This project has been so much fun - we’ve learned a whole heck of a lot and made many friends along the way. We’re very thankful for the help and support our friends (and strangers) have provided us. In particular, we’d like to send a very warm thank you to the Clark County Skills Center and their pre-engineering students who have helped design high temperature, custom parts for Henry. The students have also given us great feedback and tips along the way too.
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We also have to give our friend Shaul, Daniella and the family at Dick’s Hardware in Manhattan a big thank you. He and his team have helped us find and build so many of the little and big parts and pieces we needed for the first prototype. Shaul was a little skeptical at first but I think it’s safe to say he is now one of our biggest fans. And, no Shaul - we’re still not going on the shark tank!
A big thank you to Demian and Scott from Ryder's Alley! These two have given us free reign to use their motorcycle shop, tools and machinery to build our high temperature computer in the heart of Manhattan. As you can imagine, it’s a little tricky to find a place to turn a wrench in the city... it’s even harder to find a place to fabricate a computer powered water heater!
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Perks
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Meet Team Exergy
With 15 years of experience in all aspects of commercial energy efficiency programs – design, management, implementation and marketing – as well as a strong understanding of the Energy Efficiency policy and regulatory environment, Lawrence Orsini is well versed in the inner workings of the energy industry. Lawrence’s broad industry experience runs the gamut, from field auditing to managing relationships with Fortune 100 utility and corporate clients, affording him a unique ability to draw connections between policy driven utility energy efficiency program requirements and bottom line driven business spending.
Julianna Wei is a mechanical engineer with experience in building energy, policy research, and project management. She has led extensive outreach and advocacy activities with industry stakeholders, regulatory agencies and building science researchers. Julianna also dabbled in renewables and worked for a utility-scaled solar PV manufacturer and developer. Julianna is enthralled by the core concept of combining and aligning two important issues of our times – energy and computation. She's ready to connect the dots between technologies and people through the project.
John Lilic is a crypto-economic advocate, having been an early Bitcoin adopter inspired by block chain technology and a proponent of distributed, decentralized, cryptographically secured peer to peer networks. The synergy between combined heating and computation and distributed computing is of particular interest. John considers it a privilege to work on this project.
Bill Collins is a Finance professional with decades of experience in investment banking, structured finance, and environmental markets. Working as a derivatives specialist in Asia, Bill used his creativity and knowledge of financial markets to spot unique and innovative ways to help his customers (large government, state and private counterparties) identify and manage complex financial risks. This knowledge and skill set was subsequently leveraged in the international carbon markets. For seven years, Bill led a team at EcoSecurities tasked with sales, trading and risk management of the largest private sector carbon project portfolio. Bill serves on OneEnergy Renewables’ Advisory Board.
Chris Paulsenis a master tradesman with 25 years of prototyping, manufacturing and tooling experience in advance composites. His work provides support for experimental, aviation, marine, recreational, infrastructure, educational and defense applications. A few example projects from his diverse repertoire include carbon fiber masts for Americas Cup racing yachts, wing parts for Boeing 787s in maintenance repair operations, faux architectural elements for thematic effects, and molds for composites and urethane foams for energy efficient homes. As a master mold maker, Chris will channel his creative and maker energy to build functional yet aesthetically pleasing prototypes.
With years of experience in the energy industry solving technical problems, Sri Puranamhas a strong understanding of the physics of energy generation and storage. Over the last decade, Sri has worked with aircraft and automobile engines improving their efficiency, developed detailed models for electrochemical and battery systems and used facial recognition software to study fluid motion. As Project Exergy starts making inroads with its distributed generation model, Sri will be helping develop the technical backbone for the project.
A cinema lover, producer, shooter, director and editor with a hands-on approach, Sasha Santiago is a film-maker who’s consistently evolving with the times. He explores the connected world we live in, quickly prototypes ideas and moves in turn with its digital media consumption changes and preferences. To be part of a team that’s on the forefront of a game changing concept that would affect the way the world consumes energy, Sasha sees Project Exergy as an vast and immersive canvas that will inspire and ignite many discoveries, including distributed generation.
Credits:
Kids from the future:
Sam Poon - Grey shirt
Sofia Roma Rubino - pink shirt
Mitchell Tobin - blue shirt
Screenplay:
Aaron Gonzalez
Director:
Sasha Santiago http://www.sashasantiago.com/
Prototype Render:
Jonah Friedman http://www.jonahfriedman.com/
Music - the Exergy Theme:
Giacomo Lamparelli https://soundcloud.com/giacomo-lamparelli
Photos:
Arin Crumley https://arincrumley.wordpress.com/
