Board of Managers
Thomas J. Stephenson
Board Chair
Prior to co-founding Pajarito Powder in the spring of 2012, Mr. Stephenson was a co-founder of the Verge Fund in 2003, and currently serves as Managing General Partner in addition to his responsibilities with Pajarito Powder. Mr. Stephenson has worked with a number of current and past Verge portfolio companies, including Altela and Wellkeeper, and was previously on the Board of Directors of LabStart, a joint-venture entity created to assist in commercialization of technologies from Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the sources of technology for Pajarito Powder. He previously served as a director and the lead investor for Mesofuel, a start-up company commercializing novel hydrogen reforming technologies for the fuel cell industry.
Paul Short
Vice Chair
Mr. Short was a co-founder of Pajarito Powder, along with Mr. Stephenson. Mr. Short holds a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State University, and held positions with both NMSU’s Physical Science Laboratory and Honeywell as a Principal Engineer. Later he founded InnovASIC, a design services company that developed integrated circuits for other companies. Mr. Short later evolved InnovASIC from a services firm to a semiconductor producer that designs, manufactures, and sells integrated circuits, earning over $5 million in revenue during a period of industry contraction. He was also the founder of Metaphor Computing and Chief Operating Officer of Altela, a water treatment equipment manufacturer. At Altela, he led the team that designed, manufactured, installed and tested the next generation product, generating $1.6M in revenue in one year.
Paul Whittleston
Board Member
Mark Marlow
Westways Staffing Services, Inc. - Chief Financial Officer
20+ year finance executive with two successful IPOs. Helped grow Virtual Radiologic Corp into one of the largest Telemedicine providers in the United States. Former Managing Partner at Omphalos Venture Partners. B.S.B.A in Accounting and an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management.
Dr. Inge Schildermans
NV Bekaert SA - Group Technology & Innovation Officer and SVP Energy Transition at Bekaert
Dr. Ir Inge Schildermans is the Senior Vice President of Fiber Technologies at Bekaert, a world market and technology leader in steel wire transformation and coating technologies. After finishing Chemical Engineering studies in Belgium, she combined a PhD in Applied Bio Sciences with R&D project management at Bekaert Fiber Technologies. Mrs. Schildermans held several positions within Bekaert, ranging from Technology and Innovation management at the HQ to Operational & Country management in Eastern Europe (Slovakia) before she returned to Belgium in 2019 to take up the current role of SVP in Fiber Technologies. Her Business unit develops, manufactures and commercializes high-end metal fiber products for several end-applications in Filtration (polymer, semicon, gas) and in Automotive applications offering Conductive & Heat resistant Textiles and Heating Cables. Since 2000, Bekaert Fiber Technologies is active in the development and commercialization of Porous transport layers for PEM electrolysers. Additionally, Mrs. Schildermans is Board member of Hyve, a consortium of Belgian industry and research players developing new breakthrough water electrolysis solutions.
Boki Kim, MBA
Hyundai CVC - Senior Manager
Senior Investment Manager in the Corporate Venture Capital division at Hyundai Motor Company, a top-three global automotive OEM. Has led strategic investments across emerging technologies, including hydrogen, battery innovation, and robotics. Prior to joining Hyundai, he served at KFCC, a financial institution in Korea working in risk management and corporate strategy.
Management Team
Prof. Dr. Christian Mohrdieck
CEO
Prof. Dr. Christian Mohrdieck was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Hyzon Motors.
Previously, Prof. Dr. Mohrdieck was the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG. He had been CEO of Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH since 2015, which in June 2020 was first merged into Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG, then in March 2021 into cellcentric GmbH & Co. KG in March 2021, for which he served as Managing Director. After studies of physics in Germany and France, Prof. Mohrdieck joined Daimler-Benz Research in 1989. In 1995 he became head of the Executive Office of the Member of the Board responsible for Research and Technology in Stuttgart.
From 1999 on Prof. Mohrdieck was a Senior Manager for Fuel Cell Systems with Daimler-Chrysler Corporation in the United States. Back in Germany, he became a Director of Structural Materials at DaimlerChrysler AG and afterwards in 2003 Director of Alternative Energy and Drive Systems. In 2005 Prof. Mohrdieck assumed the responsibility for Fuel Cell Drive System Development. In 2006 he got the additional responsibility for Li-Ion battery development at Daimler AG. Two years later Prof. Christian Mohrdieck became a Director of Fuel Cell & Battery Drive Development. He became a Director Fuel Cell at the Daimler Group in 2012. In 2013 the University Ulm appointed Dr. Mohrdieck Honorary Professor. He currently teaches at the University of Ulm and the Technical University of Vienna.
Daniel Topley
Director of Manufacturing
Mr. Topley joined Pajarito Powder as Director of Manufacturing, following his role as Plant Manager of the Materion factory in Albuquerque. Daniel provides guidance in the scale-up of catalyst and component manufacturing. Previously, Mr. Topley worked in various manufacturing and engineering management roles at Materion, Emcore Photovoltaics, and Texas Instruments. He brings nearly three decades of manufacturing experience, and knowledge in process optimization, scale-up, and driving profitability. Daniel has a Masters of Manufacturing Engineering and an MBA from the University of New Mexico, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from New Mexico State University.
Webb Johnson
Senior Director of Business Development
Mr. Johnson joined Pajarito Powder in November 2015 as Director of Business Development. Over his career, Webb has worked in varying capacities for software and hardware startups, including his own. Webb was Vice President of emerging technologies consortium “Next Generation Economy Initiative” in the early 2000s, based upon cluster research developed by Michael Porter and later, the Milken Foundation aimed at leveraging National Laboratory strengths in technology development while addressing weaknesses in commercialization. At SWSH, LLC he helped recruit and assemble senior engineering and science teams for startups throughout the southwest, including Lumidigm, a biometric startup acquired by Swedish firm Assa Abloy through its Texas-based U.S. subsidiary HID. In 2014 Webb helped establish the ABQid Accelerator, a Global Accelerator Network-accredited program based on the Techstars model using Lean Startup processes to “accelerate” startups.
Michael Payne
PhD - Director of Carbon Materials
Dr. Payne currently serves as Director of Carbon Materials at Pajarito Powder in Albuquerque, NM. He leads the Carbon Team and serves as the company's subject matter expert for their Engineered Catalyst Support (ECS) products — mesoporous carbon materials used in PEM/AEM fuel cell and electrolyzer applications. Michael was responsible for designing and building out Pajarito Powder's Carbon R&D laboratory, and his team's work has driven meaningful cost reductions, efficiency improvements, and EH&S enhancements to ECS manufacturing. He is passionate about building collaborative R&D organizations that can successfully translate innovations to market. Dr. Payne holds a PhD in Chemistry from MIT.
Brian DiMarco
PhD - Director of Anode Materials
Dr. DiMarco currently serves as Director of Anode Materials at Pajarito Powder. His career spans academic research, national laboratory work, and industry, including a three-year tenure at Brookhaven National Laboratory where he contributed to artificial photosynthesis research and technology transfer initiatives, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Université de Strasbourg. He has authored numerous publications spanning electrochemistry, electron transfer, and solar energy conversion, and brings deep expertise in materials synthesis and spectroscopic techniques to his role at Pajarito Powder. Dr. DiMarco holds a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Nicolas S. Dwarica
PhD - Director of Supported Catalysts
Nicolas S. Dwarica leads the cost reduction and scale-up efforts of select platinum and platinum alloys on ECS. His efforts are directed towards the optimization and scale up of supported platinum alloy materials, bringing improved catalyst products to market. Dr. Dwarica leads a team of scientists and engineers to work together towards the development of these advanced catalyst materials. Dr. Dwarica is an early career professional with extensive breadth and depth in advanced materials synthesis, characterization, and scale up. Before joining Pajarito Powder in October 2024, Dr. Dwarica completed his postdoctoral appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, where he led catalyst discovery efforts in preparing high entropy metal phosphide alloys, formed catalyst materials, and catalyst screening efforts for a variety of thermal, electrochemical, and non-thermal plasma assisted reactions geared towards biofuels production. Dr. Dwarica holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Materials Chemistry from Yale University and a B.S. in Chemistry from Trinity University. These combined experiences lead to 12+ years on metal alloy catalyst materials development, in addition to numerus publications and conference presentations (17+), as well as two provisional patents.
Shelbi McMurtry
Quality Assurance Manager
Shelbi McMurtry is the Quality Assurance Manager with over seven years of experience in pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing, specializing in regulatory compliance and quality systems excellence. My background includes hands‑on leadership in 21 CFR Parts 680 and 211, USP 797, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and GMP operations. I have successfully contributed to FDA, MDSAP, and Health Canada audits, strengthened CAPA effectiveness, and implemented and closed critical compliance gaps. Passionate about building strong quality cultures, I focus on optimizing QMS frameworks, enabling cross‑functional collaboration, and driving continuous, data‑driven improvement within fast‑paced, highly regulated environments.