Meet The Team
Lon is a leading expert in the development and mass production of high-reliability electromechanical systems and solid-state thermoelectric products. He founded Amerigon, Inc. (now Gentherm, Inc., NASDAQ: THRM), the world’s largest supplier of thermoelectric devices, and also led Amerigon subsidiary BSST LLC. He founded Technar, Inc., which developed and mass-produced automotive airbag crash sensors and other proprietary electromechanical components, and co-founded Mahindra REVA Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd., an Indian electric vehicle manufacturer. Lon served on the board of directors of ClearSign Combustion (CLIR) and Ideal Power (IPWR) and is currently on the board of directors of Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc. (CDTI). He has served as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board at Michigan State University’s Energy Frontier Research Center, a multi-university consortium conducting fundamental research in solid-state energyconversion technologies, and served in a similar role at the University of California at Santa Barbara’s Institute for Energy Efficiency. He is the former chairman and current board member of the External Advisory Board for the Mechanical and Civil Engineering Department at the California Institute of Technology. Lon has authored more than 40 publications in the areas of thermodynamics of thermoelectric systems, automotive crash sensors and other electronic and electromechanical devices and holds over 100 patents. He received a bachelor of science in Mathematics in 1962, a master of science in Rocket Propulsion in 1963 and a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering in 1968, all from the California Institute of Technology.
Doug works on thermoelectric technology development and is a leading expert in the innovation and optimization of thermoelectric heat-to-power and thermal management. He served previously as director of Thermoelectric Engineering at Alphabet Energy, Inc. and as principal engineer of Thermoelectric Systems/Development at Gentherm, Inc. (formerly Amerigon, Inc. and BSST LLC). He has over 25 patents and patent applications, and has authored several book chapters and dozens of peer-reviewed papers and conference proceedings in the field of thermoelectrics. Doug was also the principal investigator for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Automotive Waste Heat Recovery program at Gentherm, where he led a project team that included BMW, Ford and Tenneco. He holds a bachelor of science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master of science and doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park, where he studied the simulation of thermoelectric waste heat recovery from an automotive cooling system.
Chris is a technical business leader with proven success in new business growth as well as new product development, R&D and process development. He is accomplished in growing revenue through development of new products and processes and working directly with customers and internal engineering teams. Dr. Caylor has experience in a wide array of technical fields including clean energy, additive manufacturing, materials science and thermal management. Chris bridges between technical prowess and business acumen with experience in winning and managing government programs as well as management functions such as market and cost analysis, facilities expansion and management and technical leadership. Dr. Caylor is a recognized leader in advanced TE materials systems and device integration as well as compound semiconductors (II-VI, III-V, IV and V-VI).
Claire supports business operations, assists with research, calculates and prepares numerical data, produces figures and graphs and prepares patent applications. She also handles IT needs, financial modeling, bookkeeping and other functions. Claire has over 15 years of experience managing business functions in both nonprofit and corporate environments. She previously served as manager of procurement and global IT coordination at Millennium Hotels & Resorts, and as business administrator at the California Institute of Technology. She received a bachelor of science in Business from California State University, Channel Islands.
