Advisory Board

Great Lakes Energy Institute understands the importance of strategic leadership and relies on the expertise of the high level executives that comprise our Advisory Board. Led by CEO of Franklin Park Infrastructure Company and Case Western Reserve alumnus Thomas Tribone ('74), the Board meets quarterly to provide assistance and guidance to the Institute as it enables the transition to advanced sustainable energy generation, storage, distribution and utilization, through coordinated research, development and education.

The Great Lakes Energy Institute Advisory Board is comprised of internal and external stakeholders: current and retired top executives and researchers offering expertise in multiple alternative energy sectors. You can learn more about each of our Board members by clicking on their name below.

Board Members

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    Bob Savinell

    George S. Dively Professor in Engineering
    Distinguished University Professor
    Professor, Chemical Engineering

    Develops high-performance electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies through fundamental and applied studies of interfacial and transport processes

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    Suresh Baskaran

    Chief Science and Technology Officer for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Energy and Environment Directorate

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    Norman Peterson

    Director of Government Relations, Argonne National Laboratory

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    Richard Raines

    Director, Electrical and Electronic Systems Research Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

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    Jun Shin

    Principal Commodity Manager - Strategic Battery Partnership, Amazon

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    Jim Taylor

    Vice President Energy Solutions, Siemens Energy Management

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    Thomas Tribone

    Chairman, Great Lakes Energy Institute and Founder, CEO of Franklin Park Infrastructure Company

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    William Tumas

    Associate Laboratory Director, Materials and Chemical Science and Technology

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    Joel Zipp

    Former attorney, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Office of General Counsel and Assistant Director, Office of Enforcement

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    Mike Koralewski

    Senior Vice President, Global Manufacturing for First Solar, Inc

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    Jill Martin

    Jill Martin is a Fellow in the Packaging and Specialty Plastics business of The Dow Chemical Company.  For the past 26 years, she has served in both research and development (R&D) and technical service and development (TS&D) for the North America Packaging and Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons (P&SP&H) business.  She began her career in R&D working on polyethylene product development including hot melt adhesives, automotive UTH applications, and hygiene absorbent products before moving into a role in New Business Development focusing on technical and commercial evaluation of external technologies.  In 2003 she joined the TS&D group working directly with customers and brand owners in the hygiene, rigid and flexible packaging and medical device markets before transitioning into her current role aligned to developing plastics for a circular economy.  In this role she has responsibility for development of products and partnerships within the packaging value chains including the private and public sectors to enable acceleration of scalable solutions.  In her spare time, she looks to re-establish herself on the tennis courts and in local 5k and 10k runs supporting causes related to ending food insecurity and female empowerment.  

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    Timothy R. Toppen

    Industry Specialization – Industrial Manufacturing, Consumer Marketing

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    Robert Krizman

    Senior Vice President, JLL Managing the installation of a 2.8 MW Cogeneration facility for HOST Hotels & Resorts and various Fuel Cell installations for JPMC  

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    Douglas Hartman

    Director, Generation Services,

    Doug is currently responsible for proactively supporting FirstEnergy’s regulated generation fleet and the strategic application of renewable assets. The Project Engineering, Field & Technical Services, and Operations & Maintenance teams augment the engineering and technical program for FirstEnergy’s regulated generation business unit.  Generation Services is also responsible for the development and installation of Mon Power’s West Virginia Solar Program.

Additionally, the Great Lakes Energy Institute would like to thank the following Advisory Board Alumni who have contributed their knowledge, service and support to ensure our ongoing success. 

Board Alumni

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    Walter J. Culver

    Dr. Walter J. Culver is Founding Member Emeritus of the Great Lakes Energy Institute Advisory Board at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), and formerly its board chairman. He is also a member of the Visiting Committee of the School of Engineering of CWRU. He enjoyed a 40-year career in industry, first as a lead technologist and mathematician on NASA and DoD programs, and later as one of a few hundred of the nation’s senior executives who defined how to deliver information technology to enable complex, end-to-end systems. Dr. Culver founded and ran a number of large corporate organizations to build and deploy such systems. In energy modernization he was lead author with M. Hong for “Decline of Coal—Driven by Policy or Technology?”, The Electricity Journal, Sept. 2016, and authored “High-Value Energy Storage for the Grid: A Multi-Dimensional Look,” The Electricity Journal, Dec. 2010. He was supporting coauthor with J. Mellentine and R. Savinell, "Simulation and Optimization of a Flow Battery in an Area Regulation Application," J. of Applied Electrochemistry, October 2011; with M. Hong and K. Loparo, “Towards a More Reliable and Efficient Electric Distribution System,” IEEE EnergyTech Conference, Cleveland, OH, May 21-23, 2013; and with them for “Optimal Control of Backup Generation in a Campus Microgrid,” IEEE EnergyTech 2014 & AIAA Propulsion and Energy Conference, Cleveland, Ohio, July 28-30, 2014.

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    Robert Busch

    Chairman of the Board, New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority

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    Eileen Buzzelli

    Director of FirstEnergy Technologies, FirstEnergy Service Company

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    Ross Guttromson

    Manager, Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy Storage and Transmission Analysis Department

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    Michele Jones

    Director, Product Innovation & Development for FirstEnergy Service Company

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    Joseph Keithley

    Former Chairman, President, Chief Executive Officer, Keithley Instruments, Inc.

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    Carl Podwoski

    Former partner, Newton Falls Fine Paper Company LLC

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    Robert Riley

    Chair, Williams Mullen law firm’s Energy Practice Group 

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    Roger Saillant

    Former Executive Director, Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit, Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University

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    Peter Shulman

    Teacher of history of technology, energy and the environment, historical methods, and contemporary history

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    James Thorp

    Hugh P. and Ethel C. Kelly Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech

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    Ali Ahmed

    Vice Chairman, Founder and Principal, Green Strategies, LLC

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    Cung Vu

    Former Director, Geosciences and Reservoir Engineering R&D and Chief Geophysicist, Exploration Manager and General Manager of Business Development.