The Future of the Grid: Trends, Strategies, and Evolution

SPEAKERS

Ben Bollinger, Ph.D., D'04 TH'04 '08

VP of Engineering, Malta Inc 

Ben Bollinger has been in start-up companies as a technology development leader and independent contributor for the past 12 years. While a graduate student at Thayer, he co-founded SustainX, a venture-funded startup company developing isothermal compressed air energy storage to stabilize the electric grid and enable renewable energy deployments. Over 8 years and nearly $40 million raised, Ben has seen the ups, downs, and pitfalls that startups can run into.

Ben has since served as the VP of Engineering at Altaeros, a startup developing autonomous aerostats (tethered balloons) to enable the deployment of rural energy and telecommunications infrastructure, and is currently the VP of Engineering at Malta, Inc. in Cambridge, MA., working to commercialize grid-scale electro-thermal energy storage.

Ben received his PhD and BE from the Dartmouth and Thayer School of Engineering focusing on acoustics, medical imaging, and signal processing, and his BA from Dartmouth focusing on mechanical engineering and thermodynamics. Ben serves on the Thayer School Dean's Council.

Stina Brock D'01 TH'02

SVP, North America, Electron

Stina Brock is currently head of North America for Electron, an energy tech startup based in London focused on grid flexibility. Stina works with industry partners, utilities, and grid operators to bring Electron’s solutions to energy markets in the US and Canada to enable a more efficient and sustainable grid. Previously, Stina led global solutions engineering at Sunverge, a solar plus storage startup, where she was also the first product manager. Stina started her career in energy with EnerNOC, a demand response and smart grid company started by two Tuck alums in the early 2000s.

She has always been a grateful and active user of the Dartmouth Alumni Network. Stina has an MSEE degree in electrical power engineering from the University of Washington, where she researched advanced controls for distributed and renewable power generation, and AB & BE degrees in engineering and economics from Dartmouth and Thayer School.

She is past president of the Dartmouth Club of Greater San Francisco, and previously served on the executive committee for the Dartmouth Society of Engineers and the Thayer School Dean's Council. Stina is currently on the global steering committee for Women of Dartmouth, and lives in Jackson, WY.

Andrew Jean-Louis D'09 TH'10

Senior Director, Client Services at PowerAdvocate

As a Senior Director at PowerAdvocate, Andrew leads consulting teams, builds energy client relationships, and collaborates with product teams to develop technology solutions. Andrew drives value for major electric utilities and oil & gas companies through capital project planning support and supply chain cost reduction opportunities. His recent work includes supporting a recently merged electric utility organization achieve its $160M+ savings goal through supplier consolidation and negotiations.

Prior to joining PowerAdvocate, Andrew worked as an Energy Efficiency Consultant at Navigant. In this role, he developed an expertise in manufacturing technologies. He drove the development of energy conservation standards and laboratory test procedures for the ENERGY STAR Program and the “yellow sticker” Program at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Andrew earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Dartmouth College and earned his MBA at The Wharton School of Business. Currently, Andrew lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife Brittney D'11.