Our Team

Landon Mackey

Senior Research & Development Electrical Engineer at Columbia Power Technologies, Inc.

Electrical power, clean water, and ensuring everyone on earth have sustainable access to these vital resources has been my passion for as long as I can remember. Although these areas continue to change and advance on exponential scales, my passion for the field has never been stronger. At a young age, I found myself drawn to the armed services, and with stunning evaluations on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), I received distinguished offers, and I found my calling in the United States Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, where I enlisted and served as a Nuclear Submarine Electrician for six years.

I expanded my expertise by qualifying all senior watches as an electrician and continuing to qualify both reactor operations and mechanical watch stations. I assisted the ship through an extensive overhaul period in which I coordinated activities and testing with shipyard entities.

Following military service, I was able to continue to hone my skills as an electrician and mechanic while directly interfacing with customers as an overhead crane technician for KoneCranes, Inc. Working in hazardous environments such as chemical plants, steel mills, and mines cultivated a great respect for not only electrical safety, however, all aspects of occupational safety. Jobs at great heights, high voltage, heavy equipment, and working directly overhead of an operating plant, drove my passion for excellence in safety.

I completed the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at FREEDM at Systems Center at North Carolina State University in 2010. My internships at Ford Motor Company and ABB Corporate Research in Dätwill, Switzerland, provided me with hands-on testing and design experience in power electronics. I reciprocated my value to the projects by improving testing procedures, redesigning the main test facility, and improving the schedule outlook of the project.

Completing University studies, I aimed my experience with prototyping, design, and testing toward the sustainable energy and water fields. I will continue to work in this field as an entrepreneur, inventor, or with other corporate or non-profit organizations to help bring clean water and sustainable energy to those most in need around our planet while protecting the precious resources we have available to us.

In November 2022, I joined C-Power as a Senior Research and Development Electrical Engineer, designing, testing, and validating their next-generation SeaRAY and StingRAY devices to bring autonomous ocean energy systems (AOPS) to market!

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Wesley Williams

Professor of Mechanical Engineering Technology at UNC Charlotte

Dr. Williams earned his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte respectively. He worked as a prototype design engineer in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as a postdoctoral researcher at the NASA Center for Aviation Safety, prior to joining the faculty at UNC Charlotte.

As an associate professor in the College of Engineering, he teaches courses in the areas of machine design, instrumentation, and system dynamics. His research interests include mechanical design and simulation, manufacturing, and industrial automation. His recent projects have included developing magnetic gears for wind and marine energy applications. He is a licensed professional engineer in the state of North Carolina and is a regular volunteer in the NC FIRST Robotics competitions.