MSU-IAC Technical Advisory Board

Title and Company Name: Diversity and Workforce Strategies Program Manager, Entergy Corporation
What he does: Sumesh leads a team that is focused on nurturing next generation talent for Entergy and the utility industry while ensuring that they are reaching a diverse pool of candidates. His goal is to develop a diverse talent pipeline as his team works with K-12, community colleges and universities across multiple disciplines.
Years of Experience: 32+ years (industry, academia, non-profit, and state government)
Time and position in the IAC: worked with IACs for about 15 years.
Fun fact: Sumesh likes experimenting with different technologies. In his family, they own a full Battery EV (BEV), a plug-in-hybrid (PHEV) and a flex-fuel E-85 vehicle. Range anxiety is a real thing with BEV!

Title and Company Name: Energy Services Project Developer, Mississippi Power Company
What he does: Kris identifies and develops energy service performance contracts (energy efficiency/energy conservation) primarily to Municipal, Universities, Schools (K-12), Healthcare, and Federal customers.
Years of Experience: 22 years
Time and position in the IAC: Undergraduate staff member (1 year), Staff Engineer (2.5 years)
Fun fact: Kris is an Adjunct Instructor for MSU Engineering on the Coast.

Title and Company Name: Director, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extension (CAVS-E) at MSU
What she does: CAVS Extension is a unit of Mississippi State University focused on providing engineering expertise to the manufacturing community. As an affiliate center for the Mississippi Manufacturers Association – Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MMA-MEP), Tonya directs a team of engineers to address the needs of manufacturers across the state through on-site improvement and expansion projects, technical professional development training, and applied research.
Years of Experience: 27 years
Time and position in the IAC: 1+ years. She is the CAVS-E coordinator, helping connect the MSU-IAC with industry.
Fun fact: Tonya spent time in Houston, TX training for Mission Control for the International Space Station.

Title and Company Name: Senior Research Engineer, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems Extension (CAVS-E) at MSU
What she does: Emily works with small-to-medium sized manufacturers around the state on engineering and improvement projects. She also performs research into new technologies and methodologies to better support manufacturing and industry in the state. She teaches professional development workshops geared toward engineers and managers on Statistical Process Control, Workplace Ergonomics, and Minitab Software.
Years of Experience: 8 years (both applied research and manufacturing project work)
Time and position in the IAC: 1+ years. She is the CAVS-E coordinator, helping connect the MSU-IAC with industry.
Fun fact: Emily loves to travel and see new places! She has a goal to visit every state (been to 31 of the 50) and see all the national parks!

Title and Company Name: Senior Associate Engineer, PATH
What she does: Charley works on developing capital improvement/deferred maintenance projects for public entities with a focus on energy savings/sustainability. Her company (PATH) analyzes building energy usage and provides energy efficient solutions, including but not limited to, lighting upgrades, HVAC equipment improvements, HVAC controls, etc. They install the proposed solutions and measure & verify the energy savings once the equipment is installed.
Years of Experience: 3 years
Fun fact: Charley’s favorite TV show is The Office, and she has watched it over 20 times through!

Title and Company Name: Associate Director – Design and Construction, UCSF Health
What he does: Ben manages the team delivering the program of capital and engineering projects for the UCSF Health system. These responsibilities include feasibility analysis, planning, design, construction, and fit-up of complex healthcare projects over three hospital campuses in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Years of Experience: 15 years in the engineering, design, and construction industry.
Time and position in the IAC: Undergraduate staff member (2 years), Staff Engineer (2 years)
Fun fact: Ben enjoys spending time outdoors in Northern California with his wife, two daughters, and two mix/cattle dogs.

Title and Company Name: Senior Energy Engineer, Schneider Electric
What he does: Ken works in the Sustainability Business of Schneider Electric on the Public Sector team and is responsible for determining energy and cost savings for energy savings performance contracting projects (ESPCs), which are building improvement projects that are funded through guaranteed energy savings.
Years of Experience: 17
Time and position in the IAC: Undergraduate staff member (2 years), Staff Engineer (2 years)
Fun fact: Ken can’t ever think of a good fun fact…