what makes us a special Company

Vasilis Gregoriou has been Chairman and CEO of Advent since inception. Dr. Gregoriou cofounded Advent Technologies Inc. in 2012. In addition, Dr. Gregoriou is an internationally known scientist with research and/or managerial positions in both the U.S. (Northeastern, MIT, Polaroid, Princeton) and Greece (NHRF, FORTH) over his 30 year career so far in the technology sector.
His research activity extends over a wide area of subjects in the renewable energy space that include the areas of flexible photovoltaics based on organic semiconductors, optically active materials based on conjugated oligomers and polymer nanocomposites. His published work as co-author includes three books and more than 100 scientific papers. He is also co-inventor of 15 patents. Dr. Gregoriou has more than 25 years of experience in the U.S. market. He has extensive experience in the technical development of new products and in the management of such activities. He holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Duke University and he has attended the MBA program at Northeastern University. He was also a NRSA award recipient at Princeton University. He also served as President of Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS) in 2001. Dr. Gregoriou is well-qualified to serve on the board of directors following the Business Combination due to his extensive scientific, managerial and industry experience.

Emory De Castro has been Advent’s Chief Technology Officer since 2013. Dr. De Castro is responsible for the overall technical, manufacturing and product development for Advent Technologies. Prior to joining Advent, Dr. De Castro was a Vice President, Business Management and the site manager for BASF Fuel Cell Inc. in Somerset NJ. At BASF Dr. De Castro led marketing and sales, business development, quality and R&D direction all cumulating in nearly a four-fold increase in revenues. As the Executive Vice President at the E-TEK Division, De Nora North America he managed operations, created a global brand, and expanded the organization’s fuel cell component business in Asia and Europe. Dr. De Castro has over 20 patent applications spanning fuel cell materials and catalysts, electrochemical technology, sensors, and a beer bottle cap that extends shelf life. He is the recipient of the 2013 Department of Energy Award for Manufacturing R&D in lowering the cost of gas diffusion electrodes and the 2005 ECS New Technology Award given to E-TEK Division, for introducing and commercializing a new electrolysis technology. Emory De Castro received his Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati and a B.S. in Chemistry from Duke University. 

Kevin Brackman is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Advent Technologies. Mr. Brackman has more than 25 years of experience in global finance and accounting, with proven success in driving financial strategy in multi-billion dollar, publicly held corporations. From 2018 to 2020, he was Executive Vice President and CFO for Myers Industries, Inc.  Prior to his promotion to CFO in 2018, he was Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Corporate Controller for Myers from 2015 to 2018.  Previously, he held various financial leadership roles at Ingersoll-Rand, 3D Systems Corp. and Chiquita Brands International. Mr. Brackman holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Finance from Miami University (Ohio).

Jim Coffey is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Advent Technologies. Mr. Coffey has over thirty years of experience in corporate and securities law, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and corporate finance, and intellectual property law. He has extensive international experience having closed transactions in both North and South America, Europe, and China. Throughout the course of his career, Jim has developed strong relationships and strategic contacts within the clean energy and technology sectors and specific experience in the fuel cell industry. From 2013 to 2017, he served as general counsel to another HT PEM fuel cell company. Mr. Coffey was a Gerald L. Wallace Scholar at New York University School of Law where he received an LL.M. in Corporate Law. He received his J.D. from the New England School of Law, and his B.A., cum laude, from Providence College. Mr. Coffey is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Mergers and Acquisitions. He is recognized for his work in intellectual property law by the IAM Patent 1000. Mr. Coffey was named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer by Law and Politics magazine. He is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Coffey is a fellow of the Boston Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation.

Chris Kaskavelis joined Advent as Chief Marketing Officer in 2019. He has served for 13 years as CEO and COO in startups that eventually IPOed in Nasdaq and London Stock Exchange and has grown companies from zero to 1,200 people. From 2016 to 2018, he was a research scholar at the MIT Media Lab in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been a seed investor in the company, an angel investor, and has served on its board of directors since the first day. He has designed and been responsible for enterprise software systems designed for Fortune 500 multinationals in the areas of Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing, Supply Chain Management and Production Scheduling. He holds a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management as well as an M.Sc. in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University, a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Business Economics from Brown University.

Nora Gourdoupi holds a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD from the University of Patras specializing in the synthesis and characterization of polymers for fuel cell applications. She joined  Advent Technologies in 2006 as a Senior Scientist and is co inventor in 18 patents. Being part of a fast-growing Small Medium Enterprise from its foundation,  Nora  has been involved in several key business processes including materials R&D as well as project managment. She currently holds the position of General Manager of the Greek branch overseeing daily operations while  being also engaged in product development, government projects and technical sales. She enjoys using her science knowledge to understand the business and technical issues customers are facing and  offer appropriate solutions.

Ian Kaye is a mechanical engineer with 20-plus years of leadership guiding R&D development and new product design in emerging energy areas. Mr. Kaye has proven success in transforming technology from concept through delivery of tested and innovative products in battery and fuel cell power sources for industrial and military markets. He has published more than 20 papers and publications and has 28 Issued U.S. Patents and 55 Pending Patents. From 2011 to early 2021, Mr. Kaye held executive roles including Chief Visionary Officer and Chief Technology Officer at California-based UltraCell LLC, where his leadership led to $7M in new advanced technology development contracts with the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. Prior to this, he led fuel cell development at PowerPrism, where he helped develop advanced hardware for a novel flow battery for grid storage, Jadoo Power, and MöbiVolt, where he developed an advanced grid energy battery. Mr. Kaye also worked for Analytic Power Inc, where he designed and tested the first-ever compact electrochemical hydrogen compressor for the U.S. Marines and successfully demonstrated the system up to 3,000 psi. Mr. Kaye holds a BSME from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and is fluent in English and Hungarian.

Katherine E. Fleming has over fifteen years’ experience in Higher Education leadership and has been the Provost of New York University since 2016, with responsibility for allocating financial resources and setting strategic priorities, and with oversight of all Deans and Directors. From 2007-2011 she directed the Institut Remarque at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, and from 2012-2016 she served as the President of the Board of the University of Piraeus. A historian by training, she earned a BA from Barnard College of Columbia University, an MA from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She was granted honorary Greek citizenship by the Hellenic Republic in 2015and in 2019 was named by France to the Legion d’Honneur. Dr. Fleming is well-qualified to serve on the board of directors following the Business Combination due to her extensive financial and scholastic experience.

Katrina Fritz is the Executive Director of the Stationary Fuel Cell Collaborative, leading education and outreach activities with the guidance of state agencies, local air districts and industry. She also works with the National Fuel Cell Research Center on state level clean energy policy and market development. Katrina currently serves as an expert to the European Commission on Horizon 2020 programs for research and innovation. As Principal of KM Fritz LLC, Katrina has provided advisory and consulting services to global industrial firms related to business and communications strategy in distributed energy generation markets. She has held leadership positions in numerous trade associations and on advisory boards including: The California Hydrogen Business Council, the International Energy Agency’s Fuel Cell Working Group; the U.S. Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association; the Alliance for Clean Energy New York; the Pacific Clean Energy Application Center at University of California, Berkeley; and the Connecticut Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Coalition. Katrina has held leadership positions at ClearEdge Power (formerly UTC Power), Plug Power and Case Western Reserve University, leading strategic planning, government relations, business development, and corporate communications. She also worked in the software industry in Santa Cruz, California and Watford, United Kingdom. Katrina has a BA degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Ms. Fritz is well-qualified to serve on the board of directors following the Business Combination due to her extensive leadership and clean fuel technology experience.

Lawrence M. Clark, Jr., who has served as an independent director of AMCI since November 15, 2018, is the founder and Managing Member of BalanTrove Management, LLC (‘‘BalanTrove’’), a corporate advisory firm to middle market companies, investors and lenders. BalanTrove provides strategic advisory, interim executive management, and operational, financial and project evaluation and due diligence assistance to businesses in transition and capital providers. Mr. Clark serves as a director of American Consolidated Natural Resources, Inc., the largest private miner of thermal coal in the Untied States. From 2019 to 2020 he served as a director of Balackhawk Mining, LLC and from 2015 to 2018, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Accordant Energy, LLC, a licensor of a patented portfolio of intellectual property for processing municipal solid waste into a low-carbon engineered fuel for use in utility and industrial boilers. Prior to that, he served for two years as President and Chief Executive Officer of JW Resources, Inc., a private operator of thermal coal assets in Central Appalachia. Before founding BalanTrove in 2011, Mr. Clark spent eight years at Harbinger Capital Partners LLC, most recently as Managing Director and Director of Investments, where he was responsible for investments in metals, mining, industrial and retail companies, among other sectors. From 2001 to 2002, Mr. Clark was a Distressed Debt and Special Situations Research Analyst at Satellite Asset Management, L.P. He was Vice President in the Distressed Debt and High Yield Research Department at Lazard Freres & Co., LLC from 2000 to 2001, and an Associate in Credit Suisse First Boston’s High Yield Research Group from 1998 to 2000. Mr. Clark started his investing career in 1997 in the Corporate Bond Research Department of Salomon Brothers. Mr. Clark received an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business in 1998, and a B.S.B.A. in Finance from Villanova University in 1993. He is well qualified to serve on the board of directors following the Business Combination due to his extensive operational, management, analysis and investing experience.

Anggelos Skutaris has a BSc in Economics from Arizona State University and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He has more than 28 years of International experience in banking, finance, management, treasury and investments. He is currently a member of the Incorporation Committee and Chief Investment Officer for Power Bank, a Qatar-based financial institution with a mission to provide Islamic financing to the global energy sector. Key positions he held in the past include: Chief Investment Officer (Janus Continental Group, JCG), Head of Treasury Operations & Transformation (Qatar Airways), Managing Partner (New Symbol Global Advisors), Chief Executive Officer (Piraeus Capital Management), Founder & CEO (OliveTree Management Associates), Group Treasurer (Titan Cement), Head of Equity Financing (Calyon Securities) and Director of Equity Financing (Credit Suisse). Whilst at Titan cement, Mr. Skutaris was instrumental in issuing the largest corporate syndicated facility in Greece, a 5-year, €800 million transaction. Mr. Skutaris is well-qualified to serve on the board of directors following the Business Combination due to his extensive business development and financial experience.

Dr. Sanjeev Mukerjee is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Northeastern University); where he has been since September of 1998. He also heads the newly created center for Renewable Energy Technology at Northeastern University and its subset the Laboratory for Electrochemical Advanced Power (LEAP). His research on charge transfer dynamics at both two and three dimensional electrochemical interfaces encompasses materials development, in situ synchrotron spectroscopy and electro-analytical methods. In addition, new computational initiatives are in progress involving both molecular modeling and simulation of multiple electron scattering in the context of in situ synchrotron XANES method. Peer reviewed publication currently number 106, with an H-factor of 45. The current projects in the group include materials development for new electrocatalysts, polymer electrolyte membranes and high energy density (and capacity) cathode materials for aqueous and non-aqueous storage cells. Fundamental understanding of structure property relationships are in concert with applications. In this context two startup companies which the group helped found, Encite Corp, Burlington, MA and Protonex Corp., Westboro, MA are notable. In addition partnership with De Nora, and BASF, Proton Onsite, Ford Motor Co., Advent North America and Automotive Fuel Cell Corporation (Canada) are ongoing for developing a number of fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies. Federal funding comes from the Army Research Office, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research and National Institute of Technology-Advanced Technology Program.