BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – June 17, 2015 – Southern Research announced today that William Grieco, Ph.D., has been named vice president of the research institute’s Energy & Environment division.
Given the ever-increasing importance of these areas, the organization now has a senior leader on board to solely focus on energy and environment.
Southern Research has a long history in these disciplines, from pioneering technologies to reduce pollution from coal combustion in the 1970s, to the recent launch of the Southeastern Solar Research Center.
Grieco will lead this division’s continued efforts toward cleaner and more efficient energy production, water research at the industrial and watershed level, new technology development for grid-scale energy storage, creation of carbon fiber production technologies from bio-based sources, and new fuel source development from biomass and other feedstocks.
He will also be in charge of identifying international business opportunities for Southern Research’s clean coal technologies.
Grieco joins Southern Research from Owens Corning in Granville, Ohio, where he was director of innovation for a 70-person science and technology team that developed energy-efficient building materials. While there, he also established a Department of Energy-funded partnership to develop solar roofing shingles.
He has more than 17 years’ experience leading innovation teams at Owens Corning, Gardenia Ventures, PetroAlgae, Alkermes, and Rohm and Haas Company in solar energy, biofuels, biodegradable polymer manufacturing and nanotechnology, among other specializations.
He earned his doctorate and master’s degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
“It’s exciting to join such a respected research institute where technology is core to what they do and where the team is passionate about making an impact on global problems in energy and clean water,” said Grieco.
“We have a strong team in Energy and Environment, and I am thrilled to welcome Bill to lead them. He is a great fit for us because he combines innovative ideas with a track record of commercializing them,” said Southern Research President and CEO Art Tipton, Ph.D. “Bill has the talent and the experience to take our Energy & Environment division to new levels here in the U.S. and globally.”
