FlexEnergy Inc Board of Directors
Thomas Denison
Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors
Partner, RNS Capital
Thomas Denison is a 20-year veteran of the private equity business and one of the founding partners of RNS Capital. His focus areas are energy and clean technology investments. Prior to co-founding RNS Capital, he was managing director and general counsel, from 1998 to 2007, of First Reserve Corporation, an energy-focused private equity firm with $12.5 billion under management. He left First Reserve to work with smaller to medium sized companies where he thinks most value creation occurs. Prior to his time with First Reserve, he enjoyed an 11-year career with the international law firm, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP. At the time of his departure from GDC, he was a partner of the firm, specializing in mergers and acquisitions with a focus in the energy field.
He currently serves on numerous private boards of directors of energy and technology businesses. He is concurrently working with several portfolio companies, of RNS and its affiliates, in an executive and board capacity. He is an honors graduate of the University of Denver with a degree in Business Administration and received his Juris Doctorate from The University of Virginia, School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and where he currently teaches an annual seminar on Private Equity Deals and Firms.
Joseph Perry
Chief Executive Officer
Joseph Perry joined FlexEnergy Inc as its Chief Executive Officer in April 2009. He brings to the company over 25 years of experience founding, managing and successfully growing early stage ventures. Joe has a particular focus on nurturing companies with innovative technologies. A generalist, with visionary leadership, Joe has been successful in taking early stage companies through to pre-IPO stage.
Joe started his career as an engineer at Westinghouse in the nuclear power industry. Today the technology of Westinghouse Nuclear Power Plants is the basis for nearly 50 percent of the world’s operating commercial nuclear power plants. Following Westinghouse, Joe moved to the computer industry and successfully led both hardware and software companies through their early stages to commercial success.
He was also a principal for new business venture investments at Paperboy Ventures in Washington D.C. In this capacity, he served as President of; Applied Linguistics, a natural language internet search engine company; Green Earth, a leader in the sustainable bio marine ingredients based on Oslo, Norway; and WaveCrest Laboratories, which developed a family of innovative propulsion systems for the electric transportation industry.
Joe received his BS degree in Physics from Duquesne University.
Edan Prabhu
Founder, FlexEnergy
Edan Prabhu, founder of FlexEnergy, developed the Gradual Oxidizer, the core technology for FlexEnergy, thus creating the Flex Powerstation™. He spent many years performing research on the capture and use of weak fuels and has several patents issued or in process. He believes that weak fuels such as fugitive methane and waste biomass will be an essential part of our clean energy future. Under his stewardship, FlexEnergy received grants from the US DOE, the California Energy Commission, the National Renewable Energy Lab, the National Rural Electric Coop Association, and investment from SAIL Capital Partners and RNS Capital Partners.
Edan was on President Clinton’s Biomass Technical Advisory Committee. Earlier with Edison International, he helped develop solar, geothermal, nuclear, and other power plants. He is currently working on a major breakthrough in solar energy.
Edan has an MS in Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Loyola University of Chicago.
Michael J. Hammons
Partner
SAIL Venture Partners
Mike infuses nearly 20 years of senior leadership experience into building operational value for SAIL’s portfolio companies. He has diverse domestic and international experience across multiple verticals such as telecommunications, energy, automotive, aerospace and defense, data storage, enterprise software, and electronic hardware. His diverse background has spanned the gamut of company life cycles from start-ups to large organizations. Prior to joining SAIL, he held leadership positions including CEO at Vigilistics, CEO at Nexiant, CEO at ARGO Tracker, VP of Global Operations at Cogent Communication, and Director of the South American Automotive Practice at Ernst & Young Consulting. Recognized as an expert in supply chain, operations, manufacturing, product development and logistics, Mike has spoken at multiple conferences and written numerous articles.
Mike serves on several boards including the Advisory Board for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He has also received multiple awards throughout his career, including Top 100 Most Innovative Vendors from Supply and Demand Chain Executive and Deloitte and Touche Fast 500. He earned a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Walter L. Schindler
Managing Partner
SAIL Venture Partners
Walter Schindler is the Founder and a Managing Partner of SAIL Capital Partners, LLC, one of the pioneers and global leaders of cleantech investing. The firm makes investments primarily in growth companies pursuing the global energy, water, and agriculture markets and has offices in California, New York, Washington DC, and New Orleans. SAIL was recently chosen as one of three nominees for Private Equity Manager of the Year by Foundation & Endowment Money Management. He is also member of the Board of Directors of Xtreme Power and FlexEnergy, both of which are SAIL portfolio companies.
Prior to SAIL, Mr. Schindler was the Managing Partner of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Orange County, California office, one of the largest in its worldwide network. He was the lead strategic advisor in over 60 successful mergers, acquisitions, and IPO’s. His assignments included advising Pacific Life with regard to the exit strategy for its investment in PIMCO and working on the IPO of Ultrasystems, the first alternative energy/renewable power company in the US to go public. He has 30 years of broad and deep experience in energy and renewable power and related exit experience.
Mr. Schindler is a native of New Orleans and earned his B.A, M.A and Ph.D. with honors from Yale University and his J.D. with honors from Harvard Law School, and he was a Fulbright Scholar in Italy. He is also a published poet and the author of a book about the poetry of John Milton. As a Yale undergraduate, he was awarded the Robert C. Bates Fellowship and the Chauncey Brewster Tinker Prize. As a Yale graduate student, he received a Leopold Schepp Foundation Scholarship and was awarded the Mary Cady Tew Prize.
Honorable Stephen L. Johnson
11th Administrator, EPA
Stephen Johnson brings to the board over three decades of exemplary commitment to the environment. Within the EPA, he controlled a $7.7 billion annual budget and managed over 17,000 employees. He is also the recipient of the White House’s Presidential Rank Award, the highest award bestowed to civilian federal employees. Before working for the U.S. Government, he held a number of positions in laboratory and bio-technology companies. He was also the director of Hazelton Laboratories, now Covance.
Stephen began working at the EPA in 1979. He had been working at a private lab, Litton Bionetics Inc., in Washington. Johnson’s rise from career scientist to EPA chief began in 2001, when he was asked to move from career civil service to political appointee after serving as the acting deputy administrator in 2003 and then in January 2005 the acting administrator of the EPA. On March 4, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated him formally for the permanent position. He became the first career employee to hold the position of Administrator and the first scientist to head the Agency. His tenure as Administrator of the EPA expired on January 20, 2009. Stephen received a B.A. in Biology from Taylor University and a Master’s Degree in Pathology from George Washington University. He has also been awarded honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Taylor University and Wesleyan University.
Chuck Packard
Chief Executive Officer of INGENCO
Chuck has served as President and CEO of Richmond based INGENCO and its affiliates for over 20 years. Prior to co-founding the company, he served as the Manager of Cogeneration Marketing for a $190 million NYSE traded company. He also has served as the Director of Engineering for a publicly held cogeneration company. Chuck has more than 30 years of experience in the nuclear, distributed generation, and cogeneration industries, with the last 25 years in cogeneration and independent power production. He earned a BSME from Ohio University and an MSME from New Mexico State University where he specialized in renewable energy. He is currently based in Charlottesville, VA.
Bob Mack
Vice President, Business Development at Ingersoll Rand, plc
Bob is the Vice President of Business Development at Ingersoll Rand. At Ingersoll Rand, he is responsible for acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic investments. Prior to taking this role, he was the Vice President, Business Development for the company’s $3 billion Industrial Technologies Sector. He also the former President of Ingersoll Rand Energy Systems, which was acquired by FlexEnergy Inc in 2010.
Bob holds a MBA from Duke University, a BBA in Accounting from Siena College and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is based in Davidson, North Carolina.
Steve Krablin
Steve has over 30 years experience as a director or corporate executive of public companies. Before retiring in January 2011, he was Chief Executive Officer of T-3 Energy Services Inc., a public company providing products and services to the energy industry. From 1996 to 2005, he was Chief Financial Officer of National Oilwell Varco, Inc. or its predecessor, a major manufacturer and distributor of oil and gas drilling equipment and related products.
Steve currently serves as a director of three public companies: Chart Industries, Inc., a global manufacturer of products and systems for cryogenic and heat transfer applications; Penn Virginia Corporation, an energy company involved in the exploration and production of natural gas; and Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., a leading provider of offshore service vessels serving the oil and gas industry.
As an experienced financial and operational leader with a variety of public companies, Steve brings management experience, leadership capabilities, financial knowledge and business acumen to our Board. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a degree in accounting, and is a retired Certified Public Accountant.
John P. Ryan
John P. Ryan was President and Chief Executive Officer of Dresser, Inc. from May 2007 until February 2011, when the company was successfully sold to General Electric, Inc. Prior to this appointment, he was President and Chief Operating Officer from December 2004 until his appointment as CEO, and was responsible for all of Dresser’s Global Operations. Previously, he was Vice President of Dresser, Inc. and President of Dresser’s Measurement and Distribution segment which provides products and services to the global retail and commercial fueling industries. John joined Dresser, Inc. in 1987. Dresser, Inc. provided a broad array of products and services to the global energy infrastructure market with Operations in 16 countries and over 6200 employees around the world. Prior to the sale of the company, Dresser was headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Prior to joining Dresser, John worked for Goulds Pumps, Inc. where he held several positions of increasing responsibility in both domestic and international markets.
John received his BA degree from Villanova University. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Hudson Products, Inc., Houston, TX, the World Affairs Council of Dallas / Ft. Worth, and, is on the Board of Trustees for the Manufacturers Alliance / MAPI.
