Staff Directory
Deputy Director
Dr. Cheryl Martin is the Deputy Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) responsible for oversight of the Agency. Additionally, Dr. Martin leads ARPA-E’s Technology-to-Market program, which helps breakthrough energy technologies succeed in the marketplace. Prior to joining ARPA-E, Dr. Martin was an Executive in Residence with Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California.
Deputy Director for Technology
Dr. Pramod P. Khargonekar is the Deputy Director for Technology of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), responsible for oversight of all technology issues relating to ARPA-E’s programs. In addition to this, Dr. Khargonekar serves as the Eckis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida.
Deputy Director for Operations
Shane Kosinski is the Deputy Director for Operations for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), responsible for oversight and operations of all ARPA-E programs. Previously, Kosinski served as the Acting Deputy Director for ARPA-E. In this position, he was responsible for leading the Department-wide effort to stand up the ARPA-E Program Office and for developing the means to efficiently and effectively obligate Recovery funding for ARPA-E.
Chief Counsel
William Bierbower is ARPA-E’s Chief Counsel. Before joining ARPA-E, Bierbower served as Chief Counsel at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Bierbower also served as Lead Counsel for NASA’s Directorates for Exploration Systems and Science Missions at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and as senior attorney at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Program Director
Dr. Dane Boysen currently serves as a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). His main focuses include: electrochemical energy conversion and storage; natural gas conversion and storage technology; and materials for energy storage and conversion.
Program Director
Dr. Howard Branz currently serves as a Program Director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). His program focuses will include solar and other renewable energy technologies. Branz is on assignment from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), where he is a Research Fellow in the National Center for Photovoltaics.
Program Director
Jonathan Burbaum’s focus at ARPA-E is in advanced biotechnology applications for biofuels and the production of biologically-based chemical feedstocks. Prior to joining ARPA-E, Burbaum was a San Diego-based biotechnology consultant focusing on realizing value from novel technologies, products, and commercial strategies in the life sciences.
Senior Fellow
Rob Conrado is an ARPA-E Senior Fellow and is focused on new approaches to produce both liquid fuels and commodity chemicals to reduce the U.S. dependence on imported oil. He is investigating the conversion of natural gas to transportation fuels as well as scale-up of biochemical conversion technologies. Prior to joining ARPA-E, Conrado completed his Ph.D. in Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering at Cornell University, where he worked in Matthew DeLisa’s protein engineering group.
Program Analyst
Adam DeDent is a Program Analyst within ARPA-E’s Office of the Chief Counsel, which he supports on all legal and procurement matters within the Agency. In law school, Adam’s curriculum was centered on energy, environment, and international law. He authored a note arguing for stronger environmental considerations in international trade law. He was Vice President of Georgetown Law’s environmental law society and a Public Interest Student Mentor.
