Paul is BDL’s Executive Director and President.  Prior to this, Paul served as Research and Testing Manager for several years.  Before joining BDL in 2012, he worked for Weyerhaeuser Company in a variety of positions, including R&D, Power Plant Manager, and Project and Process Engineering roles. Paul’s expertises include energy systems, power generation, wood drying, pelletization, and gasification technologies. Paul holds an MS in mechanical engineering and thoroughly enjoys cycling.

Arie joined BDL after a 36-year long career with an industrial combustion and boiler engineering firm. An MS degreed chemical engineer from The Netherlands, his expertise focused on process aspects of biomass and waste-fueled boiler combustion and operational performance, fuel economy, reliability, corrosion, and air emissions. Well known in various biomass and waste-fuel burning industries, at BDL Arie will help getting BDL’s name and mission out to larger audiences in order to raise awareness and funding.

Seth’s career spans over 25 years in writing, editing, publishing, teaching, and facilitation, applying his skills in the areas of clean energy, climate change, forestry, and ecological restoration. He joined the BDL board of directors after facilitating its strategic planning process pro bono in early 2016. Seth holds an MS in Energy and Resources from UC-Berkeley and an AB in Energy Studies from Stanford University. Seth serves as executive director of Northwest Natural Resource Group, a Seattle-based sustainable forestry nonprofit.

Bob owns Meadow Creature LLC, a machine shop, that incubated BDL at its start.  MC uses abrasive waterjet machining for rapid prototyping and short run manufacturing of art, architectural and mechanical components, as well as its own product line of agricultural tools.  MC provides BDL a unique advantage in the stove world, enabling it to test and iterate stove designs within hours instead of weeks.  Following MC's charter of giving back, its services are donated to BDL.  Bob holds an EE degree from MIT and was an early Microsoft employee.

Keith’s work with Burn Design Lab furthers a diverse career with a special interest in institutional and industrial projects. A licensed Architect with a 1955 degree in Architectural Engineering, he is retiring this year after 57 years in practice. His long-held interest in serving the public includes helping found the Vashon Community Council and serving on community boards.  As an active Rotarian he has traveled to Ethiopia and Siberia, hosted and arranged international student exchanges.

Meher Antia has a background in managing programs and strategic initiatives in biomedical research and translational science. She also has extensive experience in grantwriting and science communication. Meher spent several years at the Wellcome Trust, a global foundation based in London, where she had oversight of a broad portfolio of projects in medical engineering, drug discovery, structural biology and advanced microscopy. She holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in Physics and a PhD in bioengineering and is currently working on strategic initiatives in Population Health at the University of Washington in Seattle. 

Dr. Mikaela Alger is a family practice physician working for the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority in Tacoma. She recently completed her residency at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. Mikaela has spent a summer in Nicaragua and a month in Malawi providing medical

support to local people. Mikaela also participated in a cookstove installation project in the northern highlands of Guatemala. She has a passion for the work and has seen both the living conditions and adverse health effects of open fire cooking.

Jonathan Posner is a Professor jointly in Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington. Jonathan earned his PhD in M.E. at University of California at Irvine. He did his post-doctoral research at Stanford University. Jonathan was the Primary Investigator for a $1,000,000 U.S. Dept. of Energy grant to develop an advanced natural draft biomass cookstove. Under this grant Jonathan lead a team from UW, Burn Design Lab, Burn Manufacturing Corp. (BMC) & Berkeley Air Monitoring Group to develop the Kuniokoa Cookstove, now under production at BMC. Jonathan leads the Posner Research Group.

Angela has lived on Vashon for 16 years and loves the change from her native Arizona, where she earned a B.S. in wildlife conservation biology from Arizona State University. She has worked as an IT administrative assistant, and most recently was a stay-at-home mom to her 8-year-old daughter. At BDL, she keeps the books, handles orders and shipping, runs the HR department, and makes sure the office plants stay alive.

Gavin Ray joined the engineering team at Burn Design Lab in January of 2019. He; is finding ways to extend the Jikocoa cookstove’s life through the implementation of thermal barrier coatings. Gavin completed his B.S and M.S in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, where he was involved in the joint cookstove project between the Engineers Without Borders UW chapter and Burn Design Lab. He is excited to put his engineering knowledge to use in a field where his contributions can have a positive impact. Gavin practices Taekwondo in his free time. He is excited to explore Vashon Island.

Originally from Bellingham, WA, Brandy received her B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Washington. At BDL, Brandy manages the lab and tests a variety of projects, including the Improved Shea Roaster and the Extended Life Stove. In her free time, Brandy enjoys playing music, basketball, hiking, and juggling!

Claire Weitnauer is the Grant and Development Fellow at Burn Design Lab. Claire studied Psychology and Environmental Studies at Davidson College in NC, and is a native of Atlanta, GA. Claire handles communications and development at BDL, and is the voice of BDL on our social media channels, so be sure to say hello! In her free time Claire enjoys cooking, making handicrafts like macramé, and spending time outdoors. 

Dan Casey is the Mechanical Engineering Design Intern at Burn Design Lab. Dan is from Boston, Massachusetts, where he is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at Northeastern University with a minor in experience design. Having worked in 3D printing and consumer robotics industries, he's excited to now apply his design skillset towards the Shea Roaster project, hoping to bring a user-centered design approach to a humanitarian product while learning new fabrication skills. In his free time, Dan can be found playing guitar, exploring Vashon Island by bicycle, and going for long walks in the woods.

Bryan received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Computer Science from Iowa University and began his career as a programmer at Microsoft from 1984 to 2005. After retiring in 2005, Bryan took up metalworking as a hobby in support of a variety of personal and cookstove projects. Bryan provides invaluable machining, manufacturing and design support to our engineering team at BDL and has become an expert in metal cutting & forming as it pertains to cookstoves. Bryan actively supported the BMC team in designing the manufacturing methods for the Jikokoa.

Charlie has been active in development engineering for the last 12 years, following a successful career in new product development and manufacturing.  He is an accomplished inventor, and now applies his energies to improving supply chains, products, and manufacturing in emerging markets.  He is passionate about quality, and enthusiastic about the role of digital fabrication in bringing improved products to those who need them most.  He has been engaged on projects for the Gates Foundation, the Peace Corps, the Shell Foundation, Engineers without Boarders, and other institutions dedicated to making a positive difference in the world (like Burn Design Lab).  Charlie has been working with the ELS team at BDL to expand on the methodology for evaluating ceramics and refractories as candidates for combustion chamber materials.  With these materials, determining the best manufacturing process, whether for test samples, prototypes, or for full scale product production, is equally as important as selecting the right material. Charlie has a PhD in Material Science and Engineering, and lives with his wife in Geneva, Switzerland.

Anthony joined in 2017, lending his mechanical design experience to the Mediana Plancha Stove Project. His passion for usability and human-centered design helped him when he traveled to Guatemala to meet some of Burn Design's partners and beneficiaries. Anthony continues to volunteer at Burn on a part-time basis, advising on computer drafting software and assisting in test fixture design.

Allan is providing Computational Fluid Dynamic modeling for BDL after performing this function for industry for over 30 years, prior to retiring. This is an important augmentation to BDL's cookstove development process.  Allan has degrees in Forestry and Engineering and is interested in combustion, energy, and technology transfer. He is the author of over 30 publications and has been active in planning and organizing conferences globally. Allan lives in Kirkland and can often be found outdoors checking out the great Pacific Northwest.

Tom is volunteering with Burn Design Lab to develop custom software for emissions testing. For the past 15 years, Tom has worked as an engineer in the industrial and automotive emissions and performance testing industry, and currently works as an independent data acquisition / LabView consultant specializing in renewable energy and vehicle testing. Tom lives on Vashon with his wife and two kids.

Richard has begun investigation into cleaner & more efficient institutional cookstoves in Ghana, primarily for large, >60 litre applications, for places like schools, hospitals and prisons. He builds on a full career of technical excellence in high volume product development with companies like Hewlett-Packard and Apple. His international work began in the Peace Corps in the middle east and has continued in Europe and Asia with over 10 years of overseas experience.

Brad serves as the voluntary Chief Financial Officer at Burn Design Lab. Brad has spent 30 years in various accounting, auditing, financial and computer systems positions at Weyerhaeuser Company. In addition to volunteering, Brad enjoys cycling (motor).

Lou’s journey with Burn Design Lab (BDL) began in 2011 as a part-time volunteer, leading the cookstove design effort.  In 2013 Lou became a full-time employee of Burn Manufacturing Company (BMC), as Chief Technical Officer.  Lou played a crucial part designing and commissioning the production & maintenance operations of the BMC factory in Kenya.  Lou led the stove design and production tooling work for 4 generations of the infamous Jikokoa stove.  Lou retired from BMC last year and he now serves as a key volunteer for Burn Design Lab, providing mentor and guide to the engineering team at BDL.