Chet Staron, CEO of TopLine Energy Systems and President and principle owner of TopLine Automotive Engineering, Inc.; a 35-year old, multinational automotive and industrial parts manufacturing corporation and also one of its founders. Mr. Staron has more than 30 years experience in acquisitions, financing, management and development of enterprise level operations related to the transportation industry and OEM supply chain logistics. Mr. Staron serves on several Renewable Energy boards as well as non-profit organizations, is a US Marine Veteran with distinguished service in Viet Nam and a strong advocate for hiring the handicapped.

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Michael Wirthman, Vice President of Operations-TopLine Enterprises; has more than 25 years of commercial manufacturing and construction experience in all phases of design, materials, electrical and civil engineering as well as managing multi-million dollar operations and is responsible for all production, manufacturing, construction and operational excellence of the company. He personally designed and built the new 300 thousand sq. ft. state-of-the-art, energy-efficient TopLine facility in Brooksville, Florida and is involved in every aspect of GlidArc projects as well as other diversified energy and transportation programs for the corporation.

 

 

 

 

Albin Czernichowski, PhD, Chief Technology Officer; – As the senior member of our team Dr, Albin is the youngest at heart. He is a visionary, enthusiastic and humble in his contributions to our team effort. Dr. Albin holds a Master in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Plasma Physics. He has been published internationally in the fields of Plasma Chemistry and Physics, has 31 related patents and is the Inventor of GlidArc® and GlidArc Technology Systems. Dr. Czernichowski has an extensive background in catalysis, petrochemical and Fischer-Tropsch Processes as well as many years of research experience in coal combustion, residual compound recovery (Sulfur and Nitrogen Conversion from Oxide to Elemental Form, Patent#DE4336768) and Syngas. Former University Professor of Chemistry and Physics, Orleans University, Orleans France and Technical University, Wroclaw Poland >300 publications in notable scientific journals, authored several textbooks and is considered by many of his peers to be one of the world-leading experts in Plasma Physics. Many of his inventions are now globally deployed with applications in the neutralization of post-WWII chemical weapons and the reformation of carbonaceous materials

 

Lawrence Bell, Marketing Director; has more than 25 years experience in technical sales, product development, distribution and advertising in the automotive parts and remanufacturing industry. He has held corporate marketing and management positions and initiated several successful national distribution programs. He is on the Board of two Internet service provider companies and has director positions with non-profit conservation organizations. Lawrence has a BS/MBA in Marketing and Economics from Auburn University, holds a Private Pilots License.

 

 

 

 

Nat Mundy, Business Development Manager; has been involved in Renewable Energy for more than 20-years with particular emphasis on feedstock logistics, waste management supply chain, administration , MSW Recycling and Sorting Systems. Highly experienced in business decision drivers at all scales; work history includes long-term relations with corporations such as Disney, with corporate executive management positions and consulting to Federal and State agencies as well as large and small municipalities; holds a BS in Economics.

 

 

 

 

Vanier Kethi-Reddy, Strategic Director; has 15 years of experience in Systems Integration and has managed both domestic and offshore project teams for companies like Motorola and Oracle. Vanier’s passion in green technologies led to the establishment of working relationships with desalination, bio-plastics, Biodiesel, and agriculture companies worldwide. He helped engineer a global alliance to supply low-cost BioFuels to Asian markets with the help of Canadian, Australian, Indian and Singapore companies. Vanier holds a B.E. Computer Systems, Carleton University, Canada and MSM – I/T Management from Colorado Technical University

 

 

 

Joseph E. Lewis III, Vice President-Product Development;; technical sales, new product design and engineering background with over 20 years experience in business management within the alternative energy, marine and heavy-duty off-road industries. Joseph has extensive experience in the area of strategic product creation and development, new market identification, client and personnel management and possesses exceptional knowledge of all industry aspects including manufacturing, distribution, foreign and domestic sales. Joseph has been involved for many years in research and incubation of Hydrogen based combustion systems with primary focus on Hydrogen Enhanced Combustion to reduce NOx. Joseph founded several successful companies following his distinguished Naval Submariner career, is a certified PADI Master Dive Instructor and is Coast Guard certified as a Captain to operate vessels over 100 tons.

 

 

Pete LaForge, Manager- Information Systems; has more than 22 years experience in all phases of Information Systems, Network, Hardware, Software and Database systems. Operates and manages several internal IT infrastructures local and worldwide. Works closely with Microsoft, Dell , HP, Kemp Technologies, Network Support, Net gear, Cisco systems, Stallard Technologies, Juniper Networks, Rackit Technologies and others. He has worked in several corporate environments including Walt Disney World, Hilton Worldwide, additionally is involved with digital paperless and cost control technologies within the medical industry.

 

 

 

James Brenner, PhD, Director – Chemical Engineering; is a member of the Chemical Engineering faculty at Florida Tech. Dr. Brenner has worked in the areas of H2 storage, purification, and sensing using metal hydride thin films on porous stainless steel (PSS) supports and templated porous carbon (TPC)/PSS composite supports. These projects, along with his development of TPC’s for fuel cell gas diffusion layers, are enabling technologies toward his vision of a H2-driven airplane. Dr. Brenner has performed research projects on bio-diagnostic chips, electronic noses, metallic nanoparticles, and polymer foams for the space shuttle’s external tanks, pillared clays and molybdenum sulfides, and characterization of and catalyst development for upgrading of coal, heavy oil, and lignin feedstocks. Prof. Brenner teaches courses in petroleum refining, process flow sheet development, nanotechnology, materials characterization, materials science and engineering, and data analysis. He has won two college-wide and three university-wide teaching awards and was named Outstanding Professor of the Year for Florida Tech in 2006.

 

 

Peter Barile, PhD, Director – Environmental Engineering; is a native of Melbourne, Florida and has a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Florida Tech. His dissertation focused on the biogeochemical linkages supporting harmful blooms of algae on coral reefs and associated ecosystems in the Florida Keys, and the Bahamas. During his tenure as a Post Doctoral Fellow at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Ft. Pierce, FL, he contributed to research supporting a revision of the Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) as it affects Florida Bay and the Florida Keys Reef Tract; a former NOAA-sponsored Knauss Marine Science Policy Fellow in Washington D.C., where he was active in the development of interagency federal initiatives on Marine Biodiversity; Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs), and the International Coral Reef Initiative, was endorsed and signed off on by Vice President Al Gore in 1994. While a fellow at the National Science Foundation, Peter was involved in the development of the federal ECOHAB program, and has since been supported by federal and state funded research projects here in the state of Florida over the past decade. His research addresses the relationship of natural and human- sourced nutrients, such as fertilizers and sewage, to harmful blooms of algae and impacts of HABs on coastal water bodies. He is presently a senior scientist with Marine Research & Consulting, Inc. in Melbourne, FL. His research focus is on identification and mitigation of human pollution sources, either through technological, sociological, and political solutions. Specifically, he has been a technical consultant and advisor on several efforts to convert waste streams and living biomass to Biofuels. Peter has also been active in statewide policy initiatives on the linkages of nutrient pollution to water quality decline and algal blooms in Florida ecosystems, and was appointed as a member of the Florida Senate’s Consumer Fertilizer Task Force

 

Shinobu Doi, PhD, Director-Systems Engineering; is from Nara on the southern end of Honshu Japan. He spent most of his formative years in England and has traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia. He holds a BS/MS in Computer Engineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering and was a Professor at Florida Tech. Dr. Doi has been involved in many research and development projects at the university level; including hydrogen sensor research at NASA, fiber-optic sensors, neural networks and multiprocessor computers, as well as inventor of LED rechargeable dental curing systems. Dr. Doi has held upper management positions in several corporations and has initiated global marketing, manufacturing and distribution for several commercial products. Currently, Dr. Doi is the Senior Program Manager for a multinational satellite global positioning corporation and is responsible for designing automotive OEM onboard Global Positioning Systems (GPS). His vision is to fuse the dynamic, creative thinking processes abundant in America and classic, principled conservatism of the Old World, with the Japanese quality of being meticulous which can be integrated to constantly improve and economize technology into one engineering science where people worldwide can all benefit.

 

John Sessa, Electro-Mechanical Engineering Consultant; John has more than 30 years of engineering experience as a US Navy Technician, engineer, Project Manager, Administrator, and CEO. He has founded and operated several small businesses in his career. John has executive experience with full profit and loss responsibility, financing, human resources, supply chain management as well as administration. John wrote, and was awarded contracts from several Federal agencies, developed markets and wrote and submitted unsolicited proposals which were funded. John’s corporate experience includes Program Manager and Project Engineer at DBA Systems, and Manufacturing Engineering Manager at JDS Uniphase.

 

 

 

Whitney Rieks, Research Chemist; Originally from Iowa, Whitney holds a B.S. and is a Masters candidate in Chemical Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology. Whitney has extensive experience in all phases of applied chemistry and related engineering studies and has been working with TopLine Energy as its primary chemical and systems analyst for over three years. Whitney possesses outstanding clarity of vision for GlidArc Systems and applications and deployment opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

Walter Manning, Field Engineering Services Consultant; 20+ years facilities engineering design and project management experience with major US Oil & Gas operating companies and EPC firms in Norway, Australia and Indonesia. Responsible for development of process PFD, P&ID drawings, equipment specs, datasheets and detail design of oil and gas separation, treatment facilities, turbine gas compression re-staging & optimization, piping, instrumentation, metering, custody transfer, pipelines, FPSO of offshore & onshore oil & gas production & NGL plant facilities to meet relevant ASME, ASTM & API codes. Supervision and project management of fabrication, installation, hook-up, commissioning and start-up of production platforms, pipelines, pumps, process equipment, generation and gas turbine compression modules, FPSO and subsea facilities. Walter has working knowledge of all facets of Project Risk Analysis, ISO 9000 certification, critical path analysis, scheduling and project progress monitoring, safety, HAZID, HAZOP, HSSE procedures, audits and ASTM compliance. Walter holds a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and a BS in Oceanographic Engineering.

Chet’s 1967 Lincoln Continental Coupe:
462 cu in (7.6L) 90° V8 / OHV (2 valves/cylinder)
Bore x Stroke: 4.38 in x 3.93 in (111.2mm x 97.30mm)
Fuel System: Single 750 cfm Holly Carburetor
Power: 340 bhp (253.5kW) @ 4600 rpm
Torque: 485 ft lbs (657 Nm) @ 2800 rpm
Transmission: 3spd Turbo-Drive Automatic
Manufactured by Ford Motor Corporation, Dearborn, MI
Vehicle is a “One-Owner” Miles: 438,000 and counting… This is one of 2 of Chet’s favorites and can pass anything but a gas station, one of the many reasons TopLine embraced alternative energies.