Key Personnel
ROSS O. YOUNGS, INVENTOR & CEO - Mr. Youngs has established himself as a leader in the conservation of both natural and industrial resources. As founder and CEO of Algaeventure, he has created one of the most successful renewable energy start-ups in the industry. Mr. Youngs’ technical and business acumen have been confirmed by the recent $6m merit award bestowed by the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E). The highly-competitive award recognizes the superiority of the technology and systems developed under Youngs’ leadership at Algaeventure. Mr. Youngs serves as the project’s Senior Project Manager.
For more than 20 years, Ross has built a strong, environmentally conscious reputation that has enabled him to work with other companies and organizations committed to lessening human impact on natural systems. Ross holds 56 patents, and continues to achieve notable milestones and awards for his product design, year after year. To his role as CEO, Mr. Youngs brings a stellar track record as CEO of Univenture, a position he still holds. Univenture, Inc. has earned a place in INC. Magazine’s “Hall of Fame” for being on the INC. 500 list of “Fastest Growing Companies” for five years. In August of 2009, Univenture, along with Battelle and the Ohio Soybean Council, were presented with an “R&D 100” Award from R&D Magazine for their collaborative achievement of producing a binder partially made from soy byproduct. In 1998, the U.S. Small Business Administration honored Ross as their “Business Person of the Year”.
DAVID R. COHO, VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT - Mr. Coho oversees global sales and marketing for AVS and leads commercialization efforts for its technologies. Mr. Coho played a key role in the development of the ARPA-E proposal. He also serves as the ARPA-E Project Director of Commercialization. Along with business development responsibilities, he leads sales, marketing product and business development, sales channel development, global customer relationships and market research.
CHAD HUMMELL, MANAGER OF GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRIES AND COLLABORATIONS - Mr. Hummell has played a central role in the transition of Algaeventure from an internal Univenture project, to a fully-independent spin-off. He has a diverse background in government relations, business management, operations, and sales. His past experience with government has been an important success factor in Algaeventure’s collaborations with state and federal government entities, including the landmark ARPA-E project.
JUSTIN GOODWILLIE, ENGINEERING SUPPORT MANAGER – As Engineering Support Manager, Justin coordinates construction, optimization, maintenance, and technical support services, and leads project teams for multiple developing systems. Justin joined Univenture in 1999 as part of their Materials Resource Group while attending DeVry Institute of Technology’s Electronics Engineering Program (BSEET). In 2001 he joined the Engineering team as a U-1000 Assembly Technician, and later became a Field Service Technician for Univenture’s U-1000 automated packaging installations, while shifting his education towards the Electro-mechanical Engineering Field.