Technical and Business Advisory Board
The EcoThermics business and technical advisory board brings together a diverse group of seasoned and accomplished professionals.
Bill Berlinger, Strategic Licensing, Caterpillar Inc.
Dr. Aaron Buchko, Professor of Management in the Foster College of Business, Bradley University
Dr. Eckhard Groll, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
Seshadri Guha, CGN President and Chairman, Managing Partner
William D. Mayo, retired Vice President, North American Commercial Division, Caterpillar, Inc.
David Pflum, VP and GM, Valent LLC
Shad Sleeth, Executive Director of Bradley University’s Technology Commercialization Center
John Smythe, CEO, Industrial Carbonics
John R. Snyder, Ph.D., Director
Tom Weed, CEO, ENTEC Services, Inc.
Bill Berlinger, Strategic Licensing, Caterpillar Inc.
Having studied in Austria and the United States, Mr. Bill Berlinger holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Physics and an MBA from Bradley University. In 1985 Bill joined Sundstrand Aviation in Rockford, Illinois as an aerospace fluid systems engineer responsible for pumping systems on the Space Shuttle, Tomahawk Missile and F-18 fighter. In 1988 Bill joined Caterpillar Inc. holding various engineering and management roles in Caterpillar's engine
business. In 2000 Bill founded Caterpillar's Corporate Technology Licensing Business, responsible for global technology based transactions. In 2008 Bill accepted his current position as Technical Manager in Caterpillar's Large Power Systems Division. Bill's team, located in the United States and Germany have design responsibility and lead the business teams for engine mechanical components for a broad line of Caterpillar engine platforms ranging from the C7 to M43. Through Peoria NEXT, Bill advises start-up companies, including EcoThermics, on intellectual asset protection and licensing strategies.
Dr. Aaron Buchko, Professor of Management in the Foster College of Business, Bradley University
Dr. Aaron Buchko is Professor of Management in the Foster College of Business, Bradley University, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in Planning and Strategy and graduate courses in Executive Development and Business Ethics. He earned his Ph.D. in management from Michigan State University. Prior to entering the academic field, Dr. Buchko had a successful career for several years in production, sales, and marketing, and was the chief marketing officer for a publishing company. His research and writing focuses on the roles and activities of senior managers, the practice of general management, and the process of executive development. He has published a textbook, research monograph, and over twenty articles in various academic journals and professional publications, including the Academy of Management Journal, Advances in Strategic Management, The Journal of Business Research, and The Journal of Management Studies.
Dr. Buchko is a Past President of the Midwest Academy of Management, and has received Bradley University's New Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence and Mergen Award for Public Service. He is a confidential advisor and consultant to executives in many organizations, conducts numerous professional seminars, and is a frequent speaker to corporate, trade, and civic associations. Dr. Buchko serves on the Boards of several community and for-profit organizations.
Dr. Eckhard Groll, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University
Dr. Groll is one of the leading US academic researchers on use of transcritical CO2 for heating and cooling systems. As global leader in HVACR thermal sciences research, and in particular carbon dioxide based systems, his research interests include alternative refrigeration technologies, such as transcritical CO2-cycle for automotive air conditioning, transport refrigeration, and heat pumping applications, vapor compression systems and cycle components. His work includes design, modeling, analysis, and testing of components and systems, often in collaboration with various industrial partners. Additionally, Dr. Groll has been involved with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army in prior CO2 research on using expansion devices for performance enhancement. As a WhiteMoss SBIR partner, Dr. Groll provided ECU system design and component testing, including optimization via computer modeling and simulation and testing of the RWH compressor.
Future work with EcoThermics is expected to continue this collaboration with advanced testing of the prototypes and verification/modification of the Purdue computer simulation modeling software.
Seshadri Guha, CGN President and Chairman, Managing Partner
Mr. Guha is a founding partner and serves as President and Chairman of CGN. His responsibilities include setting corporate strategy and organizational development within CGN. Guha also works with clients and business leaders to identify trends and potential solution scenarios for industry issues. His areas of interest include competitive strategy, business processes and organizational alignment, technology architecture strategy, and business modeling for strategies and solutions. For the last 15 years, he has worked with several Fortune 50 companies in the automotive and heavy manufacturing sector.
Before founding CGN, Guha was Director of the Advanced Computing Technologies Group at Automated Analysis Corporation (AAC), an engineering consulting organization. He was responsible for the development and implementation of group strategy; and his contributions allowed it to become one of the most successful software organizations in the engineering domain.
Guha is an alumnus of the Kellogg Management Institute Program at Northwestern University and the Executive Program on Engineering Management from the Krannert School of Business at Purdue University. Prior, he received an MS in Engineering from Iowa State University and his BE in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
William D. Mayo, retired Vice President, North American Commercial Division, Caterpillar, Inc.
Mr. Mayo retired from Caterpillar in February 2008. He had responsibility for the North American Commercial Division (NACD) since 2006. Bill joined Caterpillar in 1979 as a service trainee, and worked in the service and product support areas for much of his career. He was named fleet marketing manager for truck engines in 1991, later serving as a regional manager for commercial engine sales and service. He became general manager of the truck engine division in 1998, and was named product manager for large track-type tractors in 2001. In 2003 he became a regional manager for Europe-Africa-Middle East (EAME), based in Geneva, Switzerland.
David Pflum, VP and GM, Valent LLC
Mr. David Pflum is Vice President and General Manager of Valent LLC, a division of Greenheck Fan Corporation. Valent was formed in 2007 to design, market and manufacture innovative packaged rooftop air handling equipment.
Previously, Mr. Pflum was Vice President and co-owner of Innovent Air Handling Systems, formerly known as Heatex Inc. from 1994 until the company was purchased by Greenheck Fan Corporation in 2003. David still advises on engineering and manufacturing matters at Innovent which engineers, manufactures and sells highly customized air handling equipment, specializing in air-to-air energy recovery equipment, air-cooled and water-cooled DX systems and large water source heat pump systems.
David received his Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University with emphasis on heat transfer and thermodynamics and is named in three patents related to heat transfer and HVAC air handler construction.
Shad Sleeth, Executive Director of Bradley University’s Technology Commercialization Center
Shad Sleeth serves as the Executive Director of Bradley University’s Technology Commercialization Center and the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center. In this role, Mr. Sleeth assists researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs and early stage companies like EcoThermics with the development and growth of their business. In his most recent role, Mr. Sleeth was a Western Regional Vice President for Cendant (Realogy) the world’s largest franchisor of real estate. While at Cendant (Realogy) Mr. Sleeth was responsible for franchise sales and franchisee growth through mergers and acquisitions, improvement of operating systems, sales and marketing strategies, branding, and cost savings strategies. His experience negotiating numerous mergers and acquisitions assists entrepreneurs with the development and implementation of exit strategies and raising capital. He holds a Bachelors of Science and a Masters of Science in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication from Illinois State University.
John Smythe, CEO, Industrial Carbonics
Mr. Smythe is CEO of Industrial Carbonics, Danville, Illinois. Industrial Carbonics provides high pressure liquid pumping systems and delivery equipment for the food and beverage and manufacturing industries nationwide. They custom design and develop pumping systems for a wide variety of companies including Pepsi, Coke, Clean Energy Systems and General Electric, for applications including cylinder filling, pumping CO2 in a manufacturing atmosphere and DOT certified delivery. John has worked with customer engineers and designers to solve their CO2 delivery problems both in the USA and around the world.
Industrial Carbonics is a strategic partner with an equity interest in WhiteMoss and specific interests in the development and distribution of new products for product line expansion to meet the needs of the CO2 pump industry.
They will provide (i) engineering personnel knowledgeable and experienced in CO2 operations, (ii) technical assistance with prototype assemblies, field operations and systems evaluations, (iii) materials and parts procurement (iv) specialized equipment, staff, and facilities for the assembly of prototypes, product development and testing.
John R. Snyder, Ph.D., Director
Dr. Snyder is the Chairman and CEO of WhiteMoss, and will serve as the WhiteMoss representative on the EcoThermics Board of Directors. Dr. Snyder has over 20 years experience commercializing new technologies, including intellectual property management experience, since receiving his Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Minnesota.
Pursuant to the terms of the exclusive license agreement, John will serve as an uncompensated intellectual property advisor to EcoThermics.
Tom Weed, CEO, ENTEC Services, Inc.
Mr. Weed founded ENTEC Services in 1981 to provide the best mechanical HVAC services possible, based on a philosophy of “fixing it right the first time.” Over the course of the past twenty-seven years, ENTEC’s team has grown to meet the needs of their clients and their organizations. ENTEC’s forty dedicated professionals deliver services ranging from technical support hotlines to mobile service and on-site facility maintenance.