Board of Directors
Mohan S. Misra, Ph.D., Founder and Chairman: Dr. Misra is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of ITN Energy Systems. Before founding ITN in 1994, Dr. Misra spent 19 years with Martin Marietta in the areas of material research, development and manufacturing. While at Martin Marietta, Dr. Misra worked first as manager of Research and Technology, then led the company's development of long-term technology strategies. Dr. Misra has helped develop and implement several key technologies for aerospace applications including thin-film photovoltaic, smart materials, advanced composites and lightweight structures. Dr. Misra holds a B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Banaras Hindu University in India, a M.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Washington and a Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
Farhad Moghadam, Ph.D.: Farhad Moghadam has been the Chief Executive Officer and President of Ascent Solar Technologies Inc. since August 3, 2009. Dr. Moghadam has extensive senior executive experience in global operations, business development and commercialization of complex, state-of-the-art technologies. Since 2007, Dr. Moghadam has been engaged with prominent private equity firms. He recently assisted companies seeking to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee program ... with independent engineering assessments and bankability evaluations. Dr. Moghadam served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Thin Films Product Business Group and Foundation Engineering of Applied Materials Inc. since September 2004 until June 20, 2007. Dr. Moghadam was responsible for Applied Materials' Foundation Engineering Group (FEG), an assignment which he received in April 2004. He was responsible for managing over 1,100 Applied employees in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Dr. Moghadam served as Group Vice President of DSM product business group since December 2002 and as its Corporate Vice President since December 1999. In this position, he was responsible for DSM's interconnect dielectric programs including emerging technologies in the field of high density plasma, low k dielectrics and lithography-enabling solutions. He then served as Vice President of the High Density Plasma product division within DSM. He joined Applied Materials as General Manager of advanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technologies and as Chief Technical Officer of CVD product business group. Before joining Applied Materials Inc., Dr. Moghadam served in multiple management positions at Intel Corporation over the course of 15 years. He served on the board of Directors of Sokudo Co., Ltd. He is an inventor of approximately 65 patents and has more than 120 technical papers published in various technical journals and periodicals. He earned his Bachelor of science degree in Metallurgy from Tehran University. He earned both his Masters and Doctorate degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 1979 and 1981, respectively.
Amit Kumar, Ph.D.: Until June 31, 2010, Dr. Kumar was President and CEO of CombiMatrix Corporation (NASDAQ: CBMX). Previously, Dr. Kumar was Vice President of Life Sciences of Acacia Research Corp (NASDAQ: ACRI). From January 1999 to February 2000, Dr. Kumar was the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Signature BioSciences, Inc., a life science company developing technology for advanced research in genomics, proteomics and drug discovery. From January 1998 to December 1999, Dr. Kumar was an Entrepreneur in Residence with Oak Investment Partners, a venture capital firm. From October 1996 to January 1998, Dr. Kumar was a Senior Manager at IDEXX Laboratories, Inc., a biotechnology company. From October 1993 to September 1996, Dr. Kumar was Head of Research & Development for Idetek Corporation, which was later acquired by IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. Dr. Kumar received his B.S. degree in chemistry from Occidental College. After joint studies at Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology, he received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech in 1991. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University in 1993. Dr. Kumar has authored and co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications and holds a dozen patents. Dr. Kumar's photovoltaic research included work on energy conversion using cells made from silicon (single crystal, polycrystalline, and amorphous), gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, metal oxides and other materials.
Ron Eller: Mr. Eller is chief executive officer of Monroe Street Capital LLC, a private equity firm formed in 2009. From December 2008 until May 2009, Mr. Eller served as a managing director of Capital Preservation, Inc., a private equity firm. From 1994 until March 2008, Mr. Eller held various positions at Hewlett-Packard Company, an integrated technology firm, including Vice President and General Manager of the NetServer business from 2002 to 2003 and, more recently, Vice President and General Manager of the software and system integrator channels of the Technology Solutions Group. Mr. Eller holds a B.S. degree in Professional Aviation from Purdue University , and an M.S. degree in Business from Colorado State University.
Einar Glomnes: Mr. Glomnes represents Hydro on the Ascent Solar Board. Mr. Glomnes has served as the head of Hydro Solar, a division of Norsk Hydro ASA, since April 2007. Prior to taking the helm of Hydro Solar, Mr. Glomnes held various management and legal positions at Norsk Hydro ASA, most recently as Vice President of International Business Development. Mr. Glomnes holds a law degree from Universitetet I Oslo, and a LLM degree from Columbia University School of Law.
Kim Huntley: Mr. Huntley served in the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for more than 32 years in positions of increasing responsibility. Most recently, from July 2008 until his retirement in January 2010, Mr. Huntley served as Director of the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The DESC operates as part of the DLA and is responsible for providing energy solutions to the DOD and federal civilian agencies. As Director of the DESC, Mr. Huntley was the principal executive officer in charge of approximately 1,100 employees worldwide and over $25 billion in annual appropriations involving energy infrastructure and products. From March 2006 and immediately prior to becoming Director of the DESC, Mr. Huntley served in leadership roles involving supply chain management, including Deputy Commander for the Defense Supply Center in Richmond, Virginia and Columbus, Ohio, and as Executive Director of Customer Support and Readiness. From December 2003 to March 2006, Mr. Huntley served as Chief of the Customer Support Office in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Mr. Huntley chaired the Inter Agency Working Group for Alternative Fuels and Renewable Energy from January 2009 to January 2010. The Group included senior energy representatives from DOD, DOE, EPA, and other major Federal Agencies. Mr. Huntley would bring extensive supply chain, budget and defense industry experience to our Board. Mr. Huntley holds a B.A. degree in Economics from Golden Gate University and attended post-graduate courses in economics at California State University, Hayward.
G. Thomas Marsh: Mr. Marsh retired as Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, in June 2006. Lockheed Martin Space Systems designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates advanced-technology systems, including human space flight systems, satellites and instruments, space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft, laser radar, fleet ballistic missiles, and missile defense systems. From 1969 until its merger in 1995 to form Lockheed Martin Corporation, Mr. Marsh worked at Martin Marietta Corporation, most recently in the position of President, Manned Space Systems. After 1995, he held positions of increasing responsibility within Lockheed Martin Corporation, including serving as President and General Manager of the Missiles and Space Operations business unit from 2002 until his appointment as Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Space Systems in 2003. Mr. Marsh was responsible for business operations and the activities of approximately 18,000 Space Systems employees. Mr. Marsh has served on the board of directors of ION Geophysical Corporation since December 2008. Mr. Marsh would bring a background in executive management and deep experience with the space and defense industries to our Board. Mr. Marsh holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico, an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado, and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management.
Richard J. Swanson: Mr. Swanson has been an advisor and consultant to a wide range of business enterprises. For over 15 years he was a coach and advisor to more than 75 CEOs and business owners in Colorado through an affiliation with TEC â"€ The Executive Committee, the world's leading CEO membership organization. Previously, he was with Accenture, was the CFO of a $200 million company, and was the founder and president of a commercial real estate investment and development company in Denver. He has accomplished corporate turnaround projects, has served on a number of private company boards, and is also currently on the board and Audit Committee chair of another NASDAQ industrial technology company. Mr. Swanson holds a BA in History from the University of Colorado and a Master's of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.
