Board of Advisors |
Frank Cloutier: Patenting and business strategies
Dr. Majid Bahrahmi P.Eng. : Thermal Engineering
Dr. Bahrami established a new research program, a research team, and state-of-the-art testing facility, named ‘Multiscale Thermofluidic Laboratory for Sustainable Energy’ (MTLSER), at SFU. He established several successful research collaborations with industrial and academic partners both at national and international levels. Dr. Bahrami has numerous publications in refereed journals and conferences. His current research interests include: modeling and characterization of transport phenomena in micro/nano-structured materials and porous media; heat transfer in microchannels and microfluidics; hybrid and electric vehicles; conversion and storage of sustainable energy; contact mechanics and thermal interfaces; and microelectronics cooling. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering (CSME).
Dr. John Salmon P.Eng.: Power Electronics
Guy Mannino: Business Development
Mark Isaak - MBA - Business and technology
M Mark’s next project was an Atmospheric Diving Suit called the HardSuit. This was a metal suit that allowed diving to great depths with the diver remaining at atmospheric pressure in order to preclude such diseases as the “bends” and high pressure nervous syndrome. Mark developed the electrical/electronic and propulsive aspects of the design. The project most notable to the public from this time was a Remotely Operated Vehicle that dove on the RMS Titanic and was featured in the movie of the same name. Upon a business change at HardSuits Inc., Mark joined a company called BMD Enterprises that, as well as a subsea component, had a unit that was developing battery powered electric automobiles. Mark worked on advanced concepts for electric automobiles during this time. His work resulted in the granting of two patents for applications of fuel cells. When the viability of lead acid battery powered electric automobiles were determined to have a problematic path to commercialization, Mark returned to the subsea arena with the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a joint project of the National Geographic Society and the National Oceanics and Atmospheric Administration in the US. Mark then worked with a startup company, Gatekeeper Systems, as Chief Technology Officer developing school bus video surveillance systems. As well as dealing in their own version of standard VHS tape technology, he led the development of a range of Linux based digital video recorders. A version is used in the US Air Force Spectre Gun Ships. After a business change at Gatekeeper Systems, Mark has been working as an independent consultant. He continues to work on the system that allows fully quadriplegic sailors to control a sailboat. Mark holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University.
Dr. William Dunford - P.Eng : Power electronics, drives and motors
Academic work experience includes appointments as a lecturer at the University of Toronto and in the Energy Systems Group at Imperial College, where he also participated in a European Union sponsored car project. He is now an Associate Professor and member of the Senate at the University of British Columbia. In addition to involvement with both Electrical Engineering and Integrated Engineering he is academic adviser to the UBC Solar Car team. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. Dr. Dunford's website
Jack Gerken: Media and Marketing Jack Gerken, president of Brighton Public Relations, has over 25 years of experience in marketing communications within the automotive and aftermarket industries. His responsibilities have included developing strategies, plans and promotional opportunities targeted at his client’s key audiences, as well as executing media relations campaigns in North America and Europe. His prestigious clients have included Brembo Brakes, Exxon Motorsports, Garrett Turbochargers, Lamborghini, March Alfa Romeo, Pirelli Tires, Saleen Performance, Southern California Chevrolet Dealers, Tire Rack, Tokico Shocks and Volkswagen, among others. Prior to founding Brighton Public Relations in 1991, Jack served as Senior Vice President and Director of Public Relations of Cochrane Chase, Livingston & Co. for seven years.
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Frank began his career with Hewlett-Packard Company, where he served for 32 years. He is credited with launching and building several landmark businesses for HP, including inkjet printers, notebook computers, and handheld computers. In 2005 he retired from HP as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for HP's Printing and Imaging Group to start up Cloutier Consulting - a firm specializing in new business creation, strategy and development. With numerous patents in the computer and computer peripheral field to his credit, Frank has been recognized with a number of industry awards, including the National Science and Technology Medal from the nation of Singapore and the Contributor of the Year Award from the American Society of Materials. 
Dr. Bahrami received a Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, in 2004. From 1995 to 2000, he practiced in heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration industry as a Thermal Engineer and Consultant. From 2004 to 2006, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow and an Instructor with the Microelectronics Heat Transfer Laboratory, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where he made major contributions in the field of heat transfer, microfluidics, contact mechanics, and microelectronics cooling. In 2006, Dr. Bahrami joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, as an Assistant Professor. Since 2008, with starting the newly established Mechatronics System Engineering program, he joined Simon Fraser University (SFU), BC, where he is a faculty member at the School of Engineering Science.
Dr. Salmon is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering dept. at the University of Alberta. He received his doctorate at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine UK in 1987. Dr. Salmon has a wide range of expertise for developing novel power electronics and inductor designs for industrial drive systems; electric vehicles; high speed machine drives; and utility power electronics. He has maintained a long-term research program with industrial collaborations since the mid 90s on the technology of interfacing industrial drive systems with the utility 3-phase ac supply and has published many IEEE journal papers and conference papers. In 1999 Dr. Salmon obtained a US patent on the use of thyristors and resonant network topologies for improving the performance of 3-phase rectifiers with low electrical stresses.
After 27 year in the international corporate world, in 2008 Guy Mannino founded VERDEK, a company focused on “sustainable transportation”. VERDEK promotes electric vehicles and charging infrastructure to facilitate the growth of the electric vehicle market. Prior to founding VERDEK, Mannino spent 27 years in the corporate world. He worked first at Audi AG and subsequently at Pirelli where he rose to President & CEO of Pirelli North America. He has managed projects and contracts with all major car companies including Ford, GM, BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, Fiat, Porsche, VW, and Jaguar. He also extensively worked in the development of sales through the major tire distributors in the US, Europe and South America. He has lived and worked in Europe, South America, and North America, and traveled and conducted business throughout Asia. Mannino holds a Masters in e-Business from the University of Phoenix, AZ and a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rome, Italy. He has been a member of the board of several manufacturers’ associations and a Trustee of the Board of Shorter College in Rome, GA. He currently serves on the board of Italy Atlanta Foundation, a non-profit organization and is a member of the Executive Advisory Council of Campbell School of Management at Berry College in Rome, GA. He has been a Distinguished Guest Lecturer at Emory University's Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, GA and a keynote speaker at several business events in the US, Europe and South America. He is the president of the Italy Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. 
ark attended Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, studying Physics. Near the end of his studies, he was offered a position as a crew member on the world’s only commercial submarine at the time, the Auguste Piccard. It was during this time that he was introduced to fuel cells as a method of air independent propulsion for the submarine.
Bill Dunford obtained a BSc(Eng) degree and MSc in Electrical Machines and Power Systems from Imperial College, London. He also has a PhD in Power Electronics from the University of Toronto. His industrial experience includes periods at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (now Qinetiq), Alcatel Espace and the Westinghouse Large Rotating Apparatus division. He was also a Field Engineer for Schlumberger at various locations in the Middle East. He has more recently been a consultant and been academically involved with several industrial projects. These include the design of drives for a mining locomotive and an invalid vehicle and photovoltaic power interfaces for various applications. Most recently he has been involved in “smart grid” applications, designing a commercial load control system.
