Ascent has assembled
several prominent individuals in Thin-film and Solar
technologies to server as our advisors. Although these
individuals do not serve in a management capacity,
but their contributions is very valuable to the company.
Dr. Mohan
Misra, our Chairman also serves as Chairman
of our Technical Advisory Group, other members are:
Rajeewa R. Arya, Ph.D. is the principal
of Arya International, Inc., which provides consulting
services in the area of solar technology and business.
Prior to founding Arya International, Inc., Dr. Arya
spent 19 years at BP Solar International Inc. and its
predecessors, where he oversaw development of a-Si
and cadmium telluride thin-film technologies. Dr.
Arya has co-authored more than 90 technical papers
and holds six U.S. patents. Dr. Arya holds a
Master of Science degree in Solid State Physics from
Jadavpur University in India, a Master of Technology
degree in Materials Science from the Indian Institute
of Technology and a Ph.D. in Engineering from Brown
University.
Bruce Lanning, Ph.D. is the manager
of the thin-film technologies group at ITN, a group
he also managed from 1997 until 2002. From 2002
until November 2005, Dr. Lanning was the principal
scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, where
he investigated the development of a wireless thin-film
sensor system for the U.S. Department of Energy. He
has over 25 years of professional experience in materials
research, with particular emphasis in the area of phase
transformation/thermodynamics of thin-film surface
and interfacial sciences. Dr. Lanning holds a B.S.
degree, M.S. degree and Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering
from the Colorado School of Mines.
Robert W. Birkmire, Ph.D. has since
1996 been the Director of the University of Delaware’s
Institute of Energy Conversion which is devoted to
research and development of thin-film PV solar cells
and other photonic devices and is staffed by approximately
20 professional and support personnel as well as faculty,
visiting scholars, post-doctoral fellows, graduate
and undergraduate students. Dr. Birkmire is the co-author
on more than 100 technical papers and holds five U.S.
patents. Dr. Birkmire holds a B.S. degree in Physics
from the Lowell Technological Institute in Massachusetts
and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Delaware.
