Greg Horner, Ph.D. (CTO)

Greg has over 20 years of experience developing novel test and measurement techniques for the solar and semiconductor markets. Prior to founding Tau Science, he held engineering director and staff scientist positions at FEI, KLA-Tencor, and Keithley Instruments. He received a B.A. in Astrogeophysics from Colgate University, an M.S. in Applied Physics from Colorado School of Mines, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from C.U. Boulder. He performed his graduate research in solar cell and materials characterization at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he focused on growth, processing, characterization and optical modeling of high efficiency multi-junction solar cells and thermophotovoltaics. He has more than 15 patents and 30 technical papers in the field.

Jamie Hudson, Ph.D. (President)

Prior to founding Tau Science, Jamie worked in management roles in the marketing and engineering departments of a Molecular Imaging and FEI Company. Jamie holds a B.S. in Chemistry from U.C., Berkeley, a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University, and an M.B.A. from the University of Oregon.

Andrew Kirkpatrick

Andrew is currently the Vice President of Business Development at Accuray, the maker of the CyberKnife® radiosurgery system that offers cancer patients a non-invasive treatment alternative to surgery. From 1999 until joining Accuray in 2007, Andrew served in various product management and business development roles at KLA-Tencor, a company specializing in imaging of semiconductors for manufacturing process control. Prior to joining KLA-Tencor, Andrew served in operations and marketing management roles in the semiconductor industry at Applied Materials and GaSonics International. He started his career as an officer in the US Navy and served as nuclear engineer on a fast-attack submarine. Andrew has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the US Naval Academy and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Timothy Coutts, Ph.D.

Dr. Timothy Coutts is a Research Fellow (Emeritus) in the National Center for Photovoltaics at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and is also a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society, Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, a member of the American Physical Society and a Fellow of the British Institute of Physics. He is a widely recognized scholar, editor and instructor in the areas of thin film physics, photovoltaics and thermophotovoltaics, and has chaired several prominent technical meetings including the 2008 Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. He has been active in PV research since 1970, contributing to the development of CdS/CuxS, ITO/InP, CdS/CdTe, InP homojunction solar cells for space application, CIGS and CdTe thin film solar cells, and was in 2005 awarded the William R. Cherry award for his research contributions to PV. A complete biography can be found at http://www.nrel.gov/research_fellows/coutts.html.

Laura Smoliar, Ph.D.

Laura is CEO of Peppertree Engineering, Inc., an optical engineering and products company with expertise in LED-based and laser-based optical designs for instruments and test equipment. Previously, she was Chairman and CEO of Mobius Photonics, Inc. She has extensive experience partnering with Japanese companies such as Sony, Hitachi, Disco, and Panasonic, and she has lived and worked in both Taiwan and Germany. Laura holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, where she worked with Yuan T. Lee (1986 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) and an A.B. Summa Cum Laude from Columbia University, both in Chemistry. She is a past member of the Council and Executive Board of the American Physical Society. Since 1997, she has served as a mentor with the Association of Women in Science Palo Alto Chapter. She also serves as an advisor to Signal Lake, a venture capital firm.

John Bickley

John Bickley is an International Marketing Professional with an MBA, a BSEE, and 20 years progressive management experience in high-technology capital equipment. Specializing in the semiconductor industry, John has introduced new technology products in the fields of electron-beam inspection, non-contacting dielectric qualification, and wide-angle XRD crystallography. John’s employers have included Leica, KLA, IFR Systems, Nova Measuring Instruments and JPSA.

Rodrigo Alonso, Ph.D.

Rodrigo is Vice President of Engineering at Zebra Enterprise Solutions and has held similar positions at Packet Design, Inc. and Andes Networks where he led the team that produced a security appliance for major OEM customers. Rodrigo also held VP and management positions at WhereNet Corporation, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, and Savi Technology. He specialized in solar cell materials characterization while at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Rodrigo holds a PhD in Physics from Purdue University, a MSEE, and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Chile.