Executive team

Mr. Dresselhuys is the CEO of ESS Inc. and joined the company in March 2021. Mr. Dresselhuys has over 25 years of leadership experience and is an accomplished technology and market development pioneer with a demonstrated background in growing both public and private companies. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Dresselhuys founded Silver Spring Networks, which became the leading provider of smart grid networking and data solutions, leading to an IPO in 2013 (NYSE: SSNI) and an eventual sale to Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI). Other experience includes a variety of leadership positions at Procter and Gamble and Smart Energy Water, where he helped build up the companies on a global scale. As an active member of the energy industry, he currently serves as the Chairman of Enian, LTD. in London and on the board of directors of Autogrid, Inc. He is also a frequent speaker at industry events and author on issues related to the energy transition. Mr. Dresselhuys holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and earned an Executive Certificate from the Sloan School at MIT.

Mr. Bodner is the Chief Accounting Officer for ESS Inc.  Mr. Bodner is an experienced financial leader with extensive experience in corporate finance, accounting, auditing, financial reporting, compliance and governance.  Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Bodner spent almost 17 years at Intel Corporation in a variety of finance leadership roles including External Reporting Controller, Planning and Reporting Controller as well as Vice President of Finance, Director of Internal Audit.  Mr. Bodner also spent nearly 12 years at PwC in their assurance practice serving a variety of public companies ranging from start-ups to mature organizations.  Mr. Bodner holds a B.S. in Business with an Accounting Option from Montana State University.  Mr. Bodner is licensed in Oregon as a Certified Public Accountant.

Dr. Heng is the Senior Vice President of Engineering at ESS Inc. He has held key executive and advisory roles in several technology startups, having successfully brought two solar companies to acquisition and several startups to next-level funding. As COO of Caelux Solar, Dr. Heng orchestrated a new perovskite-based solar product from prototype to pilot production, enabling the company’s strategic positioning in a competitive industry. As head of Solar Product Engineering & Operations at Tesla/ Solar City he led design, development, pilot, and transition to manufacturability of cutting-edge products including the solar roof. Before this, he was part of Intel’s Device Integration and Process Engineering groups. He holds more than 72 patents in disciplines ranging from biotech to transistor technology to solar. Dr. Heng is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering with a focus in device physics and nanobiotechnology.

Dr. Wiltse is the Vice President of Engineering for ESS Inc. where he is responsible for leading the Energy Warehouse and Energy Center product engineering teams. Dr. Wiltse has a passion for solving difficult problems and bringing outstanding products to market. He has led successful product development and market introduction at companies as diverse as Tektronix (color printers), FLIR Systems (airborne imaging systems), and Lam Research (semiconductor capital equipment). Dr. Wiltse has been awarded more than 10 U.S. patents. Dr. Wiltse holds a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from Caltech and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

Mr. Montgomery is the Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain for ESS Inc., working across the full range of supply chain processes and planning to ensure the company can meet the growing demand for our energy storage solutions. He has over 25 years of leadership experience in supply chain and manufacturing operations, working across a variety of industries including aerospace, electronics, biotech, and smart grid networking.  Mr. Montgomery has a passion for building integrated planning processes, streamlining new product introduction, and building supply chain capabilities to accelerate time-to-volume manufacturing.  Prior to joining ESS, Mr. Montgomery spent 11 years with Silver Spring Networks and Itron in leadership positions across Manufacturing Engineering, Supply Chain, S&OP, and Product Management.  He most recently served as the Vice President of Manufacturing Engineering driving NPI performance and cost-down activities across a complex network of internal and external manufacturing sites.  He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.

Directors

Mr. Dresselhuys is the CEO of ESS Inc. and joined the company in March 2021. Mr. Dresselhuys has over 25 years of leadership experience and is an accomplished technology and market development pioneer with a demonstrated background in growing both public and private companies. Prior to joining ESS Inc., Mr. Dresselhuys founded Silver Spring Networks, which became the leading provider of smart grid networking and data solutions, leading to an IPO in 2013 (NYSE: SSNI) and an eventual sale to Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI). Other experience includes a variety of leadership positions at Procter and Gamble and Smart Energy Water, where he helped build up the companies on a global scale. As an active member of the energy industry, he currently serves as the Chairman of Enian, LTD. in London and on the board of directors of Autogrid, Inc. He is also a frequent speaker at industry events and author on issues related to the energy transition. Mr. Dresselhuys holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin and earned an Executive Certificate from the Sloan School at MIT.

Ms. Alexi Wellman is the Chair of the ESS Board Audit Committee. Ms. Wellman has been the Chief Financial Officer of Altaba, Inc. since June 2017. She was Vice President, Finance and ultimately Vice President, Global Controller of Yahoo Inc. from November 2013 to June 2017, and Chief Financial Officer of Nebraska Book Company from December 2011 to June 2013. Prior to her role with Nebraska Book Company, she was a practicing certified public accountant with KPMG LLP for 18 years, over seven years of which she served as an audit partner. Ms. Wellman currently serves on the Board of Directors and is an audit committee and compensation committee member of Werner Enterprise, Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN) and Bilander Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ:TWCB). Previously, she served on the Board of Directors of numerous companies including Endurance International Group, Inc., Yahoo Japan, TWC Tech Holdings II Corp., and Nebula Caravel Acquisition Corp. Ms. Wellman holds a BS in Accounting & Business Management from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. 

Investors