MIT Enterprise Forum of the Central Coast presents

David Raney, Co-founder and CEO, Raney & Associates, LLC:  Dave Raney has built a career centered around innovation, cutting-edge R & D, and dynamic, strategic development in the motor vehicle industry and beyond. He has more than thirty years of experience in strategic product planning and corporate protocol development for compliance with motor vehicle safety, environmental, and fuel economy regulations. He has guided firms in corporate public policy development, facilitation of consensus positions in trade associations and industry consortia, and establishment of credible, sustainable, and integrity-based relationships with U.S. government regulatorybodies. Mr. Raney’s efforts have facilitated establishment of better and more effective public policy, the development of enhanced product life cycle management programs, implementation and management of corporate waste minimization and corporate environmental management and public reporting processes.Mr. Raney served as the Senior Manager, NA Environmental and Energy Affairs for the American Honda Motor Company from 1993 until 2010. From 1983 to 1993, Mr. Raney was the Director of Safety and Emissions Regulatory Affairs for Saab – Scania of America/General Motors Corporation. From 1983 through 1983, he worked in engine engineering for Deere & Company.Mr. Raney holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and an Executive MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was a Federal Appointee for the US Clean Air Act Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2008. He was a Federal Appointee for the EPA Mobile Source Tech. Review Subcommittee from 2005 to 2010. He serves on the Board of Advisors for the University of Oklahoma College of Engineering, the Board of Directors for the Santa Barbara Community Environmental Council, is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, and many others. He is also a frequently sought after speaker at universities such as Johns Hopkins, University of Arizona, UCLA Anderson School of Management, UCSB, Duke University, and others.

Tyson Eckerle, Executive Director, Energy Independence Now:  As Executive Director of Energy Independence Now (EIN), Tyson works directly with members of the environmental community, state agency and legislative decision makers, automakers, and fuel providers to develop policies and projects necessary to decrease petroleum use in the transportation sector. Over the past year, he has become intimately involved with the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), the pre-eminent organization in the world working to commercialize hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. With Tyson’s leadership, EIN recently completed the financial analysis that serves as a cornerstone of the CaFCP plan to establish a commercial hydrogen-fueling network in California.  He currently serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the California Hydrogen Business Council. Prior to joining EIN in 2009, Tyson spent 5 years as an Environmental Project Manager with the US Army Corps of Engineers in San Francisco.   Tyson holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.