Our Team

Management & Board of Directors


John Conklin brings New Energy Technologies, Inc. 26 years of industrial, commercial, and renewable and alternative energy experience, providing technical and business consulting services to more than 50 technology, manufacturing, and industrial process companies. Mr. Conklin’s client-companies have ranged from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations, including IBM, Lockheed Martin, Frito-Lay, and TDI Power, Inc., a global manufacturer of power systems.

Throughout Mr. Conklin’s career, he has actively managed both the technical and business requirements of various energy and industrial companies. In additional to technical oversight, Mr. Conklin has overseen financial management and accounting; strategic planning; product prototyping, development and distribution; productivity and profitability analyses; inventory and cost controls; and team recruitment and management.

John’s specific experience with designing solar photovoltaic and thermal energy systems is a particular asset to Company as its SolarWindow™ technology, capable of generating electricity on see-thru glass windows, advances from prototype to commercialization.

Mr. Conklin also has expertise with creating financial contracts which allow for economically viable, commercial installation of solar systems. These ‘Solar Power Purchase Agreements’ or ‘SPPAs’ are designed after careful technical and economic feasibility studies have been conducted by the agreement’s architect. Industry experts surmise that commercial implementation of New Energy’s MotionPower™ systems for generating electricity from the motion of vehicles may potentially leverage similar financial arrangements.

John also brings industrial process, environmental systems design, testing, and analytical experience, which has resulted in cost savings ranging from 10-25% for numerous clients in the surface coatings industry. Surface coatings are key to the development of SolarWindow™, which makes use of special coatings which allow for the generation and movement of electricity on see-thru glass.

Mr. Conklin has additional chemical surface coating experience important in the application of various coatings used in New Energy’s SolarWindow™. These novel coatings require technically advanced methods of application onto glass in order to retain their unique capacity to generate electricity while ensuring their proper adhesion to the glass surface.

John developed similar surface coating techniques used in the fabrication of the United States Stealth Battleship prototype during his tenure at Excel Precision, Inc. These coatings were used to create frequency selective antennas, able to absorb radar signals and prevent satellite detection of the Stealth Battleship from space. At Excel Precision, Inc., Mr. Conklin developed and managed a program management team comprised of engineering, product development, quality control, and business development personnel that provided the development of these prototypes.

Mr. John A. Conklin is founder and Vice President, National Solar Systems, LLC., a New York based renewable and alternative energy design and installation firm. He also founded and serves as President of Tellurium Associates, LLC., an industrial process design and operations company.

Mr. Conklin holds a NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) Level I Certificate, globally-recognized as North America’s “gold standard” agency for PV and solar thermal installation certification. He routinely attends NABCEP certified training programs throughout the Northeastern United States.

Among John’s interests is his continuing education in photovoltaic systems design, installation and operations at the University of Central Florida, Florida Solar Energy Center, and the State University of New York at Ulster, a noted leader in renewable energy certification and education. He has also studied chemical technology, chemical engineering, and various industrial, safety, and renewable energy programs.

Mr. Conklin is a Certified Football Official and a licensed private pilot.

Passionate about renewable energy and the environment, Mr. Patrick Thompson has found his niche in solar power. During his career, which he began at GE in 1999 as a Strategic Marketing Manager, he built a reputation as a “can-do” leader, whose enthusiasm, innovative approaches and management expertise made it possible for his employers to achieve their goals and reward him accordingly.

Most recently Vice President of Asahi Glass Company’s Solar Business Unit, Mr. Thompson developed the solar glass division, which, in less than three years, achieved more than $200 million in sales, commanded a greater than 70% market share in North America and enjoyed year-over-year revenue growth of over 60%, 40% and 40%, respectively. He and the team he formed were responsible for the development and commercial introduction of 11 new products in 2010 alone.

Mr. Thompson received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University in 1992 and completed the Dynamic Leadership program at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2009.

Dr. Hammond is Principal Scientist at New Energy Technologies, Inc., leading development of New Energy’s SolarWindowTM. Dr. Hammond brings extensive experience with all areas of Organic Photovoltaics (OPV), including: the design and synthesis of small molecule and polymeric donor materials, the development of new solution-processed contact materials, the fabrication of laboratory-scale OPV devices, large-area device fabrication using slot-die coating, and the development of solution-processed flexible and transparent moisture barriers.

Dr. Hammond also has a strong background in nanostructured organic materials, with an emphasis on optoelectronic materials. His experience spans materials design, synthesis, nanoscale characterization, processing, and optoelectronic device fabrication. He has over 30 publications and presentations, a book chapter, and one U.S. patent application.

Dr. Hammond earned his B.S. in Chemistry with High Honors from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001, and his Ph.D. in Organic/Materials Chemistry and Nanotechnology from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2007. His awards include a Hypercube Scholar Award, a Mindlin Brothers Fellowship for Creativity in Science, a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Honorable Mention, and a Joint Institute in Nanotechnology Fellowship. He is currently a member of the American Chemical Society and the Materials Research Society, and a Sigma-Aldrich Global Advisor.

Since December 1993, Mr. Bhogal has worked as a business consultant to emerging growth companies. For 15 years, Mr. Bhogal has provided early business development guidance and consulting to companies developing healthcare services, medical devices, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, solar-photovoltaics, biofuels, and information technology solutions.

Alastair K. Livesey, PhD, is a respected scientist and former business leader with Royal Dutch Shell plc and Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (ENER), and a highly experienced expert in the renewable, alternative, and conventional energy fields.From 2007 to 2011 he was Managing Director of Diverse Energy, which manufactures and sells ammonia based, fuel cell power systems for the telecoms industry, where he helped raise over £12M in equity and grant funding. In addition to his specific technical expertise in solar photovoltaics, fuel cells advanced batteries and hydrogen storage and related sustainable energy systems, Dr. Livesey brings extensive experience in materials science, protein crystallography, molecular biology, x-rays, neutron/EXAFS scattering for material property identification. Dr. Livesey also has experience in geological seismic interpretation, engine and vehicle testing, as well as alternative and conventional hydrocarbon-based fuels.

Dr. Livesey is currently a consultant in the renewable energy field and the former Executive Manager of New Business Development and Strategic Planning at Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. During his tenure at ECD, Dr. Livesey conducted financial evaluations and prioritization of solar research and development projects, conducted strategic studies of photovoltaic manufacturing expansion options, designed budgetary controls for multiple $60 million-plus capital building projects, and participated in efforts to raise $350 million by public stock offering. Dr. Livesey also served as Director of Business Development and Architecture Design for the developmental Cognitive Computer program and as Director of the Hydrogen Energy Systems business unit during his six years with the company.

Dr. Alastair K. Livesey holds a PhD in Experimental Physics (Amorphous Materials, Physics, Metallurgy, and Materials Science) from the Cavendish Laboratory of Physics at Cambridge University, an MA degree in Science, and a BA degree in Crystallography, Physics, Chemistry, and Math.

Since 1975, Mr. Sierchio has practiced corporate and securities law in New York City, representing and offering counsel to domestic and foreign corporations, investors, entrepreneurs, and public and private companies in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, and Hong Kong.

Mr. Sierchio is admitted in all New York state courts and federal courts in the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of the State of New York as well as the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Sierchio is also a member of Sierchio & Company, LLP, counsel to the Company.

Advisory Board

Glenn Bergevin is a mechanical engineer specializing in energy harvesting and consumer product development, finite element analysis, and design for manufacturing and assembly. He has served as an engineer in the aviation, semiconductor, energy harvesting and consumer electronics industries, and has provided consulting services to companies in the consumer and industrial sectors.Mr. Bergevin is currently an LGO Fellow at MIT, pursuing an MBA at the Sloan School of Management and an SMME at the School of Engineering. In addition, he acts as a consultant on the Company’s MotionPower™-Express, Auto and Heavy systems, leveraging his experience as lead engineer on MotionPower™-Heavy.

Mr. Bergevin obtained a BSME from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is an ASME member.

Dr. Christopher Harris joined Vanderbilt University’s Center for Technology Transfer and Commercialization as Director of Licensing in October of 2011 and is responsible for leading all licensing activities. Prior to joining CTTC, Dr. Harris was the Associate Director for Licensing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado where he managed a team of licensing executives. He was also previously the Senior Licensing Manager at the University of Virginia Patent Foundation.

Dr. Harris has covered a broad range of technologies throughout his licensing career – from new drug compounds to engineering devices to medical imaging technologies and medical devices to consumer products to architectural works – and he has worked with all sizes of companies from sole proprietorships up to Fortune 5 companies. His experiences include management of large patent budgets, creation of IP management plans for large international consortia, business plan development for university technology start-ups, and patent infringement litigation. In 2010 and 2011 he was awarded with one of the Federal Laboratory Consortium’s Excellence in Technology Transfer awards.

Dr. Harris received his doctorate in nuclear physics from the University of Virginia in 2001. His doctoral work focused on the use of polarized electron-proton scattering to determine the charge distribution within the proton, a fundamental quantity known as GEp. Much of his graduate work pertained to the use of nuclear magnetic resonance to measure the magnitude and direction of the nuclear polarization in materials such as 15NH3, 15ND3 and 6LiD. He has twice been invited to speak at international workshops on the use of polarized targets in nuclear physics experiments and has co-authored papers published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A and Physics Letters B, among others.

In 2003, he became a registered U.S. Patent Agent and in 2008 he became a Certified Licensing Professional. He has been an active member of the Association of University Technology Managers since 2001 and currently serves as an Assistant Vice President for Survey and Metrics.

Prior to his graduate school career, Dr. Harris worked as a software design engineer for Martin Marietta in King of Prussia, Pa. There he helped design command and control type software for a classified contract.

Dr. Hegedus is a Research Scientist at the Institute of Energy Conversion (IEC) at the University of Delaware (UD), the world’s oldest photovoltaic research laboratory.

Dr. Hegedus is credited with more than 90 scientific publications related to thin film solar cell fabrication, characterization, manufacturing methods and reliability studies, and has played an active role in the development of numerous solar cell technologies, which have subsequently been commercialized.

Important to the ongoing development of SolarWindow™, Dr. Hegedus has specific expertise related to optical enhancement, textured transparent conducive oxides (TCO), thin film device analysis and characterization, heterojunctions, and stability under accelerated degradation conditions.

Dr. Hegedus also serves as Principal Investigator of industry-funded programs targeting improved power output of solar cells through chemical processes. Working through commercial partnerships, Dr. Steven S. Hegedus has developed technologies to help characterize the stability of organic photovoltaic modules under varying environmental conditions, an important hurdle in ensuring long-term performance. He is the co-editor of the Handbook of Photovoltaic Science and Engineering.

Dr. Hegedus received a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1977, a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UD.


Mr. Jerry Lynch, P.E. is the principle engineer at Sigma Design Company located in Springfield New Jersey, and is currently serving as Lead Engineer in the development of New Energy’s MotionPower™-Express technology for generating electricity from the motion of cars and light trucks. Mr. Lynch is credited with developing early prototypes of the MotionPower™ system, and has worked to achieve significant performance and durability milestones.

Mr. Lynch has 25+ years of experience creating innovative designs, implementing process improvement and solving business problems. As a senior level manager, he has been responsible for all phases of new product development. He has significant experience in technology acquisitions and has assisted in launching 6 new manufacturing business ventures. He has been responsible for the design and successful launches of 100’s of innovative technical new products. Mr. Lynch has significant international experience on major projects in Abu Dhabi, UAE, France, The Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Spain. Over the past 7 years he has personally been involved in four pilot projects in the renewable energy sector, specifically in solar and hydrokinetic power generation.

Mr. Lynch is a licensed professional engineer in NY and NJ, and has authored numerous articles on design and industrial manufacturing. Jerry has been certified by NIST as a LEAN Manufacturing Expert and has helped over 20 firms develop smart manufacturing methods and approaches. He holds 4 US patents with two patents pending. He is a member of the American Filtration & Separation Society and served as the AFS National Chairman 2006-2007, other affiliations include Society of Manufacturing Engineers, ASME, and SNAME. Mr. Lynch serves on the Middlesex College Engineering Advisory Board and is on the Technical Advisory Board of “Filtration News”, an industrial trade magazine.

Mr. Lynch has a BS in Engineering from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, a MS in Business Management from Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ.

Mr. Lynch is the Lead Research and Development Engineer of the Company’s MotionPower™-Express system, designed for roadway installations where vehicles are required to decelerate or stop, and in the process, assists vehicles in slowing down. MotionPower™ captures the slowing vehicle’s motion (kinetic) energy before it is lost as brake heat and friction, and creatively converts this energy into ‘clean’, green electricity.


Mr. Patrick T. Sargent has nearly two decades of high tech product design and development experience, launching his career as a Mechanical Engineering (ME) Consultant for an Atlanta based consulting firm. Following his ME tenure Patrick worked at Lucent Technologies and Fujitsu Network Communications where he designed fiber optical packet networks for trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific telephony network carriers.

In the solar-glass industry, Mr. Sargent joined Asahi Glass Company (AGC), a global glass leader reporting nearly $16 billion in 2010 sales. At AGC’s Flat Glass business division he was appointed Photovoltaics Cover Technology Leader for the North American Solar Business Unit, eventually assuming leadership for Market Intelligence & Governmental Relations at AGC Solar North America. As Director of Solar Market Intelligence for Asahi’s Solar Business Unit, he’s credited with the award of millions of dollars in grants, and for successfully performing predictive intelligence which correctly forecast market behavior prior to its realization.

Currently, Mr. Sargent is President and CEO of Corona Solar Group, LLC. Corona Solar Group is a solar engineering, procurement, and installation company with focus on Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina markets. As President and CEO, Patrick designs, and oversees the development and on-site installation of distributed solar generation facilities throughout the Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina markets. Once commercialized, this particular experience is important to the interconnection of SolarWindow™ to the electrical connections in commercial buildings.

A degreed mechanical engineer, Mr. Patrick T. Sargent earned his Mechanical and Industrial Engineering undergraduate degrees from Georgia Tech University and subsequently his MBA at Kennesaw State University. He is a charter member and board member of the Tennessee chapter of SEIA and a member of GSEA and GANA, where he often entertains speaking engagements. He holds certifications with Six Sigma and NABCEP.

Dr. Z. Valy Vardeny currently serves as a Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Utah; a fellow of the American Physical Society (1996); is Editor of both Nature Communication, and Journal of Synthetic Metals; and is consultant to major corporations. He also holds a dozen provisional and issued patents.

Dr. Vardeny is one of the world’s foremost experimental physicists, and is routinely invited to speak at important scientific conferences all over the world, including the Nobel Symposium on “Conducting Polymers” as well as the symposium for the 2000 Nobel Prize Award in Chemistry.

A prolific author, he is credited with publication of 490 peer-reviewed papers in some of the most prestigious publications in the world, including the Physical Review Letters, considered by many to be the most prominent journal in physics, in which his writing has appeared 50 times. He also served as Regional Editor of the Physical Review, a respected American science journal.

His research interest include optical, electrical and magnetic properties of organic semiconductors; fabrication of organic optoelectronic (OLED’s and solar cells) and spintronics (spin-valve) devices; laser action, nonlinear optical spectroscopy, and ultrafast transient spectroscopy of organic semiconductors, nanotubes, and fullerenes; fabrication and properties of 3D dielectric photonic crystals; metallo-dielectric and metallic photonic crystals; 2D plasmonic lattices, quasicrystal and fractals of hole arrays in metallic films.

Dr. Z. Valy Vardeny earned his B.S. and PhD in Physics from the Technion, Haifa, Israel. He received the Yigal Alon National Award in 1982; the University of Utah Research award in 1996; the Willard Award of Art and Science in 1997; the Lady Davis Professorship at the Technion in 2000, in 2005 and again in 2009; the Utah Governor’s Medal of Science and Technology in 2005; the 2008 Frank Isakson APS Prize for Optical Effects in Solids; and the Rosenblatt Award for Excellence at the University of Utah, the university’s highest honor.