Management Team
Thomas Conroy
President and CEO
Director
Mr. Conroy joined Wind Tower Systems in 2005 to lead the commercialization activities of the company’s wind turbine tower and lifting system products. In 2008, he was promoted to CEO of the company. Mr. Conroy’s power generation career began in 1979 when he helped startup the last big wave of pulverized coal plants in the U.S. for Foster Wheeler Corp. He commissioned the world’s first successful low-NOx burners, started up plants in Spain, and then led the startup of the first coal-fired power station in the Dominican Republic. After earning his MBA in 1987, Mr. Conroy entered the enterprise data storage segment of the high tech industry, which is characterized by product price reductions of 50% per year. At Digital Equipment and then Compaq Computer, he held senior positions in the manufacturing, finance, operations, and global services functions where he focused on global new product and services introductions. Mr. Conroy holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree with heat and power concentration from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. Mr. Conroy earned an MBA, finance concentration, from Columbia University in New York, where he was a Beta Gamma Sigma academic honors society member.
David Oliphant
VP Engineering
Mr. Oliphant is responsible for the Space Frame tower and Hi-Jack Lifting System’s engineering development and certification. Mr. Oliphant is a seasoned engineering executive who offers a rare combination of technology expertise, technical teambuilding, and business skills. Most recently he was VP of Engineering for IsoTruss Structures, where he drove customer-based product changes and setup a fabrication facility and technical engineering team in Sri Lanka. Mr. Oliphant has extensive experience in structural systems requiring competence in fluid dynamics, stress analysis, and 3D modeling tools. He is an inventor on 14 issued patents, and earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Utah.
Brett Woodard
V.P. Finance, CFO
Mr. Woodard joined the company in August, 2007 and has been instrumental in arranging financing and securing capital to expand the company’s product development and manufacturing activities. He has over 25 years experience in arranging international and domestic project finance for high technology infrastructure projects and has served in senior finance and accounting functions in emerging telecommunications and biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Wind Tower Systems, Mr. Woodard was the Head of Nokia Networks Customer Finance N. America. In that position he was lead in arranging project financing packages for major Nokia customers in the U.S. and Latin America. He led the Nokia finance team in closing the first bank infrastructure financing in Argentina following the Peso devaluation. Prior to Nokia Mr. Woodard was employed by G.E. Capital serving as V.P. NTFC Capital in the Vendor Financial Services group. While in that position he led GECC’s efforts in closing a major participation in the Sprint PCS project finance package and also was involved in creating a profitable portfolio of infrastructure loans to start-up alternative access and wireless telecommunications companies. Immediately prior to joining Wind Tower Systems Mr. Woodard served as Acting CFO at ESIN, a new telecommunications network operator in Upstate New York. He holds a B.S and MBA, Finance from the University of Utah, and has also had additional graduate education in the PhD Finance program at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.
Board Of Directors
Tracy Livingston
Director and Chairman of the Board
Mr. Livingston founded Wind Tower Systems in 2002, secured initial grant financing, and innovated the initial designs that have evolved to today’s efficient Space Frame and Hi-Jack Systems designs. Mr. Livingston is now Chairman of the Board of Wind Tower Systems and participates fully in the wind industry as CEO of Wasatch Wind, a wind project development company. Mr. Livingston led the development of the first commercial wind farm in Utah at Spanish Fork. As a land and project developer and serial entrepreneur, Tracy has acquired deep skills in structured finance, corporate governance, and business management. As a technologist his skills include structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering. His diverse background provides the critical experience to bring new renewable energy technologies to market. Prior to founding Wind Tower Systems in 2002, Tracy gathered 17 years of experience founding, developing, growing, and selling technology businesses. In 1989, Tracy founded and grew Specialty Instruments, a medical device manufacturer and JTech Medical, a software and device manufacturing business which doubled in sales every year for 7 years until sold in 1999. Tracy is a member of Utah Angels, a venture capital investment group and has made investments in over a dozen Utah businesses. He has also served on the boards of more then 6 early stage companies several of which have been acquired at significantly increased valuations. He represents wind energy interests on several Utah based energy committees including the governor’s council for the Utah RPS initiative. Mr. Livingston's business development achievements are backed by fifteen years of manufacturing and engineering commercialization work at Pratt Whitney Aircraft, Hercules Aerospace Rocket Division, and Evans and Sutherland. He earned a Bachelor of Science, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Tennessee in 1983.
David F. Lincoln
Director, Managing Partner, Element Partners
With more than 15 years of venture capital experience, David has been a leading investor in energy and other clean technology companies for over 22 years. Prior to founding Element Partners in 2005, David was a co-founder and Managing Director of EnerTech Capital Partners, a leading energy technology venture firm formed in 1996. Under his leadership, EnerTech managed over $290 million in two successive funds focused on energy and communications technologies. During his tenure there, David led 14 investment transactions and is considered to be one of the early pioneers in energy technology investing. Prior to the formation of EnerTech, David founded and served as President and CEO of Deven Resources, Inc., a private equity firm dedicated to the acquisition and development of energy properties, which was successfully sold to a public oil and gas company. Previously, from 1984 to 1991 David was a partner with CMS Companies, a Philadelphia-based private equity and financial services firm. During his tenure at CMS, David was engaged in a variety of roles including the evaluation, acquisition and financing of over $200 million in private investment transactions on behalf of CMS and its clients. During this time, the company launched and grew its private equity business, investing in real estate, communications and venture capital investments totaling over $1 billion. David began his career at UGI Corporation, a diversified energy and utility holding company, where he was engaged in both the regulated electric and the non-regulated energy divisions of UGI. While at UGI, David was dedicated to a wide range of strategic projects in corporate development and finance in each of the distinct divisions of the corporation. David received a BA with honors in Geology from Colgate University (1978); and an MS in Energy Management and Policy from the University of Pennsylvania (1982.) Previous boards on which David has served include Capstone Turbine Corp., Catalytic Solutions, Inc., Comverge, Inc., Franklin Fuel Cells, Inc., FuelQuest, Inc., IntelliSource, Inc., Intellon Corp., Orcom Solutions, Inc. Sagemaker, Inc., and Sixth Dimension, Inc.
Sam Gabbita
Director, Senior Associate, Element Partners
Sam joined Element Partners as a Senior Associate in 2006. He has experience in private equity and investment banking, with a focus on industrial, energy, and telecommunications companies. Prior to joining Element, Sam worked as an Associate at Lazard Freres focused on financial restructuring of companies in the energy, transportation, cable and automotive industries. He also spent three years as an Associate with Nautic Partners, a private equity firm, where he focused on growth, buyout and venture investments in the telecommunications and information technology sectors. Sam also worked as a Financial Analyst in Investment Banking for Salomon Brothers. Sam is member of the board of directors of Wasatch Wind, Inc. Sam earned his B.A. in economics, magna cum laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles, and an MBA, with a major in finance, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.