About Us
- Leading researchers with power electronics, energy storage and technology commercialization experience
- Commercializing technology developed by Sandia National Laboratories
Leadership Team
Valerio De Angelis, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Dr. De Angelis is Chief Executive Officer at Transforma. He is the manager of the Power Electronics and Energy Conversion Group at Sandia National Labs. He joined Sandia in 2020 to work on grid modernization and system integration technologies. He is co-founder of batteryarchive.org, the first public repository of lithium-ion battery degradation data. Before joining Sandia National Laboratories, Dr. De Angelis was the Executive Director of the City University of New York (CUNY) Energy Institute. At the Institute, De Angelis expanded the scope of the battery research from the lab to large-scale energy storage systems. Several initiatives have spun off from the research, notably the Grid-Modernization Center and Urban Electric Power, of which Dr. De Angels was co-founder, interim CEO, and VP of Product. Regarding his previous career, De Angelis was the CEO and CTO of Mindflash Technologies, a leading provider of online training platforms that he founded when he was a Ph.D. student at UC Santa Barbara. Mindflash was a leading provider of online training platforms for public and private institutions, and was acquired by Applied Training Systems in 2012.
Jack Flicker, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer
Dr. Flicker is Chief Technology Officer at Transforma. Jack is a Principle Member of the Technical Staff and joined Sandia as a postdoctoral appointee in 2006. His research focuses on all aspects of power electronics and power conversion systems ranging from incorporation of new materials and devices in power conversion systems to utilizing new topologies and controls to enable improvements in electrical power systems. Jack’s research touches on all areas of the power electronics value chain ranging from usage of new devices (wide- and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors) to new topologies and controls to evaluation of power system operation. The nature of his work spans multiple TRL levels and incorporates everything from basic analysis to optimization and simulation to experiment and field-deployment.
Jacob Mueller, Ph.D., Vice President of Engineering
Dr. Mueller is Vice President of Engineering at Transforma. He is a Principal Member of Technical Staff with the Energy Storage Technology and Systems Department at Sandia National Laboratories. Before joining Sandia, he attended Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, and received the BS, MS, and PhD degrees in 2012, 2014, and 2018, respectively. At Sandia, he has been primarily engaged in developing the capabilities of the Advanced Power Electronic Conversion Systems (APEX) lab. His current research focuses on improving performance and reliability of power conversion systems for utility-scale energy storage applications. More generally, he is interested in addressing critical challenges of grid resiliency and energy security through the development of advanced power conversion solutions and intelligent controls.
Ray Byrne, Ph.D., Fellow IEEE, Vice President of Utility Support
Dr. Byrne is Vice President of Utility Support at Transforma. He manages the Energy Storage Technology & Systems department at Sandia National Laboratories where he has been employed since 1989. Prior serving as manager, he was a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff. He completed a B.S. in electrical engineering at the University of Virginia, an M.S. in electrical engineering at the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of New Mexico. He also completed an M.S. in financial mathematics (financial engineering) at the University of Chicago. Awards include the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, Time Magazine invention of the year in robotics in 2001, as well as the Prize paper award at the 2016 IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting for a paper on maximizing revenue from energy storage in grid applications. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Sigma Xi. He was elevated to IEEE Fellow in 2017 for contributions to miniature robotics and grid integration of energy storage. He serves as an ABET program evaluator for IEEE and is a member of the IEEE Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities (CEAA). He is a board member of Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society.