About Us

Ramya Swaminathan

Board Member, Chief Executive Officer

Ramya Swaminathan has developed Malta from concept to commercialization, guiding the company through multiple rounds of corporate venture funding and the recruitment of a multi-disciplinary team. She led the corporate independence of Malta from X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X) in 2018 and has served as the company's CEO since its founding.

Ms. Swaminathan advises the U.S. Department of Energy as a member of the Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC), serves as a DOE Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Ambassador, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Resources for the Future. 

Before founding Malta as an independent company, Ms. Swaminathan was the CEO of Rye Development, a hydropower development firm that she grew to be the leading developer of new hydropower and pumped hydro storage projects in the United States. She earned a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor in Anthropology from Amherst College.

Albert Morales

Chief Financial Officer

Albert “Al” Morales is an energy industry veteran with more than two decades of experience leading management, finance, and legal teams in the energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors.

His record of company-building includes prior roles as President of PurEnergy, Managing Director of Energy Management, Inc. (EMI), CFO of the Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, CFO of American Renewables, and COO of Environmental Power Corporation/Microgy. Earlier in his career, Al was an investment banker at Furman Selz / ING Barings, and a corporate attorney in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Mr. Morales received a JD from Columbia Law School, where he was a member of the Board of Editors of the Columbia Law Review. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor in Economics from Cornell University.

Phil Delleville

Managing Director - Product Development, Strategy and Operations

Philippe "Phil" Delleville is an experienced energy executive with extensive global business development acumen, having served in management positions with major national and international corporations.

Prior to joining Malta, Mr. Delleville held multiple roles with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A., culminating in his leadership as the Global Head of Siemens Gamesa’s Project and Development Finance group. In this position, he oversaw over $4 billion in project financing and supported approximately four gigawatts worth of wind energy projects. Under his leadership, Siemens Gamesa became a leader in wind energy project repowering.

Mr. Delleville holds dual French and American citizenship and is multi-lingual, with fluency in English, French, German and Spanish. He earned a Bachelor in International Business and Finance from the European School of Business, Germany, a Bachelor in Business Administration from the Reims Management School, France, and his MBA from Temple University.

Alex Hernandez

General Counsel & Senior Vice President of Corporate Development

Alex Hernandez joined Malta as a seasoned energy executive, with broad experience in the legal and business sectors.

He most recently served as Senior Vice President at Macquarie Capital, where he was tasked with sourcing and executing energy investments throughout the Americas in a range of sectors, technologies, and asset classes. Prior to Macquarie, Mr. Hernandez worked at Sempra Energy where he held a number of legal and commercial roles in the family of companies, from Senior Counsel to Director of Project Development to interim Director of Project Finance. During his tenure at Sempra Energy, Mr/ Hernandez was responsible for identifying, developing, structuring, and financing major energy infrastructure projects.

Mr. Hernandez began his career at Latham & Watkins LLP and Mayer Brown LLP, where he focused his practice on energy project finance, leveraged finance, and mergers and acquisitions. He holds a JD from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, San Diego. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York, the State of California, and the District of Columbia.

Michael Geyer , Ph.D.

Managing Director, Malta European Affiliates

Dr. Michael Geyer directs Malta’s operations in Europe, with a focus on Malta’s multiple concurrent energy storage projects in the Iberian Peninsula and Germany. Dr. Geyerhas nearly forty years of experience in the international energy and telecommunications sectors, having led the installation of projects spanning the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Dr. Geyer successfully developed six large international concentrating solar power (CSP) projects with 450 megawatts of total capacity and over $2.2 billion in total investment. For a decade, he expanded and led Abengoa’s international solar business and project developments in the key solar markets of Algeria, Egypt, Chile, China, India, Morocco, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. Between 2000 and 2008 he served as the Executive Secretary of the IEA SolarPACES Implementing Agreement. He has also served as Vice-President of the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association ESTELA and was selected as the Co-President of the Board of Directors of the Long Duration Energy Storage Council In 2022.

He has authored and co-author of more than 60 publications, including technical books, journals, conference papers, studies, and reports. Dr. Geyer earned his Doctor of Engineering from the University of Duisberg-Essen, and his Physik-Diplom in physics from the University of Tübingen. He has also done graduate studies at the University of Stuttgart and the University of Oregon.

Kevin Stone

Vice President, Engineering

Kevin Stone came to Malta with 25 years of experience at GE Gas Power where he held roles in application engineering, field performance testing, quality and product management.

Most recently, he was the Manager of Regional Customer Application Engineers for North and South America. Over the last ten years, Mr. Stone has worked with many customers across the Americas to optimize gas turbine and combined cycle plant configurations and support customers' early-phase development technical decisions, strategies and permitting. He recruited, coached and led a highly effective international team that was recognized by customers and within GE for their knowledge, expertise and support. He and his team directly contributed to the successful development of over 6 GW of simple cycle and combined cycle plants, ranging from simple-cycle aeroderivative plants to H-class combined cycle plants with capacity exceeding 1,000 MW.

In addition to his career at GE, Mr. Stone gained experience in the start-up environment at the cellulosic ethanol technology company, Mascoma, leading the development and permitting of their pilot plant in New York and supported other commercialization and business development opportunities.

Mr. Stone earned a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College and his Master in Engineering from Thayer School of Engineering, with a focus on Mechanical Engineering and Thermodynamics. During his graduate studies, he spent one year taking classes and conducting research at the Rheinische-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule in Aachen, Germany.

Alvaro Mozo Casado

Vice President, Supply Chain and Strategic Initiatives

Alvaro joined Malta with 16 years of international EPC experience. Most recently, he spent 12 years with Fluor, where he was responsible for Corporate Strategic Planning and Supply Chain StrategyEarlier, Alvaro, managed multiple transportation technology projects across the UK with GeneSYS. Alvaro holds his MBA from Warwick Business School in the UK and is based in Madrid, Spain.

Eren Engur

Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa

Eren Engur joined Malta with more than 20 years of experience as a solar and energy storage executive. He brings extensive functional knowledge and accomplished marketing, financial, business development, and technology skills.

Prior joining to Malta, Eren served as Chief Commercial Officer for Swedish long duration energy storage manufacturer Azelio AB. Throughout his career, Eren served in executive roles in solar and energy storage companies, like Canadian Solar Inc., Sonnen GmbH, Kaco New Energy GmbH, Anadolu Group, and Solitem GmbH. He was also the founder and CEO of Icarus Group, which was active in the Europe, Middle East, and U.S.A. markets.

He holds an engineering degree from Middle East Technical University and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Gunnar Marquardt

Director, Project Finance Europe

Gunnar Marquardt joined Malta with over 15 years of experience in the field of photovoltaic and concentrating solar power plants. He was the Finance Manager at Abengoa where he focused on project due diligence, contract negotiations, finance, and risk assessments. He has experience as a development manager for renewable energy projects in Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, Middle East and Australia.

Mr. Marquardt has extensive expertise in financial modelling, economic analysis, risk management, and coordination of development and bid proposal management. He has been involved in the financing of the Shams 1 Solar Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, Kaxu, the Khi Solar One Power Plants in South Africa, and the Ashalim Plot B Solar Power Plant in Israel with a total installed capacity of over 371 MW and a project volume of over 3 billion USD.

Mr. Marquardt holds a double degree in Management and Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences of Jena (Germany). Additionally, he earned a Master in Solar Energy from the University of Almeria and the CIEMAT (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas de España).

Alessio Cacitti

Director, Control Systems Engineering

Alessio Cacitti joins Malta after 16 years with Baker Hughes (former GE Oil&Gas) where he held various roles in the Digital and Engineering organizations in the Turbomachinery division. His experience there ranged from Digital Product Owner for Artificial Intelligence applications on Control Systems, to Digital Solution Architect for Turbomachinery Asset Performance Management, to Steam Turbine and Compressor Control Systems Engineering Manager, with international assignments in France and Italy. He led turbocompressor and turbogenerator control systems development projects for refineries and power plants in Europe, North Africa and China, with responsibilities covering control systems software and hardware design, simulation and validation, site activities, and start-up.

Mr. Cacitti had previously worked in Alstom Trasmission & Distribution in UK as a Controls Engineer and at GE Intelligent Platforms in Luxembourg as a Controls Application Engineer. He brings over 20 years of international experience, in multi-national companies in the Oil & Energy sector, working and leading multi-cultural teams, with a proven record of execution excellence and on-time delivery.

Mr. Cacitti earned a Master of Science in Control Systems Software Engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, with a Master thesis developed at the University of Montpellier, France. He has also co-authored 2 patents related to centrifugal compressor’s controls.

Samar Shah

Director, Product and Design Development

Samar Shah joined Malta with an impressive range of experience in the energy industry, including more than ten years of diversified experience across large organizations and start-ups.

Prior to joining Malta, he worked for Lockheed Martin Energy, where he served as IPT lead, managed power module development for commercial application, managed external resources, and led a multi-disciplinary team of engineers focused on developing a long-duration flow battery. During his tenure at Gradiant, Mr. Shah implemented several key design changes and applied innovative engineering solutions that were instrumental to Gradiant's growth from start-up to a company valued at over $100 million.

Mr. Shah believes in bringing innovation through simplicity to deliver effective, efficient, and economical solutions. He earned a Master in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas at Arlington, a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from GCET, India. In addition, he holds patents in energy storage and water treatment, and has written a range of journal publications.

Mike Boisclair

Director, Application Engineering

Mike joined Malta after a 37-year career at General Electric. He held various technical positions while working in Turbine Aerodynamics and Combined Cycle Application Engineering and most recently was worked in project development of technical requirements. Mike holds a Master's degree from the University of Rhode Island and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. Mike is based in New York, USA.

Tian Ong

Manager, Strategic Initiatives and R&D

Tian Ong joined Malta with a background in chemical process design and development, scale-up, and commercialization of new technologies. Her industrial experience includes polysilicon, oleochemicals, polymers, compact gas-to-liquids, and biofuels. She learned the intricacies of designing safe, reliable, and efficient chemical facilities at Cambridge Chemical Technologies, Inc. (CCTI), a startup-like technology-based process engineering firm, and at TechnipFMC, a leading energy technology provider.

In her more than seven years at CCTI, Ms. Ong contributed to developing over 15 Basic Engineering Packages (BEPs) for technology transfer of plant designs with capacities up to 250 kilo tons per annum (kTA). Her work as a senior process engineer encompassed all aspects of process engineering: simulations, process optimization, equipment design, safety and risk assessments, project management, and operations support.

She has advised domestic and international clients, providing engineering assistance from preliminary design phases through commissioning and start-up. While at TechnipFMC, she worked on the design of cumene and HCl oxidation facilities. She brings with her a wide range of experience and perspectives accumulated from tackling technical challenges, leading small engineering teams, and collaborating with multidisciplinary groups.

Ms. Ong earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from MIT.

Janina Hippler-Nettlau

Manager, Project Execution

Janina Hippler-Nettlau joined Malta from Abengoa, where she was the Engineering Manager of the 280-MW Mojave Solar Project, two solar thermal power in Hinkley, California.

She has managed various projects from conception to purchasing to installation in order to improve plant performance and reliability. Ms. Hippler-Nettlau’s experience also includdes supervising engineering, construction, and commissioning of the Mojave Solar Project, setting up the operation and maintenance company, and transitioning to commercial operation. Prior to the Mojave Solar Project, Ms. Hippler-Nettlau worked in the R&D department of Abengoa Solar, where she developed, tested, and later commercialized parabolic trough collectors for solar thermal power plants.

Ms. Hippler-Nettlau earned a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering (equivalent to a Bachelor and a Master) from the Universität Stuttgart in Germany, where she specialized in Energy Systems and Rational Use of Energy. She developed her diploma thesis, “Design of a Flux Density Measurement System for Solar Thermal Power Tower Plants,” at the Plataforma Solar de Almería in Spain in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Finn Runkel

Director, Analytics and Marketing Analysis

Finn Runkel joined Malta with extensive energy industry experience in business development and performance engineering, including eleven years spent at Abengoa, a Spanish energy and environmental technology company.

He started his career as a performance engineer designing, simulating, and optimizing concentrated solar power (CSP) plants for Abengoa Solar´s worldwide project development. He later worked in the concentrated solar power (CSP) plants for Abengoa Solar's worldwide project development. He later worked as a performance engineer and engineering manager on trough plant in South Africa with three hours' molten salt storage.

Mr. Runkel has worked in business development to identify business opportunities in the fields of combined cycle, waste-to-energy, cogeneration, biomass, wind and PV power plants in central and northern Europe, build client and partner relationships, and coordinate bid preparation for potential power plant projects. In 2019, he founded the transportation start-up, City Hitcher.

Mr. Runkel earned a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering (equivalent to a Bachelor and a Master) from Berlin Technical University in Germany, where he graduated with honors.

Ahmed Kherati

Director, Finance & Administration

Ahmed joined Malta from Candela Medical, where he was a Finance Manager. At Candela Medical, Ahmed was responsible for board reporting, global budgeting & forecasting, private equity investor reporting, R&D business partnering and other corporate finance responsibilities. Ahmed has 14 plus years of in-depth experience in Accounting, Finance and Auditing working with both public and private companies including KPMG, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street Corporation.

Ahmed has a BS in Accounting from Oxford Brookes University and a Master’s in Management and Finance from Harvard University.

Madeline Frierson

Business Development

Madeline joins Malta from GE Gas Power, where she spent the past 5 years in a variety of commercial roles. She started with GE’s Commercial Leadership Program, an accelerated program where she completed five, six-month commercial and technical rotations including roles such as Field Engineer, Sales Operations, and Sales Manager. For the past several years, she has supported a variety of customers as a Commercial Manager, where she worked closely with customers to develop proposals for solutions to meet their complex problems.

Madeline has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and is currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She will be bringing a knowledge of commercial excellence, contract negotiation, and customer partnership to Malta. 

Erin Miller

Director, Administration

Jaime González

Molten Salt Senior Engineer

Jaime joined Malta with 13 years of experience in power generation and renewable energy. Most recently, he worked with Acciona in supplier guarantees, where he and his team performed site tests for power plant acceptance. Jaime earned his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Jaime is based in Madrid, Spain.

Grant Wirth

Senior Accountant

Grant Wirth joined Malta from Metabolon, Inc., where he was the Senior Accountant.  At Metabolon, he was responsible for managing the month-end close, maintaining subledgers across the balance sheet, analyzing monthly variance results, and other accounting functions.  Grant has 8 years of experience in accounting and auditing for both private and public companies.

Grant has a Bachelor's of Science in Accounting from Christopher Newport University and is a licensed C.P.A. in the state of North Carolina.

David Rossi

Control Systems Technical Lead

David joined Malta with 28 years of experience in oil and gas controls. Most recently, he was a Software Control Engineer with the Oil and Gas division of Baker Hughes/General Electric. David developed the first of its kind engineering controls software product for commissioning and system maintenance. Earlier in his career, he supported advanced technology equipment in Field Support roles. David holds an engineering degree from Guglielmo Marconi in Italy. David is based in Tuscany, Italy.

Emanuele Rizzo

Turbomachinery Technical Lead

Emanuele joined Malta with 16 years of Turbo Engineering experience in the energy industry. Previously, He was in new product development and technology development R&D at Baker Hughes/General Electric. Earlier in his career, Emanuele focused on Centrifugal Engineering for the oil and gas industry. Emanuele earned his Ph.D. and Master's degree from the University of Pisa. Emanuele is based in Florence, Italy.

Geoff Cusano

System Integration Technical Lead

Geoff joined Malta after nearly 16 years with General Electric, where he was system integration leader for combined cycle steam turbine systems. Geoff held other roles over his career with GE in design and performance engineering. He holds his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Geoff is based in New York, USA.

Maurizio Papini

Control Systems Senior Engineer

Maurizio joined Malta with 23 years of software engineering and development experience. He has worked in many industries, most recently in software development with Red Hat. Prior to that, Maurizio worked in the transportation industry and worked with GE Oil and Gas as a control engineer. He holds a Master’s in Science in computer science from Università degli Studi di Firenze. Maurizio is based in Prato, Italy.

Alexandra Pruner

Alexandra "Alie" Pruner is a powerhouse in the fields of energy and finance, with extensive leadership experience and business expertise. Her 2022 appointment as Malta’s Board Chair set Malta apart as the only long-duration energy storage company with women serving as Board Chair, CEO, and the majority of voting board members. In addition to chairing the Malta board, Ms. Pruner serves as the Independent Director of the boards of NRG Energy, Inc. and Plains All American and as the Board Chair of Encino Acquisition Partners. She is a founding partner of the energy investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., serving as a senior advisor to that investment bank and its parent company, Perella Weinberg Partners.

As the founder of the Women's Global Leadership Conference in Energy, Ms. Pruner is a frequent speaker on the energy transformation and ESG-related topics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brown University.

Ramya Swaminathan

Ramya Swaminathan led the spin-out of Malta from X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X) in 2018 and has been the company’s CEO since its founding. She has led Malta through multiple rounds of corporate venture funding and has recruited a multi-disciplinary team focused on commercializing Malta’s thermal storage technology. She currently serves as a US Department of Energy Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Ambassador and was appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Committee (REEAC) to advise the Commerce Department on US competitiveness in these sectors. She was also named a Business Insider’s 2020 list of 21 Rising Stars in clean energy.

Before founding Malta as an independent company, Ramya was the CEO of Rye Development, a hydropower development firm that she grew to be the leading developer of new hydropower projects in the United States. She was responsible for the expansion of Rye’s platform into energy storage, with the addition of two sizable pumped storage hydro development projects in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Prior to her work in the hydropower space, she was a public finance banker, most recently as a Director at UBS where she focused on public power clients and senior managed more than $10 billion in financings. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government and a BA in Anthropology from Amherst College.

Jeannine Sargent

Jeannine Sargent has over three decades of experience in international operating management, business strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. She has served as CEO and board member in the energy, manufacturing, and semiconductor industries, successfully building and expanding venture-backed and global public technology companies.

In addition to her membership on Malta’s Board of Directors, Ms. Sargent serves on the boards of Synopsis Inc., Fortive, and Proterra Inc. She is an advisor to Breakthrough Energy Ventures and a member of the Board of Trustees for Northeastern University, from which she earned her bachelor’s magna cum laude in chemical engineering

Alex Syed

Alex Syed is an experienced corporate executive with extensive leadership and business development expertise developed in various senior positions during his four-decade career with Alfa Laval. He currently serves as a strategic advisor for Alfa Laval, having previously held a variety of executive roles with Alfa Laval’s operations on three continents, including Vice President of Corporate Development, Managing Director of U.K. Operations, President of the Equipment Division (U.S.), and General Manager of Thermal Operation in the Asia/Pacific region. He has overseen major projects advancing Alfa Laval’s core technologies of centrifugation and heat transfer .

Steven Hirsh

Steve Hirsh is a business leader with C-suite executive experience focusing on business development, project development, and commercialization. In addition to serving on Malta’s Board of Directors, he is the Managing Director of Business Development for Proman.

Mr. Hirsh held prior roles as SVP and Chief Commercial Officer of G2X Energy, Inc. and Senior Director of Business Development of AEI Services LLC. He earned his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a bachelor’s degree in commerce and finance from McGill University.

Ricardo Angel

Ricardo Angel, MALTA Board Observer, is CEO and Managing Partner at PIVA Capital and brings more than 25 years of operational and investing experience in the energy and industrial sectors. Prior to starting PIVA in 2019, Ricardo was a founding Managing Director at GE Ventures, where he led origination and investments in energy, oil and gas, industry, and natural resources. While at GE, he also served as the Managing Director for Energy Technology Ventures (ETV), a $300 million joint venture formed by GE, NRG Energy, Inc. and ConocoPhillips. Ricardo joined GE from Chevron’s Venture Capital group and before that worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs and at the CNA Corporation.

Ricardo holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees in Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Raj Apte , Ph.D.

Dr. Raj Apte is an inventor and veteran engineer who initiated and led the team incubating Malta’s electro-thermal “heat battery” energy storage technology at X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory (formerly Google X).

Prior to joining X in 2015, Raj managed a research team and clean room at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where he worked on polysilicon circuitry for ultrasonic and x-ray imaging, the internet of things (IoT), novel microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) displays, electronic paper, organic and printed transistors, and amorphous-silicon x-ray cameras. Five start-up companies have licensed his inventions, and he played a significant role in bringing five new technologies to market: thermal energy storage, ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, printed organic electronics, digital x-ray sensors, and micromachined diffractive displays.

Raj holds MS and PhD degrees from Stanford University and BS with Distinction from UC Berkeley, all in Electrical Engineering. He has 75 publications and 64 issued patents.

Michael Idelchik

Michael Idelchik is an innovator and thought leader who has had a distinguished career developing new technologies across a broad range of markets. During his nearly forty-years with GE, Mr. Idelchik directed five divisions, grew sales by $3 billion with the expansion of the company’s global competitive footprint to China, and led the development of products that revolutionized a variety of fields including healthcare and aviation. As Vice President of Advanced Technology at GE Global Research, he led a team of 1,200 scientists, engineers, and technicians to develop and mature products and services in vital technological areas. As a result of his success with the company, he was awarded GE’s highest honor recognizing lifetime achievement.

He currently holds 18 patents in the fields of aviation, healthcare, oil and gas, and power. He earned his master’s degree in mechanical and electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s from Columbia University.