Academy - Michigan Technological University and has served on both public and private company Boards of Directors.

Van Dell currently chairs the Industrial Advisory Board for the College of Engineering at Michigan Technological University, served as Chairman of the Clean Energy Council for the Austin Chamber of Commerce in 2012, was appointed by Austin City Council to its Local Solar Advisory Committee in 2012, serves on the Oversight Committee for the M-TRAC commercialization program of the Michigan EDC and as an Advisory Fellow, NSF Center for Next Gen PV, University of Texas.

Gabriel serves as a Director of Development with Hecate Energy where he is responsible for ongoing project development and execution efforts including site selection and permitting, offtake negotiation, subcontractor selection and contracting, and technology selection. 

Prior to joining Hecate Energy Gabriel served in several business development roles for Yingli Solar.  Initially Gabriel managed US utility scale business development for Yingli.  Subsequently Gabriel managed all Latin American business development for Yingli Americas.  He establishing business units in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico and cultivated customers in nine Latin American countries.

Gabriel began his career as an investment banker in the Power and Utilities Group Barclays Capital.  His advisory work focused on the acquisition and divestiture of power generation assets.

Gabriel holds a BS with Honors in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University’s Charles H. Dyson School of Business.

Rick Winter, BE(Mech), UET’s President & COO with a focus on corporate & product strategy with 25 years’ experience innovating and applying grid storage technologies, ranging from deploying microgrids in Australia’s Torres Strait to managing PG&E’s Energy Storage Program, and leading product development at five advanced battery companies. Rick led development of the world’s first flow battery product and invented the single loop flow battery (Pat#8039161). He holds 17 US patents with numerous abroad and several patents pending. Rick is a founding member of the Electricity Storage Association that was created in 1991 as the national trade group for the industry, twice serving as chairman and 18 years on the board. In 2011, Rick was awarded the prestigious Phil Symons award for his “instrumental role in the evolution of storage technologies in both the utility and battery manufacturing industries”. UET is spearheading a $300MM consortium manufacturing the only containerized vanadium flow battery with MW-scale field deployments. The product leverages next generation electrochemistry designed at PNNL with extensive industrial engineering and a multinational, high volume supply chain. Key attributes of UET’s factory integrated product include no capacity fade, 100% duty cycle flexibility, 20-year durability and 100% recyclability.