St. Thomas Applied & Renewable Technologies Center

Dr. Kundan Nepal is the Director of the START Center and the NPTV Fellowship program. As a Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering, Kundan’s research interests include sustainable energy systems, low power computing systems, power efficient testing, error detection and avoidance techniques in digital integrated circuits. In addition, his work also seeks the democratization of the exciting field of embedded computing and the Internet of Things by bringing these technologies to solve problems identified by traditionally under-served communities. Kundan is deeply passionate about leveraging engineering expertise to create impactful ventures.

Dr. Don Weinkauf has served as the Dean of Engineering at the University of St Thomas in St. Paul, MN since 2008. He has been honored nationally for his teaching and research as a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar. Prior to his career in academia, Dr. Weinkauf worked for Shell Oil Company as a Research Engineer. He is the inventor on 3 U.S. Patents and has been the Principal Investigator on over 5 million dollars in federal, state and corporate research grants.

Dr. John Wentz is an associate professor in the mechanical engineering department and Director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing. John’s research interests include sustainable manufacturing processes, metalworking fluid purification and life extension, microfiltration processes, micro-scale manufacturing processes and more. Before joining St. Thomas, John worked on various projects related to fluid dynamics and sustainable manufacturing.