Management Team

Mr. Brdar has over 30 years of experience in the power systems and energy industries and has held a variety of leadership positions during his career. In addition to his role at Ideal Power, Dan served as President and CEO of FuelCell Energy Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company with a market cap of over $250 million. During his tenure, the company's revenues increased 235%, to $100 million, manufacturing production increased by over 200% and over $100 million was raised from institutional and strategic investors. Prior to joining Ideal Power, Mr. Brdar served as the Chief Operating Officer of Petra Solar, a privately held, venture funded solar and smart grid company, where he held full P&L responsibility and led a cross-functional management team across several international markets. He also served as Gas Turbine Product Manager, for GE's Power Systems Division, a world leader in power generation systems and products. Additionally, Dan has extensive research and development experience at the U.S. Department of Energy through various roles at the National Energy Technology Laboratory. He has a BS in Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Burns previously served as CFO of Rainmaker Systems, a publicly traded global e-Commerce software company. Prior to Rainmaker Systems, Tim held various finance and accounting roles at Dean Foods Company, a member of the Fortune 500, after beginning his career with Deloitte & Touche. Tim received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California and a Master's degree in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas.

Dr. Bu has over 20 years of experience in power semiconductor technology R&D including deep technical expertise in semiconductor device physics, process and device simulation, wafer fabrication, process optimization, volume production yield enhancement and product design. He holds 35 issued patents with many more pending and is the author of numerous technical publications.

Before joining Ideal Power, Dr. Bu served as the Chairman and CTO of Endeavor Microelectronics Technology from 2015 to 2021, a start-up focusing on automotive IGBT and FRD development for electric vehicles (EVs) and fast charging stations. He achieved remarkable success in this role, including receiving honors and grants from China’s national and provincial “Technical Experts” programs. Prior to his time with Endeavor Microelectronics, Dr. Bu held various senior engineering and R&D management roles in the power semiconductor industry, including roles at International Rectifier (now Infineon), Power Integrations and National Semiconductor. While at International Rectifier, he led automotive power switch technology development for hybrid electric vehicle and EV applications, successfully passing automotive qualifications for products designed for major automakers.

Dr. Bu holds a PhD in electrical engineering from Lehigh University and both a BS and MS in microelectronics from Nankai University, China.

In his current role as Vice President of Business Development at Ideal Power, Jeff Knapp is responsible for identifying and capturing new markets for B-TRAN™ solutions globally. Jeff has previously held management positions with Asahi Kasei, United Silicon Carbide (Qorvo), Fuji Electric, Hitachi and Infineon where he directed the development and execution of strategic plans to promote the sale of power semiconductors. His business development experience has been primarily focused on MOSFET, IGBT, Diode, and IPM (Intelligent Power Module) products, deployed in both Si and SiC material technologies. Under Jeff’s executive leadership, his teams’ design win achievements span applications in production electric vehicles (including inverters and on-board chargers), EV charging stations, renewables (including solar, wind, and energy storage), power supplies, variable-frequency drives, and solid-state circuit breakers.

Jeff has over 25 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. His career includes roles in engineering, sales, marketing, and business development, providing a well-rounded perspective to his mission to commercialize and expand the Ideal Power B-TRAN™ business. 

Jeff obtained his BS in Electrical Engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and his MBA from the University of Colorado.