Mission — Arctura

Our Team

Neal Fine, PhD

Founder & CEO

Neal has been a technology leader for more than 25 years. Since graduating from MIT with a PhD in Marine Hydrodynamics in 1993, he has led the development of technologies for a variety of fluid mechanical systems - from submarines and surface ships, to aircraft and America’s Cup yachts. He has performed basic and applied research and he has led product development efforts for the energy, marine, aviation, and defense industries. In 2015, he founded Arctura to commercialize new technologies aimed at reducing the cost of wind energy. Neal grew up in old-town Marblehead, MA, where he learned to race sailboats as a teenager and first gained an appreciation for the power of the wind. He has been a Rhode Islander since 1993, where he and his wife raised their three children.

Chris Szlatenyi

Lead Engineer

Chris has over 8 years of experience in mechanical engineering and design. He graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with High Distinction in 2010. After starting his career working in the marine industry, he jumped ship in 2018 to join Arctura and to focus his talents on advancing wind energy. Chris is a life-long resident of Rhode Island, where he can often be found hiking with his dog, Tucker.

Pascal Mickelson, PhD

lead Scientist

Pascal is an experimental physicist with expertise in plasma diagnostics and pulsed power engineering. He earned his PhD at Rice University in Applied Physics in 2010. After leading several technology development efforts in support of the aerospace industry during the early part of his career, Pascal joined Arctura in 2019 to apply his talents to support the advancement of a sustainable energy future. His roots are in California, and he now resides in Oregon with his family and their dog, Morley.

Adam Janik

Senior Research Engineer

Adam graduated from Brown University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and from DTU with a MS in Wind Turbine Technology. He is passionate about wind energy and happy to be a part of the Arctura team. An avid runner with New England roots, he now can be found running the streets of Rhode Island when he is not in the lab.

Elizabeth Matthews

Research Engineer

After a yearlong internship with the company, Lizzy moved to Rhode Island from West Virginia to join Arctura full time. She has a passion for developing sustainable energy solutions and has joined the company to help further its mission. Lizzy graduated with honors from West Virginia University in 2021 with a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering and a minor in German. Outside of work, she enjoys reading and exploring her adopted state of Rhode Island.

Our Scientific Advisory Board

John Warner

John Warner, a founder of green chemistry, co-authored the book defining the field's 12 principles with Paul Anastas in 1998. An industrial chemist with over 350 patents, he has collaborated with numerous global companies and serves on sustainability boards for several multinationals. He received the Perkin Medal in 2014. As an academic, John was a tenured professor at the University of Massachusetts, where he launched the first PhD program in Green Chemistry. With over 120 publications, he has been recognized with awards like the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring (2004) and the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal (2022). As an entrepreneur, his inventions have led to the creation of companies in fields such as photovoltaics, neurochemistry, and water harvesting. He is currently the President and CEO of The Technology Greenhouse.

Stephen Nolet

Steve Nolet is Principal Engineer and Senior Director of Innovation and Technology at TPI, Inc., the world’s leading independent wind turbine blade manufacturer. An MIT-trained aeronautical engineer with a long history of innovation in composite materials and manufacturing, Steve has been innovating and developing cost-reducing blade manufacturing technologies since 2003. He has been a mentor and advisor to Arctura’s Founder and CEO, Neal Fine, since long before the Company was conceived. He is an active participant in Arctura’s ARPA-E-funded effort to develop an active load control system for next-generation wind turbines, and he serves alongside Neal Fine and others on the Industrial Advisory Board of the WindSTAR Industry/University Cooperative Research consortium. Steve is a strong supporter of the Arctura mission, and he continues to provide technical and strategic support to the Company. An avid sailor and boatsman,

Prof. Mario Rotea

Professor Mario A. Rotea holds the Erik Jonsson Chair in Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is a leading innovator in the field of Controls Engineering, and he led the control system development team for Arctura’s ARPA-E-funded project “Active Aerodynamic Load Control for Wind Turbines.” Mario's invention of a novel Log-of-Power Extremum Seeking Control (LP-ESC) approach for wind turbines and wind farms is also featured in Arctura’s ESC-based performance optimization product development effort. In addition to his academic roles, Mario also serves as co-Director of the WindSTAR Industry/University Cooperative Research consortium, where he interacts with Industrial Advisory Board members Arctura, TPI, and others. He is a Fellow of the IEEE for contributions to robust and multivariable control.

Prof. Kenny Breuer

Kenny Breuer holds dual Appointments as Professor of Engineering and Ecology/Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. His lab performs a wide range of research on the subjects of fluid dynamics, fluid-structure interaction, the mechanics of animal flight, renewable energy harvesting, and other topics. Kenny has been a long-time advisor to Arctura’s Founder and CEO, Neal Fine, and currently supports the Company’s effort to develop a mechanical actuator for controlling the sectional lift on a wind turbine blade.

Mr. J. Anderson (“Andy”) Plumer

Andy Plumer is the Chief Engineer at NTS Lightning Technologies. He has over 50 years of experience in high voltage and lightning research. He was the Founder and President of Lightning Technologies, Inc. (LTI) from 1977 until 1999, when LTI was acquired by NTS. Andy is the author or co-author of numerous technical papers and reports, the book Lightning Protection for Aircraft, several lightning-related engineering standards, and two patents. He is a fellow of both the Royal Aeronautical Society and IEEE. He was also a leader in the development of the new IEC wind turbine standard, IEC 61400-24. Andy advises Arctura on all things lightning-related, while also supporting the Company’s DOE SBIR project “Development of a Wind Turbine Blade Surface Coating to Reduce Damage Due to Lightning.”

Prof. Steven Suib

Prof. Suib is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Connecticut. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Inorganic Chemistry. His primary research areas include manganese oxides, catalysis, plasma chemistry, plasma catalysis, ceramics, nanotech, and microwaves. He has published more than 700 scholarly papers and holds over 80 patents. He is an international leader in the field of zeolite synthesis. He is also an expert in the field of plasma chemistry and plasma catalysis. In 2005, Prof. Suib received one of the top national awards in chemistry, the annual Chemical Pioneer award of the American Institute of Chemists. The award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions with a major impact on advances in chemical science and industry.