From 2008 to 2009, Doug served as a General Manager in Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, based in Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Doug’s focus in that role was initially on determining a pathway to aggressively expand Microsoft’s Zune business unit. When Microsoft decided not to pursue such expansion, Doug served as a General Manager of Alchemie Ventures, an incubator within the Entertainment and Devices division that aims to bring innovative hardware and software products forward, focused on the consumer marketplace. In that position, he developed the business case for a new direction for Zune hardware and negotiated with third parties regarding joint ventures designed to integrate product offerings, expand revenue and reduce costs. With Alchemie Ventures, Doug was responsible for ‘blue ocean’ analyses for new product offerings in the consumer media space, and prepared business cases for two product offerings, including go-to-market strategies, competitive analyses and financial projections.
Together with Bruce Anderson, the Company’s Chairman and President, Doug co-founded Ignite Technology Ventures in 2000. Ignite evaluates technologies and markets for innovative products, obtains financing and implements partnerships with large companies to facilitate product development and launches. Ignite has launched four companies (including Wilson Solarpower), each of which capitalize on MIT or other technological innovations in product areas including solar efficiency and other solar-related technology; electron beam technology; and materials science applications for batteries.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Doug was a senior partner in the Boston offices of two nationally prominent law firms, including Mintz Levin (1981-2002) and Greenberg Traurig (2002-2007). At Mintz Levin, Doug was Co-Chairman of the National Business Group, and at Greenberg Traurig, he was Chairman of the Boston Business Group. In his legal career, Doug served as a long-term business advisor and deal manager for the leadership of clients such as Thermo Electron and Ogden Martin in the waste-to-energy industry and established a reputation as a leading advisor to large companies such as AOL and Biogen, many leading venture capital firms and technology underwriters, as well as a broad range of technology start-ups. Prior to his legal career, Doug was an analyst at Bain Consulting, working on consumer products and markets.
Doug is a graduate of University of Michigan Law School (J.D. cum laude, 1978) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School (Bachelor of Science). He has served as a member of the Executive Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum; a member of the Board of Overseers of the Museum of Science (Boston); and a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Bio Education Foundation.
The Company’s Co-Founder, Chairman and President is Bruce Anderson.Bruce began his solar career when he completed his Masters thesis at MIT in 1973 on the subject, 9 months before the first “oil embargo”. A little more than 10 years later he was awarded the American Solar Energy Society’s first “Outstanding Solar Contribution” award and had testified twice to Congress on energy matters.
Bruce served as the Company’s start-up CEO in 2001 and then again from 2005 until June 2010. During that time, Bruce was responsible for raising approximately $10 million in equity capital and securing almost $5.5 million in federal and state grants to support the development of the Company’s technology. He was also responsible for initiating and managing co-development agreements with industrial partners including Wartsila, Alcoa, Praxair, French Petroleum Institute, Saint-Gobain, Corning and Oak Ridge National Labs. In 2008, he initiated and led the Company’s strategic reorientation around CSP related applications for its technology.
Following graduation from MIT, Bruce started the first of his four clean energy companies: TEA, Inc, became the largest designer of energy efficient/solar buildings, projects and products, worldwide. Next was Brick House Publishing Company to self-publish his first of seven books, The Solar Home Book, which became a New York Times bestseller. His third company in the field, SolarVision, published the clean energy industry’s mostly widely read periodicals and business news.Bruce then started TEA Foundation to provide weatherization services to New Hampshire’s rural poor.All operated simultaneously.
Together with Sen. Gaylord Nelson, Bruce co-founded Earth Day USA in 1990 to convert to an annual day the once-per-decade event founded by Nelson in 1970. Later in the 1990s, Bruce worked at MIT’s Industrial Liaison Program (“ILP”), serving as its Director from 1996 to 2000. MIT’s ILP is the world’s oldest and largest university-industry program, with (during Bruce’s tenure) 220 participating Fortune 2000 companies in 22 countries, resulting in $100 million/year in contract research.
In 2000, CEO Doug Zingale and Bruce co-founded Ignite Technology Ventures, an incubator to commercialize MIT technologies by launching start-up companies, one of which is Wilson Solarpower.
He received a both a Masters and a Bachelor of Architecture degree and a Bachelor of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, all from MIT.Bruce is a former Advisory Board member of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and a recent Founding Co-Chair of the New England Clean Energy Council.He is a past Director of the Global Board of Directors of the MIT Enterprise Forum and, also, of MIT’s Alumni Association.
Bill Treece is a 40-year veteran of microturbine and related technology development and project management. Between 2003 and 2009, Bill was Senior Vice President/Strategic Technology at Capstone Turbine and from 2000 to 2003, he was Senior Vice President/Engineering at Capstone. Between 1980 and 1997, Bill held a variety of Director-level positions with Sundstrand Turbomach’s APU Division. Bill served as Gas Turbine Product Engineering Manager at Solar Turbines between 1973 and 1980. Earlier in his career, Bill was a Manager of jet fighter turbine design and development at GE’s Aircraft Engine Division; a supervisor of turbine design at the Allison Division of GM; a stress, dynamics and materials engineer at Aerojet General; and a design engineer at International Harvester’s Truck Division.
Bill holds seven U.S. patents arising from his work at Sundstrand and four U.S. patents arising from his work at GE, all of which pertain to Gas Turbine Technology.
David Wilson has contributed his practical expertise to advance technologies and businesses throughout the world, and he developed the company’s key technologies for dramatically improving heat transfer and microturbine efficiencies. As MIT professor emeritus and a world-renown authority on gas-turbine design and regenerator technology, Wilson now serves as Chief Scientific Advisor for Wilson Solarpower. He has authored and coauthored several texts and has served on various national committees and commissions.
Bruce Enders is a seasoned senior marketing professional with experience in Product Strategy, Distribution Strategy and Brand Strategy. In an operating role, Bruce has most recently served as Senior Industrial Advisor for Turn-Around Management for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Prior to this role, he was Managing Director for General Domestic Appliances, and served for ten years as Vice President of Worldwide Marketing & Product Management for the General Electric Major Appliance Business, with an annual turnover of $6 billion.
Bruce’s broad experience also includes his role as Non-Executive Director of both public and private companies with annual turnovers of up to $3 billion such as The Telegram Teddy Co., S.C. Nord, Claremont Garments and Koc Holdings, and as Non-Executive Director of public companies with annual turnovers of up to $400 million. Bruce is experienced with the practical implementation of sound principals of Corporate Governance and is familiar with the application of sound financial controls from a senior management perspective.
David Wilson has contributed his practical expertise to advance technologies and businesses throughout the world, and he developed the company’s key technologies for dramatically improving heat transfer and microturbine efficiencies. As MIT professor emeritus and a world-renown authority on gas-turbine design and regenerator technology, Wilson now serves as Chief Scientific Advisor for Wilson Solarpower. He has authored and coauthored several texts and has served on various national committees and commissions.