Mahmoud Kabalan graduated with a B.E. degree in electrical engineering with focus on power electric systems from Lebanese University in Beirut, Lebanon in 2009. He joined Villanova University as a graduate research assistant and is currently finishing up his M.S. degree in electrical engineering with a concentration on renewable and power electric systems. In addition, he completed the sustainable engineering certificate program at Villanova University while completing the M.S. degree. His research is designing a controller for a hybrid electric energy system including solar photovoltaic panels, diesel generator and battery bank. Mahmoud and Diane Tamir designed, implemented and tested an electric load control system testing facility in Villanova University during the summer of 2010. Moreover, he went to the Philippines for 3 weeks during August 2010 to find manufacturers of electric load control systems. He also visited the Maggok micro-hydroelectric power plant site and did an assessment of the electric transmission and generation systems. Additional work experience include electrical engineering internships at TeleLiban (the official TV in Lebanon) and PAC (Power and Automation Company) as well as an electrical installation design engineer at ARCODE. Mahmoud also attended the NCIIA Advanced Invention to Venture (AI2V) five day workshop in Stanford University in February 2010.
Diane Tamir, Co-founder
Diane Tamir is a senior at Villanova University graduating in May 2011, in Mechanical Engineering, with a minor in Engineering Entrepreneurship. She has spent the past two summers in the Philippines studying the culture, identifying local problems for senior design projects, facilitating workshops for small business development, and building strong connections with in-country partner organizations. She has been involved with the micro-hydro project since the project was identified has studied the status of electrification specifically hydro-electrification in the Philippines. She also attended the NCIIA Advanced Invention to Venture (AI2V) five day workshop in Stanford University to develop the business model for hydro-electric systems in the Philippines. Diane’s senior design project was also based in the Philippines and focused on post harvest agricultural mechanization. Diane also spent the summer of 2011 at the International Development Design Summit in Kumasi, Ghana. There, she also worked on electricity generation in rural communities located hours away from the nearest electrified communities. On a team of international engineers, she designed, built, and tested a system that generated electricity through gasification of agricultural waste, specifically corn husk.
Board of Advisers
Pritpal Singh, Ph.D.
Dr. Singh is a professor and the Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department at Villanova University. He graduated from the University of Birmingham, England with a B.S in Physics in 1978. Dr. Singh continued his education and received a M.S in Applied Sciences/Energy Conversion and a Ph.D. in Applied Sciences/Electrical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 1981 and 1984 respectively. He joined ECE’s faculty as an assistant professor in 1985 and became an associate professor in 1992. He has taught courses in Solid State Device Physics, Optoelectronics, Solar Electric Engineering, Renewable Energy and Power Electronics at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Throughout his career, Dr. Singh was involved in multiple research areas including; Fuzzy Logic-based Battery State-of-Charge Determination, Thin Film Solar Cell Fabrication and Modeling, Electric Vehicle Modeling , Battery Monitoring and Management, Environmental Energy Harvesting and Hybrid Power Systems. He has multiple patents in his name and is widely published. In addition, he received numerous research grants from, but not limited to, the National Science Foundation, US Department of Defense, Office of Naval research and US army. Moreover, Dr. Singh’s valuable network with professional both in the industry and academia will prove essential for this startup company. Dr. Singh is currently involved in two National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators (NCIIA) Sustainable Vision Grants. One is in the Philippines involving Micro-Hydro energy production and the other is in Nicaragua where cell phone technology is being used to improve health in remote areas.
James W. Klingler, Ph.D.
Dr. Klingler is the Associate Director of the Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship (ICE) Center at Villanova and a member of the Management and Operations Department in the Villanova School of Business (VSB). A 1968 graduate of Bucknell University (Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, USA) in Economics, he served three years as an officer in the US Navy before enrolling at Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) to study Industrial Relations and Organizational Behavior, receiving his Ph.D. 1985. He joined VSB’s faculty “temporarily” in 1979 while working on his dissertation, and remains in that “temp” job to this date. He has taught courses in Management, Industrial Relations, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Strategy and Policy, Small Business, and Entrepreneurship at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Recently he has taught Leadership, Ethics and Catholic Social Thought in the Masters of Church Management program in the VSB.Dr. Klingler is currently involved in two National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators (NCIIA) Sustainable Vision Grants. One is in the Philippines involving Micro-Hydro energy production and the other is in Nicaragua where cell phone technology is being used to improve health in remote areas.
Jordan Ermilio, Professor, M.E.
Jordan Ermilio is the special projects coordinator and assistant professor at Villanova University. He teaches multiple courses in the engineering Service Learning Program aimed at international development projects. Jordan organizes and supervises annual immersion trips for students to assess and design various projects in the rural communities of Thailand, Philippines and Nicaragua. Jordan received a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1997 and a M.S in civil and environmental engineering (focus on water resources engineering) from Villanova University in 2005. He also has a Technology for Developing Countries diploma (focus infrastructure for low-income communities) from Loughborough University (Loughborough, England) in 2001. Jordan also works as engineering consultant for various water and renewable energy projects; his client list includes UHL, Baron, Rana and Associates, Inc., Worldwater and solar technologies. He joined the US Peace Corps as a water resource engineer and was stationed in the province of Ifugao, Philippines between 1999 and 2001. From 2001 to 2002, Jordan worked in East Timor as the manager of Oxfam International field office responsible for construction of water and sanitation facilities.
At this time, Jordan is involved in a National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators (NCIIA) Sustainable Vision Grant. The focus of the grant is developing a sustainable hydro energy production business in the Philippines.
Investors
