NET Leadership

Robert Noble AIA, LEED-AP

Founder & Chairman
Noble Environmental Technologies Corporation

Robert Noble is an architect, environmental designer, industrial designer and environmental technology entrepreneur, and has been the recipient of numerous regional and national awards for his industrial and architectural designs, and green technology innovations. Beginning very early in his career, Mr. Noble dedicated himself to “mission founded” enterprises which would force a convergence of environmentally committed professional design services and clean product and manufacturing technologies with the realities of many large commercial markets and the building industry.

Over his 29 year career, he and/or his work has been awarded Entrepreneur Magazine’s Environmental Innovator of the Year, the Edison Award for Environmental Achievement, “Best of What’s New” – Popular Science 100 Best of 1993, Popular Mechanics “Top Ten for Driving Green”, InterPV Magazine’s Top 10 PV Picks for 2010, MIT Forum, San Diego CONNECT and awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Urban Land Institute, the US Green Building Council and many others.

He attended UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Harvard Business School, and Cambridge University Graduate Department of Architecture. He is well known in the San Diego area as the past CEO of Tucker Sadler Architects, having led the turn-around and rebuilding of the 50 year old firm into the leading sustainable design firm in the region.

Since 1985, Mr. Noble has invented a number of structural panel and building system technologies including: Gridcore, ECOR, Pyramod manufactured building systems, KIVA manufactured building systems, Qhut and Ehut building systems and a wide array of other technologies.

Mr. Noble launched Noble Environmental Technologies Corporation (NET) in 2006 to provide the platform for the research, technology development and commercialization of 3 dimensional engineered molded fiber (3dEMF) processes towards worldwide construction, furniture and other markets. NET engaged in an exclusive Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Forest Products Laboratory of the USDA in Madison, Wisconsin to transfer fundamental research into applied research and product development of the company’s 3D engineered molded fiber manufacturing technologies and 100% post-consumer recycled content, 100% non-toxic structural materials. The new technology is named “ECOR®” Technologies and Products. NET is based in San Diego, CA, with operations in San Marcos, California and Madison, Wisconsin.

In June of 2006, Mr. Noble founded Envision Solar International, Inc. which became a public company in February of 2010 (EVSI:OB). Mr. Noble is currently the Chairman of the company. The company provides turn-key design-build services to plan, design, construct and maintain large scale solar parking arrays and other structure projects worldwide and has developed a range of Solar Integrated Building SystemsTM including LifePort® residential solar carports and LifeVillage independent Sustainable Energy Facilities. Partnered with Kyocera Solar, Envision’s founding team collaborated to produce the extraordinarily successful and notable “Solar Grove®” project at Kyocera’s San Diego manufacturing facility, based on Mr. Noble’s invention: the Solar Tree® solar parking array. Mr. Noble and his team invented innovative products for commercial, residential, and institutional projects, including EnvisionTrakTM, CleanChargeTM, Solar Tree®, Solar Grove®, Solar RowTM, LifePort®, LifePodTM, LifeVillageTM solar systems and others. Since its founding, Envision Solar has completed the design for over 10 megawatts of solar projects, including 10 projects completed by mid-2009. Envision Solar is based in San Diego, CA. (www.envisionsolar.com)

He has been very active in supporting not-for-profit organizations. He is recent past Chairman of the Board of the California Center for Sustainable Energy; past Chair of the US Green Building Council of San Diego; past President of the American Institute of Architects of San Diego; past Chair of the California American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment; past Board Member of The Old Globe Theatre; Advisory Board Member of Clean Tech Institute; and past Chairman of the San Diego Downtown YMCA. He founded Architects For Life, a California 501 c3 tax exempt non-profit in 1999 to provide high level building and infrastructure disaster assistance worldwide.

He and his work have been published extensively, and he has written extensively regarding sustainable design, USBGC LEEDTM Certification, emergency shelter for disaster relief, renewable energy and many other subjects. He is an “Xconomist” and writes for xconomy.com. He has been a highly committed and vocal local, regional and national advocate of environmentally responsible manufacturing, design and planning, and low-cost, emergency and affordable housing for over 25 years.

Mr. Noble is 60 years old, lives with his wife Nina and two of their six children in Encinitas, CA. He is a licensed private pilot with instrument and multi-engine certifications. His hobbies include kayaking, bicycling, flying, golf and RV travelling with his family. He is a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation and is trained as an instructor in meditation.

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Jay Potter

CEO – GreenCore Capital, LLC

Jay has been active in the financial industry for over 20 years and has successfully participated, directed or placed over two hundred million dollars of capital in start-up and early stage companies. He is CEO of GreenCore Capital which identifies, finances, and supports renewable energy and green technology companies. He has served as Chairman, President and CEO of Nexcore Capital, Inc. and its financial service affiliates since co-founding the company in 1996. Mr. Potter serves as Founder and Chairman of Sterling Energy Resources, Inc., a public oil and gas company (Symbol: SGER) involved in the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas from its numerous leases. He serves as a director of EAU Technologies, Envision Solar International, Envirepel Energy and WoodFuels, among others.

John Evey

Director

John Evey serves as an independent director of four companies and is currently also an advisor to the CEO’s of three other companies.  He is also Strategic Development Advisor to Nature and Culture International, a charitable organization that has conserved more than 8.7 million acres of tropical forest to protect species, watersheds and ecosystems with and to support human communities in Latin America. 

For more than 35 years, Evey led development and advancement programs for notable charitable organizations and educational institutions.  Prior to his work with Nature and Culture International,  Evey served for four years as Vice President for Development at the J. Craig Venter Institute (“JCVI”), for which pioneering genomic research entity he was responsible for generating collaborative partnerships and financial resources from all sources except federal research agencies.  From 2002 to 2007, he served as Assistant Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Executive Director of Development for the Marine Sciences at University of California, San Diego (“UCSD”).

Before coming to Scripps and UCSD, he was Vice President for Institutional Advancement at University of the Pacific and served, prior to that, for more than a decade as Director of Development at Oregon State University.  At Pacific, Evey was responsible for all external relations programs for that three-campus university (Stockton, Sacramento, and San Francisco).  As Director of Development for Oregon State, he was responsible for the university’s entire charitable giving program.

His earlier experience includes roles as founding director of the Office for Resource Development at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and as the initial association executive for the statewide arts lobby, Oregon Advocates for the Arts.  As a volunteer, he catalyzed creation of the Southern Oregon Land Conservancy.  As an officer of the Travel Industry Council of Oregon, Mr. Evey and two colleagues successfully advocated the creation and funding of a Tourism Division in the Oregon Department of Economic Development.  Evey is a member of the Host Committee for the Kyoto Prize Symposium in San Diego, which helps to host the Kyoto Prize laureates each spring.

Rene Hausler

Director/Advisor

Rene brings to NET a wealth of international business experience. After graduating from the University of Zurich, Switzerland with a bachelor’s degree in international business and an MBA in marketing, Rene spent 35 years working in ever increasing management positions for IKEA, a $31b international powerhouse with over 300 stores across Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia and North America. These positions included: CEO IKEA Sweden, CEO IKEA Switzerland & Austria, and President and CEO IKEA USA West. Most recently, Mr. Hausler was the Franchise owner of IKEA San Diego, a store with 300 employees, which he built to over $100m in revenue – the most profitable IKEA store in the USA. Rene currently sits on the boards of a number of international companies, including; AOTI, USA, Pro2Med Inc., Braziland Inc, USA, Fluent Inc, USA, and Design and Innovation Institute, USA, as well as several other local political and sports associations in Switzerland. Mr. Hausler is also CEO, President and Director of Sportcenter Ägeri, Switzerland, Hausler & Oida Inc., USA, and also the owner of the Kapuluan Vista Resort in the Philippines.

Freider Seible

Director/Advisor

Frieder Seible is the Dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. His responsibilities include strategic planning and operations, School-wide research and education initiatives, academic affairs, and UCSD-wide cooperative programs. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is the Walter J. Zable Professor of Engineering and the Eric and Johanna Reissner Professor of Applied Mechanics and Structural Engineering.

Dr. Seible's research achievements include the development of large-scale structural testing techniques, seismic assessment and retrofit of bridges, and the application of Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC) in civil engineering structures. He was the founding director of the Charles Lee Powell Structural Research Laboratories, which serve as a worldwide resource for full-scale testing and analysis of structures. Dr. Seible is the chair of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Seismic Advisory Board and has contributed to the Caltrans Bridge Seismic Safety Program through his large scale testing and retrofit research. Dr. Seible is an expert on the seismic safety of transportation structures, in particular large transportation hubs (stations) and elevated track/guideways. He has served on or led national and international committees on bridge reconstruction and retrofit, and serves as a structural engineering consultant on many of the world's long-span bridges. Dr. Seible has received numerous awards for his research and has published more than 500 papers and technical reports mainly related to seismic design of bridges and buildings, as well as blast resistant design of critical structures.
Dr. Seible joined the UCSD faculty in 1983, and served as the founding Chair of the Department of Structural Engineering from 1995 to 2001. As chair, he oversaw the development of the first nationally accredited program in structural engineering. He was appointed Executive Associate Dean of the Jacobs School in 2001, and was subsequently appointed Dean in 2003.

Dr. Seible received a Dpl. Ing. from the University of Stuttgart, a M.Sc. from the University of Calgary, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, all in civil engineering.

Christopher E. Gann

Advisor

Christopher Gann is dynamic executive with a career spanning more than twenty five years of management success in The Dow Chemical Company; and experience leading emerging enterprises. Served as CEO of Genomatica, a San Diego based chemical company which utilizes biotechnology to engineer bio-manufacturing. Currently is CEO of Bullish Energy, a new company geared at exploiting gas reserves in Alaska.
Consistently develops global business strategies securing implementation through keen people skills; results oriented.
Firsthand knowledge of an array of plastic and chemical specialties and commodities is complemented with a MA in Economics.
Strong written and verbal command of Spanish.

Gann joined Dow in 1981 in the Mexico Sales Office. He became Specialty Sales Manager in 1985, before he relocated to Coral Gables in 1986 to assume the position of Trading Manager for Latin America.  Two years later, he was named Polyethylene Product-Market Manager for Latin America.  He became Marketing Manager for Plastics in Mexico in 1991 and was named Commercial Manager for Plastics in 1992.  In 1994, Gann relocated to Midland and was named North American Business Manager for Epoxy Products and Intermediates.  In 1995 he assumed global responsibilities for this line of products.  In 1997, he joined Hydrocarbons and Energy and took on responsibilities as Vice President for global Olefins and Feedstocks in 2000.  In 2003, he was appointed Vice President of Technology Licensing and Catalyst. He was named Vice-President Polyethylene in 2004. In 2005 he was appointed Business VP Dow Greater China, and relocated to Shanghai. In 2008 Gann retired from Dow and took the helm of Genomatica as CEO. In 2009 Gann left Genomatica. In 2011 became involved in gas exploitation.

Gann also served as the Treasurer of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association for 4 years.

Gann received a degree in Business Administration from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, where he was honored with The Medalla Gabino Barreda (valedictorian).   He also has a master’s degree in Economics from Universidad de las Americas.

Frank Imhof

Advisor

Frank Imhof is President of IMCO General Construction in Ferndale, WA.  He has been contracting and managing public works and private construction projects for 40 years. Frank and his wife Patti founded IMCO in 1978. They have been married for 40 years, and are proud to have their family actively involved at IMCO.

Frank Imhof is an active member of the Whatcom County community and the construction industry. He recently completed his term as President of the PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center Foundation.  He has also been a leader and board member of AGC (Associated General Contractors) Northern District and Washington State, CITC (Construction Industry Technical College) WA and BIAW (Building Industry Association of Washington) since the early 90s.

Frank Imhof was raised on his family’s dairy farm in Ferndale, Washington. Francis, as his mother always called him, was the second eldest of Pat & Frank’s 8 children.  He is proud of the values and work ethics that were a big part of his coming-of-age.

Frank went to college first at Everett Community College where he played football and then at Washington State University. He planned to return to the family farm after college. While in college he worked summers for a friend’s dad who managed projects for a local contractor. Frank really liked the construction business—bigger projects, challenging and diverse work and changing opportunities. What began as a means to pay for an education in agriculture economics was the start of a business in the construction industry. 

IMCO started in rural Whatcom County, moved to Bellingham, expanded throughout Washington State and the Pacific Northwest and now has operations in Guam and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The IMCO headquarters moved in 2010 from a site on Meridian Street in Bellingham to a new location in Ferndale. The IMCO headquarters was recently LEED Certified.

Frank is the IMCO CEO and is still passionate about construction. IMCO has been honored with numerous awards including: safety excellence recognition (by AGC & ESC), Best Places to work in Washington State (by Seattle Business Magazine), best contractor in Whatcom County (by BIAW), and Frank was recently awarded Contractor of the Year (by AGC of WA).

Frank is an avid hunter and loves the outdoors. He stays active hiking his favorite hunting spots, boating, playing handball, and fishing. Frank and Patti love spending time with their grandchildren and traveling.