Speaker Biographies

Bill Abolt, LEED A.P.
Chicago District Manager, Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure and Vice President, Shaw Sustainable Design Solutions of Illinois

Mr. Abolt is responsible for all aspects of project management and operations oversight for Shaw’s Illinois offices. He is also a member of Shaw’s Sustainability National Practice and leads the Green Design and Development and Clean Energy areas of that practice. Prior to joining Shaw, he served as Environment Commissioner, Director of the Office of Budget and Management and Chief of Management, Office of the Mayor, for the City of Chicago and, before that, as Executive Director of the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County. He also is an adjunct instructor in Public Policy and Administration at Northwestern University and is Chairman of the Environment Committee of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

Said Al-Hallaj, Reserach Professor, Illinois Institute of Technologies

Said Al-Hallaj is a Research Professor of Chemical Engineering and Coordinator for Renewable Energy Programs at the Illinois Institute of Technologies (IIT) in Chicago, IL. Professor Al-Hallaj earned his B.Sc and M.Sc in Chemical Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology and a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from IIT. He has published over thirty technical peer reviewed journals and over twenty conference papers. Said is a the co-author of three issued patents and several patent applications in the area of energy storage and conversion with emphasis on renewable energy, hydrogen, batteries and fuel cells for stationary and transportation applications. Said’s efforts have led to the formation of two start-up companies at IIT: All Cell Technologies to commercialize lithium-ion batteries for portable and transportation applications and Sun Phocus Technologies to commercialize a hologram plan concentrator (HPC) technology in the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) market.

John Banta, CEO & Managing Director of IllinoisVENTURES, LLC

Mr. Banta serves as the CEO & Managing Director of IllinoisVENTURES, LLC, and the Managing Principal of the Illinois Emerging Technology Fund, an early-stage technology Venture capital fund. In this capacity Banta has established the initial operating environment and infrastructure to facilitate the creation and development of businesses based on a range of technologies. Banta is the former President and COO of DigitalWork, Inc., a Draper Fisher Jurvetson, TL Ventures and Dell Ventures portfolio company, and served previously as its Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development. Prior to DigitalWork, Inc., John served as Vice President of Corporate Services for UBS PaineWebber (formerly Kidder Peabody), and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Investment Management Consultant’s Association. Banta currently serves on the Board of Directors of several early-stage life science, medical device and IT businesses, and on the Advisory Boards of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Chicago West Side Entrepreneurship Center. John earned an MBA in finance and statistics with high honors from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois College of Commerce.

Lauren Bigelow is the Managing Director for the Cleantech Group™, LLC

Ms. Bigelow has been with the Cleantech Group since early 2004, Lauren oversees the firm’s technology and entrepreneur pipelines and has worked directly with more than three hundred early stage cleantech companies at the Cleantech Forums. Her success had been measured directly by the numbers: more than $1.1 billion has been raised by presenting companies since 2002. Lauren built fourteen of Cleantech Forums and coordinated the outreach for the Network to incubators, universities, labs, angel organizations and investor groups. She works closely with our North American and China advisory boards to lead the next wave of investment opportunities and social responsibility in both continents.

Lauren is on the Advisory Boards of the Erb Institute at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; the Cleantech Innovation Challenge at the Leeds Center, University of Colorado; the VC Advisory Board for the Houston Technology Center, the Rice Alliance Energy/Cleantech Advisory Board and the New Enterprise Forum. Prior to joining Cleantech, Lauren was the Education Director of the IT Zone, a networking and education organization that promoted the growth of the IT industry in Michigan and the Marketing Director for the Richard Hale Shaw Group. Lauren received a BA the University of Michigan and is a doctoral candidate at Northwestern University

Thomas R. Casten, Chairman, Recycled Energy Developement

Mr. Casten was the founding president and CEO of Trigen Energy Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange corporation (1977 through 2000); and he served until 2006 as founding chair and CEO of Primary Energy Ventures LLC, an Oak Brook, Illinois-based firm with a Toronto Stock Exchange traded subsidiary, Primary Energy Recycling Corp. Tom also has served as the president of the International District Energy Association, received the Normal R. Taylor Award for distinguished achievement and contributions to the industry, and been named a “CHP Champion” by the U.S. Combined Heat and Power Association. He is the co-founder and former chairman of the World Alliance for Distributed Energy (WADE), and in 2006, was inducted as the first member of the WADE Hall of Fame. Tom serves on the Board of Directors/Advisory Boards of the Carnegie Mellon Electric Industry Center, Oregon Climate Trust, Climate Institute, and the Center for Inquiry. He is a nationally recognized expert on energy and environment issues, and his articles have been widely published. His booked, Turning off the Heat, was published in 1998 and he recently co-authored a chapter in Energy Myth and American Society, Thirteen Myths. Tom has presented energy recycling at the International Association of Energy Economics, Aspen Energy Policy Forum, Bordeaux Energy Colloquium, World Technology Network, and Clinton Global Initiative. He has testified on several occasions before the energy committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and he has advised Indian, Chinese, and Brazilian government officials on power industry governance.

Jon C. Creyts, Principal, McKinsey & Company

Jon Creyts is a Principal in the Chicago Office of McKinsey & Company. He is a leader in McKinsey’s Global Energy and Materials practice, and the US lead for McKinsey’s Special Initiative on Climate Change. He serves clients extensively on strategic issues related to growth, environmental and operational performance. He is one of the principal authors of McKinsey’s recent survey, Reducing US Greenhouse Gas Emissions: How Much at What Cost? Prior to joining McKinsey, Jon worked in both the power and aerospace industries. Hereceived a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Andris E. Cukurs, Chief Executive Officer, Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation

Mr. Cukurs has over 23 years of experience in engineering, construction and project management, with the last ten years in the wind energy industry. Mr. Cukurs, now CEO of Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation’s North American operations, has held prior senior management positions for various international businesses focused on providing design, engineering and construction services. Mr. Cukurs holds both a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA ‘94 from the University of Chicago. Mr. Cukurs joined Suzlon in October 2004 to manage the growth of the North American Operations.

Steve Daniels, Senior Reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business

Steve Daniels, 44, covers banking, insurance and utilities as a senior reporter for Crain’s Chicago Business. He’s covered electric and natural gas rates and competitive energy markets in Illinois for Crain’s since 1999.

Peter Duprey, CEO, Acciona Energy North America Corporation

Peter joined Acciona Energy in May 2006 to lead the growth of the business across all of Acciona’s renewable technologies including wind, solar thermal, bio-mass and bio-fuel portfolios. Peter brings significant renewable energy experience from GE Energy where he was General Manager— Marketing for GE Energy’s wind business, where he was responsible for new product introductions and global strategy. Prior to joining the wind business, he led GE Energy’s business development efforts in renewable energy focused on wind, solar, biomass, and fuel cell acquisition opportunities. He led GE Energy’s acquisition of Enron wind along with other renewable energy companies. Peter also worked for six years in GE Capital, in diverse roles such as business development, finance and quality. Peter came to GE through GE Capital’s acquisition of Eastman Kodak Credit Corporation in 1993 where he was the CFO of this $1.0 billion asset business. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Rochester, New York. He graduated from Clarkson University with a bachelor of science degree in Accounting & Finance and received an MBA from the William E. Simon School of Business.

Sadhu Johnston, Chief Environmental Officer, Mayor’s Office, City of Chicago

As Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Chief Environmental Officer, Johnston is responsible for oversight of all City of Chicago environmental initiatives. Prior to serving in this capacity, Johnston served as the Commissioner of the City of Chicago Department of Environment (DOE). He was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in July of 2005 after serving as the Assistant to the Mayor for Green Initiatives. His responsibilities as commissioner included the overall management of DOE, which administers programs to protect and restore Chicago’s natural resources, reduce waste, clean up brownfields, promote energy efficiency and reliability, educate the public about environmental issues, and enforce the City’s environmental protection laws. Prior to working for the City of Chicago, Sadhu served as the Executive Director of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition

Howard A. Learner, Executive Director, Environmental Law & Policy Center

Howard A. Learner is an experienced attorney serving as the President and Executive Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center. Mr. Learner is responsible for the overall strategic policy direction, development and leadership of this public interest organization. Before founding ELPC, he was the General Counsel of Business and Professional People for the Public Interest, a public interest law center, specializing in complex civil litigation and policy development. Mr. Learner is an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University Law School, teaching an advanced environmental law seminar. J.D., Harvard Law School, 1980; B.A., Political Science, University of Michigan, 1976.

Stefan A. Noe, President, Midwest Wind Energy, LLC

Stefan A. Noe is a principal owner and President of Midwest Wind Energy, LLC (MWE). MWE is a leading developer of wind power projects in the Midwest region with a proven track record of success. Since its inception, MWE has developed six projects totaling 567 megawatts that are either in operation or under construction. These projects require over one billion dollars of investment capital to construct. MWE further has an additional project portfolio of well over 1,200 megawatts in varying stages of development. MWE is continually adding to this project portfolio while actively advancing projects in Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio. Mr. Noe is a lawyer with approximately 15 years of experience in environmental and energy law and directs all business development for MWE. Mr. Noe has a B.A. in Political Science and an outside field in Business Administration from Indiana University and a J.D. from DePaul University.

Michael Polsky, President and CEO, Invenergy

Michael Polsky is the founder, President and CEO of Invenergy. Invenergy specializes in developing and owning various power generation reserves with an emphasis on renewable resources. With nearly 30 years of experience in the energy industry, he is widely recognized as a pioneer and an industry leader in the cogeneration and independent power industry in North America. Polsky currently chairs the Entrepreneurship Advisory Board, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. In 2002, Polsky endowed a center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, which is named after him. In addition, he serves on the Boards of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) Chicago, Council of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, CEO Council for the United States Olympic Committee and the World Resources Institute. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Economic Club of Chicago, Standard Club of Chicago and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations. Polsky holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a MSME degree from Kiev Polytechnic Institute.

Gerald J. Roper, President & CEO, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce

Gerald J. Roper is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, a business organization that serves business members in the six- county Northeastern Illinois region by providing a strong unified voice within government, and by providing a variety of programs, services and informaation that members need to successfully grow their businesses. Roper became President and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce in 1993 following a nine-year career with the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. While at the Convention and Tourism Bureau he served as the head of marketing and sales before being elected the Bureau’s President and CEO in 1988.

Lois Scott, Co-founder and President, Scott Balice Strategies

Lois Scott is co-founder and President of Scott Balice Strategies, LLC, an Illinois-based, woman-owned financial advisory firm. The firm specializes in managing the capital funding process for government and corporate clients throughout the country, with capital projects ranging in size from $500,000 to $20 billion and encompassing tax-exempt bonds, taxable bonds, equity commitments and derivative market structures. It consistently ranks among the top firms in its field in Illinois and the Midwest and is one of the largest women-owned finance companies in the nation. Ms. Scott has spent over 25 years in the finance industry, participating in projects valued at over $40 billion for clients as well as funding her own corporate ventures through angel, venture capital and strategic investors. She founded and managed the Chicago public finance operation for DLJ (now Credit Suisse) as well as Bank of America. Based on her accomplishments in the finance field, she was named a White House Fellow and tasked with developing the American response to the capital funding crisis in southeast Asia in 1997. Ms. Scott earned her BS and MBA degrees with honors from Cornell University, finishing her MBA at age 22. Over the years, she has been named to “40 Under 40” by Crain’s Chicago Business, “Women in Black,” for top women in technology, Today’s Chicago Woman’s list of “Most Influential Women in Chicago,” and was profiled as a “Super-Achiever” by the Chicago Tribune while still in her 20’s. Lois has served on the board for several privately held companies as well as numerous charitable organizations including the White House Fellows Foundation, Leadership Greater Chicago, National Louis University, North Avenue Day Nursery, City Lit Theater Company, The Bond Club of Chicago, Belizean Grove and Homeboyz Interactive, among others. She was co-founder of Women in Public Finance, now a 500+ person organization that is a focal point for women in the field of public finance, WIPF “Women of the Year,” as well as the Jungman-Pilsen YMCA project, which became a model for after-school partnerships with Chicago Public Schools.

David Weinstein, President, Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center

David is president of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC). Since 2003, clients of the CEC’s advisory services secured contracts in excess of $120 million and 63 clients secured financing valued at $72.5 million. David was a co-founder and is the Managing Director of the Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund (i2A), a $10 million seed-stage venture capital fund administered by the CEC. Previously, Weinstein was president and CEO of BlueMeteor, a technology firm he helped launch and grow to 110 employees. At BlueMeteor, he led the firm in successfully raising $30 million of venture capital. Earlier, he was Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s technology advisor. In this role, he managed Chicago’s Technology Development Initiative and helped form the Mayor’s Council of Technology Advisors. David Weinstein is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He earned his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.