Speakers
Drew Bolin
Drew Bolin is the Chief Executive officer of the Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, 501(c)(3) nonprofit economic development organization dedicated to growing primary jobs in the area of clean energy in Colorado. Bolin has nearly 20 years of experience working on statewide energy, economic development and international business activities.
Gary Caille
Gary Caille, Ph.D, was most recently the Director of System Solutions Group of CSU Ventures which he formed in 2008. He is currently with the Mechanical Engineering Department at Colorado State University.
Steve Catanach
Steve Catanach is the Light and Power Manager for the City of Fort Collins, Colorado. He has worked in the electric utility industry for over 23 years, and has worked as an electrical engineer for the past 24 years. He has a B.S. Degree from New Mexico State University with a focus on power engineering.
Martin Carcasson
Martin Carcasson, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Communication Studies department of Colorado State University, and the founder and director of the CSU Center for Public Deliberation (CPD). His interests are focused on rhetoric and contemporary public affairs, and the interdisciplinary theory and practice of deliberative democracy and collaborative governance.
Sunlil Cherian
Sunlil Cherian, Ph.D., is the founder and CEO of Spirae, Inc. based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Spirae develops infrastructure for distributed energy and smart grid applications and co-owns and operates InteGrid Test and Development Laboratory in collaboration with Colorado State University.
Antonio Roberto de Godoi
Since 2007, Antonio Roberto de Godoi has been a research collaborator with the Laboratory of Animal Nutrition of the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture. He is also the Coordinator of the Consortium Technology Lahore, Brazil, which focuses on techenergy for development and innovation in liquid and solid biofuels and the integration of biofuel production plant foods.
Judy Dorsey
Judy Dorsey is the founding President and Principal Engineer at Brendle Group, Fort Collins, Colorado. Her 20-year career has included developing unique expertise in engineering that is centered on demonstrating the business case benefits of sustainability. Dorsey holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from CSU and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Mike Freeman
Mike Freeman is the Chief Executive Officer for the Rocky Mountain Innosphere. The Innosphere is a 501c3 technology incubator that annually serves more than 30 start-up companies which employ around 200 people. Innosphere has a strategic partnership with Colorado State University Ventures, Colorado State University, City of Fort Collins, City of Loveland and others. Freeman holds a Master of Arts, Public Administration, George Washington University.
Chris Garcia
Chris Garcia leads the staff at Berthoud High School. Berthoud High School has been recognized by the State of Colorado and Newsweek magazine as a top performing high school among its peers. Garcia has supported the transformation of Berthoud High from a traditional high school to one with a comprehensive science, technology, engineering and math focus.
Howard Geller
Howard Geller, PH. D., is the Executive Director and Founder of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), a public interest organization operating in west-southwestern United States. Geller is the former Executive Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) based in Washington, D.C. He holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Energy Policy from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Thomas A. Gendron
Thomas A. Gendron was named Chairman of the Board of Woodward, Inc. in 2008 having served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Gendron has served Woodward for more than 20 years in both the aircraft and industrial businesses, providing leadership in sales, marketing, business development, and product support management. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in engineering from the University of Illinois and his Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Rockford College.
Cecil Gutierrez
Cecil Gutierrez was elected to the Loveland, Colorado, City Council to represent northwest Loveland in 2007. In 2009, Gutierrez was elected Mayor and is serving in his second term. During his time on City Council and as Mayor, Gutierrez has brought a focus on economic development, downtown revitalization and efforts to bring attention to those citizens.
Bert Haskell
Bert Haskell is technology director for Pecan Street Inc., Austin, Texas. He has been working in technology and product development since starting his career in 1984 with Eastman Kodak, where he worked as an electronics manufacturing process development engineer while earning his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester, New York.
Bruce Hendee is the Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Fort Collins, Colorado. A native of Colorado, he attended Florida State University, Metropolitan State College and attended graduate school in landscape architecture at the University of Colorado. In 1992 Hendee opened the firm BHA Design, Inc. which he led until 2010.
John Howe
John Howe is passionate about STEM education. He is the Assistant Principal at Preston Middle School and the Founder and Director of The STEM Summer Institute. John has been an instrumental resource for many schools in building and sustaining a Lego Robotics Program. John was recognized by the Fort Collins Rotary Club as a Paul Harris Fellow for his dedication and commitment to furthering STEM education and the Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Teacher of the Year for Colorado. John has presented at the local, state and national level on STEM education. His work has been published by Middle Ground featuring STEM education.
Barbara Kirkmeyer
Barbara Kirkmeyer is the County Commissioner of Weld County. She began her career as a community activist battling landfills in Weld County. For the last 20 years, she has been actively involved in her community and in her county. She is a proven, effective leader with a long list of accomplishments. Barbara has a solid record of getting things done for the citizens of Weld County.
David Klahr
David Klahr is the Executive Director of Financial Planning and Analysis and Project Manager for the Taxi of Tomorrow project at the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. The Taxi and Limousine Commission is responsible for the regulation and licensing of almost 200,000 medallion taxicabs, for-hire vehicles, their drivers, and the businesses that support them. It is recognized as the largest and most active taxi and limousine regulatory body in the United States. He holds a MPA from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs and a BA from Hampshire College.
Bret A. Lessman
Bret A. Lessman is currently the Enterprise Organizational Development Manager for United Launch Alliance, the rocket design, development, and launch joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, based in Centennial, Colorado. Lessman has over 20 years of experience in the strategic design, development, and evaluation of large scale complex change management and organizational learning engagements. Mr. Lessman holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management and a Master’s Degree in Consulting, Coaching, and Change Management in a joint program with Oxford University, United Kingdom, and HEC Business School, Paris, France.
Trish Malik
Trish Malik, is the Principal of Laurene Edmondson Elementary, Loveland, Colorado and is leading the staff at Laurene Edmondson into their first year as a STEM focused school. The STEM Program at Edmondson will integrate robust science, technology, engineering and math learning within a strong literacy foundation.
Jeff Meyers
Jeff Meyers is an electrical engineer, and former president of Telvent Miner & Miner. In his 30-year utility career, Meyers has designed electric substations and transmission lines, and developed system planning and protection studies. Most recently, Meyers has been conveying the message of Smart Grid and how the use of integrated technology can bring energy efficiencies to the industry.
John Phelan
John Phelan is the Energy Services Manager for the Utilities Department of Fort Collins, Colorado. He leads the team that provides energy efficiency, conservation, load management and renewable energy services. Phelan has a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Bachelor of Science in Conservation of Natural Resources from the University of California Berkeley.
Prasad Ram
Prasad Ram (aka Pram) is the Founder and CEO of Gooru. Gooru is a free, search engine for learning developed by a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to honor the human right to education. Gooru harnesses the content, experts and community on the web to provide educator-curated collections of multimedia resources and quizzes in a social learning environment. Pram worked as the head of Google R&D in India, CTO for Yahoo! India, and a research scientist at Xerox Research.
Keith Reester
Keith Reester is the Public Works Director in Loveland and has been with the City for over 8 years. Keith spent his work career before coming to Loveland in private sector as a consultant to a national client base in the design and construction industries; prior to that he was with Waste Management, the world’s largest solid waste and recycling company in Boston and throughout New England. Keith also still provides consulting services throughout the U.S. to clients assisting them in strategic planning, business change, and sustainability. In 2007 Keith spent 5 weeks in Australia representing the United States on behalf of the American Public Works Association and the Eisenhower Institute as a Randolph Jennings Fellow. In December Keith was named a 2007 Industry Trendsetter by Public Works Magazine for his work on replacing the Baby Boomers in the technical workforce.
Bill Ritter
Former Colorado governor Bill Ritter is the Director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University. Ritter has convened national and statewide discussions among policymakers, scientists, business, environmental organizations and others; facilitate collaboration among faculty members around critical research needs; represent the university in state, national and international discussions related to energy policy; and interact with students as a teacher and mentor.
Thomas Segelhorst
Thomas Segelhorst is the owner of Integrated Mechanical in Fort Collins, Colorado, and a graduate of Colorado State University. Utilizing his 23 years of experience Segelhorst and his team have designed over 600 projects in northern Colorado and surrounding areas. In the past few years many of the projects have involved LEED and other high efficiency designs.
Lee Slezak
Lee Slezak is the Vehicle Systems and Testing Manager in the Vehicle Technologies Program, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy. As the Manager of Vehicle Systems Activities in the Vehicle Technologies Program Slezak is responsible for advanced vehicle and systems modeling, component evaluations, vehicle laboratory and field evaluations, electric vehicle codes and standards, and vehicle systems optimization activities.
Cynthia Smeraski
Cynthia Smeraski serves as a Science Education and Literacy Program consultant for CSU Ventures Systems Solutions Group and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University. Dr Smeraski is responsible for leading the K12 science education outreach component of the Vehicle Electrification Education Program of CSU Ventures-SSG and Department of Biomechanical Engineering.
Lucinda Smith
Lucinda Smith is the Director of the Environmental Services Department at the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, part of the City’s new Sustainability Services Area working to inspire and promote economic, social, and environmental well-being. Smith holds a Master’s degree in Air Resource Management from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, and a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Smith College, MA.
Kazuyuki Tohji
Dr. Kazuyuki Tohji is the Director of Environmental Energy at Tohoku University, Tohoku, Japan. In 2002, Tohji discovered an efficient way to produce hydrogen, which can be used in fuel cells to produce clean energy by exposing a hydrogen sulfide solution to sunlight. This discovery reduced the cost of producing hydrogen for fuel cells.
Lynn Vosler
Lynn Vosler is the director of Workforce Development at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colorado. Lynn is responsible for growing and building FRCC’s non-credit workforce training arm, with particular attention to expanding innovative programs like Energy Boost, which she started in 2008. Energy Boost is a 92-hour program that prepares workers for entry-level jobs in the energy industry. Vosler is also responsible for responding to the needs of business and industry for classes for credit. In this role, she serves as the liaison between the college and companies and county workforce boards in FRCC’s service area, which encompasses parts of Adams, Jefferson, and Weld counties and all of Boulder, Broomfield, and Larimer counties.
Karen Weitkunat
Karen Weitkunat was elected as Mayor of Fort Collins, Colorado in 2011 after serving eight years on the Fort Collins City Council. Prior to moving to Fort Collins in 1976 from Wisconsin, Mayor Weitkunat earned a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and taught in both Wisconsin and Colorado school districts.
Bryan Willson
Bryan Willson, Ph.D., is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State University, Fort Collins Colorado, and has worked for over 25 years to develop large-scale solutions for global energy needs. He serves as the Director of CSU’s Clean Energy Supercluster, an academic unit of over 150 diverse faculty members working to develop and disseminate clean energy solutions. As well as founder and director of CSU’s Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory, a large and diverse energy solutions laboratory.
Michael Womochil
Michael Womochil serves as the program director for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy with the Colorado Community College System. This position provides leadership, support and supervision of CTE programs at both the secondary and community college level for Colorado. A career educator, Michael taught secondary Agricultural Education for 27 years in Kansas. He followed his teaching career serving as a Local Program Success Specialist with the national FFA organization for three years before joining CCCS in 2008.