Andrew Poor, CEO of Midwest Agrivoltaic Systems

Andrew has been an entrepreneur since 2001, and an educator since 2011. Besides his own companies, Andrew has previously worked for Nortel Networks, Greenpeace and the Georgia Technical College System. He currently teaches Alternative Energy, Solar technology, and Environmental Sustainability as a full-time Faculty member at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. 

 His education includes Crowder College where he majored in Alternative Energy, the University of Arkansas where he majored in Finance, Western Governors University where he majored in Marketing, Stevenson University studying Environmental Sustainability, and he currently attends Central Missouri University part time where he continues his education in Technical Education. 

Andrew and his wife Erin were dubbed the “Sultans of Survival” by The New Pioneer magazine in the summer of 2020 for their sustainable lifestyle and building methods. Andrew lived off grid in the Ozark mountains for a number of years, and when he is not teaching, or working, he spends his time beekeeping, gardening, brewing mead, and foraging for wild mushrooms.

Dr. Sarvenaz Sobhansarbandi, Assistant Professor at UMKC

Dr. Sobhansarbandi’s research interests include renewable energy, solar energy and computational fluid dynamics focusing on thermal and energy analysis. She is also interested in Hydrogen energy and fuel cell technology with application in stationary and portable power generation systems

Dr. Islam El-adaway, Professor at Missouri S&T

Islam H. El-adaway, a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in the US as well as a registered Chartered Engineer (CEng) in the UK, is the Hurst-McCarthy Professor specializing in Construction Engineering and Management (CEM) within the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CArE) as well as the Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering (EMSE) at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

Dr. El-adaway is the Founding Director of the Missouri Consortium for Construction Innovation (MO-CCI), which is a partnership focusing on research, student, and professional development between Missouri S&T and the construction stakeholders. He joined Missouri S&T after two prior appointments with the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Mississippi State University, respectively. Dr. El-adaway earned his PhD in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University, and his MSc and BSc in Construction Engineering from the American University in Cairo.

Dr. El-adaway serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Management in Engineering (ASCE), Journal of Civil Engineering Education (ASCE), and Journal of Practice Periodical on Structural Design Construction (ASCE). Dr. El-adaway has been most recently admitted to the Global Leadership Forum of Construction Engineering and Management (GLF-CEM) where he serves as a member of its associated Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Committee.

James Owen, Executive Director at Renew Missouri

James has served as Executive Director of Renew Missouri since May of 2017. In addition to handling the day-to-day management of the group, James also oversees fundraising, communication, and government relations. He has also served as an expert witness for the organization in dozens of cases as well as working with other advocacy groups in Kansas and Kentucky to offer insight and testimony on clean energy throughout the region. James lives in Columbia with his wife, Claire, and their daughter, Cecile. For fun, he pens a film column for the Columbia Daily-Tribune and is currently writing a non-fction book about an unsolved murder in Southwest Missouri. (He needs an agent.)