Compliance Team

Below is the technical staff at EPRI who work closely with the semiconductor industry.
(Click on a person to view a brief bio)

• Work Experience
• List of Clients
• Compliance Team

Mr. Stephens coordinates and leads the Industrial PQ Services Group at EPRI. In addition, he conducts power quality research and testing and manages several tasks of the System Compatibility Research Project, including industrial control systems and Chillers. He has over eleven years of professional experience in instrumentation and control systems engineering. His design experience includes instrumentation specification, control system integration, and equipment installation and startup. His research into computer tolerance of electrical disturbances helped to inform the revised CBEMA curve for voltage tolerance of information technology equipment. He has designed a PLC-controlled web process for laboratory research, as well as a PLC-based servo-control and constant-voltage transformer test stand. He has worked extensively on resolving power quality problems at the equipment level and developing power quality standards for industry. A Registered Professional Engineer and a member of SEMI, Mr. Stephens received a B.S.E.E. from the University of Tennessee. He has worked extensively to analyze and test equipment at many locations. He has participated in or directed the electrical characterization of equipment for GE Glass, Square D, Toyota, Ford Electronics, PP&G Industries, LWD, Genentech, Exxon Mobil Chemical, CTI, SEMATECH, IBM Fishkill, IBM Burlington, Motorola Irvine, Motorola BPII, Motorola MOS-13, CFM Technologies, IBM, SVG, SSMC, Applied Materials, Trane, York, Carrier, and Reliability Incorporated.

Engineering Manager Rick Langley directs the "PEAC Lab" and specializes in power quality research associated with electric motors and adjustable-speed drives (ASDs). While conducting research for his master's thesis at Clemson University, he developed a controllable dynamic dynamometer for testing electric motors and ASDs. His expertise in motors and drives enabled EPRI to integrate his dynamometer into the Power Quality Test Facility for research and training projects. Mr. Langley received his M.S.E.E. from Clemson University. Mr. Langely manages and supports testing in the Lab Facility for various clients as well as conducts field testing and audits. A sample of this clients include GM, Nissan, Country Mart, Diamond Shamrock, Condea Vista, Penzoil, Total, and Eastman Chemical.

Assistant Lab Manager Mr. Nastasi is an electrical engineer for the EPRI's "PEAC Lab". He received a B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Tennessee in 1992. At the University, he served as the Scholarship Committee Chairman for the IEEE Student Branch. For the Corporation, he has designed electronic circuits and has written software that has improved laboratory testing capabilities. The chief designer and engineer of our Porto-Sag voltage sag test equipment, he has used portable sag-testing equipment to perform more than 30 on-site investigations at industrial facilities. He has contributed to Corporation publications such as Power Quality Briefs, Case Studies, and Applications, and has co-authored technical papers on topics such as surges and voltage fluctuations. He chairs the flicker task force of UIE (International Union for Electroheat) working group on power quality. Mr. Nastasi has conducted field testing and investigations for numerous industrial clients including Toyota, PPG Industries, General Electric Motors, General Electric Glass, NIST, Nestle, Northwest Airlines, Baltimore Sun, Seattle Times, and Pratt and Whitney.

Mr. Fortenbery supports to the work of EPRI' Industrial PQ Services group while managing his own engineering group. He has a M.S.E.E. in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee. He has conducted numerous general industrial voltage sag tests including those in the semiconductor arena. Mr. Fortenbery has specifically worked for many clients including Ford, Outdoor Technologies, PBR Automotive, Gardian Glass, Newsprint South, Georgia Pacific, Folgers Coffee, Westlake PVC, LWD, Charter Semiconductor, TEK Semiconductor, ST Microelectronics, CFM Technologies, Reliability Incorporated, International Rectifier, Motorola, IBM, and FSI.

Mr. Melhorn supports the work of the Semiconductor and Industrial Power Quality Group. He is responsible for the coordination of various power quality site investigations, testing projects, and transmission and distribution monitoring and reliability studies for EPRI. His areas of expertise include power monitoring, voltage-sag analysis, and wiring and grounding issues. His specific areas of research include monitoring and analysis of transmission and distribution systems. Mr. Melhorn has specialized in power quality since 1990. At Electrotek Concepts, he served as manager of industrial and utility studies, manager of industrial and commercial studies, and manager of power quality products and services. He was the principal investigator of the renown EPRI Distribution Power Quality (DPQ) Project during the project's site selection process. He has over three-dozen publications to his name on such topics as voltage sags, harmonics, energy storage, power quality monitoring, and the use of the World Wide Web as a communication tool for power quality engineers.

Carl Miller is an expert in the areas of power quality monitoring, harmonic analysis, power-conditioning equipment, and wiring and grounding. Before coming to work for the Corporation, he was a power quality engineer at Western Resources, an electric utility in Wichita, Kansas. His electrical distribution engineering experience includes distribution planning, system protection, and operational support. Carl was involved with the EPRI DPQ (Distribution Power Quality) monitoring project, accumulating data from 277 sites over a 2-year time frame. Also, he has acted as lead engineer in remote monitoring projects in Taiwan and the Philippines. He has over 25 years of experience in electricity and electronics, including six years as an aviation electronics technician in the United States Navy. He has received three awards from EPRI, including two Innovators with EPRI Technology awards and the Lighting the Way award in 1996. A Registered Professional Engineer and a member of the International Association of Electrical Inspectors, Mr. Miller received a B.S.E.E. from Kansas State University in 1986. Carl has performed numerous power quality audits at Semiconductor plants including LSI Logic, Winbond, and a confidential client in the Philippines.

Mr. Perry has over 15 years of experience in distribution engineering and power quality investigations. At American Electric Power, he held various engineering positions in Distribution Engineering and Measurements Engineering, including field engineer, planning engineer, and power quality team leader. His distribution engineering experience includes field engineering, storm restoration, protection coordination, circuit and system planning, automated mapping and facilities management, and overhead and underground construction. His measurements engineering experience includes power quality investigations, measurement of power quality phenomena from 120 V to 765 kV, revenue meter installations, and application of advanced power quality mitigation devices from 120 V to 138 kV. He currently manages research in the fields of medium voltage power quality and reliability, revenue metering, power quality monitoring, and power system relaying. Mr. Perry is a Senior Member of IEEE. He holds a BSEE from West Virginia University and a MSE from West Virginia Graduate College. He is a registered professional engineer in the state of West Virginia.

Mr. Thomas conducts power quality research and testing for semiconductor and industrial clients. He brings a unique insight of plant floor operations to EPRI, beginning his carreer with manufacturing experience. His experience includes PLC programming, project development, costing, management, process control, quality control, equipment installation and startup. Additionally, he was involved in training for the first line user of PLC and process control systems. Before joining EPRI, he was a staff engineer with the Clorox Kingsford Manufacturing Company in Burnside, Kentucky, where he developed a system to integrate the plant floor control system and the administrative network and developed a real-time process control system in aluminum annealing and casting operations. A member of IEEE, Mr. Thomas received a B.S.E.E. from the University of Tennessee. His client have included Englert, Dan River, NIST, Axcelis, ASM, ESI, Novellus, Confidential, Schlumberger, SVG Thermco, SVG Lithography Division, Varian and York International.

Mr. Phipps is in charge of testing and evaluating equipment performance in accordance with published standards of ANSI/IEEE, IEC, U.S Military, UL, and the EPRI System Compatibility Protocols. While serving in the United States Air Force as a manual electronic warfare and component specialist, Mr. Phipps resolved hardware and software deficiencies of the Air Force F/FB-111A Westinghouse/Bendix Avionics Test Station in Mountain Home, Idaho. He also troubleshot and repaired radio navigational instruments, radar, and central air data computers. His civilian electrical and electronics experience includes managing the electrical maintenance of a metal-casting facility, and servicing physical and electronic security systems. At PEAC, he has conducted laboratory investigations of ballasts, transient voltage surge suppressors, and uninterruptible power supplies, among others. He was the principal investigator for a project to investigate the interference between electronic ballasts and hearing aids. He has designed and fabricated many digital and analog circuits and test fixtures for the PEAC power quality laboratory. Mr. Phipps is the author of test plans, protocols, and research papers presented at international power quality conferences. Mr. Phipps has worked to support power quality work for PBR Automotive, Abovenet.com, Ford, GE Medical, Motorola, Schlumberger, Texas Instruments, FAA, Radio Fence, and various Government agencies.

Mr. Cooke conducts power quality tests and fabricates circuits for prototype equipment and test fixtures. He is an expert in characterizing adjustable-speed drives, and has conducted numerous power quality test on devices such as voltage monitors, relays, power supplies, PQ monitors, CTs, revenue meters, and a rotary phase converters. Mr. Cooke has been involved in numerous PQ monitoring projects, including a European harmonics study in which 70 different sites were monitored in 7 different european countries. Before coming to the corporation, he served in the U.S. Army, where he operated and maintained an air defense radar system. He received an A.A.S. in electrical engineering technology from Pellissippi State Technical Community College. He distinguished himself in his academic career as an honor graduate and by being a member of Who's Who among American Junior Colleges, Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and secretary for the student chapter of IEEE. Mr. Cooke has worked to support the on-site characterization of equipment at Genentech, Alabama Steel, Cooper Tire, Velisico, Whitco, ALCOA, Motorola, Applied Materials, and SVG.

Mr. Bunton is a test technician for the EPRI "PEAC Lab". He has assisted in the testing of electric vehicle battery chargers, fabricating the dry-switch portable sag generator, and fabricating a test stand for testing programmable logic controllers. Before coming to the Corporation, he was a mechanic for Honda Motor Company. A member of the IEEE, Mr. Bunton received an A.A.S. in electrical engineering technology from Pellissippi State Technical Community College. During his college career, he was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society, and the IEEE student chapter. Mr. Bunton has worked to assist equipment characterizations for General Motors, Pratt & Whitney, NIST, Phelps Dodge, Mohawk Carpets, Georgia Pacific, NIST, CTI, Outdoor Technologies, Veneer Flexibles, ASM Europe, Varian, Axcelis, ESI, SEMATECH, International Rectifier, and IBM Fishkill.

Mr. Harb supports the SEMI F47 work by providing component testing and support in EPRI "PEAC Lab". He has a number of years of experience as a test technician, including power quality testing, the design and fabrication of circuit boards, and the assembly of test facilities. He also assisted in designing and constructing prototypes for a thermal-runaway circuit and filter-measurement unit. Before coming to EPRI, he repaired medical-grade processors and medical endoscopes. He is state certified (Tennessee) in systematic troubleshooting, material handling, and hazardous waste safety. A member of IEEE, he earned an associate of applied science in electrical engineering technology from Pellissippi State Technical Community College, where he graduated cum laude, served as branch senator and then vice president of the student government, and served as vice president of the IEEE college chapter.

Mr. Hubbard is a test technician for the EPRI "PEAC Lab". He has assisted in various lab projects, as well as SEMI F47 compliance testing. He is a member of IEEE and IEEE Standards Association. He received an A.A.S. and a B.A.S. in Electronic Engineering at ITT Technical Institute. While in college, he received highest honors and academic excellence, and is a member of Alpha Beta Kappa National Honor Society.