OverviewExecutive in Residence
Summary
The Executive in Residence (EIR) is a respected and senior leader in the technology community that provides intimate access and is a resource for both McCormick undergraduate and graduate students
Highlights of an EIR include:
- Hosting office hours each quarter to advise students.
- Providing two lectures on industry topics relevant to their career during the academic year.
- Acknowledging the EIR appointment for one academic year.
The MEM program has two EIRs: Mark Johnson and Katie Kollhoff Mouat.
MEM Executives in Residence 2024-2025
Mark Johnson
The Master of Engineering Management Program welcomes back Mark Johnson, clean energy startup founder and innovation director, as an Executive in Residence for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Education
MBA Loyola Chicago
BA University of Notre Dame
Biography
Mark Johnson is the founder of two clean energy startups - HelpAnswers and CleanestCharge.com - and the Director of Energy & Utilities Innovation at Blockchains. Blockchain is digital cryptographic database accounting providing unique identifiers to outputs like units of electrical energy or clean energy credits.
At Blockchains Mark leads Energy and Utilities Innovation which discovers, applies and deploys technology to energy to track, trace, trade and retire kWhs and clean energy credits. This work is built upon his years perfecting and patenting clean energy blockchain. Along the way Mark founded two 501(c)3 not-for-profit startups, served as Smart Cities Chief of Schneider Electric, led the U.S. Department of Energy ARRA program for 2,500 cities, counties and states, and worked as a senior consultant for both IBM and Navigant (now Guidehouse Energy and Utilities).
His work and interests are clean energy: especially engineering new synergistic technologies together like DC-coupling solar + battery energy storage + electric vehicle fast charging with kWhs and clean energy credits tracked, traced, traded and retired. This creative engineering approach engages teamwork, techno-economic financial analysis, financing, partners, suppliers, and market readiness.
Mark and his wife, who is originally from Sri Lanka, have 4 adult children across the United States. He looks forward to helping MEM students with:
- Projects to join or new project idea
- Introductions to companies
- Referrals for Jobs
- Coaching
- Questions/Answers
- 1-on-1 Meetings
Read more about Mark's work in "Using Blockchain for Clean Energy."
Katie Kollhoff Mouat
The Master of Engineering Management Program welcomes Katie Kollhoff Mouat as a new Executive in Residence for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Education
MEM Northwestern University
BS Chemical Engineering, University of Kansas
BA Spanish Language & Literature, University of Kansas
Biography
Executive in Residence, Katie Kollhoff Mouat (MEM ‘19) has over fifteen years of experience spanning clean energy, entrepreneurship, chemical process performance analysis and safety management. Her career has been built around protecting communities and the environment through safe handling of toxic materials. As an MEM student, she developed and led NUMiX Materials, a startup dedicated to removing heavy metal pollution from water through advanced sorbent materials.
At NUMIX, Katie guided the company’s strategy, including seeking and securing non-dilutive funding, overseeing product development and managing the tech portfolio, building team and building, developing partnerships, managing risk, negotiating with internal and external stakeholders, and serving as company spokesperson. She was selected as a Department of Energy Fellow in the Chain Reaction Innovations lab-embedded entrepreneurship program at Argonne National Lab. With the NUMIX team, Katie won the Northwestern VentureCat competition, the Department of Energy CleanTech University Prize at the Rice Business Plan Competition, and the Clean Energy Trust (now Evergreen Climate Innovations) Cleantech Inclusion Award.
In addition to clean water and hard tech entrepreneurship, Katie is interested in sustainability topics including regenerative agriculture, carbon credits, and the circular economy. She has experience operating a Chicago-based art gallery with her husband, with whom she also owns a CPG company, the Bitter Science Co., which makes upcycled bitters for upscale beverages while diverting food waste. From the range and depth of her experiences, Katie offers a unique blend of strategic thinking, operational expertise, and a passion for innovation.
Katie can help with:
- Business strategy development
- Techno-economic modeling and analysis
- Process improvement
- Team building and leadership
- Career path mentoring
- Presentation skills
- Introductions
- Project idea generation and direction
- Mentoring and coaching
Read more about Katie’s work with NUMIX
