Tracks
Joe VonDerHaar
Plant Manager, Spurlock
East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc. [EKPC]
Kate Bowling
Plant Manager Eastern Gas
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Michael Burroughs
Plant Manager - Plant Scherer
Georgia Power
Rizwan James
Power Generation System Operations Director
Dominion Energy, Inc.
Siraj Taj
Principal / Owner
ST Power Services Consultants, LLC
James Goosby
Executive in Residence at the McCrary Institute for Cyber & Critical Infrastructure Security
Southern Company
Jay Cribb
Generation Cyber Security Program Manager
Southern Company
Aaron Larson
Executive Editor
POWER magazine
David Porter
Vice President, Electrification and Sustainable Energy Strategy
EPRI Electric Power Research Institute
Ray Rasmussen
Co-founder and Managing Principal
rGen Consulting
Brian Fitzgerald
Senior Property & Nuclear Insurance Broker - Natural Resources
Willis Towers Watson
John Williams
Senior Vice President
Southern Nuclear
Doug Machon
Director of Business Development
IHI Power Services Corp. (IPSC)
Kevin Conner
Business Development Director
PVHardware LLC
Sonal Patel
Senior Editor
POWER magazine
Darrell Proctor
Senior Editor
POWER magazine
John Carroll
Vice President, C&I North America
SolarEdge Technologies Inc.
Vihann Kong
Senior Executive Director
Ampion
Jason Spreyer
CEO
Navisun
Brian Heinbaugh
Plant Manager - Wildcat Point Generation Facility
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative
Jeffrey Fassett
President
IEM Energy Consultants
Stewart Nicholson
President
Primex
Galen George
VP
Siemens Energy
Thomas Steitz
Director of Energy Storage
Kiewit
Diane Fischer
Director, Generation Services
Kiewit
Timothy Held
VP of Engineering
Echogen Power Systems Inc.
Denis Garman
Chief Business and Marketing Strategist
Lockheed Martin
Martin Schichtel Ph.D.
CEO and Co-Founder
Kraftblock GmbH
Kristen Himmerick M. Ed.
Vice President, Solutions/Interim Director of EPCE
CAEL - Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Charna Flennoy
Talent Acquisition Services Manager
JEA
Rosa Schmidt
Director of Member Services and Veteran Programming
Center For Energy Workforce Development
Gavin Hale
Director of Product Development and Power Generation
Propane Education & Research Council (PERC)
Robert Hollinsworth
Plant Manager Montrose & Sibley Stations
Kansas City Power & Light
Nik Kutz
Training Supervisor
Omaha Public Power District (OPPD)
Luke Krooswyk
Project Manager, Nuclear
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc.
Travis Russell, P.E. Ph.D.
Manager of Innovation and Advanced Nuclear Engineering
Enercon
Chad Swope
Section Manager
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc.
Arlen Herrell
Sr. Deputy Director
Department of Employment Services (DOES)
Sandra Blecklan
Workforce Development Project Director
New York Power Authority
Claire Brown
Senior Director Strategic Marketing NA, Clean Energy
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Mary Page Bailey
Sr. Associate Editor
Chemical Engineering Magazine
Brendan Jones
Mechanical Engineer
Sargent & Lundy
Laura Geiman
Director Business Development, Clean Energy
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Mitchell Samuelian
CEO
NuConsult Services, LLC
Takis Zourntos
VP_ R&D/Products
Volta Energy Inc.
Rick Lank
President and Chief Commercialization Officer
Resilient Power Works, LLC
David Tucker Ph.D.
CEO
Creative Power, Inc.
Alex Krowka
Consultant
United States Energy Association (USEA)
Jeffery Pope PE
Program Manager, Facility Decommissioning & Demolition Services
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co., Inc.
Briggs White PhD
Deputy Executive Director
U.S. Department of Energy/NETL
Wayshalee Patel, B.S.ChE, MBA, P.E.
Manager
Sargent & Lundy
Anna Rausch
Environmental Associate
Sargent & Lundy
William Latta
New Technology, Sr. Program Manager
Babcock & Wilcox
John Giles
Project Manager
Kiewit
DeAnna C. Myers
Senior Manager, Learning & Development
Sargent & Lundy
Jody Porter PhDc
Senior Consultant
STS CONSULTING SERVICES LLC
Jamie Choate
Director, Workforce Strategy & Development Labor Relations, Safety, & Workforce Development
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Samuel R. Barnes, P.E.
President & CEO
Middough Inc.
Ed Davis
Senior Consultant
DOE Loan Programs Office
Megan Reusser
Hydrogen Technology Manager
Burns & McDonnell
Whitaker Irvin, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer
Q Hydrogen
Clayton Tucker
Process Engineer - Green Energy Solutions
Lectrodryer
Kenneth Luebbert
Senior Director - Gen Support Engineering
Evergy, Inc
Darren Hoard
Senior Engineer
Evergy, Inc
Craig Burgett
Project Manager
Kiewit
Shawn Larson CMRP
Business Development, Maintenance and Reliability SME, Plant & Facility Services
Fluor Corporation
Casey Allen
Associate Professor
Marquette University
Rahul Mukherjee Ph.D.
Co-founder and Director of R&D
Alsym Energy
Caroline Brannock Ph.D.
Sr. Sales Manager Battery Technology
BASF Corporation
Wayne Garrett
Chief Commercial Officer
Viridi Parente
John Nixon
Vice President - Energy, Chemicals & Infrastructure
Siemens Industry Software, Inc.
Sam Chesser
Principal Architect, Polarion
Compliance Group
Gary Griffin
Senior Account Executive for Energy
Applied CAx
Tony White
Head of Vertical Market Chemical, Glass & Energy US Sales
Siemens Industry, Inc.
Sarah Osborn PMP, FS Eng
Energy, Utilities, Chemical & Infrastructure Industry Strategy Lead
Siemens Digital Industries Software
Mike Harbison
President
M E H & Associates, LLC
Frank Fowler
Vice President, Business Development
SmartBurn, LLC
Todd Svoboda
Principal Engineer
East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc. [EKPC]
Jill Liska
General Counsel, Sponsor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative
Sargent & Lundy
Elizabeth (Izzy) Lawrence
Manager, Program Development & Implementation
Arizona Public Service Company [APS]
Mel Bergsneider
Executive Account Manager
Allume Energy
Justin Walters
VDC Lead
Middough
R.J. "Chip" Hilarides, PhD, PE
Vice President, Quality & Stewardship
Flint Hills Resources
John Schroeder
Executive Vice President, Distributed Energy
DEPCOM Power
Chris Gilliland
Manager, Business Operations
Entergy
Jim Barbour
VP - Regional Utility Sales
Enchanted Rock, LLC
Peter Hoeflich
Director Generation Technology
Duke Energy
Marc Prasse
Senior Project Engineer
Sargent & Lundy
Bedar Islam
BDM
Johnson Matthey
Debrup Das
Head of Renewables & Hydrogen
Hitachi Energy Ltd
Matthew Fioretti
Senior Manager Market Development
Wartsila North America, Inc.
Deepak Divan Ph.D.
President & Co-Founder
Varentec
Paul Kempf
Assistant Vice President of Utilities & Maintenance
Notre Dame Power Plant
Leet Wood PhD
Chief Energy Advisor
Space Frontier Foundation
Timothy Stephens
Global Account Manager - Geothermal
Halliburton
Brooke Mills
Sr. Comms Business Partner
GE Vernova
John Evans
Principal Consultant
Thornton Tomasetti
Abhimanyu Singh
Senior Manager, Maritime Sales
Amogy
Sarah Noll
Manager, VPP Innovation & Strategic Initiatives
Arizona Public Service Company [APS]
Robert Wolfe
Product Line Manager - Digital
Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc.
Sunil Cherian Ph.D.
CEO
Spirae
William Burke Ph.D.
CEO
Virtual Peaker
Wayshalee Patel, B.S.ChE, MBA, P.E.
Senior Project Manager/Discipline Manager and Chemical Engineer
Sargent & Lundy
Timothy Eiden
Environment Technology Associate III
Sargent and Lundy
Eric Fins
Vice President
Grove Climate Group
Brian Fladger
MAN Energy Solutions
Joseph Vonderhaar
Station Manager, Spurlock Power Station
EAST KENTUCKY POWER CORPORATION
Steve Dobson
Manager Sourcing
EAST KENTUCKY POWER CORPORATION
Chris Kurle
Manager of Purchasing
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
Norris Minnis C.P.M., MBA
Manager, Contracts - Supply Chain Services
Oglethorpe Power Corp
Benjamin Carmichael
Business Development Manager, Advanced Energy Systems Research and Development
Southern Company
Emmanuel Darko, P.E.
Principal Nuclear Engineer
PSEG Energy Holdings
Ben Holtzman
Director, New Nuclear
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
Ryan Martin
Sr. Program Manager, Advanced Nuclear Solutions
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Travis Russell P.E. Ph.D.
Manager of Innovation and Advanced Nuclear
Enercon
Gursaran Singh, MASc, P.Eng, PMP
VP Energy Alliances
Volta Energy Inc.
Justin Williams
Senior Account Executive
Trevi Communications
Sean Hughes
Business Development Manager
Wartsila North America, Inc.
Junaid Ali
CEO
Prismecs
Danny Wigham
Advisory Sector Leader, PwC US
Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP
Luke Martin
Partner
Scott Madden Inc.
Tricia Shultz
Interim Section Head, Resilient Cyber Physical Systems
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Joe VonDerHaar
Plant Manager, Spurlock
East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc. [EKPC]
Sessions:
Joe VonDerHaar has over 35 years of experience in the utility and manufacturing industries. On the utility side he has held positions in System Operations, Transmission & Distribution and Power Generation. On the manufacturing front he was a Plant Manager for a Power Transmission OEM. A common thread in both industries is the tremendous change in process and mission because of competition, new technology and evolving regulations. Being able to adapt and even welcome change is critical to success.
Joe is currently the Plant Director at the Spurlock Power Station, a 4-unit, coal fired, 1500MW facility in Maysville Kentucky. He holds an engineering degree from the University of Dayton.
Kate Bowling
Plant Manager Eastern Gas
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Kate has spent the last 20 plus years working for Tennessee Valley Authority honing her skills and knowledge in the policy procedures and power production and core business of the industry. She currently serves as site management in rotational development capacity for several power plants in the TVA network.
Michael Burroughs
Rizwan James
Power Generation System Operations Director
Dominion Energy, Inc.
Sessions:
Rizwan James, Director-Power Generation System Operation Joined Dominion Energy in 2004 as a combustion turbine technician at the Fairless Energy Power Plant. Through series of career advancements his new role is Director Power Generation System Operations. Rizwan James is responsible for providing fleetwide operational support to Power Generation assets which include regulated fleet asset management and budgetary oversight, regulatory reporting, and oversight of the PG Operational Excellence team. He is also responsible for leading Power Generation operations teams, leading Power Generation's hydrogen strategy for combustion turbines, and providing support for Project Construction
Siraj Taj
Principal / Owner
ST Power Services Consultants, LLC
Sessions:
Siraj Taj is a rare Power industry insider who has the experience to look across the entire value chain - from sourcing and generation to transmission and distribution - to optimize plant efficiencies and economics. Siraj and his team at ST Power Services are focused on creating Innovative and Pragmatic O & M strategies that empower plant owners to solve today's problems while laying the groundwork to profitably transform their organization for a carbon-free future.
A sought-after Power industry consultant and thought leader, Siraj Taj has leveraged more than 35 years experience into his latest pursuit: Helping power plant owners prepare for our clean energy future.
James Goosby
Executive in Residence at the McCrary Institute for Cyber & Critical Infrastructure Security
Southern Company
Sessions:
James currently serves as the Southern Company Executive in Residence at Auburn University's McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. In this role he works closely with industry, academia, and federal partners, including national laboratories on electric grid cyber security strategies. James also served as a senior fellow at the McCrary Institute, a prestigious group of nationally renowned cyber and critical-infrastructure security experts.
With more than 28 years of service at Southern Company, James co-led an initiative to implement an enhanced Operations cyber and NERC-CIP program support model and has held various operational and engineering support leadership positions. Prior to joining Southern Company, James served in the U.S. Marines. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Auburn University.
Jay Cribb
Generation Cyber Security Program Manager
Southern Company
Aaron Larson
Executive Editor
POWER magazine
Sessions:
- Keynote Session - Energy Horizon: Mapping the Present and Future of Power Generation, sponsored by GE Vernova
- Industry Roundtable
- Industry Insights: Word on the Street as Reported by POWER's Editors
- Beyond the Hype: Harnessing the Power of the Industrial Metaverse in Energy sponsored by Siemens
- Powering the Future: Harnessing Earth, Water, and Sun
Aaron Larson joined the POWER team in September 2013 as an associate editor and was named executive editor in 2017. Aaron has a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering technology and a master's degree, specializing in finance. He spent 13 years in the U.S. Navy nuclear power program, advancing to Chief Petty Officer. He has worked at commercial nuclear, biomass, and coal-fired power plants, functioning in operations, maintenance, safety, financial, and management capacities. Aaron holds a Chief A Engineer boiler operator license in the state of Minnesota.
David Porter
Vice President, Electrification and Sustainable Energy Strategy
EPRI Electric Power Research Institute
David Porter is EPRI's Vice President, Electrification & Sustainable Energy Strategy. In this role, he provides executive oversight and leadership to the teams responsible for EPRI's research, development, and demonstration of electrification and customer solutions, sustainability and ecosystem stewardship, and environmental health and safety. EPRI's work in these areas is key to a decarbonized economy-wide energy future including emphasis on equity and environmental justice as part of the development and deployment of technology.
Porter joined EPRI in July 2009 as a Senior Account Executive and moved to Executive Director Generation in July 2010 before transitioning to Director Strategic Accounts role in April 2012. Most recently, he was Director U.S. Accounts where he led both the U.S. and government account teams dedicated to the technology needs of major electric industry clients and select Federal and State governmental entities, respectively.
With more than 30 years of energy industry and executive leadership experience, Porter has worked across a variety of utility operations including power marketing, transmission, distribution, energy efficiency, customer programs and sustainability. Prior to his current role at EPRI, Porter held a variety of executive and management positions in the energy field at Florida Power Corporation and Duke Power, as well as in telecommunications and management consulting.
Porter holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and is a Licensed Professional Engineer.
Ray Rasmussen
Co-founder and Managing Principal
rGen Consulting
With a career spanning over four decades in the technology and energy industries, Ray Rasmussen brings an extraordinary depth of knowledge, vast experience, and a proven track record of successful leadership roles. Ray began his journey in technology as an engineer at IBM at the dawn of the personal computer era. He quickly developed an infatuation with the revolutionary potential of this technology. He worked for 10 years at Deloitte Consulting leading mergers and integration of energy companies. He deepened his knowledge of leading-edge AI technologies as Microsoft's worldwide leader of business application strategies.
Today, Ray is the co-founder and managing principal of rGen Consulting, a management consulting firm specializing in AI business transformation. Under his leadership, rGen Consulting has become an ideal partner for companies seeking rapid growth and increased revenues. Through comprehensive services encompassing strategic planning, organizational design, process automation, and ongoing operations, Ray and his team enable clients to navigate the complexities of AI adoption and realize their vision for success.
Brian Fitzgerald
Senior Property & Nuclear Insurance Broker - Natural Resources
Willis Towers Watson
Relevant Experience/Specialization
Brian joined WTW in May of 2023, bringing three years of Natural Resources Property and Nuclear insurance broking experience and a total of 10 years of power generation experience with him. An Ocean Engineer by degree and a Nuclear Engineer by training and operational experience, Brian has been leveraging his background to tackle the most technical risks within the Natural Resources insurance space and dedicated to achieving the best results for his clients.
His experience includes:
�-� Placing complex, multi-carrier risks within the global insurance marketplace in the following industries:
�-- Refining, Midstream, Petrochemical, LNG, Conventional Power Generation, Nuclear Power, Renewable Power Generation
�-� Nuclear Property and Nuclear Liability Insurance
�-- Domestic and International Programs
�-- Nuclear coverage review and client training
�-� Navy Veteran, Nuclear Submarine Officer, Instructor at the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Power School
Education and Credentials
Bachelor of Science - Ocean Engineering
US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD
Certified Naval Nuclear Engineer
Department of Energy
Associate in Risk Management (ARM)
The Institutes Knowledge Group
John Williams
Senior Vice President
Southern Nuclear
Sessions:
John Williams is interim Engineering vice president for Southern Nuclear. Prior to his current role, he was Fuel & Analysis director, responsible for nuclear fuel and safety analysis for Southern Nuclear's fleet of nuclear generating plants.
Williams joined Southern Nuclear as an engineer at the Birmingham office in 2005. He has more than 20 years of experience in nuclear fuel, specifically reactor core design and licensing, dry storage of spent nuclear fuel, nuclear fuel procurement and reactor engineering. Prior to joining Southern Nuclear, he was a nuclear engineer for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Williams serves on the Department of Energy's Industry Advisory Board for its Advanced Fuels Campaign and is the utility lead for the Nuclear Energy Institute's Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) Working Group and the Licensing and Safety Benefits Task Force. He provided leadership and guidance to the team that introduced the first ATF fuel into a commercial reactor at Southern Nuclear's Plant Hatch in 2018 and Plant Vogtle in 2019.
Williams holds a bachelor's degree in nuclear and radiological engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology
Doug Machon
Director of Business Development
IHI Power Services Corp. (IPSC)
Sessions:
During his 25-year career in the energy industry, Doug has earned a reputation as an insightful, steady leader who excels at strengthening the business model in a variety of ways. His experience includes corporate leadership of business development, corporate development, M&A, strategic planning, and financial planning and analysis. As IPSC's Director of Business Development, he works with project developers, utilities, IPPs, financial institutions, and other stakeholders to support a wide range of projects, including greenfield and transitions, conventional and renewable power, and emerging technologies in fuels and chemicals.
Kevin Conner
Business Development Director
PVHardware LLC
Sessions:
Kevin Conner is Business Development Director for PVHardware (PVH), an international solar tracker manufacturer with facilities in Houston, Texas. At PVH, Kevin is responsible for sales strategy development, customer relationships, market expansion, forecasting, and competitive analysis. He is an experienced engineering manager and has been working in the renewables and environment industry for more than a decade.
Sonal Patel
Senior Editor
POWER magazine
Sessions:
A national award-winning multimedia journalist, Sonal Patel has covered a wide range of technology, business, and policy issues affecting the power industry worldwide for POWER and its sister publications since 2008. Along with keeping her eye on national and international matters for POWER magazine's monthly department Global Monitor, she contributes in-depth analysis and spot news pieces for POWER and POWERnews. She also surveys, crunches, and visualizes power generation data and trends from around the world for POWER's web and print infographics and other multimedia. She is a graduate of the University of Houston.
Darrell Proctor
Senior Editor
POWER magazine
Sessions:
Darrell Proctor joined POWER in 2017. He has years of experience in the energy and publishing industries, including as a writer, editor and energy data analyst for Ponderosa Advisors and Bentek Energy (S&P Global/Platts). He has written numerous reports and white papers on power demand, particularly from industrial facilities, as well as natural gas and crude oil exploration and trading. He also has written about transportation of commodities, particularly coal, crude oil and natural gas, and the operation of crude oil refineries. He was an assistant business editor and assistant news editor as well as Technology Editor for the Rocky Mountain News in Colorado, and also was a senior editor at the St. Petersburg Times in Florida. He is a graduate of Franklin College of Indiana.
John Carroll
Vice President, C&I North America
SolarEdge Technologies Inc.
John is a seasoned energy industry veteran with extensive experience in large organizations and with multiple start-up entities. His experience spans three decades in multiple leadership roles within the renewable energy, grid automation, power systems and sustainability/decarbonization markets. As the Vice President of C&I in North America, John leads a team of solar architects deploying roof top and ground mount solar solutions within the community, commercial and industrial market segments, leveraging SolarEdge's unique power electronics solutions.
John is also a retired U.S. Navy Reserve Captain and a veteran of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He holds a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from N.Y. Maritime College and an MBA from Adelphi University.
Vihann Kong
Senior Executive Director
Ampion
Ampion's Senior Executive Director of Enterprise Acquisition, Vihann Kong, is an authority on the sustainable energy efficiency and demand-side management market.
With Ampion, he delivers renewable energy solutions to enterprise customers to help lower their energy costs and achieve ESG initiatives. He manages a robust end-to-end sales strategy with a cross-functional business development team, engineers, and project managers.
His experience extends back more than a decade. Before Ampion, he led national sales at Metrus Energy, and led demand-side management sales at Constellation, an Exelon company.
Jason Spreyer
CEO
Navisun
Jason Spreyer is the CEO of Navisun, a leading independent power producer (IPP) that finances, builds, owns, and operates solar and energy storage projects throughout the United States. With nearly 30 years of industry experience, he has held leadership roles in finance, project development, business development, regulatory and policy spanning North and South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific markets. Prior to Navisun, Jason held roles at Summit Ridge Energy, Brookfield Renewable, Veolia, InterGen and Calpine. He has a BS in accounting from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and an MBA from Boston University with a concentration in corporate finance.
Brian Heinbaugh
Plant Manager - Wildcat Point Generation Facility
Old Dominion Electric Cooperative
Brian Heinbaugh is the Vice President of Operations and Asset Management at ODEC, where he oversees the safe, reliable operation and maintenance of the cooperative's generation portfolio or if you want to use most of it and leave out some of the personal info. I also attached a updated headshot.
Since joining ODEC in 2015, Brian served as Plant General Manager of the Wildcat Point Generation Facility, where he played a key role in its construction, startup, and ongoing operations. With over 25 years of experience in the power generation industry, Brian has held various leadership roles across a wide range of technologies, including simple cycle, combined cycle, and coal-fired plants. He previously served as Director of Operations with GDF Suez and NAES and began his career as a nuclear plant electrician in the U.S. Navy Submarine Force.
Brian holds both an M.B.A. and a Master of Science in Energy Resources Management & Policy from the University of Maryland Global Campus. A Maryland native, he is married with three children. Outside of work, he is an active volunteer in his community, coaching cross country and track & field, and supporting organizations such as the Scouts, Boys & Girls Club, and Habitat for Humanity.
Jeffrey Fassett
President
IEM Energy Consultants
Mr. Fassett is President and founder of IEM Energy Consultants LLC, (now part of CEIS), and has more than 39 years of broad-based experience in the power and related industries. He founded IEM in 1998 as a boutique consulting practice to provide consulting services in all aspects of power plant operations, maintenance, and management to clients worldwide. Mr. Fassett has provided services in outage planning, management and oversite, long range O&M budgeting, reliability assessments, plant staffing analysis and long-term service agreement negotiations.
Prior to forming IEM, Mr. Fassett held roles of increasing responsibility with various utilities, both regulated and IPP's, as well as petrochemical process facilities. These roles included Plant Engineer, Maintenance Engineer, Start Up Manager, Maintenance Manager and Plant Superintendent. His experience includes coal, simple and combined cycle CT's, coal gasification and specialty chemical manufacturing. Mr. Fassett sits on the Board of Directors of the Plant Managers Institute, the Advisory Board of the Electric Power Conference, is a member of the ASME Power Committee. He has taught college classes in Energy & the Environment, Ethics in the Energy Industry, Electronics and Power Plant Operations. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Dakota State University with an emphasis in Power Plant System Design
Stewart Nicholson
President
Primex
Stewart Nicholson is President and founder of Primex Process Specialists, Inc., a professional services firm specializing in generation asset optimization services. Building on thirty years' experience in process optimization, Stewart's mission is to further develop and deploy Primex's suite of advanced forecasting, anomaly detection, and diagnostic services. Stewart is a seasoned executive, patent holder, Professional Engineer, ASME published author, and contributing author of Machine Learning and Data Science in the Power Generation Industry (ISBN 9780128197424).
Galen George
VP
Siemens Energy
Mr. George has worked in the North American Power industry for more than 35 years in the areas of Automation, Electrification and the Application of Digital Solutions for more than 35 years. In his career he has served as Design Engineering, Construction Engineer, Commissioning and Startup Management, Project Engineering, Project Management, Marketing, Sales, and Sales Management.
Thomas Steitz
Director of Energy Storage
Kiewit
At Kiewit, Tom is monitoring all aspects of the long-duration energy storage market and spearheading Kiewit's initiatives to ensure the success of our power engineering services in the Northeast U.S. With decades of leadership experience in the global energy industry, Tom has led multiple, large global business units. He also launched a new energy storage venture, instrumental in the company's shift from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources.
Diane Fischer
Director, Generation Services
Kiewit
Sessions:
Delivering asset development, operational improvements and performance enhancement services, Diane Fischer, the Director of Generation Services at Kiewit, leverages her 30+ years of experience in the power industry to provide detailed engineering and design solutions. Throughout the project lifecycle, she partners with clients to address environmental issues, engineer components and systems and conduct facility evaluations and feasibility analyses.
A recognized subject matter expert in the power market, Diane has shared her insights on combustion turbine issues, fuel flexibility, hydrogen combustion and energy storage at 12 conferences over the last three years. Holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University, she is also a licensed Professional Engineer in Missouri.
Timothy Held
VP of Engineering
Echogen Power Systems Inc.
Dr. Timothy Held is the Chief Technology Officer at Echogen Power Systems in Akron, Ohio, where he is responsible for development, maturation, and transition to product of supercritical CO2 power cycles and energy storage systems. Prior to joining Echogen in 2008, Dr. Held was with GE Aviation for 13 years, where he held leadership positions in several combustor design and fuels technology teams. He received a BSAAE from Purdue University in 1987, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 1993. He has published several technical journal articles and book chapters, and holds 49 U.S. patents.
Denis Garman
Chief Business and Marketing Strategist
Lockheed Martin
Denis P. Garman
Chief Strategist, Lockheed Martin Energy
Denis Garman has been the Chief Strategist for Lockheed Martin Energy since March 2016. In this role, he is responsible for developing and executing strategic and marketing plans to position LM Energy for success in highly competitive commercial markets.
With nearly 30 years of experience in both B2B and B2C sectors, Denis has a proven track record of crafting effective strategies and plans. He began his career in the Consumer Products Industry with Procter & Gamble and IBM, later transitioning to IBM Energy, where he led global strategy and marketing efforts. At Duke Energy, Denis spearheaded residential programs and marketing, introducing several innovative products. He then moved to CLEAResult, a leading energy efficiency consultancy, where he directed brand marketing initiatives.
Denis holds a degree from Vanderbilt University and currently resides in Winter Garden, Florida, with his wife, Amy.
Martin Schichtel Ph.D.
CEO and Co-Founder
Kraftblock GmbH
Martin Schichtel graduated with a doctorate degree in Chemistry from the University of Saarland with a focus on Nanoparticle Composites and Smart Coatings. He led the Department of Ceramics at the Institute for New Materials and has 20 years of experience in material development for multiple industries. Martin co-founded Kraftblock to enable the energy transition and the decarbonization of the industrial sector with a sustainable and cost-efficient high-temperature energy storage.
Kristen Himmerick M. Ed.
Vice President, Solutions/Interim Director of EPCE
CAEL - Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
Sessions:
Kristen Himmerick is a higher education and nonprofit administrator with extensive experience working with higher education institutions and systems to launch large-scale academic technology projects. She joined CAEL in June 2012 as Director of Academic Technology and Student Engagement for the CAEL's national portfolio assessment program, LearningCounts.
As Director, Kristen led the internal operations and platform design of LearningCounts. In 2022, Kristen became the Vice President of the Solutions Team, which focused on developing technology to support regional, workforce, and higher education initiatives. She is currently CAEL's VP Technology Strategy, working on adapting AI for experiential learning and leading the technology for digital credential grant programs.
Before joining CAEL, Himmerick was part of the Innovation Lab at Southern New Hampshire University, where she helped author the proposal for a self-paced, competency-based associate degree awarded the $1MM Next Generation Learning Challenge Grant for College Completion (SNHU?s College for America Program).
Before SNHU, Kristen was the District Director of Academic Technology at the City Colleges of Chicago, managing the first system-wide LMS and student email system launches. She earned an M. Ed., concentration in eLearning from the University of Illinois, and holds a B.S. in Communication Studies and a Musical Theater certificate from Northwestern University.
Kristen is a Prosci Certified Change Management Practitioner. Also, an actress and singer, Kristen, has performed in theaters across Chicago. Past regional theater appearances include roles at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Second City, and Drury Lane Oak Brook.
Charna Flennoy
Talent Acquisition Services Manager
JEA
Charna Flennoy serves as the Talent Acquisition Services Manager at JEA, a utility company based in Jacksonville,
FL. Her department is responsible for recruiting for a wide range of positions, from field staff to executive roles.
Charna plays a key role in building and maintaining a sustainable workforce of over 2,000 employees dedicated to
meeting the community's needs.
With over 30 years of experience in HR, Charna has expertise in various areas, including Labor Relations, where she
has successfully negotiated multiple multi-year collective bargaining agreements. Her background also includes
roles as a Corporate Facilitator, where she supported the personal and professional development of employees.
Additionally, Charna has experience as an Adjunct Professor, teaching business courses at the collegiate level. Her
current position as Talent Acquisition Services Manager marks a return to her roots, as she began her HR career as
a recruiter.
Outside of work, Charna is a devoted mother and is actively engaged in her community through her sorority. She is
also an author of a non-fiction book and is working on creating a book trilogy.
Rosa Schmidt
Director of Member Services and Veteran Programming
Center For Energy Workforce Development
Gavin Hale
Director of Product Development and Power Generation
Propane Education & Research Council (PERC)
Robert Hollinsworth
Plant Manager Montrose & Sibley Stations
Kansas City Power & Light
Nik Kutz
Training Supervisor
Omaha Public Power District (OPPD)
Mr. Kutz has over 17 years of operations and training experience obtained from working at an Ethanol plant, Oil Refinery, Gasification plant and Power Plant. Nik was hired at the Omaha Public Power District as a Plant Helper and worked his way up to a Unit Operator. Nik jumped at the opportunity to work in the Production Operations Training Department as a Training Coordinator for the Nebraska City Station and has since moved to the Production Operations Department Training Supervisor position. Some of his many responsibilities are providing Fire Brigade training to Operations Personnel as well as creating and delivering computer based training via OPPD's Learners Management System. He currently resides in Nebraska with his wife and two children.
Luke Krooswyk
Project Manager, Nuclear
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc.
Luke started his power generation career supporting the operating nuclear fleet with the evaluation, design, modification, and repair of systems and components, and progressed to serving as a Project Engineering Manager for nuclear plant modifications. His project experience diversified with new combined cycle plant design, solar project siting development, and power plant decommissioning and demolition.
Most recently, Luke has been serving as a project manager for the design development and pre-construction planning activities for micro and small modular reactor projects, including the development of capital cost estimates and project schedules.
Travis Russell, P.E. Ph.D.
Manager of Innovation and Advanced Nuclear Engineering
Enercon
Dr. Travis Russell, P.E., PhD, is ENERCON's Innovation and Advanced Nuclear Manager. He earned his doctoral degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Tennessee, is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Georgia and has over 13 years of nuclear industry experience across multiple roles including research and development, engineering design and analysis, project management, safety and risk management, engineering management, innovation, and business development.
As Manager of Innovation, Dr. Russell leads ENERCON's corporate innovation strategy to identify and implement new markets, services, and/or technologies that have measurable impact on project success.
As Manager of Advanced Nuclear, Dr. Russell manages ENERCON's engineering efforts in new and emerging nuclear markets like next-generation reactor design, novel nuclear power applications, and assocaited licensing/regulatory support.
Personally, he has been married to his wife Kirby since 2011, and they have five sons, including two sets of twins.
Chad Swope
Section Manager
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc.
Mr. Swope has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology and has 16+ years of experience at Burns & McDonnell in the power generation industry. He leads the Generation Asset Advisory team in 1898 & Co., part of Burns & McDonnell, focusing on early project development including technology evaluation, site selection, early project planning schedule development, and risk assessment. He also supports existing facility condition assessments, O&M Optimization, and independent engineer due diligence.
Arlen Herrell
Sr. Deputy Director
Department of Employment Services (DOES)
Arlen Herrell serves as the Deputy Director of Innovation and Partnerships at the DC Department of Employment Services (DOES). In this role, he oversees the Bureau of Innovation and Partnerships, which includes the DC Infrastructure Academy (DCIA) and the Office of Talent and Client Services (OTCS). The Bureau of Innovation and Partnerships is responsible for providing skilled training, business engagement, and career assistance to thousands of District residents annually. Previously Herrell was the Associate Director of the DC Infrastructure Academy, where he played a key role in launching and expanding the program. Since its inception in 2018, DCIA has successfully served over 4,000 residents and gained national recognition from the Biden Administration.
Before joining DOES, Herrell served as the External Affairs Manager for the City Administrator of the District of Columbia. In this capacity, he maintained strong relationships with various regional and national stakeholders, including the Metro Washington Council of Governments, the DC Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the US Conference of Mayors, and the National League of Cities. Additionally, Herrell played a pivotal role in establishing the DC Infrastructure Academy.
During the Obama Administration, Herrell was appointed as the Deputy Director for Intergovernmental Affairs at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In this role, he served as the liaison between the agency and state and local governments. Herrell played a vital role in supporting the agency's disaster relief efforts and helped secure funds for the affected regions.
Furthermore, Herrell has served as the Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the City of Cincinnati, OH where he was responsible for managing the city's relationships with state and federal entities, as well as overseeing the city's eight international Sister City relationships. Notably, Herrell facilitated the establishment of Cincinnati's first new Sister City in 20 years, Mysore, India, and initiated a student exchange program with New Taipei City, Taiwan. He attended the University of Cincinnati, where he served as the undergraduate member of the Board of Trustees, and from which he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and Government.
Sandra Blecklan
Workforce Development Project Director
New York Power Authority
Claire Brown
Senior Director Strategic Marketing NA, Clean Energy
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Mary Page Bailey
Sr. Associate Editor
Chemical Engineering Magazine
Brendan Jones
Mechanical Engineer
Sargent & Lundy
Brendan Jones is a Mechanical Engineer for Sargent & Lundy, whose primary role is focused on the Hydrogen and Clean Fuels. He has spent 3+ years working in power generation and hydrogen industries. At Sargent & Lundy, Brendan has worked closely with electrolyzer manufacturers in projects spanning from large-scale hydrogen production studies to hydrogen production and consumption demonstrations.
Laura Geiman
Director Business Development, Clean Energy
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Laura Geiman is a business development director in the Clean Energy business at W. L. Gore and Associates, based in Newark, DE. Gore's Clean Energy's mission is to improve life through innovative material solutions that enable the decarbonization of the transportation and energy sectors. Since 1994, Gore's proprietary Proton Exchange Membranes (PEM) and related technology have pioneered hydrogen fuel cell commercialization throughout major industrial market sectors, lowering total cost of ownership in applications ranging from stationary power generation to global long-haul transportation. Laura holds a BS degree from Jefferson University, in Textile Technology and Material Science. She attended The University of Virginia, Darden School of Business to participate in their Executive Marketing program. Holding primarily Business Development and Sales Leadership positions, she has spent more than 3 decades working on the commercialization, adoption and advancement of polymer products. She is an expert in proton exchange membranes for fuel cell applications and is utilizing her technical knowledge and market insights to support customer success for PEM adoption in the water electrolysis market. Laura represents Gore Clean Energy on the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association and the Mid-Atlantic Clean H2 Hub.
Mitchell Samuelian
CEO
NuConsult Services, LLC
Sessions:
Mitchell M. Samuelian is a highly experienced professional in the renewable energy sector, currently serving as the CEO and Founder of NuConsult Services, LLC. He has over 40 years of expertise in the electric utility industry, with a strong background in corporate asset management, engineering, compliance, plant management, and strategic planning.
Current Role:
CEO/Founder of NuConsult Services, LLC, a consulting company that develops innovative solutions for owners and operators of renewable power plants.
Previous Roles:
CEO of Tonian Renewables
Vice President of Operations for Clearway Energy Group / NRG Energy, overseeing the safe and reliable operations of over 6 GW of wind and solar projects.
General Manager of Ivanpah, a 392 MW concentrated solar thermal plant.
Director of Plant Operations for First Solar, involved in the development, construction, and operations of over 5 GW of utility solar power plants.
Head of Tennessee Valley Authority's Hydro and Renewable Operations and Maintenance program, managing over 5 GW of capacity across various renewable energy sources.
Educational Background:
MBA with a minor in Human Resources from the University of Phoenix.
BS in Nuclear Engineering from Thomas Edison State College.
Holds a Reactor and Senior Reactor Operator License from the NRC.
Mitchell Samuelian's extensive experience and leadership in the renewable energy industry make him a significant figure in the field, contributing to the advancement and operational excellence of renewable energy projects.
Takis Zourntos
VP_ R&D/Products
Volta Energy Inc.
Sessions:
Developing microgrid and SOC-based technologies at Volta Energy. Over 2 decades of experience in hardware design, software development, systems integration, R&D. Rigorous analytical skills in modeling and controls, electronics, robotics, and IoT applications with 50+ publications/patents, 1804 citations, h-index: 20. Registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario.
Rick Lank
President and Chief Commercialization Officer
Resilient Power Works, LLC
Rick is leading a consortium of entities, including a manufacturer (Pillar Innovations) and a federal lab (National Energy Technology Laboratory), to bring to market the H2PWR Microgrid, a Distributed Energy Resource (DER) generation technology. For the past decade, he has guided the evolution of the tightly coupled hybrid system (while in development at the federal lab), assuring that it has the capacity to be a utility asset: dispatchable and with load-following capabilities.
David Tucker Ph.D.
CEO
Creative Power, Inc.
Dr. Tucker's earned his doctorate in physical chemistry in 1993 from the University of Alabama. His career spans research and scientific successes in industry, academia, and the government sectors. For the government, Dr. Tucker serves as a project leader with research focus in cyber-physical systems, hardware-in-the-loop simulations, real-time dynamic modeling, hybrid system dynamics and controls, solid oxide fuel cell degradation, piezoelectric flow detection, high-temperature piezoelectric valves, and cyber-security using blockchain. During his tenure, Dr. Tucker has served as principal investigator for awards made by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy-Advanced Manufacturing Office (EERE-AMO), Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and the Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI).
Leadership in Cyber-Physical Systems Research & Hybrid Power Systems
Dr. Tucker developed a cyber-physical system for energy research six years before the National Science Foundation coined the term in 2008. Cyber-physical systems embody a seamless integration of hardware and numeric models that interact with a physical environment and form the foundation of intelligent systems. Leveraging the reconfigurable nature of cyber-physical systems, Dr. Tucker first advanced the creation of a cyber-physical solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) to accelerate hybrid power systems technology development With this technology, new material discoveries could be incorporated into power systems to evaluate the impact on component integration and controls development.
Alex Krowka
Consultant
United States Energy Association (USEA)
Alex Krowka is the Deputy Program Director of USEA's Consensus Program. In this position, Alex helps manage this U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded Program to build global and domestic understanding, consensus, and cooperative action on Carbon Management Technologies. Additionally, Alex has worked with USEA's Promoting International And Domestic Consensus On Oil And Natural Gas Program and USEA's U.S. - East Africa Geothermal Partnership (EAGP).
Alex has 11 years of experience in Energy and International Development having worked at Energetics and the International Tax and Investment Center. His past clients consisted of multiple programs and offices within DOE including: Appliance Standards, Emerging Technologies, Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), International Affairs, Residential Buildings Integration, and Zero Energy Ready Homes. Alex graduated magna cum laude from American University's School of International Service with a B.A. in International Studies.
Jeffery Pope PE
Program Manager, Facility Decommissioning & Demolition Services
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co., Inc.
Mr. Pope is the Program Manager for Facility Decommissioning and Demolition Services at Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co., Inc. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a licensed professional engineer. Mr. Pope specializes in assisting utilities and power cooperatives with the decommissioning and demolition of power plants across the United States. He is currently managing or participating in the abatement and demolition of 15 power plants and has successfully completed over 40 additional abatement and demolition projects.
Briggs White PhD
Deputy Executive Director
U.S. Department of Energy/NETL
Briggs White, Ph.D., serves as deputy executive director of the Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization. In this role, he works hand in hand with the 11 federal agency members of the IWG to advance its mission. The IWG is identifying and coordinating opportunities to connect energy communities for federal investments to help ensure the shift to a clean energy economy creates good-paying union jobs, spurs economic revitalization, remediates environmental degradation and supports energy workers in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities. Prior to being appointed deputy executive director, White was central to a multi-agency effort to prepare the IWG's initial report, which described existing mechanisms and provided recommendations for future actions that could support and revitalize the economies of energy communities.
White joined the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in 2007 and most recently served as a technology manager for three research and development programs, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management: High Performance Materials, Water Management, and Energy Storage. He is currently based out of NETL's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, site and worked at NETL's Morgantown, West Virginia, site from 2007 to 2015. White holds degrees in materials
science and engineering from Alfred University (B.S.), the University of Florida (M.S., Ph.D.) and the University of Rome (Ph.D.) with an emphasis on solid-state high-temperature electrochemical devices.
Wayshalee Patel, B.S.ChE, MBA, P.E.
Manager
Sargent & Lundy
Sessions:
Wayshalee Patel works for Sargent & Lundy, a comprehensive consulting, engineering and design firm providing solutions for the electric power industry. She is currently the Director of S&L's Environmental Technologies, Licensing and Permitting Group. Mrs. Patel is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Illinois and has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and Masters in Business Administration. She directs multiple project teams, each led by project managers and technical and engineering personnel. Her overall experience encompasses environmental permitting, regulatory compliance, and air pollution controls. She is well versed in existing and proposed environmental regulations, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). She has been involved with several air quality retrofit projects, new generation projects and transmission line projects where she assisted in project management, preliminary engineering and design, specification/procurement, and project implementation.
Anna Rausch
Environmental Associate
Sargent & Lundy
I currently work for Sargent & Lundy and an environmental associate focusing on permitting energy projects.
I graduated with a Chemical Engineering BS from Purdue University.
William Latta
New Technology, Sr. Program Manager
Babcock & Wilcox
William F. Latta is the New Technology Commercialization, Program Manager, for Babcock & Wilcox (B&W). Mr. Latta is an industry leader in commercializing new and novel sustainable energy technologies. Mr. Latta has 30 years of experience in engineering, R&D, operations, finance, venture capital and project development in both large multi-national organizations and start-ups. As an entrepreneur, Mr. Latta took a one-person start-up to $100M in revenue on multiple continents. Mr. Latta holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Duke University.
John Giles
Project Manager
Kiewit
Ensuring client satisfaction and overall project performance, John Giles, a seasoned project manager with over 21 years of experience, understands the different project phases, including the intricacies of mechanical and pipe stress engineering, and the critical role of accurate estimating. Specializing in rectifying design errors that could lead to operational issues, John serves as the primary point of contact for clients and project stakeholders, including third-party interfaces for Kiewit.
John, a licensed Professional Engineer in Kansas, Michigan, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Recognized as a subject matter expert, he has shared his insights at several conferences, including the Energy Progress & Innovation Conference (January 2024), the Power Generators Air Coalition (October 2023) and the Kiewit Engineering Technical Summit (February 2023).
DeAnna C. Myers
Senior Manager, Learning & Development
Sargent & Lundy
DeAnna Myers is the Learning and Development Manager at Sargent Lundy, LLC, a prominent engineering consultant in the power generation industry. Ms. Myers orchestrates the design and delivery of more than 500 courses annually. Her company utilizes in-house subject matter experts and an in-house development team to develop course content aimed at sustaining organizational knowledge capital.
Ms. Myers authored the organization's first knowledge transfer process and continues to cultivate the organization's learning culture through classroom training, on-line learning and communities of practice.
Ms. Myers completed her Master's degree in Northwestern University's Learning and Organizational Change Program in June 2013. Her master's research is based on the transfer of knowledge across levels of expertise as a means of sustaining intellectual capital within the organization.
Her research is featured on Northwestern's Knowledge Lens website for exemplary Capstone efforts.
Jody Porter PhDc
Senior Consultant
STS CONSULTING SERVICES LLC
Sessions:
Jody brings to STS over 20 years of experience as an organizational and leadership development professional investing in the growth of leaders, enhancing team effectiveness, and strengthening organizational cultures to ensure performance excellence and sustainable results.
She is passionate about partnering with leaders and teams to build a culture of engagement and psychological well-being that makes a lasting impact on the organizations she supports. In addition to her emphasis on developing engaging cultures, leaders working with Jody frequently cite her ability to skillfully craft practical solutions to challenging strategic issues.
Prior to joining STS, Jody spent 12 years honing her understanding of effective leadership in operationally excellent, high-reliability organizations while supporting the commercial nuclear energy industry. Most recently, she spent four years as the Director of Organizational and Leadership Development for Duke Energy Nuclear. Jody was responsible for the design and implementation of industry-leading solutions supporting the team's fleet's organizational and leadership development strategy. The breadth of her experience in this role included organizational culture and employee engagement improvement initiatives, leadership development programs, workforce planning, succession planning, knowledge transfer and retention, as well as individual and team assessments. She has extensive experience supporting a range of leaders from first-line leaders to senior executives.
Jody is a certified executive coach and certified in several leadership and team assessment tools. Jody is an active member of Women in Nuclear and a passionate proponent of women's leadership development. She earned a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Organizational Development from Clemson University. She is currently a doctoral candidate pursuing her Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from Northcentral University.
Jamie Choate
Director, Workforce Strategy & Development Labor Relations, Safety, & Workforce Development
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Sessions:
Jamie Choate is the Director of Workforce Strategy and Development (WS&D) at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).
In this role, she leads a newly created team focused on ensuring TVA's workforce remains adaptable and equipped with the skills, capabilities, and technology needed to safely power TVA's energy future.
Jamie is passionate about developing an agile and diverse workforce through strong community partnerships. Towards that mission, Jamie leads her team in pursuing several key objectives: making strategic workforce development investments, fostering cross-functional enterprise alignment, enhancing partnerships, alliances, processes, and tools, and developing diverse workforce pathways and pipelines. In her current role, she is also focused on equipping our current and future workforce with robust skills and capabilities.
As a results-driven leader, Jamie excels in strategic planning, organizational leadership, financial management, training programs and change management. She is committed to bolstering innovation across TVA and continuously evaluating progress with an eye on the future of work.
Her extensive background in the energy sector has provided her with deep technical knowledge and a strong leadership presence. With over two decades of experience at TVA, Jamie has held several leadership positions, including Director of Learning and Development, Director of Technical Training, Senior Manager of Regulatory & Corporate Training, and Manager of Power Production Operations Training.
Jamie holds an MBA from Ashford University Forbes School of Business and Technology, a Bachelor's degree in Business Management and Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Martin, and an Associate's degree in General Studies from Columbia State Community College.
Jamie currently resides in Ooltewah, TN with her husband and three children. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering with community events and spending time with family traveling to her kids' sporting events.
Samuel R. Barnes, P.E.
President & CEO
Middough Inc.
With over 30 years of experience in engineering, consulting, and leadership, Sam is the President & CEO of Middough Inc. Middough provides major project solutions and consulting by combining the experience, expertise and reach of a large EPCM firm with the flexibility and customer focus of a local service provider. Sam leads the executive team and oversees the functional and financial performance of the company, ensuring alignment with the vision, mission, and values. Middough provides project solutions across several industries including: Chemical, Oil & Gas, Power, Refining, Metals, Agribusiness, Food, and Advanced Manufacturing.
Ed Davis
Senior Consultant
DOE Loan Programs Office
Edward Davis is a senior nuclear industry consultant with over 40 years of nuclear industry experience in a number of senior management roles, including engineering, business development, project finance, marketing, strategic planning as well as governmental affairs.
In his long career, Mr. Davis has developed a wide range of knowledge on energy and environmental issues both domestic and internationally and has a keen understanding of governmental policymaking, regulatory compliance, state rate making, as well as legislative and political affairs.
Currently, Mr. Davis serves as President and Managing Director of the Pegasus Group where he is responsible for providing strategic consulting services to a wide range of clients in the energy and electric utility industries as well as Federal agencies in a number of strategic areas. Mr. Davis is a subject matter expert in his field and has testified before Congress and State Public Utility Commissions on nuclear energy issues.
Megan Reusser
Hydrogen Technology Manager
Burns & McDonnell
As a Technology Manager, Megan brings over 14 years of hands-on industry experience to support clients. Her background spans various aspects of front-end project development, including process engineering, proposal management, and cost estimation. This diverse experience blends technical and commercial knowledge, which she applies to strengthen EPC projects and proposals. Megan is committed to delivering technical solutions that improve process design efficiency, reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and lower overall costs. Her specialization focuses on technologies critical for decarbonization efforts, such as long-duration energy storage, green hydrogen production, and carbon capture.
Megan earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering and MBA with a concentration in Marketing and International Business from the University of Kansas.
Whitaker Irvin, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer
Q Hydrogen
Whitaker Irvin, Jr. is President and Chief Executive Officer of Q Hydrogen, based in Park City, Utah. A seasoned entrepreneur, he has wide ranging experience in industries including finance, aerospace/defense, energy and green high-technology companies, including Raytheon, where he managed technology deployment for the northeast region.
Irvin's family has been actively engaged in the Western US oil and gas sector for five generations. In 2010, he left Raytheon to guide the development and commercialization of carbon-free hydrogen production technologies invented by his father, Whitaker B. Irvin Sr. He is responsible for crafting the company's commercialization strategies and is known for his relationships within the commercial and equity communities.
He graduated from Babson College in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Global Business Management. He is also a certified Project Management Professional ("PMP").
Clayton Tucker
Process Engineer - Green Energy Solutions
Lectrodryer
Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Kentucky
Specialize in Hydrogen Purification Product Lines, Process Design, and Custom Engineered Products
Works with 10+ Electrolyzer OEMs to date
2020 AIChE Award Recipient for work on designing a Green Hydrogen Ammonia Production Plant
Kenneth Luebbert
Senior Director - Gen Support Engineering
Evergy, Inc
Kenny Luebbert is a seasoned engineering professional with a diverse background in mechanical engineering, business administration, and project leadership. Holding a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri and a Master's in Business Administration from the University of Kansas, Kenny has cultivated a unique skill set that blends technical expertise with strategic business acumen.
As a registered professional engineer in the state of Kansas, Kenny has demonstrated his commitment to upholding high standards of professionalism and excellence in his field. With over six years of experience as a consulting engineer, he specialized in implementing power plant controls and digital twin/simulation projects, showcasing his proficiency in cutting-edge technologies shaping the energy sector.
Kenny's career trajectory at Evergy exemplifies his dedication and expertise. Over the course of twenty-four years with the company, he has assumed increasingly challenging roles in project and engineering leadership. Currently serving as the Senior Director of Generation Engineering, Kenny leads a dynamic team responsible for supporting a diverse fleet of fossil and renewable generating units. His strategic vision and technical prowess play a pivotal role in ensuring the reliability and efficiency of Evergy's power generation operations.
Throughout his career, Kenny Luebbert has demonstrated a passion for innovation and a relentless pursuit of excellence. His breadth of experience, coupled with his commitment to continuous learning, positions him as a respected leader in the energy industry.
Darren Hoard
Senior Engineer
Evergy, Inc
Darren Hoard is a Senior Engineer whose primary role is the technical support for multiple sites in Evergy's Gas Turbine fleet. He creates and evaluates bid specifications, prepares for and project manages outages and maintains capital budgets for various projects in which he is involved. Darren's prior responsibilities within Evergy include Maintenance Engineer, BOP Engineer and Performance Engineer at the Sibley Power Plant; as well as Central Engineering's Fire Protection Engineer and Turbine Engineer.
Darren Hoard completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. When he's not busy with work, Darren's major hobby includes traveling. He also enjoys the outdoors, attending sporting events and concerts (for which he will also travel).
Craig Burgett
Project Manager
Kiewit
Managing risk, cost and schedule, Craig Burgett, ensures successful completion of complex projects. As an experienced design engineering manager with over 33 years of experience in plant maintenance and capital improvement projects, he leads engineering teams and serves as the main point of contact for clients during the design phase.
His knowledge of flexible and efficient solutions for the renewable transition has led him to present at three conferences in the past year, discussing the role of combustion turbines in the renewable energy market and generation planning. At Kiewit, Craig, is a licensed Professional Engineer for Missouri and Kansas, holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
Shawn Larson CMRP
Business Development, Maintenance and Reliability SME, Plant & Facility Services
Fluor Corporation
Shawn is a Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional with over 25 years' experience in maintenance management, reliability engineering, mechanical engineering, and project management. He provides overall leadership of all maintenance and reliability activities. His experience includes planning and scheduling, maintenance work flow processes, PM and PdM optimization, asset criticality assessment, asset maintenance strategy development, performance metrics, capital spares procurement, power distribution management, and engineering design review.
Industry experience in Chemical Processing, Mining and Metals, and Nuclear Power. International experience supporting a project in Saudi Arabia. He served 6 years in the U.S. Navy as a Nuclear Power Plant Operator, Mechanic and Supervisor.
Shawn earned his Master of Science in Engineering Management at the University of South Florida long with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida.
Casey Allen
Associate Professor
Marquette University
Dr. Casey Allen is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Marquette University, where he directs the FIRE Lab and Combustible Dust Performance Based Design Center. Dr. Allen's research is dedicated to experimentally studying and modeling flammable vapor ignition and vapor/dust explosion processes. The overarching goal of his research is to develop an improved understanding of combustible mixture formation and its relation to energy release rates and explosion phasing. Applying this knowledge is critical for developing robust explosion protection systems. For his contributions to combustion research and teaching, Dr. Allen has been recipient of the Bernard Lewis Fellowship (Combustion Institute), the Ralph R. Teetor Award (Society of Automotive Engineers), and the Michael J. Wallace Endowed Faculty Scholarship (Marquette University). Dr. Allen holds degrees in Chemical Engineering (B.S.E., University of Iowa) and Mechanical Engineering (Ph.D., Michigan State University). Dr. Allen has consulted with over 30 organizations to assist them with managing the hazards of combustible dust and assuring explosion hazards are managed in accordance with NFPA standards.
Rahul Mukherjee Ph.D.
Co-founder and Director of R&D
Alsym Energy
Dr. Rahul Mukherjee is the co-founder and Sr. Director of R&D at Alsym Energy. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is an inventor in 14 patents in the field of energy storage technologies including lithium-ion, metal-air, and aqueous secondary batteries. Before co-founding Alsym, he served as Chief Technology Officer at EnerMat Technologies, where he led technology R&D in graphene-based lithium-ion battery storage systems and low-cost manufacturing strategies.
Caroline Brannock Ph.D.
Sr. Sales Manager Battery Technology
BASF Corporation
Caroline is the Senior Sales Manager of Battery Technology for BASF Stationary Energy Storage, where she is responsible for finding new projects for the NAS Batteries system and expanding the division's North American presence. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from North Carolina State University, an MBA from Duke University, and a BS in Chemistry from Salem College. She joined BASF in 2012 and has gained a broad experience through various positions in sales, project management and business development.
Wayne Garrett
Chief Commercial Officer
Viridi Parente
Wayne Garrett, Chief Commercial Officer for Viridi Parente, leads sales and channel distribution for Viridi's industry-leading, patented fail-safe distributed energy storage technology. With over two decades of experience as an accomplished executive sales leader, Wayne's demonstrated success of building high-performing sales teams and implementing strategic growth initiatives is enabling Viridi to become a leader in the renewable energy storage sector.
Prior to joining Viridi, Wayne served as Vice President of Control Sales for Johnson Controls and as an Executive Team Leader for Carrier Corporation, a multi-billion-dollar commercial equipment and control sales business. As the Managing Director of North America Applied Commercial Systems at Carrier, he oversaw all field sales channels, Strategic Accounts, Global Distribution Export teams, and managed full P&L responsibility for commercial heavy Applied industrial HVAC equipment.
A former United States Army officer, Wayne attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and earned a Master of Science in Management (M.S.M.) degree from Colorado Technical University.
John Nixon
Vice President - Energy, Chemicals & Infrastructure
Siemens Industry Software, Inc.
Sam Chesser
Principal Architect, Polarion
Compliance Group
Sessions:
Sam has been working with Polarion for 10 years, starting as a customer at Medtronic before joining Siemens as a Principal Solution Architect working with customers across industries. He has since worked directly embedded with companies as a Polarion Lead, Software Architect, AWS Architect, and Engineering Leader, before joining Compliance Group as Principal Architect, Polarion. He lives in Denver, CO. with his wife, Emily, and dog, Toast.
Gary Griffin
Senior Account Executive for Energy
Applied CAx
Sessions:
Gary has more than 3 decades of experience helping customers in Europe and the Americas leverage PLM solutions to integrate and optimize design, manufacturing, and simulation operations. Gary brings a broad background of knowledge from supporting other enterprise solutions in diverse markets including automotive manufacturing, product conceptual design, and more recently, enterprise data security. Before entering the PLM consulting market, Gary worked as Structural Engineer at Lockheed in both GA and CA. Gary is a graduate of Auburn University with a B.S in Aerospace Engineering.
Tony White
Head of Vertical Market Chemical, Glass & Energy US Sales
Siemens Industry, Inc.
Sessions:
Tony is the Head of Vertical Market Chemical, Glass & Energy US Sales at Siemens Industry, Inc. Tony has 30+ Years in the manufacturing industry primarily working with large End Users on solution development. His keen approach to understanding customer's challenges and deploying solution-based applications has generated many successful outcomes for his clients.
Over the past 10 years Tony has been focusing on Digitalization and Sustainability in manufacturing as a personal passion looking at how to help companies embrace this transformation.
Tony resides in the Greater Detroit, MI area and enjoys many of the outdoor actives Michigan has to offer from offshore boat racing, downhill skiing, and snowmobiling.
Sarah Osborn PMP, FS Eng
Energy, Utilities, Chemical & Infrastructure Industry Strategy Lead
Siemens Digital Industries Software
Sessions:
Sarah E. Osborn, PMP, FS Eng
Presales Industry Program Lead, Siemens Digital Industries Software (DISW)
Location: Houston, Texas
Sarah is the Energy, Chemicals and Infrastructure presales industry program lead in the USA for Siemens DISW.
In this role, Sarah leads and supports customer digital transformation. Prior to moving to Siemens, Sarah was the Teamcenter program manager leading global deployments and support for one of Siemens' largest marquee customers. Sarah has a BS in Electronics Engineering Technology and has 25+ years in the oil & gas, aerospace, and software industries, including being a DPS/Nav trainer for the space shuttle program, programming offshore BOP control systems, leading systems engineering in R&D, managing business processes, and more at Honeywell, Rockwell Automation, Raytheon, and United Space Alliance.
Mike Harbison
President
M E H & Associates, LLC
Sessions:
Mr. Michael Harbison is the Founder and Owner of M E H & Associates, LLC. In this capacity, he performs unit walk-downs and assessments, modifies combustion systems, reduces emissions through advanced computational modeling, assesses and tunes boilers / boiler operations. Mr. Harbison covers the full US for the power generation sector.
Mr. Harbison specialized in process optimization for over twenty-five years.
Frank Fowler
Vice President, Business Development
SmartBurn, LLC
Sessions:
Frank Fowler has over 25 years of experience serving the power generation industry. As Vice President of Business Development for SmartBurn, LLC, Frank's primary responsibilities include commercial business development, general counsel, sales and account management. Frank works closely with SmartBurn's clients to bring them higher value by tailoring the company's resources to meet their specific business objectives.
Todd Svoboda
Principal Engineer
East Kentucky Power Cooperative Inc. [EKPC]
Sessions:
Todd Svoboda is currently working as a Principal Engineer at East Kentucky Power Cooperative in Winchester KY. Todd went to school at Northern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky, receiving his degree in Chemical Engineering. Todd currently manages EKPC's generating facilities KPDES Water Permits, BMP plans, water and wastewater projects, Effluent Limitation Guidelines, project management, and more. Todd leads and coordinates projects with engineering and construction, legal, Kentucky Division of Water, plant managers, and consultants. Prior to working at EKPC, Todd worked at Lexmark International almost 19 years in various roles. He served in management, operations, environmental, product engineering, research and development, consulting, and sales.
Jill Liska
General Counsel, Sponsor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiative
Sargent & Lundy
Jill Liska is the leader of Sargent & Lundy's commercial, procurement, and legal teams. She guides the firm's successful management of risk, corporate insurance, litigation, contracts, and outside counsel. Her direction of the legal department influences Sargent & Lundy's overall strategy.
Ms. Liska served as an associate attorney at Robbins Schwartz and an engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation prior to joining Sargent & Lundy's legal team in 2006. She was promoted to vice president in 2013, at which point she became responsible for the firm's legal, commercial, and procurement groups. Sargent & Lundy named her a senior vice president in January 2020.
Ms. Liska monitors developing legislation at local, national, and international levels. She develops internal policies and procedures for Sargent & Lundy, including use of intellectual property, risk management, and conflicts of interest and ethics. She interprets various domestic and international regulations and license requirements, negotiates leases, supports acquisitions and due diligence efforts on commercial matters, advises HR, and manages the legal team's budget. Ms. Liska, an ardent supporter of diversity issues, played a pivotal role in helping the firm launch an internal professional network for female employees in 2015 and a DEI advisory council in 2020.
Elizabeth (Izzy) Lawrence
Manager, Program Development & Implementation
Arizona Public Service Company [APS]
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Elizabeth (Izzy) Lawrence joined the Customer to Grid Solutions team at APS in February 2023. In her role, Izzy is responsible for developing and implementing APS's customer programs, including Demand Side Management, electric vehicles, solar, and technology consulting. Additionally, Izzy oversees the Reporting and Analytics Team, Program Support Team, and oversees C2GS's IT project work. She earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona in 2014 and began her career at APS that same year. Before transitioning to Customer to Grid Solutions, Izzy gained experience in power plant operations and held various positions within APS's State Regulatory Affairs team, where she supported the company's requests heard by the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Mel Bergsneider
Executive Account Manager
Allume Energy
Mel Bergsneider is Executive Account Manager at Allume Energy, responsible for business
development in the U.S. market. As the first US-based employee at Allume Energy, Mel
leads the Australian-born startup's expansion across target markets such as California, New
York, and Florida. Mel works closely with affordable housing providers, solar installers, and
real estate developers to provide solar energy benefits to participating tenants. Previous
experience includes working in energy efficiency in San Francisco, installing solar at a
Women's Cooperative in Nicaragua, and supporting sustainable development in the Amazon
Rainforest.
Prior to joining Allume Energy, Mel worked in energy equity at GRID Alternatives and in
energy efficiency at Carbon Lighthouse. She also interned in the Amazon Rainforest at
Fundación Runa and was a Community Coach at Greenpeace USA, serving as Director of
Sustainability at Residence Hall Association.
Mel has dedicated her career towards fighting climate change, and in that path, she found a
passion for solar energy. Mel holds a BA from Indiana University in Bloomington in
Entrepreneurship, Corporate Innovation and Sustainable Business. She also holds a
Certification in Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologi
Justin Walters
VDC Lead
Middough
Justin Walters is a distinguished design professional with over 15 years of experience, currently serving as a VDC Specialist at Middough. His extensive expertise in Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) coordination has been instrumental in optimizing project workflows and enhancing collaboration within the organization.
R.J. "Chip" Hilarides, PhD, PE
Vice President, Quality & Stewardship
Flint Hills Resources
John Schroeder
Executive Vice President, Distributed Energy
DEPCOM Power
John Schroeder is the Executive Vice President of Distributed Energy at DEPCOM Power, a Koch Engineered Solutions Company. DEPCOM Power provides transformative energy solutions in the form of projects and services. Along with several industry veterans, John founded DEPCOM Power in 2014, and served on its Board of Directors until the merger with Koch Engineered Solutions in 2021.
John previously served as DEPCOM's SVP of Engineering, Chief Operating Officer, EVP of Plant Operations, and launched the company's Repowering division. His current focus is to develop energy solutions for industrial facilities, deploying photovoltaic projects, energy storage systems, and combined heat & power installations. Prior to DEPCOM Power, John served in various leadership roles in technology for First Solar from 2005 - 2013.
John earned a BSEE from Purdue University in 1998 and later earned an MBA. He is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and holds six photovoltaic related patents.
Chris Gilliland
Jim Barbour
VP - Regional Utility Sales
Enchanted Rock, LLC
Jim Barbour is an accomplished energy industry veteran with more than 25 years of knowledge and experience in the Utilities and Industrial segments. An Ohio native, Jim earned his B.S. in Business Administration, Management & Operations from the University of Missouri- St. Louis and held senior positions at Aclara, GE, and Aggreko before joining Enchanted Rock in 2019. As VP of Regional Utility Sales, Jim's sales and operational leadership creates lasting partnerships with utilities and end use customers while leveraging Enchanted Rock's solutions to meet critical infrastructure power needs.
Peter Hoeflich
Director Generation Technology
Duke Energy
Peter is the Director of Generation Technology in Duke Energy's Generation and Transmission Strategy Organization. In his role, he evaluates emerging generation technologies. Peter has over 30 years of experience in the energy and power generation industries. During that time, he has served in various leadership and technical roles. Peter earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Grove City College and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Ohio State University. He is also a registered professional engineer.
Marc Prasse
Senior Project Engineer
Sargent & Lundy
Marc is a Project Engineer at Sargent & Lundy and one of the core members of S&L's Decarbonization Team. After joining S&L 4 years ago, Marc started working on coal, oil, and gas projects before transitioning to the decarbonization space with carbon capture, hydrogen, and clean fuel production projects. Prior to joining S&L, he spent 6 years working in oil & gas. Marc is the S&L process owner for hydrogen and is a registered P.E. in the state of Illinois. Marc holds a Bachelor's degree in both Physics and Mechanical Engineering and is finishing his Master's of Engineering degree in Energy Systems in 2024.
Bedar Islam
Debrup Das
Head of Renewables & Hydrogen
Hitachi Energy Ltd
Debrup Das, Head of Renewables, North America at Hitachi Energy, has more than 12 years of industry experience in grid modernization technologies and renewable integration, during which he has held various leadership positions and has led pioneering technologies from concept-to-market at both startup and multinational companies. At Smart Wires Inc. Debrup led the productization of modular Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) solutions, while at ABB, he led the team that was instrumental in development of the Solid-State Circuit Breakers. Debrup has about 20 granted patents, and 25 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, and Masters and PhD degrees from Georgia Tech.
Matthew Fioretti
Senior Manager Market Development
Wartsila North America, Inc.
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Matthew Fioretti is a Senior Manager for the Market Development department at Wärtsilä North America. In his role, Matt advises on wholesale electricity markets, sales opportunities, and resource capabilities that support decarbonization, while highlighting the critical role flexible gas generation plays in the evolution of the power grid. He has over 10 years of experience in the energy industry and previously held the title of Market Research & Development Manager at Mitsubishi Power Aero, where he worked on expanding market intelligence services to identify global sales opportunities and guide strategy decisions. Prior to that, Matt worked as a Market Monitor for ISO New England identifying market manipulation, opining on new wholesale electricity market designs, and conducting empirical analysis of market performance. He is a graduate of Springfield College and holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Finance.
Deepak Divan Ph.D.
President & Co-Founder
Varentec
Dr. Deepak Divan does research in the areas of power electronics, power systems, smart grids, and distributed control of power systems. He works closely with utilities and industry and is actively involved in research, teaching, and entrepreneurship. He has around 400 published refereed papers and over 85 issued and pending patents. He is coauthor of the book 'Energy 2040 - Aligning Innovation, Economics and Decarbonization', published by Springer in 2024. Dr. Divan has started several companies, including Varentec in Santa Clara, CA, which was funded by leading green-tech Venture Capital firm Khosla Ventures and renowned investor Bill Gates. He has founded or seeded several new ventures including GridBlock, GigaGrid, Soft Switching Technologies, Innovolt, Varentec and Smart Wires, which together have raised >$500M in venture funding.
Dr. Divan is an elected Member of the US National Academy of Engineering, member of the National Academies Board on Energy and Environmental Systems and was a member of the National Academies (NASEM) Committee on The Future of Electric Power in the United States. He is a member of the Transformative Science & Technology Committee organized by the National Academy of Science Engineering and Medicine for the Department of Defense. He is the recipient of the 2024 IEEE Medal in Power Engineering. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, past President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society, is a recipient of the 2006 IEEE William E Newell Field Medal and the 2023 IEEE Hingorani Custom Power Medal. He has started and was the International Chair of the IEEE Empower a Billion Lives (EBL) recurring global competition to develop scalable energy access solutions. He was an invitee to the White House Electrification Summit in 2022 and has presented on the subject of electric grids around the world, including at the COP-22 meeting in Morocco in 2016 and the United Nations Global Solutions Summit in 2023. He received his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in India, and his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Calgary, Canada.
Paul Kempf
Assistant Vice President of Utilities & Maintenance
Notre Dame Power Plant
Paul Kempf is the Associate Vice President of Utilities, Maintenance. These two University departments are responsible for the operation of the campus's combined heat and power plant, distribution of all centrally produced utilities as well as the maintenance of nearly 12 million gross square feet of campus facilities.
The University uses its combined heat and power plant to produce steam, chilled water, hot water and electricity as well as operates its own potable water, stormwater and wastewater systems.
In his role he has been responsible for leading the University's effort to achieve carbon reductions and to ultimately be carbon neutral.
Paul oversees a staff of over 100 University employees as well as another 100 plus contractor employees involved in projects, operations, maintenance and repairs.
He is a 1980 graduate of Notre Dame with a degree in Electrical Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Indiana and has worked for the University for 35 years.
Leet Wood PhD
Chief Energy Advisor
Space Frontier Foundation
Leet Wood received his doctorate in political science from George Mason University in 2019. He has been publishing on space security and space-based solar power since. He has a professional background in energy policy and regulatory affairs, and has been working with the Space Frontier Foundation on their SBSP advocacy program since 2023. He lives in Washington, D.C.
Timothy Stephens
Global Account Manager - Geothermal
Halliburton
Timothy Stephens is the global account manager for Geothermal - Low Carbon
Solutions at Halliburton. In this role, he is responsible for managing Halliburton's
existing technologies, experience, and global footprint to deliver services across the
geothermal sector. Previously, he served as account manager in Argentina.
Stephens joined Halliburton in 2010 as part of the Field Associate program in Rock
Springs, Wyoming. He progressed through the Cementing, Completion Tools, and
Production Enhancement product lines and served as technical professional,
account representative, and account leader in Calgary, Alberta Canada.
Prior to joining Halliburton, Mr. Stephens served as a commercial real estate broker,
specializing in industrial investment properties and earned a bachelor's in
business administration from the University of North Texas in 2005.
Brooke Mills
Sr. Comms Business Partner
GE Vernova
John Evans
Principal Consultant
Thornton Tomasetti
John Evans
Principal, Thornton Tomasetti
John leads the safety and risk team at Thornton Tomasetti and has over 30 years experience in hazard and risk assessment and management. As well as leading the teams John is a practitioner in hazard identification, assessment, control, mitigation and management techniques and brings his practical experience with an understanding of state of the art modelling techniques undertaken by Thornton Tomasetti to support clients solve their problems.
John has worked on global projects assessing the hazards and risks for the exploration, production, extraction, transportation and processing of oil and gas including LNG and CNG, and has identified, developed and supported the implementation of control, mitigation and management systems. John currently leads the Thornton Tomasetti team assessing the hazards from alternative energy systems including hydrogen and ammonia and has also worked on multiple carbon capture and storage projects.
Abhimanyu Singh
Senior Manager, Maritime Sales
Amogy
Sarah Noll
Manager, VPP Innovation & Strategic Initiatives
Arizona Public Service Company [APS]
Sarah Noll joined the Customer to Grid Solutions team at APS in 2021 and no leads the departments strategy and innovation team, designing new programs t help our customers meet their sustainability goals, scale APS's Virtual Power Plant and adopt new technologies. Before joining APS, Sarah worked for ComEd in various roles and departments including regulatory, green power connection, and energy policy. Sarah received her B.S. in Renewable Energy and M.S. in Applied Economics of Electricity, Natural Gas, and Telecommunications from Illinois State University.
Robert Wolfe
Product Line Manager - Digital
Mitsubishi Power Americas, Inc.
Bob has over 20 years of experience in the Power Generation equipment supply & services industry covering both OEM and 3rd Party aftermarket providers. He has developed a keen working knowledge of business operations, having held positions of increased responsibilities across Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales & Tendering, and Project Execution. Bob has lead a number of domestic and international projects from large-scale Capital Investment projects to smaller-scale commercial projects, as well as Long-term Service Agreements. Holding various Lean Operating Principles certifications, and with a collegiate athletics background, he brings a constant drive for process and continuous improvement across all facets of the broader 'team'.
Bob has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Union College, and completed the Rolls-Royce/University of Virginia International Business Management program. Having grown up in a small farm town in Ohio, he and wife, Julitt, live in Jupiter, FL where they enjoy the warm weather year round.
Sunil Cherian Ph.D.
CEO
Spirae
Energy consumers want to increase efficiency, reduce carbon footprint, increase resilience, adopt more renewables, achieve net-zero operations, and accelerate transportation electrification. How do Energy Services Providers meet these demands? By empowering energy consumers through new technologies and business models such as Energy as a Service offerings. These integrated energy solutions are freeing consumers from the complexities and risks of designing, implementing, financing, and managing new energy infrastructure, software, and operations.
Discover the role that renewable energy microgrids and VPPs are playing at the nexus of DER technologies, energy services, and commercial models. Learn how energy innovators are reimagining energy services delivery with highly scalable platforms that seamlessly take microgrids from concept to operations and activate energy services worldwide.
William Burke Ph.D.
CEO
Virtual Peaker
Dr. William (Bill) Burke is the Founder and CEO of Virtual Peaker. He has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Controls and Artificial Intelligence and over 15 years of experience with high-performance residential energy management and connected appliances. He was previously at GE Appliance in the Connected Home Software Group, where he built high-performance energy management applications and helped develop the API that GE uses to communicate with its connected devices. While at Berkeley, Bill wrote the software for the first programmable communicating thermostat under contract by the California Energy Commission.
Bill founded Virtual Peaker in 2015, and their first utility contract was with Glasgow (KY) Electric Plant Board. He wrote the first version of the Virtual Peaker Platform, and today,
he is responsible for the product vision, technology architecture, and intellectual property.
Bill grew up in Louisville and returned with his family in 2010 after a long stint in the San Francisco Bay Area. He loves Louisville and is working to make it a better and more attractive city for high-tech startups.
Wayshalee Patel, B.S.ChE, MBA, P.E.
Senior Project Manager/Discipline Manager and Chemical Engineer
Sargent & Lundy
Wayshalee Patel works for Sargent & Lundy, a comprehensive consulting, engineering and design firm providing solutions for the electric power industry. She is currently the Director of S&L's Environmental Technologies, Licensing and Permitting Group. Mrs. Patel is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Illinois and has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and Masters in Business Administration. She directs multiple project teams, each led by project managers and technical and engineering personnel. Her overall experience encompasses environmental permitting, regulatory compliance, and air pollution controls. She is well versed in existing and proposed environmental regulations, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). She has been involved with several air quality retrofit projects, new generation projects and transmission line projects where she assisted in project management, preliminary engineering and design, specification/procurement, and project implementation.
Timothy Eiden
Environment Technology Associate III
Sargent and Lundy
Mr. Eiden is a Chemical Engineer with over three years' experience in environmental services, including emissions technology and permitting. Mr. Eiden joined Sargent & Lundy in 2021. As a member of Sargent & Lundy's Environmental and Process Group, he has been tasked at analyzing emissions data, developing cost estimates, performing design calculations, executing computational fluid dynamics model, and developing flue gas characteristics and mass balances to support carbon capture and other emission reduction technologies feasibility, pre-FEED, and FEED studies. As a part of Funding Opportunity Announcement applications for the Department of Energy Mr. Eiden has completed several Life Cycle Analyses.
Eric Fins
Vice President
Grove Climate Group
Eric Fins is the Vice President of Grove Climate Group, LLC. Eric works directly with GCG's clients to understand the full scope of their work and develop strategies to achieve their climate goals, including political and policy advice, strategic guidance, background research and analysis, memos and reports, and connecting relevant parties to build relationships and coalitions.
Prior to joining GCG, Eric spent nearly 15 years in the U.S. House of Representatives in a variety of capacities, most recently as the Deputy Staff Director of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis (SCCC). Known as the "climate think tank" for House Democrats, Eric was responsible for coordinating climate policy with House Democratic Leadership, including the standing committees, in addition to the White House and Senate. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated "[SCCC's] work formed the foundation of Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, helping to deliver the largest climate investment in human history."
Eric received his J.D. from American University Manga Cum Laude and served as a staff member on the American University Law Review for two years. He is a member of the DC Bar. He also received his bachelor's degree from American University. Eric lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and their dog.
Brian Fladger
MAN Energy Solutions
Joseph Vonderhaar
Station Manager, Spurlock Power Station
EAST KENTUCKY POWER CORPORATION
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Steve Dobson
Chris Kurle
Manager of Purchasing
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
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Chris Kurle is the Manager of Purchasing at Basin Electric Power Cooperative. Basin Electric Power Cooperative is a consumer-owned, regional generation and transmission cooperative, located in Bismarck, North Dakota, that provides wholesale power to member rural electric systems in nine states. Chris has been in various positions within the supply chain industry for the past 34 years and has experienced a wide variety of supply chain challenges and wins. Chris manages a team of purchasing professionals that process on average 50,000 purchase orders per year. Chris has an MBA from the University of Mary along with a Masters in Management. Chris is also a Certificated Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) through the Institute for Supply Management. In her free time, she enjoys attending concerts, being on the family ranch with her registered Hereford cattle and walleye fishing on Lake Sakakawea with her husband.
Norris Minnis C.P.M., MBA
Manager, Contracts - Supply Chain Services
Oglethorpe Power Corp
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Norris Minnis is Contracts Manager of Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC), among the nation's largest power supply cooperatives and one of the primary energy producers in Georgia, generating power for 38 Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs) and serving approximately 4.5 million people across the state. Norris began his career at OPC in 2011 in Supply Chain and has served as a Contract Agent and Contract Manager for most of that duration. Norris engages in various community activities and stewardship throughout the year in the Atlanta area. Norris earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and Management from Florida State University and an MBA with an emphasis in Finance from Georgia State University.
Benjamin Carmichael
Business Development Manager, Advanced Energy Systems Research and Development
Southern Company
Ben Carmichael is part of the Advanced Energy Systems team at Southern Company Research and Development, where he works as a Business Development Manager to establish the national and international collaborations that support Southern Company's advanced energy systems development programs. Ben joined Southern Company in 2006 and has had a variety of opportunities across Southern Company affiliates, including engineering roles in both Southern Company Fleet Operations and Generation Planning and Development, managing the nuclear fuel procurement program for Southern Nuclear Operating Company, and managing new nuclear development opportunities for Southern Nuclear Development, LLC. Ben holds a Bachelor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Master of Science of Civil Engineering from Auburn University, a Masters of Engineering in sustainability from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a Professional Engineer license in the State of Alabama.
Emmanuel Darko, P.E.
Principal Nuclear Engineer
PSEG Energy Holdings
Ben Holtzman
Director, New Nuclear
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI)
Ben is the Director of New Nuclear at the Nuclear Energy Institute. He is an accomplished and results-driven nuclear professional with over 15 years of experience in a variety of regulatory, technical, and business arenas. He currently is focused on developing a more efficient risk-informed regulatory framework, accelerating industry deployment readiness, and engaging with investors and new end-users to understand new nuclear opportunities. Ben has a B.S. in nuclear engineering, a M.S. in nuclear, plasma, & radiological engineering, and an executive M.B.A.
Ryan Martin
Sr. Program Manager, Advanced Nuclear Solutions
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Travis Russell P.E. Ph.D.
Manager of Innovation and Advanced Nuclear
Enercon
Dr. Travis Russell, P.E., PhD, is ENERCON's Innovation and Advanced Nuclear Manager. He earned his doctoral degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Tennessee, is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Georgia and has over 13 years of nuclear industry experience across multiple roles including research and development, engineering design and analysis, project management, safety and risk management, engineering management, innovation, and business development.
As Manager of Innovation, Dr. Russell leads ENERCON's corporate innovation strategy to identify and implement new markets, services, and/or technologies that have measurable impact on project success.
As Manager of Advanced Nuclear, Dr. Russell manages ENERCON's engineering efforts in new and emerging nuclear markets like next-generation reactor design, novel nuclear power applications, and assocaited licensing/regulatory support.
Personally, he has been married to his wife Kirby since 2011, and they have five sons, including two sets of twins.
Gursaran Singh, MASc, P.Eng, PMP
VP Energy Alliances
Volta Energy Inc.
Gursaran Singh is a Chemical/Process engineer with two decades of experience in engineering design development/management/delivery for upstream/midstream/downstream O&G facilities in North America, MENA, and Asia-Pacific regions through employment tenures at Bantrel/Bechtel, Suncor, SNC-Lavalin, FW-AMEC (WOOD group), Worley, & Petro-Techna. Gursaran leads the Circular Carbon based Net-Zero enabling technologies focused R&D division SPICE at Volta Energy Inc. As the Sustainability Champion and with the overall responsibility for Volta Energy's Corporate ESG and Green Future Initiative, Gursaran provides oversight on all SPICE projects. The current roster of SPICE projects include Solid Oxide Cell based Hydrogen/Power generation, Hydrogen integrated power grid solutions, drop-in fuel synthesis from waste organic matter/biomass, and Renewable Natural Gas upgrading to Hydrogen and High Value Carbon product.
Justin Williams
Senior Account Executive
Trevi Communications
Justin Williams is a Senior Account Executive at Trevi Communications, a marketing/public relations firm with a focus on energy clients. He has worked with energy accounts since joining Trevi in 2021 and is one of the firm's resident clean energy experts. He came to Trevi from corporate communications, having worked in media relations for the U.S. office of one of Europe's largest tech companies. Justin also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Armenia, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an M.A. in Russian and East European Studies, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a B.A. in International Studies and History.
Sean Hughes
Business Development Manager
Wartsila North America, Inc.
Sean Hughes is Business Development Manager for Wärtsilä North America. In his role, Sean seeks to identify potential projects and secure contracts to provide large scale power generation equipment. Customers include utilities, independent power producers and more recently data centre developers. Sean has over 17 years of experience in business development for a range of different power generation related entities including Mitsubishi and New Fortress Energy where he held a global role. Hailing all the way from Australia, Sean has been living in the US since the beginning of 2023.
Junaid Ali
CEO
Prismecs
Junaid Ali is a visionary leader in the global energy sector with a proven track record of steering large-scale projects with expertise and pragmatism. Under his leadership, Prismecs, the recipient of GE's highest vendor award in safety, has delivered impactful engineering and procurement services across the entire Power value chain, driving substantial multimillion-dollar growth and fostering a culture of innovation and responsibility across the globe. Junaid's comprehensive educational background underpins his robust technical and managerial skills. He is keen to analyze emerging industry, social, and technical trends at both micro and macro levels, allowing him to engage and captivate audiences with insightful perspectives. A resident of Houston for over a decade, he is deeply involved
with Helping Hand, dedicated to improving the lives of displaced children worldwide. In his professional endeavors, Junaid consistently demonstrates visionary leadership success in guiding global project initiatives and sourcing strategies to enhance operations in the energy sector. He is adept at liaising between vendors and internal stakeholders, ensuring that project goals align with key business benchmarks, driving stakeholder value, and exceeding client expectations. Moreover, he is skilled at managing projects from inception to completion, devising innovative solutions, and building consensus across diverse functional levels, including sales, marketing, engineering, finance, accounting, and legal domains.
Danny Wigham
Advisory Sector Leader, PwC US
Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP
Danny is PwC's US Advisory Sector Leader and a Partner in PwC's Energy & Utilities Consulting practice, with over 24 years of experience working in the industry. Danny has served more than 50 energy companies across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has worked predominantly in the finance function, but also across Supply Chain, Work Management, Human Resources, and Customer solution areas. Helping energy companies navigate through the clean energy transition while continuing to provide reliable and affordable service is a major objective for Danny and his team.
Luke Martin
Partner
Scott Madden Inc.
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Luke Martin is a Partner at ScottMadden's Raleigh office and a leader in their Energy practice. With over 19 years of management consulting experience, Luke specializes in designing and implementing Digital Transformation strategies for the energy, utility, and clean tech industries. His expertise spans digital, training, and cybersecurity domains, supporting power producers in Generation and grid operators in Transmission & Distribution.
Luke has led numerous initiatives to enhance cybersecurity and physical security, including establishing cybersecurity programs for large generation fleets and supporting IT-OT integration to improve cyber resilience. He has also managed NERC Compliance assessments and program recovery efforts to address gaps in cyber and physical security.
Luke holds an M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a B.S. in computer engineering and electrical engineering from North Carolina State University.
Tricia Shultz
Interim Section Head, Resilient Cyber Physical Systems
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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Tricia Schulz is a cybersecurity research professional and leads the team at ORNL addressing cybersecurity challenges to critical infrastructure. She has spent 10 years working on these problems at the National Laboratories and brings a unique interdisciplinary approach to cybersecurity with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and master's degrees in bioscience and computer science. As a former Congressional Fellow, Tricia has also leveraged her technical expertise to inform policy decisions.