team

Melissa Brandao

Melissa Brandao, CEO of Bionic Energy is a passionate believer in electric vehicle technology. She is founder of two EV companies Barefoot Motors and Ambiente Motors both based in Ashland, Oregon. She brings a combination of early stage business and product development as well as sales and marketing savvy to the Bionic team. Bionic Energy and the Grid Cycle appeals to her as one of the best ways to raise awareness of energy use while making energy generation (aka. exercise) fun and exciting.

Austin Riba

Austin is a computer science major in his senior year at SOU. He contributes his system administration skills, handling most of the server duties. Austin wrote many of the PHP scripts that run the site, as well as several unix scripts that keep everything running smoothly under the hood. He also helped with the electronics necessary to power Bionic Energy's mini web server and sensors. He plans to continue working on the Bionic Energy project as he attends SOU.

Eric Dittmer

Eric Dittmer, Professor Emeritus and former director of the Environmental Studies Department has been the glue for this team. He has provided advice, and helped with the logistics of collaboration between different departments. (Yes, he's pulling the SUV!)

Robert Coffan

Robert is the project founder and whip-cracker. He is an adjunct instructor and the owner of Bionic Enegery LLC. His expertise, confidence and positive attitude have been an asset from the beginning. In addition to overseeing the research and handling PR, Robert has played a large role in the prototype's creation and maintenance. Oh yes, then there's the funding.

special thanks

Research for this project was made possible by many people and organizations, including Southern Oregon University and Bionic Energy, LLC.

Special thanks to:

Ellen Siem

Tom Marvin

Bob O Schultz

Michael Henry

Jamie Vener

Daniel DeFreez

Pete Nordquist

Dan Wilson