Bud brings more than 35 years of leadership and expertise in developing and deploying power, energy and energy management solutions with Industry leaders such as NEC Energy Solutions, A123 Systems, American Power Conversion and Tripplite. Bud joined A123 Systems in 2007, where he served as the Vice President of Engineering & GM with responsibility for A123’s systems development efforts across the corporation.

In 2013, Bud became the President of A123 Energy Solutions, with responsibility for A123’s Grid & Commercial business. 

In 2014, he led the sale of the division to NEC of Japan and served as the CEO of NEC EnergySolutions until 2017. 

Today, Bud is an advisor to some of the largest players in the Energy Storage industry, as well as providing technical and business advice to emerging players in the battery and energy systems markets. Bud received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University in Boston.

C. Michael Hoff has over thirty-three years of experience in the power and energy storage industries, working for a utility, private sector companies and his own consultancy. At these companies he worked various roles as systems engineer, CTO, VP Research, Directors of Applications Engineering, Safety and Compliance, and Engineering, as well as independent consultant.

In 2006, Michael started the systems group at A123 System and subsequently built industry pioneering teams in Safety and Compliance, Applications and Research, which established the new owners, NEC Energy Storage Solutions, as a leader among its peers and in the hearts and minds of its customers.

His expertise in batteries, power conversion, safety and controls comes from a many years of applied product research and his active participation in engineering and product development. Michael has written and cowritten over a dozen patents, and many technical articles including a book on energy storage. He holds a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University.

Deanna O’Donnell serves as Vice President of Marketing for American Energy Storage Innovations, Inc (AESI). In this role, she oversees the alignment of corporate, product and market strategies across the company’s worldwide footprint.

O’Donnell brings a wealth of experience and a track record of success with organizations at various stages of growth and maturity, including multiple tech-driven start-ups, a $2B+ regional distribution organization and large multi-national corporations. Her focus, energy and talents will be key to building the infrastructure to differentiate AESI as a definitive market leader.

With a background that includes growth-focused firms such as VCE (acquired by Dell), 128 Technology (acquired by Juniper), DTiQ, Trilio, F.W. Webb, Accunet (acquired by Red River), Focal Communications and Lucent Technologies, O’Donnell is now tasked with structuring, strategizing and executing company-wide initiatives to enhance brand visibility and stimulate demand for AESI’s cutting-edge solutions.

She is a proud Babson College alumna and holds a master’s degree in interdisciplinary instruction, program development and policy administration. Deanna’s expertise is not just a hallmark of her career but a testament to her unwavering commitment to propelling AESI to the forefront of the dynamic energy storage sector.

Gerald joined NEC Energy Solutions in July 2010 as Director of Program Management.  In this role he provided leadership, strategic planning, cross-functional coordination and organizational process development across the engineering and business teams. 

Prior to joining NECES, Gerald held positions in Program Management for Motorola Embedded Computing, was Director of Supply Chain Operations and Production Operations Manager for Motorola Internet & Network Group, Engineering Manager and Development Engineer for Motorola Cellular Subscriber Group. 

Gerald received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the Northeastern University, and a Certificate in Applied Project Management from Boston University.

Glynne founded and developed two start-up companies and successfully moved two companies to $1B+ revenue.  He is a former VP of Business Development for Fluidic Energy, and has led business development at A123 Systems. Townsend raised capital for both small and large ventures and has developed strong relationships in a range of markets including energy storage, utility, solar, automotive, consumer electronics and the software industry.

Greg started his career in Energy Storage in 2006, when he joined the A123 Systems team and led the design of A123’s first module level electronics, string level (BMS) electronics, and system level architecture for 200KW hybrid buses made by Daimler. This was the genesis for A123’s first grid scale energy storage solutions. 

In 2009, he started the Smart Grid Integration Team which was responsible for installing large scale energy storage systems. Returning from the field as the Director of Hardware Engineering and having had a full 360-degree experience within energy storage, Greg was able to lead product development to introduce new innovative concepts which raised the technology bar, reduced costs, and made system installation easier.  This resulted in the award of more than 6 patents in the energy storage space. 

Greg transitioned into a VP of Business Development role in 2018 for a small power supply company interested in getting into the energy storage business. Greg is currently the Vice President of Tech Strategy, building a highly selective world class team of experts to bring the next generation of Energy Storage Systems to market.

Before coming to AESI, Kirk was the General Counsel of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Inc. and Head of Legal for Siemens Gamesa’s Americas region.  In this capacity, he oversaw all legal matters in North America and Latin America for the company.   Kirk assumed his General Counsel role when Siemens AG merged its wind power business with Gamesa Corporacion Technologica, S.A.   Prior to this, he held various roles of increasing responsibility in the legal department of Siemens AG including as the Head of Legal for its Renewables business in the Americas.   Kirk was a partner at the national law firm of Baker Hostetler before joining Siemens.  

Kirk received his BA in History from Davidson College and his JD from Vanderbilt University School of Law.  

Michael Schenck is the Vice President of Product Development Engineering at American Energy Storage Innovations (AESI), where he oversees the development of battery energy storage systems (BESS), edge and cloud software products. As a seasoned executive in power electronics and renewable energy, Michael has contributed to significant advancements in energy storage, EV infrastructure, and grid electrification, focusing on deploying scalable ecosystems at scale.

He has played a key role in the architecture, deployment, and operation of multiple gigawatts of utility-scale solar and renewable energy assets. Michael’s early career in device materials, power electronics and fuel cell research then transitioned to high-volume critical power and UPS systems at APC. As a serial entrepreneur, Michael has founded several companies, including an engineering services corporation, and held leadership roles such as CTO at Veloce Energy and Vice President of Technology & Engineering at Pursuant Power. He also led Global Plant Analytics and Advanced Power Conversion at First Solar and contributed to the growth of Semikron’s Industrial and Renewable Systems unit.

Michael has a proven track record of driving technology deployment and thrives at the intersection of business, technology, and engineering, ensuring that innovations meet market demands. He has collaborated with top-tier industry players on product launches, regulatory efforts, M&A, and IP portfolio development.

Michael holds multiple patents and is actively involved in developing industry standards, reflecting his dedication to advancing the field and mentoring the next generation of engineers.

Rick has extensive commercial and technical experience leading successful energy storage project teams; transforming complex manufacturing, project, and service operations. 

Prior to joining AESI, Rick was VP, Grid Integration and Service at A123 Systems and NEC Energy Solutions where he was responsible for industry leading project management, engineering, and service teams from customer award to site acceptance and through the operations lifecycle for 100+ energy storage projects world-wide (1GW/1.5GWh).  

He received Bachelor and Master engineering degrees from the University at Buffalo.