Leadership

Edgar O. Chua, Chief Executive Officer

CEO Edgar O. Chua joined Amber Kinetics in 2016 after retiring as the Country Chairman of the Shell Companies in the Philippines (2003-2016). He had corporate responsibility for the various Shell companies in the exploration, manufacturing and marketing sector of the petroleum business. Outside the Philippines, he held senior positions with Shell in Group Planning (UK) and as General Manager of the Shell Company of Cambodia.

He is currently an independent director of the Integrated Micro Electronics Inc, Metrobank and Energy Development Corporation. He is also in the advisory boards of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation and Coca Cola FEMSA Philippines. He is the Chairman of the Makati Business Club, De La Salle University Board of Trustees, DLSU Science Foundation and the Philippine Eagle Foundation. He is also a trustee of various Colleges, of civic and business organizations.

Edgar holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the De La Salle University, Manila (1978) and completed a senior leadership course at INSEAD, Fontainbleau France. He has received various awards including the 2014 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award, Philippine Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2013 Management Association of the Philippines “Management Man of the Year,” and 2005 CEO EXCEL for Excellence in Communication in Organizations.

Fabrice Glorieux, Chief Operating Officer

Fabrice Glorieux has over 30 years of international and leadership experience in the electrical and energy sectors, working in management and executive positions covering Europe, Asia, and North America. Among many achievements, he developed an R&D center in solar solutions, worked on EV charging solutions, and led multiple industrial organizations, in charge of business development as well as manufacturing operations. As VP and Electrification Products Division Head for ABB in France, he oversaw 6 factories with revenue of several hundred million Euros, and carried out key restructurings to optimize the Group’s global organization. Prior to that, he led operations for Schneider Electric Group in the field of low and medium voltage, and UPS/energy storage in China and the rest of Asia. He has been following flywheel technology advances since 2013.

Throughout his career, Fabrice has developed expertise in electrical distribution, energy efficiency, smart buildings and electric mobility. He achieved significantly improved operational results in companies through numerous continuous improvement projects based on Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen principles. He is a member of The Shifters, an independent association working for decarbonization of the economy. Most recently he advised companies in the field of electric vehicles and energy efficiency.

Fabrice holds an International MBA at EM Lyon with awards for the best entrepreneurial project, and a Masters in Marketing and Sales, Advanced Studies in Electronics., He has also completed a Senior Leadership Program at IMD Lausanne, an Artificial Intelligence course at MIT, an Operational Excellence Program and obtained a Corporate Finance certificate from HEC Paris.

Dr. Seth Sanders, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist

Dr. Sanders is a co-founder and Chief Scientist of Amber Kinetics and a leading expert in flywheel energy technology, power electronics, and power conversion technologies. He began exploring flywheel energy storage systems in the mid-1990s as a professor of engineering in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences Department at the University of California-Berkeley. Publication on this early work received the first prize paper award when presented at the IEEE IAS annual meeting in 1998.

He followed his work with the conception, design, fabrication and test of a fully integrated homopolar motor/generator flywheel system. This system featured a solid steel rotor, but was fabricated solely from high strength alloy steel, similar to that used in the present Amber Kinetics rotor designs.

Dr. Sanders has extensive experience as an electric machine designer and electric machine control system designer. Since his days as an undergraduate and graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he has carried out projects centered on induction machines and on permanent magnet machines. These have been as primary research projects and as supporting system components in numerous projects.

Dr. Sanders received his bachelor’s and Master of Science degrees and his PhD in electrical engineering from MIT. He has served as chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Computers in Power Electronics and as a member-at-large of the IEEE PELS Adcom.

Gary Cabalde, Global Vice President of Finance

As Global VP of Finance, Gary Cabalde, CPA, CMA, is responsible for financial oversight, lease financing, corporate governance and other commercial initiatives in support to the company’s objectives. Gary has more than a decade of experience in the oil and gas industry and another 10 years working with multinational companies. Before joining Amber Kinetics, he was Chief Financial Officer for Alliance Select Foods International – a public listed company in the Philippines. Prior to that position, he was general manager, finance, for Isla Petroleum and Gas Corp, Makati, Philippines, a major liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) player in the Philippine market.

Earlier in his career, Gary spent almost 12 years with Shell Philippines in both its downstream and upstream businesses. He was project finance manager of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V for the USD1Bln Malampaya Deepwater Gas-to-Power project, Phase 2 and 3, under the Service Contract 38. He was also the distribution finance manager for the Philippines and North Pacific Islands Cluster. Before leaving Shell Philippines, he served as the special project advisor for liquefied natural gas (LNG). In that role, he was responsible for integrating project costs and opportunities as well as engagement with various internal and external stakeholders to support the LNG implementation in the Philippines.

Gary is a certified public accountant and a certified management accountant, a designation granted by the globally recognized program of the Institute of Certified Management of Australia. He completed the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) strategic finance program; he is a graduate member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and an MBA candidate from De La Salle University. He earned his bachelor’s in science for accountancy degree from University of Sto. Tomas in 1994.

Edgard Magpantay, Global Vice President of Supply Chain

As Global VP of Supply Chain, Edgard is responsible for planning and managing all aspects of Amber Kinetics’ supply chain activities. He has over 20 years of experience in supply chain, category management, contracting and procurement and logistics operations. Prior to Amber Kinetics, he held a number of supply chain and procurement roles in Shell Philippines. Edgard earned his M.B.A. at the University of the Philippines in 1995 and completed his Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in Business Management at De La Salle University. He served as President of the Philippine Institute for Supply Management (PISM) and is now an active member of the Society of Fellows in Supply Management (SOFSM).

Roger Hitchcock, Global Vice President of Engineering

As Global Vice President of Engineering, Roger directs the design and development of Amber Kinetics’ flywheel energy storage systems. Roger’s extensive experience in the technology sector spans for over 38 years. Prior to his current role, Roger directed a team with Artificial Muscle investigating electroactive polymer technology. His expertise in engineering and manufacturing has empowered Roger to successfully bring products from inception to commercialization.

Roger holds a B.S and M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from State University of New York. He is an inventor or co-inventor of 14 US patents, and is author or co-author of over 20 publications.

Will Colban, General Manager of US Operations

Will is the General Manager of US Operations. He leads Amber Kinetics’ world-class R&D facility and is responsible for coordinating resources, equipment and facilities to meet development milestones on time. His career has been focused on energy- Prior to joining Amber Kinetics, Will spent 5 years at LightSail Energy where he was instrumental in developing the prototype for compressed-air storage. Earlier in his career, he worked at Alstom in their global R&D labs in support of improving the efficiency of the GT24/GT26 MW-class gas turbines. He previously worked in Sandia National Labs doing a postdoc in the Engines Group at the Combustion Research Facility.

Will graduated summa cum laude with a BS, MS, & PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He is author to multiple journal articles and a member of ASME Heat Transfer Committee.

Merrill Sutherland, Global General Manager of Human Resources

As the Global General Manager of Human Resources, Merrill is responsible for creating a strategic direction by implementing operational resources. She oversees global recruiting and staffing, employee development and training, compensation negotiation, benefit administration, and employee relations. Merrill came to Amber Kinetics with 30 years of experience growing organizations.

Prior to Amber Kinetics, she played a central role in starting a company advancing it from a part distributor to a major systems integrator capable of building complete semiconductor gas delivery systems. Merrill holds a BS Degree in Business Administration and Economics from Colorado State University. Merrill is committed to taking care of Amber Kinetics workforce, increasing employee engagement, promoting diversity and inclusion, and facilitating communication.