Our Team

Stephen R. Forrest is CEO of Heat2Power and the Peter A. Franken Distinguished University Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan, where he also holds professorships in Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Materials Science and Engineering. A globally recognized pioneer in organic electronics and optoelectronics, he has authored over 658 papers and holds 408 U.S. patents, with his innovations including the invention of phosphorescent OLEDs. Prof. Forrest is a member of several national academies, co-founder of multiple tech companies, and recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the IEEE Jun-ichi Nishizawa Medal.

Andrej Lenert co-founded Heat2Power in 2024. He is a pioneer in the field of thermophotovoltaics (TPVs). His research group at UM established thin-film back-reflector cells, now widely used in the manufacture of high efficiency TPVs. Andrej guided the development of air-bridge TPVs from invention to technology and co-founded Heat2Power to see their translation into the market. His inventions include dielectric back reflector, bifacial, and multi-terminal TPVs. Prior to UM and H2P, he received his PhD at MIT in 2014 where he focused on the development of nanophotonic solar TPV devices with integrated high-temperature absorbers and emitters which made the MIT Technology Review 2017 list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies.

Greg Olsen was the third private citizen to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). After an illustrious career as a research scientist and entrepreneur, Greg is now president of GHO Ventures in Princeton, NJ, an “angel” investments firm. Greg received his BS Physics (1966), BSEE and MS Physics (1968) from Fairleigh Dickinson University, then was awarded a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Virginia (1971). Greg founded EPITAXX, a fiber-optic detector manufacturer in 1984 and it was sold in 1990 for $12 million. He then founded Sensors Unlimited, a near-infrared camera manufacturer in 1992 with Marshall Cohen. Sensors was sold to Finisar Corp. for $600 million in 2000, repurchased by the management team in 2002 for $6 million, and then sold again to Goodrich, Corp. in 2005 for $60 million.

John T. Preston is founder of TEM Capital and Science Advisor for Quadrant Management. Most of Mr. Preston’s career (30 years) was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M.I.T., where he was the Director of Technology Development (and Licensing). In that capacity he was responsible for the commercialization of intellectual property developed at M.I.T. and oversaw activities that led to the creation of hundreds of new technology-based companies as well as the negotiation of thousands of licenses with existing companies.