Dr. Kenneth Armijo is a systems engineering staff member who leads molten salt and molten alkali metals research and development at Sandia National Laboratories National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF). He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, with minors in energy and resources, and business credentials in management of technology from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Dr. Armijo also received a master’s in mechanical engineering from U.C. Berkeley. Presently, Dr. Armijo’s research in CSP consists of system design for high-temperature (>720°C) test loops, employing ternary chloride molten salts and alkali metals (sodium) as the heat transfer fluid. His research has also consisted of falling particles for centralized concentrating solar receivers, and he leads research activities pertaining to solar Stirling engine applications, as well as solar reactor research and development and high-flux materials characterization. Dr. Armijo also serves as a lead test engineer for high-temperature materials research for power towers and solar furnace investigations.

Les Rubin is the Finance Director of the Pueblo of Picuris. Les has been involved in the tribe’s first 1 Megawatt solar array project which was completed in the first quarter of 2018 and will share the lessons learned from the first solar project and what are the follow up goals for the tribe’s second solar project which has started construction in October 2023.

Domestically, Les has been a Chief Financial Officer for Tribes, Community Health Centers, Community Action Agencies, and the Private sector and as a financial and information system consultant to federal and state levels of government.

Internationally, he has been a technical consultant to USAID on a number of projects, the US Advisor to the Egyptian Minister of Health and Population and has worked for Cisco Systems out of Paris in government relations for the emerging markets which covered Eastern Europe, Russia, the Gulf and Africa. He was the lead person for the World AIDS conferences in Durban, South Africa and Barcelona, Spain.

His previous position was as the Chief Financial Officer for Relief International, a world- wide humanitarian relief agency that covered 35 countries and worked in both refugee/relief efforts and economic development programs.

Dr. Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou is an Associate Professor, Computer Engineering Area Chair, and Director

of Recruiting and Admissions at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of

New Mexico. She obtained her Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from National Technical

University of Athens in 2008 and her MBA in techno-economics from the same institute in 2010. She

graduated with a Ph.D in Electrical and Computer Engineering from National Technical University of

Athens in 2014. Her main research interests lie in the area of cyber-physical systems and wireless

networks. Five of her papers received the Best Paper Award at IEEE WCNC in 2012, ADHOCNETS in 2015,

IEEE/IFIP WMNC 2019, INFOCOM 2019 by the IEEE ComSoc Technical Committee on Communications

Systems Integration and Modeling, and IEEE/ACM BRAINS 2020. She was selected by the IEEE

Communication Society - N2Women - as one of the top ten Rising Stars of 2017 in the communications

and networking field. She received the NSF CRII Award in 2019, the Early Career Award from the IEEE

Communications Society Internet Technical Committee in 2019, and the Junior Faculty Teaching

Excellence Award, School of Engineering, University of New Mexico in 2018. Her research is mainly

supported by the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and industry.

Randy Rankin is President of Sustainable Engineering LLC. Prior to starting Sustainable Engineering he has served both large and small businesses in rolls ranging from principal engineer to program manager to CFO. Randy holds an MS in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Systems from Pennsylvania State University with an emphasis on grid edge technologies, power market infrastructure, policy, smart grid, and distributed energy systems. He is an experienced project manager and certified Project Management Professional focusing on quality, cost, and schedule. Randy holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from NMSU and is a registered PE with decades of experience in high energy chemical technologies where he led research in chemical lasers. In addition he holds a MS in Industrial Engineering from NMSU with a focus in business management and process optimization.

Adam Dirth is the Renewable Energy & Efficiency Engineer at Sustainable Engineering LLC. Adam is a graduate of the Penn State University Renewable Energy & Sustainability Systems (PSU-RESS) program with an emphasis on sustainability, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. His experience with coastal flooding and erosion as an engineer in the marine construction and dredging industry encouraged Adam to pursue a career in sustainability and to obtain his master’s degree from Penn State. Adam has worked on many renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that include working with disadvantaged communities, small businesses, non-profits, agricultural producers, and higher education academic institutions.

He also has hands-on experience with wind turbine system design and installation. As a Registered Professional Engineer with an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas he has the foundation to guide small and large-scale energy related projects. In his spare time Adam volunteers with several organization ranging from installing solar PV systems to educating children in Peru on the effects of Climate Change. He enjoys every opportunity to be outdoors and is an avid cyclist.

Joe is a registered professional engineer in the State of New Mexico and a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM). Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with emphasis in structural engineering from New Mexico State University. Joe began his engineering career at the New Mexico Department of Transportation, transitioned into the Highway Design Section of the Department, and after two years was promoted to the Research, Testing and Design Laboratory (Central Lab) of the Department. During Joe’s tenure in the Central Lab, he worked as a Pavement Design Engineer, Research Engineer, and Materials Testing and Design Engineer.

Upon concluding his career with the NMDOT, Joe began working for the City of Santa Fe as the Subdivision Engineer in the Planning and Land Use Department, ensuring that development within the City of Santa Fe complied with the City’s land development code. He completed his government career as a Wastewater Management Engineer at the Wastewater Management Division of the City of Santa Fe.

Upon retiring from government work, Joe started his own consulting business focusing on land development and began working for the New Mexico State Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors (NM BLPEPS) as a Technical Investigator. Joe has worked for the Board for 13-1/2 years and has conducted numerous investigations regarding complaints filed against engineers and non-engineers.

Joe is a member of the National and New Mexico Society of Professional Engineers, American Concrete Institute (ACI), the New Mexico Floodplain Manager’s Association (NMFMA), and the International Erosion Control Association (IECA). Joe is also the president of the Santa Fe/Los Alamos Chapter of NMSPE focusing on the annual MATHCOUNTS competition for middle school kids.