Investment Board Profiles
Mark A. Baffa
Director, Fuel Cell Products Group
Modine Manufacturing Company
Mark Baffa has been with Modine for 20 years and has held several positions throughout his tenure. From 1985-1994 Mark was in Modine's corporate purchasing department. In 1988 he was named Director with responsibility for all of Modine's purchasing activities and in 1993 was tasked with global responsibility when Modine made a major acquisition in Germany to expand their presence in the European markets. From 1995-1998 Mark was Operations Manager for Modine's Heavy Duty and Industrial Division where he had responsibility for five major manufacturing facilities. In late 1998, as the fuel cell industry was attracting a great deal of attention throughout industry, Mark was asked to study and evaluate Modine's potential prospects in this area. At Mark's suggestion, Modine formed a Fuel Cell group in 2000 to focus on the emerging market opportunities presented by the fuel cell industry. In the five years since the group was formed Mark has lead a team of engineers and scientists in establishing a prominent position for Modine in this emerging market. Modine is recognized as the leader in providing innovative thermal management solutions to both the fuel cell and the hydrogen infrastructure industries.
Mark has a Bachelors degree in Microbiology from the University of Montana.
Richard (Rick) Barber
Grants Consultant
(member of CTT Board of Directors and Chairman of Investment Fund Board)
Rick Barber is currently a consultant in grant procurement, business planning, and feasibility studies. He successfully procured $1.14 million in grant funding for mid-size and small firms in 2003 alone. Rick has prepared feasibility studies and business plans for firms in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Before that he served as a Business Developer at the Northwest Regional Planning Commission in Spooner, Wisconsin which is a regional economic development organization assisting mostly mid-size and startup firms. Rick also worked as a Business Consultant at the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund in Virginia, Minnesota where he advised startup entrepreneurs. From 1988 to 2001, Rick was President of Forest Management Specialists, a forestry consulting firm with offices in Grand Rapids and Duluth, Minnesota and Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Rick has an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis (1991) and a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point (1987).
Trevor D’Souza
Managing Directo
Mason Wells Venture Funds
As a Managing Director of Mason Wells Venture Funds, Mr. D’Souza co-manages the venture investment activities of the firm. His responsibilities include initiating investment opportunities, structuring and negotiating transactions, serving on the Board of Directors of the portfolio companies, working with portfolio company management teams to create shareholder value and arranging for the orderly disposition of investments at a profit to the fund. Prior to joining Mason Wells in 2000, Mr. D'Souza had many years of experience in consulting and business management in the software and life science industries.
Mr. D’Souza received his Masters of Business Administration from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Catholic University of America, both located in Washington D.C..
George Edgar
Director, Energy Policy
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation
(representative appointed by Focus on Energy, the funding source)
George Edgar has expertise in energy regulatory and IRP/demand-side policy as well as Demand-Side Management program design and development. George was Executive Director at WECC from 1991 to mid-1999. He has been involved in the field of energy policy and regulation as a lawyer, consultant, and regulator since 1976.
Prior to joining WECC, Mr. Edgar was a partner in the Madison, Wisconsin law firm of Boardman, Suhr, Curry & Field where he represented municipal utilities at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on various matters including transmission access and pricing issues as well as provided legal assistance on environmental compliance and demand-side issues. He also represented large industrial gas users at the FERC in pipeline rate cases and transportation pricing cases.
Tom Schubert
Chief Technology Officer
Invivo Corporation, a division of Intermagnetics General Corporation
Tom Schubert is a founder of MRI Devices Corporation, and served as its President and Chief Executive Officer from its inception in 1991 until its sale to publicly traded Intermagnetics General Corporation in June of 2004 for $100 million. MRI Devices Corporation designed, manufactured and sold radio frequency coils for MRI systems, functional imaging systems for analysis of brain function, and computer assisted diagnostic systems for evaluation of breast cancer. MRI Devices began as a startup in 1991, and grew to sales of over $43M in 2003. Sales today are approximately $75M.
Tom currently serves as Chief Technology Officer for Invivo Corporation, the Medical Device Sector of Intermagnetics General Corporation, with a team of 22 scientists, engineers, and technicians. He is responsible for the technology development roadmap for the medical device sector.
Tom began his career at GE Medical Systems, holding various engineering positions from 1978 to 1987, working on stress and vibration analysis in CT systems, design of ultrasound transducers, thermal analysis and design of CT tubes, magnet cryostat thermal analysis, MR magnet shimming, MR gradient coil acoustic noise reduction, and magnetic field modeling and shielding of high field MR magnets. Subsequently, he served as Product Manager at Lindgren RF Enclosures and Sales Engineer and Product Manager at Medical Advances Inc.
Tom has been awarded five patents relating to CT tubes, MRI system technology, and RF coils. He holds a B.Sc. in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, where he performed extensive post-graduate work in laser interferometry.