James is a successful Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, having played a key role in the launch of over nine companies. As a pioneer in the semiconductor industry at Shockley Semiconductor, he has a proven track record of leadership. He has served on the boards of major corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Cisco, SRI, and El Paso Energy. In addition to his corporate leadership, James is a faculty member at Stanford University, where he has held the position of Dean of Engineering. He is a distinguished member of AAAS, NAS, NAE, and an IEEE Fellow. He also contributed his expertise by advising the Presidential Science Advisor under four different administrations.
In addition to being a professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, Lambertus has founded three companies, including the startup behind the groundbreaking Nirvana Energy Systems heat pump. He has also held executive roles in Fortune 100 companies, serving as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Strategist for Branded Products at Western Digital Corporation. Lambertus has acted as a scientific advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force and the Hubble Space Telescope Committee. With over 60 patents to his name, he is a distinguished member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences, the AIAA, APS, and a Fellow of SPIE.
Alan brings over 25 years of experience in the Bay Area tech ecosystem, spanning M&A at Advent Software (now SS&C), equity research at Citi, and investment banking as an early team member and former Head of Capital Markets at Financial Technology Partners. He later founded Series-A Partners to support and launch early-stage startups, and most recently spent six years co-managing the family office of the former head of Dodge & Cox.
With a Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas, a deep financial foundation, and a global network across six continents, Alan has led and closed more than $3 billion in transactions.
David is a globally recognized thermoacoustic engineer and expert in the design of Stirling engines. He is also the creator of Sage software, a widely used platform among engineers and designers for modeling and optimizing various cryocoolers, including Stirling cycle engines and pulse-tube cryocoolers. Unlike general-purpose CFD software, Sage offers specialized model components that integrate gas flow, heat transfer, and other key details, enabling users to easily build and refine complex system models.
William received his PhD in Physics from MIT and prior to Nirvana was a Senior Research Engineer at Stanford University where he researched and developed components for X-ray Differential Phase Contrast Imaging. Prior to that, he worked with the US Department of Homeland Security’s Security, Science, and Technology division. William works with the design team and is responsible for mechanical fatigue, thermal and pressure vessel structural analysis, as well as heat flow and heat management.
