NEWS & EVENTS

HAWP 2009 Conference

November 5-6, 2009

California State University at Chico
400 West 1st Street
Chico, CA 95929

Cleantech Innovation Center at Oroville, CA
2015 Challenger Avenue
Oroville Airport Business Park
Oroville, CA 95965

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CALL FOR SPEAKERS

The High Altitude Wind Power Conference invites additional speakers to submit abstracts of their 15-20 minute presentation proposals for the afternoon session at the Cleantech Innovation Center on November 5, 2009. We are seeking speakers from academia,private industry, government, and non profit organizations as well as inventors of airborne devices intended to capture wind energy. Presentations must be relevant to the theme of capturing wind energy with airborne devices or quantifying this power resource. In order to facilitate finalizing the conference schedule in time to allow you to make travel arrangements, the selection committee will make a final decision on the acceptance of additional speakers no later than October 16th. 
 
Please email us directly with an attached biography of up to 150 words and a abstract of your proposed presentation as it pertains to the conference theme, ‘The Power of Wind in High Places”. 
 
hawp@ncen.org with "speaker" in the subject line.

 

To Learn more about High Altitude Wind Power

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Bios and Photos of Presenters


Cristina L. Archer is an assistant professor of energy, meteorology, and environmental science in the Department of Geological and Environmental Science of California State University Chico, as well as a consulting assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University. Her research interests include wind power, meteorology, air quality, climate change, and numerical modeling. She received her Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University in 2004. She worked there as a post-doctoral researcher for one year and as an atmospheric modeler in the air quality district of San Francisco for two years. She then worked at the Carnegie Institution for Science in 2007 as a research associate for a year before joining California State University Chico in 2008.
   
Anthony J. Asterita has over 25 years US government experience as a project manager for major aeronautical systems and was program manager for a major USAF weapon system. This system is in the US inventory today. His commercial sector experience includes capturing several key contracts including the first integrated avionics program for industry, new computer technology for the flight management system of advanced aircraft, and a secure communications system for stealth operations. Mr. Asterita is a founder of Magenn Power and has over 10 years experience in advanced lighter-than-air applications. His education includes a BS in Aerospace Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and an MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He is also a graduate of the Air Logistics University and the Industrial College of the Armed forces.
   

JoeBen Bevirt , serial entrepreneur, founded Joby Energy, he was born with a passion for engineering that has driven the formation of several successful companies over the past 10 years. In 2000 JoeBen co-founded Velocity11 to build robots that help scientists sequence DNA and understand cancer. He served as President and CEO until 2002, as President until 2006, and as a board member until the sale to Agilent Technologies in 2007. Under his leadership, Velocity11 profitably grew revenue by 50% annually.

In 2005 JoeBen founded Joby, Inc. to create useful products that solve problems while delighting users. Profitable almost immediately after its inception, Joby has experienced strong growth. In early 2008 he turned his focus to renewable energy and founded Joby Energy.

JoeBen holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and a M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. To date, JoeBen has been issued nine US patents.
   

Joe Faust From sinewed Olympic high jumping self-body-kiting to a 1963 kite-focused job-decision, research on kiting started its unending journey in me. Journey highlights: formal proposing to my employer McDonnell Douglas Aerospace to let me guide a new sector in the company to serve a coming renaissance in kiting, hang gliding, and ultralight aviation; their opt out birthed my 1970s publishing of Low & Slow and then Hang Glider Weekly; founding United States Hang Glider Association, Self-Soar Association, and Kite Information Exchange Society of America. Then from 1980-2000 learning and teaching mathematics seasoned my kite energy. Since 2000: serving the wind-power-by-kiting industry as researcher, developer, historian, publisher; compiler; and idea generator. My open-source community platforms: EnergyKiteSystems.net, Airborne Wind Energy Industry Association, AirborneWindEnergy forum, and KiteLab Group.

   
 

Corey Houle After graduating as a mechanical engineer at the University of British Columbia inVancouver, Canada in 2005, I worked as a test engineer for a Vancouver based company,developing control strategies for natural gas and hydrogen internal combustion engines. After
this, I took a year off to travel around the world and kite surf. This somehow landed me at theUniversity of Applied Sciences of
North-western Switzerland, developing instrumentation to measure nanoparticles. The intellectual freedom available in this semi-academic setting gave me the opportunity to pursue a side-project in KitePower which has now become the main
focus of my work.
   

Pierre Rivard
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Rivard has 25 years’ experience in business and technology,
including business-launch & venture-growth, finance, business
development, operations, human resources, research, product
development, and organizational change.

Prior to leading MAGENN, Mr. Rivard launched, grew and successfully exited from two other start-ups that he co-founded, one of which listed on the NASDAQ. Both companies are still in operation today, 25 years
and 12 years after their inception. He holds 7 patents. Prior to leading MAGENN Power,

Mr. Rivard was also President & CEO of Hydrogenics Corp. for 12 years, a NASDAQ-listed fuel cell company that he cofounded (NASDAQ: HYGS; TSX: HYG). Three years after its IPO, Hydrogenics was listed # 1 on the list 100 fastest-growing companies in Canada. The company received numerous other awards.

Prior to Hydrogenics, Mr. Rivard was President & CEO of Med-Express, a medical couriercompany that he also co-founded. Prior to his business career, Mr. Rivard served as anaerospace engineer in the Canadian Air Force, where he received certification on a number of Aircraft.

From these past work experiences and personal involvements, he has developed akeen interest in applying his knowledge and abilities to develop sustainable energy.

Mr. Rivard has an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada. In 2007, the University of Toronto’s Engineering Alumni awarded Mr. Rivard the “Engineering Alumni Medal”, the highest honor granted by the engineering alumni. He is a member of the Board of Governors for JuniorAchievement, and on the board of 2 non-profit organizations dedicated to environmental causes.
   
Len Shepard is the CEO of Sky WindPower having led the company since April 2008. Sky WindPower is building prototype Flying Electric Generators (rotorcraft) to demonstrate that wind alone can simultaneously hold a rotorcraft aloft at thousands of feet above the earth's surface and cause the rotorcraft to generate electricity to be returned to ground systems via a tether. Sky WindPower is the latest of small companies led by Len. He also has over 20 years experience in senior management roles across the medical billing service industry. Len authored one of the first widely used freeware offerings for project management. Len holds a B.S. in Agricultural Business Management and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis.
   
Damon Vander Lind of Makani Power Inc, is a Design Engineer and recent MIT graduate. He has degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, and physics, and nearly a degree in math as well. He does aerodynamic and structural simulations. He builds boats as well as other crazy contraptions made of metal and fiberglass, including a propeller powered car.
   
 

Scott Webster is Senior Vice President and co-founder of SkyMill Energy.  Mr. Webster previously co-founded Orbital Sciences Corporation and helped build it into one of America’s leading space system manufacturers with 2008 sales over $1 billion.  Mr. Webster holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in business administration from the Harvard Business School.