Team Background
Our team is made up of renewable-energy experts who care deeply about changing our world in some very fundamental ways, such as:
- reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil and gas imports
- providing our society with a wide variety of alternative energy choices
- doing all this without adversely affecting our environment or further contributing
to global warming
In following our dreams down this path, we have established ourselves as forward-thinking entrepreneurs who, for the past two decades, have been passionately involved in manufacturing, designing, installing, and deploying various renewable energy technologies.
Joseph Burdick
Currently president, principal technical and marketing director, and business manager of three LLCs (limited-liability companies) whose mission is to provide technical solutions to energy and environmental problems, Joe has been involved in the renewable-energy industry for over 25 years. He designs and installs photovoltaic and wind systems for residential, commercial, government, and educational applications. Joe is a scientist who formerly worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He has authored or co-authored approximately twenty technical papers and publications in journals, books, and conference proceedings; and has edited and reviewed newspaper and magazine technical articles.
• Joe has developed several pioneering photovoltaic measurement and characterization techniques.
• He has worked on standards committees to develop, advise, and author a wide variety of national
and international standards for measurement and testing of photovoltaic devices, modules and systems.
• Joe is a long-standing member of the Colorado Renewable Enery Society (CRES) as well as the
Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (CoSEIA)
Education:
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY, Pullman, Washington, M.S., Materials Science and Engineering
PURDUE UNIVERSITY, West Lafayette, Indiana, M.S., Physics
HOBART & WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES, Geneva, New York, B.S., Physics and General Science
But don’t let all of Joe’s degrees fool you. He likes to say that “he used to be a scientist, and now he’s a roofer." This attitude has often led him into the field, carrying PV modules at a job site, or making sandwiches for his crew.
Tim Olsen
Tim is an energy consultant who designs and manages renewable energy projects worldwide.
He is well known for his diverse experience in:
o Windfarm project planning and management
o Optimizing rotor-blade aerodynamics and surface layout plans, as well as testing for wind turbines
o Certifying wind turbine structures and mechanical components
o Modeling static and dynamic loads and predicting wind turbine fatigue life
o Designing hybrid systems, aerobic digesters and bio-diesel processors
• Tim has been a research engineer for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and a
systems engineer for Martin Marietta Aerospace.
• Tim served as president of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Renewable Energy Society
and also served as a technical consultant to Engineers Without Borders.
Education:
o MS, Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg VA
o BS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder CO
o BA, Music Performance, classical guitar, Metro State College of Denver, CO
Tim is as comfortable digging trenches and pulling cable or pouring concrete for a wind-turbine foundation, as he is traveling overseas to third-world countries for his other passion, Engineers Without Borders, where he helps disadvantaged people overcome technical problems to become more productive societies.
John Hall
• John has long been involved in management and supervision of construction projects, including
safety training. As such, he is an authorized trainer of OSHA safety practices for construction
projects; he is also a certified trainer for CPR / First Aid / Blood Borne Pathogen / and
Respiratory Fitness programs.
• He has designed, constructed, maintained, and operated deposition equipment for research and
development as well as pilot plant facilities. This includes many years as a photovoltaic
deposition and fabrication technician and supervisor in state-of the-art PV manufacturing
facilities.
• John has worked with various construction companies, research facilities, and energy-
solutions companies. He supervises subcontractors, performs on-site construction supervision,
as well as OSHA safety training.
His professional education continues, but includes:
o American Pathways University Associates of Arts Degree, Denver, Colorado
o Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Management, Denver, Colorado
o Machinist Training Institute, Detroit, Michigan
John is Chairman of the Safety Committee for the Association of Builders and Contractors of America and, as such, is very concerned about your health, safety, and happiness on the job site. He will equally entertain you, teach you, and be a responsible supervisor of employees. He has actively pursued getting all members of society, whatever their background, culture, or status, involved in good employment opportunities.
Richard Garb
• Richard is a senior entrepreneurial executive with more than 15 years of progressive, responsible
positions within a variety of governmental and private industry settings.
• He analyzes and evaluates information leading to new technologies and new uses for old
technologies.
• Through his in-depth understanding of material composition, he developed a new abrasive
cleaning product from a waste stream that previously had a limited application, resulting in a new
patent in 2002.
• He also established a new application for an optical device; further, he developed a new use for
several hundreds of tons of “green waste” material which resulted in the transfer of this material
for mine tailings reclamation for Magma Copper Mines.
Education:
o MBA, Services Marketing, University of Denver, Denver, CO
o BS, Natural Science and Psychology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado
Richard has the ability to interact with a wide variety of people, and to turn their diverse ideas into reality. In this way, he is a valuable member of our team, helping us develop our various innovative ideas through processes such as commercialization, implementation, and deployment.
Judy Fosdick
Judy is President of Solarway in Fowler, CO, is our Energy Efficiency Program Manager, and has been a licensed building contractor in Pueblo, Colorado for twelve years as president of Tierra Concrete Homes. She is an active voice for renewable energy and sustainable building practices and has started
Solarway, LLC for solar installations. She is an active participant in many renewable energy organizations. She currently does private consulting on designing high performance buildings,
energy savings analysis, and active solar systems.
