Team & Board of Directors
MRECo Team
Mr. John R Miller, Project Manager – Mr. Miller has over 35 years of project management experience in several different industries and is a serial entrepreneur. He holds a BS in engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an MS in engineering from the University of Washington and an MBA from Worcester Polytechnic institute. He has worked for 20 years in ocean renewable energy, founding the UMASS Marine Renewable energy center and the Marine renewable energy collaborative, In. (MRECo) and directing multiple ocean demonstrations. He managed three startups and founded and managed a business incubator for UMASS Dartmouth. He developed and taught an entrepreneurship course for UMass and has acted as a startup business plan reviewer for ARPA-E, MIT, Brown, Northeastern, and UMass. He has been an advisor for startup business incubators at UMass campuses in Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell and for the city of New Bedford.
Mr. Stephen Barrett, Permitting Director – Mr. Barret is the leading ocean renewable energy permitting specialist in New England having permitted projects for tidal and wave energy, desalination, undersea cables and shoreline protection projects over the past 20 years. He holds a BA from Union College and an MA from the University of Virginia. He managed the licensing of the BTTS by the Federal energy regulatory commission (FERC) and has coordinated permitting through the department of energy (DOE), the US Army Corp of engineers (USACE) the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS), and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), as well as the state and local regulators.
Mr. Alan Gillis, Safety Manager – Mr. Gillis has 40 years’ experience in engineering of power systems and holds a number of coast guard Marine Engineering licenses. He holds a BS from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and a MS from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has worked in government positions overseeing power plants and renewable energy sites, for the Naval Underwater System Center in propulsion design, as a designer and consultant in renewable energy systems, and as a professor of marine engineering. He is also a flag state nautical Maritime Inspector.
Mr. Christopher Van Beeck, Test Site Manager – Mr. Van Beeck is a ship captain and Marine researcher. He has a BS from University of Maine Orono in Marine Science. He has been an independent contract survey scientist for the national marine fisheries in Woods Hole and others. He has Coast Guard certified merchant mariner captain credentials and has worked as a recovery boat captain.
Mr. Aidan Baharath, NREL Lead – Experienced data acquisition systems development, and fluid dynamics. He holds a BscH from Acadia University and a PD from the University of Tasmania. He had managed projects and development interfaces for a wide array of sensors. He has a deep understanding of applicable software programs: Python/Matlab, C++, LabVies, etc.
Mr. James Case, Case Oceans System Lead – Mr. Case has more than 30 years of experience in marine telecommunications systems and implementation for government and private industry applications. He holds a BS in Ocean Engineering from Florida institute of Technology. Mr. Case successfully designed and deployed telecommunications and Broadband data systems in marine environments.
Dr. Pingguo He, UMass Dartmouth Lead – Dr. He has extensive work in fish behavior and monitoring systems. He holds a BS from Zhejiang Ocean University, China and a PhD from University of Aberdeen, UK. Dr. He has worked for 35 years studying fish behavior.
Dr. Christopher Rillahan, UMass Dartmouth Lead – Dr. Rillihan has 25 years of experience in studies of fish behavior and monitoring instrumentation. He holds BS and MS degrees from University of New Hampshire, and a PhD from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Rillahan has broad experience in fish monitoring technologies and data analysis.
Dr. Krish Sharman, UMass Amherst Project Lead – Dr. Sharman is the Endowed Chair in Renewable Energy and a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and has 30 years of experience in research in ocean studies. He holds a BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology, a ME from Memorial University, and two MS’s and a PhD from the University of Michigan. He has numerous awards for teaching and research and sits on the IEC technical committee for wave and tidal energy.
Mr. Douglas Slocum, Kelson Marine Lead – Mr. Slocum has 15 years of experience in marine engineering and naval architecture. He holds a BS from Webb Institute of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Mr. Slocum has designed systems for vessels and both TEC and WEC systems and is familiar with designs with advanced composites.
MRECo Board
Ms. Megan Amsler, Executive Director – Ms. Amsler has been the Executive Director of Self-Reliance since 2001. She has been involved in the clean energy industry since 1996. Megan enjoys working to advance the adoption of renewable energy technologies in New England. Much of her time is focused on helping people navigate energy-related issues in order to make informed decisions and take positive action. She has spent much time developing workforce training in solar and wind energy. She serves a diverse constituency seeking in-depth, objective information on complex energy issues-from energy policy to choosing an appropriate energy technology.
Megan is chair of the Falmouth Energy Committee. She is on the Executive Committee of the Housing Assistance Corporation and the Marine Renewable Energy Collaborative of New England.
A mom of two kids, Megan is a third generation farmer who raises vegetables, poultry, pork and American Quarter Horses.
Mr. Harlan M. Doliner, Esq, Director – Mr. Doliner is an attorney and legal expert in national and internation maritime and environmental law. Mr. Doliner holds a BS and a MA from Johns Hopkins and a JD from Boston College. He has 45+ years of experience in environmental and maritime law, is an adjunct professor, and a District Captain in the US Coast Guard.
Dr. Reza Hashemi, Director – Dr. Hashemi is a Professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering and the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. School of Ocean Sciences. He holds a BS and MS from Shiraz University, and PhDs from Shiraz University and Bangor University. His research focuses on multiscale processes, including ocean hydrodynamics and fluid-structure interactions, with applications to offshore structures and renewable energy. Dr. Hashemi also directs the Wave-Current Interaction Lab, where wave, current, and structure interactions can be studied using a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) system and other advanced sensors. He has led or co-led several research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security (FEMA), Department of Housing and Urban Development, NOAA, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Dr. Raymond W. Schmitt, Director – Dr. Schmitt is an Emeritus Research Scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Co-Founder of both Neal Brown Ocean Sensors, Inc. and Salient Predictions, Inc. He holds a B.S. degree in Physics from Carnegie-Mellon University and a Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. He is a leading expert on double-diffusive convection, ocean turbulence, the global water cycle and the role of the oceans in climate. He has over 40 years of experience in oceanographic theory, observations and instrument development at WHOI, with over 100 refereed publications and over 13,000 citations. He has two patents. He has served on several National Academies of Science panels including the Ocean Studies Board, the America’s Climate Choices Panel, the Committee for Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy Technology Assessment and the Sustaining Ocean Observations Workshop Committee. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and was a J.S Guggenheim Fellow in 1997-1998. He serves on the boards of non-profits concerned with ocean solutions to climate change and marine energy
Dr. Malcolm L. Spaulding, Director – Malcolm L. Spaulding is a professor emeritus, Ocean Engineering, University of Rhode Island, a Google Scholar, an entrepreneur and an internationally recognized expert in marine environmental monitoring. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, University of Rhode Island, an MS in Mechanical Engineering, MIT, and a PhD, University of Rhode Island. He served for 40 years on the faculty and over a decade as department chair, before retiring in 2011. He founded Applied Science Associates Inc. in 1979 and served various leadership and technical roles through 2014. Dr. Spaulding specializes in numerical modeling of nearshore and coastal processes of estuarine, coastal, and continental shelf regions to include hydrodynamics, waves, sediment transport, oil and chemical spill transport and fate. He served as senior advisor to the Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) which led to the first offshore wind farm in RI coastal waters. Dr. Spaulding served on the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Marine Board and as liaison to the Ocean Studies Board from 1996 to 2001. He has been a member of numerous NRC committees and technical panels over the past two decades. He recently led the formation of the Center of Excellence in Undersea Technology (COEUT) and currently serves as its director.
Mr. Bill Staby, Director – Mr. Staby is a leader in the development of international standards for ocean energy, a serial entrepreneur, and the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Resolute Marine Energy, an advanced wave technology company. Mr. Staby holds a BS from the City University of New York, an MBA from New York University, and post graduate studies/certificates in management and sustainability from MIT, Northwestern, Lund University in Sweden and HEC in France. Bill followed a successful 17-year financial management career, with several startups, one of which ended in an equity event. The fourth startup was wave energy company that he managed for 20 years. During his involvement with ocean energy, he became involved in international standards, leading the US delegation to IEC for ocean energy and heading several committees.
Mr. Mark Whalen, Energy Systems Engineering Department Chair, Massachusetts Maritime Academy – Mr. Walen is currently focused on training and mentoring the next generation of engineers at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, leveraging his working experience to evolve more relevant college-level instructional methods so students develop the appropriate skills to be more job-ready at graduation.
During his working career as an engineer and technology manager at Lockheed Martin, Mr. Walen was grateful to be able to work with teams of talented engineers to develop, manufacture and test oceanographic equipment that provides scientists with valuable global climate data. He also proudly worked alongside US Navy technologists to develop, manufacture and test advanced underwater vehicles and other critical defense products to support and assure our national security goals.
Mr. Walen continues to provide technical and leadership consulting services to innovative organizations, particularly those involved in developing sustainable ocean resource utilization and offshore renewable energy generation.
