Management
Optony Leadership
Optony is led by a talented team of seasoned leaders with a unique combination of expertise in high-efficient, multi-junction solar cells, thin film, concentrating solar, consulting, construction, energy, economics, semiconductor manufacturing, change management, regulatory compliance and sustainable marketing. We work from a position of global knowledge, experience and cutting-edge innovation. We are dedicated to helping organizations grow and profit from clean solar energy while optimizing energy consumption and environmental impact.
Optony Management Team
• Dr. PR Yu – Chief Executive Officer
• Dr. Dong Wang – Vice President, R&D
• Ben Foster – Vice President, Operations
• Dr. Xuegeng Li – Vice President, Manufacturing
Dr. Yu is a serial entrepreneur with a history of innovation in the solar industry. Prior to Optony, Dr. Yu was with Innovalight where he developed the company’s first solution processed silicon thin film solar cells as well as several key patents which laid the foundation for the company’s growth. Before that, Dr. Yu worked at NREL where he was part of a team that made major solar breakthroughs that received Eni Award, which is touted as the Nobel Prize of energy research. Dr. Yu was also co-founder of an international education service company Ansipen Co., and took it from concept to profit. He is on the Board of Advisors of Hoda Globe (a solar thermal company in Silicon Valley) and Clean Solar (a California-based solar installation company). He also sits on the Advisory Committee of Solar and Cleantech Industry for Cleantech Institute in California. Dr. Yu is a frequently invited international speaker in cleantech. He received his Ph.D. from University of Colorado at Boulder, and B.S. from Peking University.
Dr. Wang has more than ten years of experience in the solar field and is currently leading the Optony-NREL joint team in developing Optony's Solar TFC™ products. While at Optony, Dr. Wang also led successful efforts to obtain government funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to founding Optony, he was a solar researcher at NREL and is a widely published solar researcher and innovator. Dr. Wang is an invited speaker at international conferences, a member of Sigma Xi, and was included in Who's Who in Science and Engineering. Dr. Wang received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University, and B.S. from Peking University.
Mr. Foster has 20 years of experience in senior management of product and service companies and is responsible for driving operational excellence of the solar service division in the US and China. During his career he has lead strategic initiatives and established offshore operations and vendor agreements in China, India, Northern Ireland and the Philippines. Most recently he was VP of Operations for 365Media where he lead B2B product development and implementation efforts. Prior to this position, he was Senior Director at the McGraw-Hill Construction and Energy divisions where he was responsible for driving operational change, building customer retention programs and establishing offshore operations in Manila, Belfast, Delhi and Chennai. Ben started his career in accounting management for consumer product and service companies where the top priority was delivering consistent, high-quality customer experiences. Ben has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder and an MBA in International Business from Old Dominion University. He has also earned the accreditation of Certified Management Accountant and Certified Financial Manager.
Dr. Li brings over 10 years of engineering and manufacturing leadership in semiconductor technologies, nanotechnology and their applications in photovoltaic. Prior to Optony, Dr. Li led the scale-up of equipment and processes at Innovalight to enable commercial-scale solar cell production. He is the inventor of several core technologies related to photovoltaic and solid state lighting. Dr. Li holds 10 U.S. patent applications and authored 13 technical journal publications. Dr. Li is responsible for manufacturing at Optony. He received his Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo, and B.S. from Tsinghua University.
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