Doug May
President and Chief Executive Officer
Doug May brings more than 25 years of experience in high-tech industries and international markets, with a focus on sales and marketing. During his tenure as Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Xantrex Technology Inc. in Vancouver, B.C., Doug was instrumental in growing revenues for their solar inverter technology. Prior to Xantrex, Doug held senior management roles at Autodesk, Fujitsu, and Marshall Industries.
Doug brings the management experience and energy required for Unirac to continue the rapid growth Unirac is experiencing in the growing solar energy field. He holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Southern California.
Richard Welch
Vice President and Chief Operations Officer
Richard Welch has 30 years of experience in all facets of industrial, high-tech operations. Joining Unirac in October of 2006, Richard oversees the company's manufacturing & project management efforts for all residential thru utility scale products, sourcing, quality, ERP, and administrative operations as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Being responsible for quality, he is also Unirac's ISO Management Representative responsible for maintaining the company's ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications.
Richard brings leadership experience in diverse business operations with major companies, including GE Aerospace, Advanced Energy Industries, and Northrop. Immediately prior to joining Unirac, he led manufacturing and quality management operations as Vice President at Advanced Energy Industries Inc., a NYSE listed company, which experienced dramatic growth over the last decade and is a preeminent utility scale PV solar inverter design and manufacturing company.
As a three time award-winning expert in Lean manufacturing, Richard has a master's in Management in Organizational Development from Lesley College in Cambridge, MA, and a bachelor's in Management Engineering-Mechanical from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA. He is also a Certified Manufacturing Engineer, Certified Quality Engineer, and he holds a Six Sigma Master Black Belt certification from the Air Academy Associates in Colorado Springs, CO.
Unirac initiated manufacturing capabilities in Ontario in March 2010 in delivering aluminum based products into the residential marketplace. It extended that capability to steel based products for the commercial and utility markets in April of 2010. Lastly, to fully serve the Ontario market, in January of 2011 Unirac created a new subsidiary, Unirac Canada to serve its rapidly growing base of Canadian customers and partners. Unirac was acquired by Hilti Corp., Lichtenstein in May of 2010, is now a Hilti Group Company, and the North American arm of its worldwide solar business.
Toni Haenninen
Chief Financial Officer
Before joining Unirac, Toni Haenninen was the Director of Finance of the Hilti Group in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prior to this position he worked at Hilti North American headquarters in Tulsa as a Director of Finance for business intelligence and management reporting. Prior to that, he was a Business Development Controller for drilling consumables and later diamond systems business units at Hilti headquarters in Liechtenstein.
Toni is responsible for post-merger integration items including financial coordination. In addition to this, he will help Unirac with its strategic financial objectives as well as coordinating any work streams that can be optimized.
Toni studied business administration and information technology management at the Vienna University of Economics (Austria), the Helsinki School of Economics (Finland), and the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and he holds and MBA from Helsinki School of Economics.
Ray Piontek
Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Service
Ray Piontek is a seasoned sales executive, with recent experience in the solar industry, having held the position of Senior Director of Sales for Xantrex Technology of Vancouver, B.C., a world leader in advanced power systems.
During his tenure at Xantrex, Ray developed international distribution channels and accelerated growth in the North American markets. He has also held senior management and sales positions with Apple Computer, Autodesk, and most recently Diversified Software.
As a former Naval Aviator, Ray attained the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy and holds a degree in Marketing from Boston College. As Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Service at Unirac, Ray is committed to collaborating closely with customers and partners to develop advanced solar solutions, designed to meet the growing market needs.
Tony Borck
Senior Director of Commercial and Utility Group
As head of our CMUG (Commercial and Utility Group), Tony will collaborate with EPC contractors and integrators. This new group will also enhance Unirac’s ability to serve large sophisticated partners across the country and Canada. This new team will primarily focus on Unirac’s new suite of commercial and utility products.
Prior to joining Unirac, Tony was Vice President at the Global Environment Fund (GEF) in the Clean Technology Group, where he covered the solar industry and worked with a number of solar companies making several investments throughout the renewable energy industry.
Dot Cook-Simmons
Human Resources Manager
Dot Cook-Simmons plans, directs and coordinates human resource management activities for Unirac to maximize the strategic use of human resources and maintains functions such as employee recruitment, training and recognition as well as oversees personnel policies and compliance.
Having more than 20 years of experience and a graduate degree in the HR field, Dot leads all HR initiatives and oversees the implementation of Human Resources strategies to ensure effective delivery of services.
Trudy J. Eberhardt
Director of Finance
After serving as Unirac's controller for two years, Trudy now manages all finance and accounting functions of the company. She has over twenty years of controllership experience in a manufacturing environment, including seven years in the wind energy industry.
Trudy has an MBA from the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Business, a dual bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Business Administration from Eastern New Mexico University, and she is a New Mexico Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Marcelo Gomez
Director of Marketing
Marcelo Gomez serves as Unirac’s Director of Marketing and is responsible for driving Unirac’s overall brand and communication strategies. He brings to Unirac more than 8 years of marketing experience building brand identities, websites and award-winning logo designs.
Marcelo spent 3 years as a freelance graphic designer and marketing consultant before taking his experience to help grow one of the nation’s most recognized sponsorship organizations, Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, as a marketing specialist and creative designer.
As a former co-owner of a graphic design agency in Belize, Marcelo holds a degree in Mass Communications from Benedictine College in Atchison, KS.
Juan Suarez
Senior Director of Engineering and Program Management
Juan brings to Unirac over ten years of experience as an award winning general contractor. He's built everything from houses to grocery stores and even owned his own construction and development company specializing in "Green Building".
Juan has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from New Mexico State University with a
minor in math.
Darren Womacks
Senior Director of Manufacturing
Darren is a United States Naval Academy Graduate with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, he served as a Naval Nuclear Submarine officer and aboard a Trident missile submarine. He also has experience as an engineer at the Navy’s South Carolina Prototype facility.
Prior to joining Unirac, Darren worked at General Mills in production management and line startups.