ABOUT US

Dr. Gregory Piefer - President

Dr. Piefer holds a Ph.D in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison which he completed in December of 2006. He also holds BS degrees in Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While completing his Ph.D he served as Chief Technical Officer to Gillware Inc., a leading data recovery and backup company. In Nov. of 2005 he founded Phoenix Nuclear Labs LLC, which was created to commercialize breakthrough sources of nuclear particles. He is privileged to work on many scientific developments that now offer the opportunity to serve humanity.

Dr. Thomas "Rock" Mackie - Advisor

Dr. Thomas "Rock" Mackie received his BSc degree in Physics from the University of Saskatchewan in 1980. He has a doctorate in Physics from the University of Alberta in 1984. His expertise is in radiation therapy treatment planning and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. He is an inventor and algorithm designer for the TomoTherapy concept. Dr. Mackie is a professor in the departments of Medical Physics, Human Oncology, and Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Mackie has around 130 peer-reviewed publications, 25 patents, and has been the supervisor for more than 25 Ph.D. students. His research recently has concentrated on proton intensity modulated radiotherapy and the dielectric wall accelerator concept for creating a compact proton source for radiotherapy. Dr. Mackie is a member of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists and the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, a Fellow of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and a member at large of the AAPM Science Council. Dr. Mackie has won the Farrington Daniel’s award (twice) from the AAPM and the Sylvia Fedoruk award from the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists. Dr. Mackie’s group and first spin-off company developed the Pinnacle™ treatment planning system marketed by Philips Medical. He is a co-founder and Chairman of the Board of TomoTherapy, Inc. that employs about 650 people and is based in Madison. He is also on the Boards of BioIonix, Cellectar, and ESCAPX corporations and on the advisory boards of 5D Research and Phoenix Nuclear. He is a co-manager of the Wisconsin Investment Partners, a Madison-based angel investment group.

Dr. Harrison Schmitt - Advisor

Dr. Harrison Schmitt has a diverse professional background having served as a geologist, pilot, astronaut, businessman, writer and United States Senator. Selected for the Scientist-Astronaut Program in 1965, he organized the lunar science training for the Apollo astronauts, represented the crews during the development of hardware and procedures for lunar surface exploration, and oversaw the final preparation of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Descent Stage. He served a Mission Scientist in support of the Apollo 11 mission. After training as back-up Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, Dr. Schmitt flew in space as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 17 – the last Apollo mission to the Moon. He was the only scientist and the last of twelve men to step onto the Moon. He served in the U.S. Senate, continues to work in science, aerospace and business, and chaired the NASA Advisory Council from 2005-2008. Schmitt is the author of “Return to the Moon” (Copernicus-Praxis 2006), a book advocating a private sector initiative to develop lunar helium-3 fusion power for use on Earth.

Paul M. DeLuca, Jr., PhD - Advisor

Paul M. DeLuca, Jr., PhD, received a bachelor of science degree in physics and math in 1966 and a doctorate in nuclear physics from the University of Notre Dame in 1971. That same year he joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a research associate, and in 1975 he was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Radiology.

Following the creation of the Department of Medical Physics in 1981, he served as chair from 1987 through 1998 and holds an appointment as professor in the Departments of Medical Physics, Radiology, Human Oncology, Engineering Physics and Physics. In 1999, DeLuca assumed a role in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health as associate dean for research and graduate studies, and his administrative role was expanded in 2001 with his appointment as vice dean. In that role, he was closely involved with the development of the Wisconsin Institutes of Medical Research. He began serving as Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in July, 2009.

His research interests have concentrated on fast neutron dosimetry including production of intense sources of fast neutrons, determination of elemental neutron kerma factors and application of microdosimetry to radiation dosimetry. DeLuca is an internationally recognized expert in high energy particle radiation effects on humans. He is a member of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements and currently serves as vice chairman.

He has served as a member and chair of the Nonproliferation and International Security Division Review Committee (DRC) at Los Alamos. Other national and international associations and professional society affiliations include the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, American Physical Society, Health Physics Society, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, Council on Ionizing Radiation Measurements and Standards, and Institute of Physics.

Tyler Gill - Chief Operations Officer

Tyler is an innovator whose vision led to the creation of Gillware Inc, a company that started in 2004 and now services thousands of clients, with millions in revenue generated every year. In his tenure at Gillware Inc., Tyler managed the books, payroll, tax preparation, HR department and all departmental budgets. He has demonstrated exceptional ability at coordinating with all outside contractors and professional services required to keep an emerging business on track. His experience and guidance will be essential in moving PNL forward.

Brian Gill - Director of Marketing

Brian founded the aforementioned Gillware Inc. with his brother Tyler in 2004. He has served as its President since its inception and his marketing brilliance is largely responsible for the rapid growth Gillware Inc.has seen. Brian holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Over the years Brian has worked in software and hardware engineering for the Bank of America, Strong Mutual Funds, Tellabs, American Family Insurance and Kraft Foods, among others. Brian was also a co-author of the first edition of the WebLogic Server Bible, published by John Wiley & Sons in 2002.

Scott Holewinski - Director of Engineering

Scott's background in designing and manufacturing consumer products will be essential as PNL looks to take promising technologies beyond the confines of a laboratory environment into the hands of consumers. Scott's professional experience includes working in the design and reliability engineering departments at Sub-Zero Freezer and Wolf Appliance Companies. While at Sub-Zero Scott was involved in numerous development, quality, and reliability projects, including assisting in the implementation of a SAS warranty analysis package. Furthermore he gained invaluable experience in implementing innovative concepts into a mass-produced consumer product. At his present position Scott leads the Advanced Research Group as the Director of Research and Development for Gillware Inc. Scott, along with his team of talented engineers, has helped to develop data recovery tools and techniques that can deliver an exceptional product at an affordable price. Scott holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.