Dr. Scott McWhorter is the former Director, Clean Energy Research for Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) where he led programs across the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, EERE, OE, ARPA-E and FE, raising over $20 million in new funds during his tenure. Scott’s Savannah River career spanned 20 years with three years spent as an advisor with the U.S. DOE EERE in Washington DC. ​

At SRNL, he led the development of the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and served in various Manufacturing USA regional and advisory positions. ​

He currently serves as a federal business development and tech start-up consultant, a founder in an energy start-up, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Southeast Hydrogen Energy Alliance.

John Ledbetter is a business executive and serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of professional experience.  He has started numerous companies and held senior leadership roles in a top 10 US defense contractors.  John Ledbetter excels in rigorous engineering design, comprehensive project management and detailed financial reporting.  Currently, Mr. Ledbetter is the President / Owner of Summit Worx, LLC headquartered in Mount Pleasant, SC.  Mr. Ledbetter founded Summit Worx, LLC in 2013 which specializes in engineering and production of electromechanical systems.

Mr. Ledbetter holds a BS in Industrial Engineering degree from Clemson University; a MS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University; and an MBA from Francis Marion University.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in the states of South Carolina and North Carolina.  Mr. Ledbetter serves on the Board of Directors for the Southeast Hydrogen Energy Alliance since 2020.  Mr. Ledbetter is an elder and charter member at Palmetto Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant, SC.

Sarah Adair is Managing Director of Public Policy at Duke Energy, where she oversees the company’s federal policy strategy and engagement in support of the company’s clean energy transition. Prior to her current role, Sarah held positions leading federal policy related to clean energy technology and electrification as well as environmental and clean energy policy in North Carolina. She joined Duke Energy in 2017 from Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, where she focused on climate and energy policy in the electricity sector. Sarah holds a master’s degree from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.  She lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband, Charles, and their cat Boo. 

Professor Mark Johnson, Director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Clemson University, is renowned for his expertise in clean energy technologies, advanced manufacturing, and entrepreneurship. His distinguished career spans academia, governmental roles, including Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Office at the US Department of Energy (2013-2017), and involvement in launching successful semiconductor startups. An esteemed scholar, he has served as the Hall-Fulbright Distinguished Visiting Professor in Vienna (2019) and held significant academic and leadership positions at NC State University. Professor Johnson holds a PhD from NC State and an SB from MIT, both in Materials Science and Engineering, underscoring his profound contribution to the field.

Energy Technology Advisor, Geovanni has over 15 years of experience working in the energy industry with a long record of successful special projects origination and execution in the oil and gas industry, clean emerging technologies acceleration, innovation, and sustainability efforts. Geovanni joined Dominion Energy in 2021 and his role includes identifying clean energy solutions, developing and implementing business models, strategic initiatives and partnerships, and customer collaboration in support of Dominion Energy’s decarbonization goals. As a leader in the energy transition, his expertise includes project management, and clean energy solutions, such as hydrogen, green mobility, energy storage, and industrial decarbonization.

Dr. Neda Askari has over ten years of international work experience in energy management, including business development and project coordination. Her primary focus is business model development for green hydrogen projects, energy storage systems, and implementing strategies to develop power generation solutions related to different applications. Currently, she is an Account Manager at Siemens Energy and is responsible for power system development in the southeast region. In her previous career roles as a Senior Energy Storage Engineer at Amazon Web Services, she was responsible for analyzing the feasibility of implementing different energy storage technologies for AWS data centers globally. 

Neda resides in South Florida. She holds a Ph.D. in Civil, Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering from Arizona State University, a Master’s degree in Energy Engineering from RWTH, Aachen University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from FH-Aachen University in Germany.

James M. Fenton is the director of the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center and a professor of Materials Science and Engineering. He leads more than 60 faculty and staff who research, develop, and evaluate clean energy technologies, and educate the current and future workforce about technology innovations. FSEC has six major program areas – solar energy, high-performance buildings, alternative transportation, advanced energy systems, STEM education and workforce training, and energy policy research. He leads the techno-economic analysis on the Department of Energy/Orlando Utilities Commission/UCF  $9M demonstration project that integrates PV electric generation, an electrolyzer, hydrogen storage, fuel cell systems, and fuel cell electric vehicles to create a system that is capable of leveraging intermittent PV electricity to improve utility operations. He has more than 40 years of experience in electrochemical engineering and education topics including redox flow batteries, PEM fuel cells, Solar-to-PEM electrolyzer system analysis, fuel processing, high-temperature corrosion, oxidizing agent generation, and metal recycling. He serves as the Second Vice President of the Electrochemical Society, leads the ECS Presidential Ad Hoc Committee on Sustainability, became a Fellow of The Electrochemical Society in 2007 and received the ECS’s Energy Technology Division Research Award in 2014 for his work on proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

William Kimbro is a third-generation leader in the downstream energy sector, skillfully carrying forward the legacy of his father and grandfather. Under his guidance, the Kimbro portfolio of companies has reached new heights, embodying the family’s enduring commitment to excellence, innovation, and sustainability. His leadership has expanded the family’s influence through successful ventures like Tri Star Energy, significantly enhancing the business landscape they established.

By championing the values of hard work, integrity, and environmental responsibility passed down to him, William has not only honored his family’s legacy but has also grown the business beyond its original scope. His strategic vision and ethical approach to leadership have elevated Kimbro Companies, setting a new benchmark for success and sustainability in the energy sector. In doing so, William ensures that the legacy of his predecessors not only endures but evolves, securing a promising path for future generations.

Dr. Theodore Motyka is currently associated with CC Energy Consulting, LLC as a Senior Consultant. In this position, Dr. Motyka is responsible for providing technical direction, project management, and proposal development for various hydrogen energy projects. Dr. Motyka has led several state initiatives for hydrogen energy including an organization that led to South Carolina being the top hydrogen energy state in the southeast. He has served on the Board of the South Carolina Hydrogen and Fuel Cell and Alliance the predecessor organization for SHEA. Previously, Dr. Motyka was the Hydrogen Program Manager for the Savannah River National Laboratory. During the past 20 years, he and his team have been actively involved in the development and demonstration of hydrogen as an alternative energy carrier. He also served as the assistant director and metal hydride technical lead for the $40 million, DOE Hydrogen Storage Engineering Center of Excellence and received the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program R&D Award for his effort.  More recently, he has worked on and led several successful winning proposals in energy storage and alternative energy applications for the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. Dr. Motyka is considered a national and international expert in hydrogen and hydrogen storage, especially solid-state metal hydride systems. 

Professor Kevin Huang holds the prestigious position of SmartState Endowed Chair and serves as the Director of the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Center at the University of South Carolina. His expansive research portfolio encompasses rechargeable batteries, reversible fuel cells, gas separation membranes, and multiscale computational modeling. With an impressive academic footprint, he has authored over 280 peer-reviewed journal papers, three books, and four book chapters, securing 16 U.S. patents for his groundbreaking work. Currently serving as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Materials Informatics and a board member for the International Journal of Minerals, Metals, and Materials, Professor Huang’s editorial contributions have extended to RSC Advances and the Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage. Recognized for his exceptional contributions, he was named a 2023 Class Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials and has received multiple accolades from the University of South Carolina, including the 2018 Breakthrough Leadership in Research Award, the 2017 Educational Foundation Award for Research in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering, the 2015 College of Engineering and Computing Research Achievement Award, and the 2014 University of South Carolina Breakthrough Stars award. Professor Huang also imparts his knowledge by teaching Energy Storage to graduate students, further solidifying his commitment to shaping the next generation of researchers and engineers.

Chad represents the fourth generation of his family’s legacy in the downstream energy sector. Growing up within the company, Chad’s journey has been marked by diverse roles, including a pivotal stint as Chief Operating Officer for Kimbro Oil. This experience equipped him with a nuanced understanding of operational intricacies and strategic growth opportunities within the industry.

In his current role, Chad is at the forefront of shaping Kimbro Companies’ future trajectory. His strategic vision encompasses innovative approaches, ethical leadership, and a commitment to sustainable practices. By leveraging his family’s deep-rooted values and blending them with modern perspectives, Chad is steering the company toward new heights in the ever-evolving energy sector. As Vice President of Strategy, he is focused on expanding market presence, fostering strategic partnerships, and ensuring that Kimbro’s portfolio of companies remain a beacon of excellence and resilience. Chad’s dynamic leadership style, rooted in a profound respect for the company’s heritage, positions him as a key architect in securing a vibrant and impactful future for Kimbro Companies within the broader energy landscape

Michael is an energy transition leader with 20 years of experience as a senior executive, cleantech mentor, sustainability consultant, and project architect in a wide range of sectors. As the managing partner at Energy Transition Finance, Michael supports a wide range of hydrogen projects seeking large-scale project finance through public and private sources with a focus on the DOE Loan Programs Office. He supports projects developing large-scale hydrogen storage, off-grid green hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen internal combustion engines, and hydrogen for industrial decarbonization like green steel. Michael received his professional architecture degree from the University of Tennessee, summa cum laude, and attended the ETH-Zurich as a guest student. He has received awards for his sustainability leadership from the Mayor of Washington DC, the Governor of Tennessee, the Footprint Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce and he was selected to attend the Harvard Business School Young American Leaders Program. 

Des serves as the Executive Director for the Southeast Hydrogen Energy Alliance (SHEA) where she collaborates with invested stakeholders from 10 different states to drive collaboration and innovation, increase education, and enable change and adoption in the hydrogen industry. Des has been integral to driving the relaunch of the SHEA organization, as she has brought the existing SHEA board and the Kimbro family together to spark a refreshed trajectory for the organization.

Des also serves as Chief of Staff at Kimbro Companies, where she leads multiple efforts to achieve business efficiencies while also keeping an eye on the market to identify potential new business ventures. Before joining Kimbro, Des began her career through a decade of experience at Southwestern Energy, where she held multiple roles in the organization. Des currently lives in Nashville, TN with her husband, and holds a BA in Energy Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Oklahoma.