Tech Week's sequel to last year's popular "clean tech" program.
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MODERATOR, BENJAMIN KUO, Founder, Publisher, socalTECH.com Benjamin F. Kuo is the founder of socalTECH.com, a widely read newsletter and web site focused on Southern California’s high tech industries. socalTECH.com tracks venture capital funding, high tech news, events, and runs frequent interviews with local entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. The site also features a venture database with lists of local high tech companies, venture capital firms, executive bios, and more. www.socalTECH.com |
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MICHAEL DECK, Soliant Energy, Inc., CFO and Co-Founder In 2005, Mike joined a small group of former JPL engineers to create Soliant Energy (then called Practical Instruments), where he is currently CFO, chief administrative officer, and responsible for government affairs. With a goal of being the leading provider of concentrated solar energy systems for commercial rooftops, Soliant has raised significant venture capital funding and quadrupled in size in the last four years. In 2007, Soliant was awarded $4m under the Department of Energy's Solar America Initiative. In August Soliant opened a pilot manufacturing plant near the company headquarters in Monrovia. Before Soliant, Mike was a principal at a consulting company in Boulder, Colorado, "Cleanroom Software Engineering", which trained software engineers in cutting-edge software processes. Serving as founding President of the East Boulder County Water District helped hone his organizational and financial skills. He spent 11 years as a software engineer and manager at IBM's federal services division in the Washington, DC area and holds a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Maryland and a BA in Mathematics from Kalamazoo College. www.soliantenergy.com |
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JOSEPH FISHER, CEO, CFX Battery Inc. T. Joseph Fisher, III, joined CFX Battery, Inc. as CEO in February 2008. Prior to joining CFX Battery, he had a successful career with over thirty years at Energizer Battery, where he had held numerous senior management positions as well as holding several International Management assignments in Europe, Argentina and South Africa. He founded JCF International, LLC, in 2007, where he advised and consulted for several international Portable Power companies. Fisher received his B.S. in Industrial Management from the University of Cincinnati and also has an MBA from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies, now a part of Marshall University. www.cfxbattery.com |
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ROBB PIGG, Vice President, Operations, J. F. Shea Co., Inc. As Vice President of Operations for Shea Homes, Robb works with colleagues in each of the six Shea Homes divisions. He is involved in new product design and development and the marketing of Shea Homes communities. Robb also works to advance global projects to improve safety, production processes, increase customer satisfaction, reduce costs and improve quality. In these areas, he is responsible for deploying common solutions across the company. Before joining the Corporate group, Robb was Executive Vice President of Operations for Shea’s Southern California division. In this capacity he was responsible for land & community development, product development, purchasing, construction, and warranty. He joined Shea Homes in 1984. Choosing the building industry after graduation from the University of Southern California, he started in the trades as an apprentice carpenter, working ten years as a craftsman before moving into construction management. Robb has two adult children, is active in his church, and enjoys surfing and snow skiing. www.jfshea.com |
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JOHN POWELL, Manager, Emissions Control Systems, Advanced Cleanup Technologies, Inc. John Powell joined Advanced Cleanup Technologies (ACTI) in 2004 when the company formed an engineering group whose assignment was to invent a means to remove the air pollution from ocean going vessels berthed in our ports. Prior to that, Mr. Powell worked in the environmental field for Southern California Edison, CF Braun Engineers, and Litton Ship Systems. In his work for ACTI, Mr. Powell has been one of the main contributors to the design of AMECS, the Advanced Maritime Emissions Control System. AMECS places an interface device over the exhaust stack of vessels in port or at anchor and draws the exhaust through a duct to an emissions treatment system for which Mr. Powell provided the system design. AMECS has been shown to remove 95% or more of the harmful pollutants NOx, SOx, PM, and VOCs from the vessel’s exhaust, and does so in a very cost effective manner. Mr. Powell has several patents and has published numerous papers in technical journals. He has a degree in physics from California State University Long Beach. www.advancedcleanup.com |
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DIANA SCHULZ, CEO, Cyber-Rain Diana Schulz has been CEO of Cyber-Rain for the past year. Cyber-Rain is a smart sprinkler controller as it checks the weather and automatically adjusts watering times, saving users up to 40% on their water bills. During her tenure Cyber-Rain has doubled sales, opened new distribution channels and introduced a new professional line. Prior to Cyber-Rain, Diana was CEO of the e-commerce business Joann.com which she oversaw to a successful exit. She was also head of Corporate Development and Strategic Planning for Universal Studios and a consultant at McKinsey and Company. She received her BA from Claremont McKenna College and her MBA from Stanford Business School. www.cyber-rain.com |
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DAVID STEVENS, CGBP, Senior Energy Education Advisor, Southern California Gas Company David Stevens is Senior Energy Education Advisor at Southern California Gas Company's Energy Resource Center, where he produces educational sessions on sustainability and energy efficiency. He sits on the executive board of the U.S. Green Building Council - Los Angeles Chapter and represents the chapter on USGBC's Pacific Regional Council. He has been an active member of Energy Solutions Center, a consortium of natural gas companies from the US and Canada. David chairs the USGBC-LA's annual Municipal Green Building Conference and Expo, the largest free, educational, and networking event for municipal green building decision-makers. An alumnus of Biola University, David has over 25 years of experience in the utility industry. www.socalgas.com |
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