Chris leads commercial development at Nira. Prior to Nira, Chris was Director of Strategy & Project Development at Smart Wires, a grid technology company focused on transmission optimization. At Smart Wires, Chris managed a $150M portfolio of grid upgrade projects with Utilities and ISOs. Before Smart Wires, Chris worked as an engineer for ExxonMobil where he oversaw interconnection projects for $15B+ worth of grid assets.

Andrew leads transmission planning at Nira. Prior to Nira, Andrew was the Manager of Transmission Planning at Smart Wires and before that he was a transmission planner at the NYISO. At Smart Wires, Andrew led over 100 grid studies with utilities from across the US. At NYISO, Andrew completed interconnection studies for 20+ GW of proposed projects. Through those efforts, Andrew has developed an intimate understanding of the transmission planning processes used throughout the country.

Andy leads software development at Nira. Prior to Nira, Andy was a Software Engineer Lead at Palantir Technologies, one of the most prominent big data companies in the world. At Palantir, Andy was in charge of building products that would be deployed at large industrial clients like Airbus and Fiat Chrysler. Before Palantir, Andy also worked at Google as a software engineer.

Amir is the Vice President of Interconnection at Nira Energy. Prior to joining Nira, he served as the Director of Interconnections at the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), where he led streamlining the interconnection process, including transition to cluster studies with enhanced requirements. During his tenure, Amir oversaw over 50,000 MW of interconnection applications. With more than 18 years of experience in transmission planning, interconnection planning, grid operations, and commercial development, Amir has held several senior roles. These include General Manager at Smart Wires, a technology company specializing in transmission optimization, and leadership positions in Transmission Planning at the AESO. Throughout his career, Amir has spearheaded the development and implementation of transmission projects worth several billion dollars across North America. Amir holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering, with a focus on Power System Engineering, and served as an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary for nearly a decade.

Sangeetha is a Transmission Planning Engineer with 3+ years of experience conducting interconnection studies across multiple RTOs. Prior to Nira, Sangeetha worked with Apex Clean Energy and developed automation systems to perform critical steady state and economic studies and devised strategies to mitigate transmission risks for renewable energy projects.

Kate brings over 15 years of experience in transmission planning and the energy industry to Nira Energy. She began her career at CenterPoint Energy, where she studied load, and generator interconnection projects and developed new transmission projects in the ERCOT region. After moving to Daymark Energy Advisors, Kate expanded her expertise in interconnection studies and policy nationwide, completing projects across all major ISOs from CAISO to ISO-NE. She has worked closely with renewable developers, guiding them through the interconnection process to successfully integrate their projects into the grid.

Fernando is a Transmission Planning Engineer with experience modeling, researching, and analyzing power systems networks. Prior to Nira, Fernando was a Power Systems Engineer at Electric Power Engineers. At EPE, Fernando performed transmission planning, load addition, and generation interconnection studies in MISO, SPP and ERCOT.

Jenny helps customers make the most of Nira’s platform. Prior to Nira, Jenny worked in community engagement at NREL, was the Director of Strategic Marketing for Smart Wires, and taught high school physics. She brings more than a decade of experience in the energy industry to her work including transmission technology commercial strategy, marketing and communication, and energy policy development.

Before Nira, Carlos was a Power Systems Engineer at Smart Wires. At Smart Wires, Carlos conducted studies on the transmission network, including contingency analysis and case conditioning for transmission planning and operation.

Michael has studied, planned, and developed transmission projects for over a decade. His career began with Oncor, conducting power system studies across ERCOT. With Smart Wires, he partnered with utilities, system operators, and renewable developers globally to study and implement projects to reduce network upgrade costs for renewable development. Michael's deep understanding of transmission planning and interconnection processes enables him to advise his clients on leveraging the Nira platform.

Prior to Nira, Adeel worked as a Power System Engineer - Resource Integration at DNV. He helped various Renewable Energy Developers through their Interconnection Application lifecycle, prospecting studies, and sensitivity analyses across various ISO/RTO footprints in North America.

Jared is a Transmission Planning Engineer at Nira with four years of experience in power systems and renewable energy. Previously, Jared worked with Blended Power as an Interconnection Associate, where he supported renewable energy developers with site evaluations for new utility-scale solar projects. He then worked with Electric Power Engineers as a Senior Power Systems Engineer, specializing in power system studies for generator interconnections. Jared has extensive experience developing Python-based automation tools for power system studies and data analysis.

Sian is a data-focused Product Manager. Before Nira, Sian worked as a Product manager at Addepar delivering valuable financial data to clients and streamlining data workflows through new features.

Before Nira, Rory was a Senior Software Engineer at Petal. At Petal, Rory developed multiple core internal Python services that were utilized by other engineering teams. She also decreased docker build times by 60% for Petal’s monolithic app, bringing the time down from an hour to twenty minutes.

Prior to Nira, Spencer was a Senior Software Engineer at Brex. At Brex, Spencer built a standardized ML pipeline solution, reducing the time to properly train a new model from months to hours.

Prior to Nira, Indira was a Senior Software Engineer at Vista. Indira led and managed a team of 4 engineers to rebuild key merchandising features of Vista’s $1.4bn global e- commerce platform serving 16M customers.

For the past 13 years, Jefferson has been immersed in the electric transmission and utilities industry, with roles spanning finance, project and program management, and customer success. Most recently, he led Project Delivery at Smart Wires, a global leader in power flow control technology, where he oversaw the successful implementation of solutions to resolve transmission constraints. With a deep understanding of the challenges faced by utilities and transmission operators, Jefferson aims to leverage his experience to drive client success.

Prior to Nira, Manas was a software engineer at Gusto, a leader in HR and payroll software for small businesses. He worked on the core payroll product which pays and files taxes for all of the 300k+ business on the platform and moves millions of dollars on a daily basis.

Casey has spent the last decade of his career working to bring new technologies and solutions to the electric transmission industry. Prior to Nira, Casey worked at Quanta Energy Services where he focused on commercial development for large transmission, microgrid, and battery storage projects. Previously, Casey spent 8+ years at Smart Wires, working directly with customers to implement transmission optimization solutions.

Prior to Nira, Michael worked on data and backend services in the e-commerce space. Most recently, he was a Senior Software Engineer at Etsy, where he worked on their cloud migration, batch data processing infrastructure, and search.

Before Nira, Saida was an administrative assistant at Smart Wires, providing experience in enhancing organizational productivity and improving business operations. Saida helped maximize group performance and ensured quality processes measuring key factors provided by stakeholders, clients, and internal teams.

Prior to Nira, Kevin was an early software engineer at Arch, a residential climate tech company, and the founder & CTO of social-impact startup Tab for a Cause.

Riley focuses on bringing top tier talent to Nira from across the energy and tech sectors. Prior to Nira, Riley spent 2.5 years in agency recruiting within the utility-scale renewable energy domain. He is committed to providing a smooth and informed process for all prospective hires, while securing the best engineers in the industry to maximize Nira's impact.

Lauren is a climate-focused marketing strategist with experience leading brand, content, and communications efforts across clean tech and energy SaaS companies. Before joining Nira, she helped shape the brand identity and sales enablement strategy at Modern Hydrogen and led external and internal communications at Power TakeOff, an energy efficiency platform serving utilities across North America.