Home

Presenting Companies

Attendees

BCVD Committee

Investor Advisory Board

Keynote Speakers

News

Contact

Howard Berke, Executive Chairman, Co-founder, Konarka Technologies
Howard Berke is currently executive chairman and co-founder of Konarka Technologies, an innovator in development and commercialization of Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy. As well, Mr. Berke is a Senior Advisor to Good Energies, a global leading private investment firm in solar photovoltaic companies and wind developers. Good Energies contributes as a strategic investor to the ongoing energy transition process through its long-term investments and its support of development initiatives in the field of clean energy technologies. Good Energies is a member of COFRA Holding AG, Zug/Switzerland and is represented through offices in London, New York, Toronto, Washington DC and Zug (WWW.GOODENERGIES.COM) Mr. Berke has nearly 30 years of hands-on management experience launching, building and leading both public and private technology companies. This includes over 20 years of general management with full P&L responsibility for eight start-up companies and ten years of business development and marketing focusing on emerging technologies. He has founded or co-founded 13 start-up companies and has initiated and completed numerous corporate acquisitions, mergers and R&D joint ventures in the U.S., Europe and Asia. He advises start-up companies and entrepreneurs in a wide range of fields including medical devices, biotech informatics, software, networking, telecom and energy technology. In addition to serving as delegate to the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneers, he is a Director of SEIA, formerly was a Board Director for ACORE, has helped to found and organize the New England Clean Energy Council and has guest lectured on entrepreneurship at Yale, Harvard, MIT and elsewhere throughout the world. Berke received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Yale University. His academic training includes finance, accounting, operations research, corporate law, architecture and physics.

Alexander (Hap) Ellis III , General Partner, RockPort Capital Partners
Hap is a General Partner of RockPort Capital Partners. Hap joined RockPort Partners, a merchant bank specializing in the energy and environmental projects in 1998, and helped form the RockPort Capital in 2001. He has extensive operating experience in electric power and renewable energy. Prior to joining RockPort, he was a partner in several electric power development companies, including Casco Bay Energy Company, LLC, which developed, built and operated (by Duke Energy) a 520 MW gas-fired electric generating station, and Acadia Bay Energy Company, LLC, which developed a 638 MW gas-fired electric generating station. Before that Hap was at Kenetech Corporation from 1991-1995, where he was responsible for expanding the portfolio of wind generation opportunities and introducing wind into utility systems across the country. In addition to Powerspan, Hap serves on the Boards of Directors of Catalytic Solutions, Inc; Southwest Windpower, ISE Corp., PPT Research, Deerpath Energy, Eka Systems, Second Rotation and Northern Power Systems. In addition he represented RockPort on the board of Comverge Inc. (NASDAQ:COMV). He is a member of the Finance and Administration Committee of the Massachusetts Audubon Society as well as a Council member. Hap received a BA from Colorado College and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

John T. Preston, Managing Partner, C Change Investments
John T. Preston is managing partner of C Change Investments and a Senior Lecturer at MIT Mr. Preston's primary expertise is in energy, environment, technology, and entrepreneurship. Before starting CET, Mr. Preston was the Director of Technology Development (and Licensing) at MIT, where he was responsible for the commercialization of intellectual property developed at MIT. In that capacity, he oversaw activities that led to the creation of hundreds of new technology-based companies as well as the negotiation of thousands of licenses with existing companies. He also oversaw many complex negotiations including the creation of the U.S. standard for high definition television, while representing MIT on the HDTV Grand Alliance. Mr. Preston was awarded the rank of “Knight of the Order of National Merit of France” by French President Mitterrand. He was awarded the “Hammer Award for Reinventing Government” by Vice President Gore. He is the recipient of numerous other awards and honors including the Thomas Jefferson Award, given to the leading American in technology transfer and the Renaissance Engineering and Science award from Stevens Institute of Technology. Mr. Preston is Honorary Alum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Preston received a B.S. in physics from the University of Wisconsin and a MBA from Northwestern University.