Management Team

Michael Hart
President and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Hart has served as Sierra Energy’s President and CEO since he founded the company in 2004. Named an “Environmental Hero” by the U.S. EPA, Mr. Hart also serves as President of Sierra Railroad Company, providing services throughout California. Mr. Hart is a graduate of U.C. Davis, where he frequently lectures. Prior to joining Sierra, Mr. Hart acted as a management consultant for FMC, NASA (Mars Mission), TRW, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, GM, ARS and Hay Systems and worked as a developer for Apple’s joint project with NeXT. Mr. Hart has also created a variety of software tools for analysis of future weapon systems and operational impacts, including developing advanced weapons systems for the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Marine Corp.

Torgny Nilsson
Vice President and General Counsel
Mr. Nilsson been with Sierra Energy since 2004 and has extensive intellectual property, corporate governance, and corporate finance experience. Prior to joining Sierra, Mr. Nilsson worked for various law firms and companies including Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, Gartenberg, Jaffe, Gelfand & Stein LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and NASA. After earning two B.A. degrees from the University of California, Davis, Mr. Nilsson received his law degree from Santa Clara University School of Law, where he was an editor of the Santa Clara Law Review and received the American Jurisprudence Award. Mr. Nilsson has also completed studies in comparative law at Magdalen College, Oxford University.

Christopher J. Kasten
Vice President, Technology
Mr. Kasten received his B.S. in aerospace engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and partial masters in solid mechanics from Washington University (St. Louis, Missouri). Mr. Kasten has been involved with Sierra Energy’s FASTOX™ technology since its early development. Mr. Kasten has over 15 years experience leading critical technology projects, including managing remote engineering centers, for organizations such as NASA, McDonnell Douglas/Boeing, SBC, IBM, and other Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Kasten’s technical achievements include two U.S. patents granted and six patents pending in his name for his prior industry work.

David Magaw
Vice President, Finance
Mr. Magaw has extensive experience in the electric power industry, as an engineer, a staff attorney, as Manager of Power Marketing for a federal power agency Western States Power, and as a partner with Henwood Energy. He has worked with electric and water utilities in maintenance, construction, power marketing, regulation, and power and facility contracts since 1974.

Daniel Mark Dodd
Vice President, Engineering
Mr. Dodd earned a Masters of Engineering, with first class honours, in aerospace and mechanical engineering from the University of Bristol in England. Prior to joining Sierra Energy, Mr. Dodd’s professional experience included engineering work for Goodrich Aerospace Corp., Bridgestone UK Ltd., Atkins Engineering Consultants, The European Space Agency (ESA) and Turbine Generation Ltd. In 2003 Mr. Dodd was awarded the prestigious Engineering Leadership Award Scholarship from the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, England.

Tim Keller
Business Strategy Advisor
Mr. Keller had over 10 years experience in production management before pursuing his MBA at UC Davis where he won the Big Bang business plan competition in 2008.  A compulsive entrepreneur, Tim spends most of his time with his own startup but having worked with Sierra Energy for 2 years, and having played a key role in crafting it’s development strategy, he remains frequently involved with Sierra Energy helping to continually refine the company’s strategy for bringing FASTOX™ to market.

John Jasbinsek
Senior Science Advisor
Mr. Jasbinsek is the co-inventor of the FASTOX™ process and has more than 40 years experience in metallurgical-chemical engineering and management in major manufacturing organizations in both the United States and Europe. As a Sr. Process Metallurgist and Resident Consulting Engineer at Kaiser Steel Corporation for 19 years, Mr. Jasbinsek performed research and development relating to blast furnace and steel manufacturing technology. His vast metallurgical experience also included eight years as an Engineering Specialist for Rockwell International. Mr. Jasbinsek earned an M.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and was awarded a Masters Degree of Metallurgical Engineering by the German Cultural Minister.

Dr. David H. Wakelin
Dr. Wakelin received his B.Sc and Ph.D degrees in engineering metallurgy from Imperial College, University of London. He has been employed by LTV Steel Company, and its predecessors Jones and Laughlin, his entire career. He began as a Research Engineer in the steelmaking group at the Graham Research Laboratory in Pittsburgh in 1966. After transferring to Development Engineering in 1974, he became Supervisor of Ironmaking Engineering in 1979. Upon the merger of Republic Steel with LTV Steel in 1984, he assumed his current position of Manager, Development Engineering-Primary. Dr. Wakelin has authored numerous papers on iron and steelmaking and is the holder of a patent for the manufacture of high chromium steels. He is a member of AISE, Eastern States Blast Furnace and Coke Oven Association, and the Iron and Steel Society of AIME, for whom he has lectured on blast furnace topics at continuing education courses. He served as Chairman of the Ironmaking Division of ISS from 1995-96 and was a member of the ISS Board of Directors from 1995 to 1997.

Dr. Wei-Kao Lu
Professor Emeritus, University of McMaster, Canada
Dr. Lu received his B.S. from National Cheng-Kung University and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lu holds the position of Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering at McMaster University, Canada where he is engaged in research into heterogeneous kinetics and mechanisms of ironmaking reactions in blast furnaces and rotary hearth furnace, carbonization, reducibilities of iron ore agglomerates, melting of DRI and HBI, and waste oxide recycling. Dr. Lu has authored numerous papers on iron and steelmaking and received the Josef S. Kapitan Ironmaking Best Paper Award from the Association for Iron and Steel Technology in 2007 for a paper entitled “Blast Furnace Performance and Tuyere Practice at Stelco Hamilton No. 5 Blast Furnace”, Indianapolis, Indiana, May 2007.