Board of Directors

Executive Officers:

Business, Research and Development

Advisory Board

Management Bios

Steven L. Vanechanos, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Steven L. Vanechanos, age 55, was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for EPEC in October 2009. Mr. Vanechanos is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Association.

Mr. Vanechanos served on the Board of Governors of the American Stock Exchange from April 2005 until it was sold to the New York Stock Exchange in May 2008. Mr. Vanechanos Chaired AMEX's Technology Committee and served on both its Audit Committee and Finance & Budget Committee. Mr. Vanachanos is also the founder and CEO of Third Millennium Strategies, Inc., a strategic consulting firm to Executive Management at small & mid-cap firms (market capitalization under $1 billion), in the areas of corporate finance, strategic planning, technology deployment and legacy asset redeployment.

Prior to Third Millennium, Mr. Vanechanos was founder, CEO and Chairman of DynamicWeb Enterprises, Inc., a business-to-business e-Commerce company. Mr. Vanechanos successfully guided DynamicWeb, an SEC reporting company (OTCBB: DWEB), from inception in 1995 to business combination in 2000 with eB2B Commerce, a NASDAQ listed company, in a transaction that valued DynamicWeb at nearly $50 million dollars. Mr. Vanechanos was the architect of DynamicWeb’s EDIxchange Network, a revolutionary e-Commerce network that seamlessly adapted to the various electronic requirements of all trading partners within network. Mr. Vanechanos was also awarded US Patent No. 5,884,309 issued in March 1999 for "Order Entry System for Internet" for pioneering e-Commerce work dating back to 1995. Mr. Vanechanos received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Dr. William L. Rooney, Ph.D.: Director

Dr. William L. Rooney, was appointed to the Board of Directors of EPEC commencing January 2010. With a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from University of Minnesota, Dr. Rooney has spent the last decade as a Professor in the Department of Soil & Crop Sciences, at Texas A&M University. Dr. Rooney has built a world-renown reputation in the subject of Sorghum Breeding and Genetics including germplasm development, breeding methodology studies, genetic inheritance of agronomically important traits in sorghum (grain, forage and bioenergy). He also teaches graduate plant breeding courses and advises graduate research programs in plant breeding.

Dr. Rooney has developed a specific expertise in Sorghum Breeding and Genetics with an emphasis on the development of sorghums for bioenergy production and the logistics of their production on a commercial scale. He has over 10 years of experience in the development and application of energy sorghum (including grain, sweet and lignocellulosic) for commercial fuel production, including working with numerous energy companies, crop improvement companies and ethanol production ventures, prior to EPEC. Dr. Rooney has developed 8 Public Sorghum Plant Releases consisting of 85 different sorghum parental lines and/or germplasms, 2 Provisional Patents and over 30 material transfer agreements and/or licensing agreements on sorghum germplasm. He has been published almost 70 journal articles relating to sorghum agronomy as well as authored several text book chapters. Dr. Rooney has also enjoyed several distinguished honors and awards including Department Faculty Research Award, 2009, is a member of the American Society of America, and the Crop Science Society of America, and serves as the Chair of the "Plant Release Committee" which provides merit based review of proposed plant releases by Agrilife plant breeders/scientists.

Dr. Rooney holds a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from University of Minnesota (1992) as well as a Masters in Science in Plant Breeding from Texas A&M University (1989) and a Bachelors of Science in Agronomy, Texas A&M University (1987).

Dr. Danielle Bellmer, Ph.D.: Director

Dr. Danielle Bellmer was appointed to the Board of Directors of EPEC in March 2010.

Dr. Bellmer is an Associate Professor in the Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department at Oklahoma State University where she is both an instructor and research scientist. Over the past several years her research has been focused on alternative energy process development, including Bioethanol Production and Biorefinery Development, as they relate to the economic feasibility of ethanol production from sweet sorghum. Her research has been supported by numerous grants – from both the public and private sectors.

Dr. Bellmer has been a long time advocate of ethanol from sweet sorghum, especially involving in-field production. She is a well respected and frequent public speaker and author on ethanol production from sweet sorghum and in-field conversion and fermentation.

Dr. Bellmer is a founding member of the Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Association (SSEA) and served on the Board of Directors and as the Secretary for the SSEA from its inception through the end of 2009. Dr. Bellmer is also a member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) including service as Chair, Division Program Chair, and Division Secretary as well as having chaired several committees.

Dr. Bellmer received a bachelor’s degree in food engineering from Michigan State University in 1992, and a Ph.D. in agricultural and biological engineering from Purdue University in 1996.

James R. Hyde: Director

James Hyde was appointed to the Board of Directors of EPEC in February 2010.

Mr. Hyde is currently Vice President of NYSE Euronext since his appointment in 2008, where he is responsible for managing customer relationships. His customers are primarily large option order flow providers and include many of the worlds largest banks, investment banks, trading firms, and hedge funds. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Security Traders Association New York ("STANY"). STANY's mandate is to represent the interests of individual traders as opposed to the firms that employ them.

In 2005, Mr. Hyde was appointed to Co-Vice Chairman of the American Stock Exchange Board of Governors. He served on the Finance Committee and Co-Chaired the Technology Committee. As a seat owning Member of the American Stock Exchange, Hyde served as Floor Governor and Senior Supervisory Officer on the Floor - Amex's top regulatory floor official. Leading up to his appointment to Co-Vice Chairman in 2005, Mr. Hyde served on the American Stock Exchange Board of Governors and was a critical member of the negotiating team that closed a transaction with NASD (now FINRA) that returned ownership and control of the American Stock Exchange back to its members.

Prior to becoming Co-Vice Chairman of AMEX, Mr. Hyde was a Senior Managing Director of Kellogg Capital Group, L.L.C., which he helped build into one of the top-tier Option Specialists on the American Stock Exchange. Prior to Kellogg, Hyde co-founded TAHOE Trading LLC and TAHOE Technologies, an option market maker and proprietary analytical software developer, respectively. Mr. Hyde received his B.A. from St. John's University.

Philip Herman: President and Chief Technology Officer

Mr. Philip Herman, age 49, serves as the President and Chief Technology Officer of the Company and is also a member of the Board of Directors.

With a focus on alternative energy, Mr. Herman has over 25 years experience in the energy, construction and engineering fields as each a project developer, entrepreneur, and corporate executive. In all of these roles Mr. Herman has successfully managed and integrated the business, technical and financial requirements to drive success.

Prior to EPEC Mr. Herman was an executive at Con Edison Solutions, the unregulated energy marketing subsidiary of Con Edison Company of NY, Nextek Power Systems, Inc. establishing a solar services business unit, and VP and Regional Executive Enron Energy Services, a retail energy subsidiary of Enron Corp. In fact, Mr. Herman was the founder of FMES, Inc., an energy development company, that was subsequently purchased by Enron. Mr. Herman was also a Managing Principal of Bressman Herman Engineers, a NYC based professional consulting firm, and project manager for A&S Mechanical, Inc., a NYC based mechanical contractor.

Mr. Herman earned his BS Mechanical Engineering in 1982 from Washington University, St. Louis, MO, and is a NY State Registered Professional Engineer.

Michael Dressner: Director, Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Michael Dressner, age 44, serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of the Company and is also a member of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Dressner, brings over 20 years of experience in marketing and management, including extensive experience in real estate and securities. He has held various securities and real estate licenses including Series 22, 63 and 39. His creative approach to financing has proven successful for various organizations. He has had a long successful track record of raising funds for entrepreneurial growth companies, organizing start up activities and creating financing for various types of start up ventures including oil & gas projects, real estate brokerage, mortgage brokerage, broker-dealers, medical technologies, manufacturing, import/export logistics, management and franchising. Recently, his accomplishments include the seed funding of a multi-faceted real estate enterprise in which he personally was responsible for bringing in over $15 million in new equity. This entity is still engaged in limited operations despite the economic downturn and collapse of the US real estate market. Michael has been an entrepreneur for most of his career and has been instrumental in creating many new successful business ventures.

Steven Relis: Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Steven Relis, age 47, serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Controller for the Company.

Since 2006, Mr. Relis, has been a partner in the accounting firm of Koutoulas and Relis. He has extensive experience working with many clients in various industries including high tech, real estate, construction, manufacturing and professional services. Prior to joining the Koutoulas and Relis accounting firm, he was the Chief Accounting Officer of Gilat Latin America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd (NASDAQ - GILTF). He also served as the Chief Accounting Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of Ursus Telecom Corporation (NASDAQ - UTCC). He was an audit manager with Deloitte and Touche in New York and Ernst & Young in Miami. At Ernst & Young he was part of the entrepreneurial services group, which specializes in supporting the needs of aggressive growth companies.

Mr. Relis received a B.S. in Business from Long Island University in 1985 and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the States of Florida and New York. He is a member of the American, Florida and New York Institutes of Certified Public Accountants.

Steven Heller: Chief Legal Officer, Secretary

Mr. Steven Heller, age 44, serves as the Chief Legal Officer of the Company.

Educated and trained as a transactional attorney, Mr. Heller serves as Chief Legal Officer for EPEC, responsible for general corporate matters and coordinating regulatory compliance and other matters with outside counsel, as well as overseeing licensing and acquisitions. However, Mr. Heller also holds undergraduate degrees in accounting, marketing and business administration and brings an unmatched entrepreneurial spirit and natural appreciation for the details of running a successful business.

Prior to forming EPEC, Mr. Heller spent 6 years as Vice President of a publicly traded international apparel company where he was responsible for establishing production, distribution and licensing, including deals involving such notable brands as Converse, Pony, Kappa, FiFA-World Cup Soccer, and several others.

Mr. Heller was also a Professor of Business Law and International Business Law in the MBA graduate program for Nova Southeastern University where he has lectured on topics including Business Law, Social Responsibility, Trademarks and Licensing, Franchising, and International Business Transactions. Prior to that, Mr. Heller practiced law, as an associate at Shiboleth Yisraeli, one of Israel's largest and most prestigious international law firms, representing various clients in commercial litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and patent and trademark licensing activities. Mr. Heller has been very active in all aspects of intellectual property law, including the worldwide licensing and enforcement, as well as conducting seminars on trademarks and licensing.

Mr. Heller graduated cum laude from Fordham Law School in 1991 after graduating from SUNY Albany, in 1987, with B.S. and B.A. degrees in Accounting and Business Administration respectively.

Samuel Salamy: Senior Vice President Business Development

Mr. Salamy is responsible for the development of our strategic marketing initiatives. Mr. Salamy is a sales & marketing executive with over 30 years experience in new technologies and clean energy industries, along with the ability to effectively develop and manage indirect channels and maintaining long-term relationships. Prior to his involvement with EPEC, Mr. Salamy was the Director of Technology & Business Development for BGA Engineering, LLC, Oakland, New Jersey, where he managed a team of professionals to provide renewable solutions for the built environment, co-founder of Building Energy Systems & Technology, Inc., responsible for introducing fuel cells and solar technologies to the U.S., developed and managed a New York City water conservation program, and introduced a German window technology to the US, establishing a market for vinyl replacement windows.

Dr. Robert Zubrin: : Chief Scientific Consultant

Dr. Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author of "Energy Victory", a provocative treatise about the biofuel industry and the importance of reducing US dependence on foreign fuel suppliers.

Dr. Zubrin holds a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Rochester (1974), and a masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics, a masters degree in Nuclear Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering - all from the University of Washington. He has developed a number of concepts for space propulsion and exploration, and is the author of over 200 technical and non-technical papers and five books. He was a member of Lockheed Martin's scenario development team charged with developing strategies for space exploration. He was also "a senior engineer with the Martin Marietta Astronautics company, working as one of its leaders in development of advanced concepts for interplanetary missions" (The Case for Mars 1996). He is also President of both the Mars Society and Pioneer Astronautics, a private company that does research and development on innovative aerospace technologies. He is also an inventor (or co-inventor) on numerous U.S. patents including the patents for a hybrid rocket/airplane, and an oxygen supply system. His inventions also include the nuclear salt-water rocket. Dr. Zubrin has appeared in major media including CNN, C-Span, the BBC, NBC, ABC, NPR, the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel.

Sidney Haddad: Chief Technology Consultant

Mr. Haddad is the Chief Technology Consultant of EPEC and is responsible for the development of the small farm ethanol production equipment. Mr. Haddad has been a consultant to the ethanol industry for over 35 years. He brings with him decades of experience in the field of ethanol production, crop development, as well as inventing and developing equipment to provide such a process. Sid has assisted with the structuring of many large plants, has consulted for farmers and other countries in the development of ethanol programs including Brazil and in addition holds an international patent for a small farm ethanol production unit. Prior to Mr. Haddad's ethanol work, he held various positions with the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA). Prior to NYSERDA, Mr. Haddad held positions with the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, also designing industrial education centers and industrial manpower centers including writing training manuals and management training books for these centers. He also wrote several training manuals and packages for John Wiley & Sons to train special education teachers. In the late1980's through the early 1990's Mr. Haddad was involved with the production and marketing of gasohol. Mr. Haddad attended St. Pete Junior College, Columbia University, University of Wisconsin (off campus), American University in D.C., University of Paris, France and University of Stockholm, Sweden. He served two years in the military during the Korean conflict.