Management Team

Andy Marsh joined Plug as President and CEO in April 2008. Under his guidance, Plug has become the leading provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy. Mr. Marsh has established Plug as the home to the end-to-end green hydrogen ecosystem where every step of operations — from production, storage and handling, delivery, transportation and dispensing of hydrogen — is available to customers, allowing them to meet their business goals and decarbonize the economy. What was once a company behind fuel cell technology that powered material handling businesses, Mr. Marsh has positioned Plug as the green hydrogen leader powering e-mobility and stationary power applications, and providing first-class PEM electrolyzer technology.

As President and CEO, Mr. Marsh plans and directs all aspects of the company’s goals and objectives, and is focused on building a company that leverages Plug’s combination of technological expertise, talented people and focus on sales growth to continue the company’s leadership stance in the future energy economy. Under his leadership, Plug is expected to hit a record $3 billion in revenue by 2025.

Previously, Mr. Marsh was a co-founder of Valere Power, where he served as CEO and Board Member from the company’s inception in 2001 and through its sale to Eltek ASA in 2007. During his leadership, Valere grew into a profitable global operation with more than 200 employees and $90 million in revenue derived from the sale of DC power products to the telecommunications sector. Also during Mr. Marsh’s tenure, Valere Power received many awards such as the Tech Titan award as the fastest growing technology company in the Dallas Fort Worth area and the Red Herring Top 100 Innovator Award. Prior to founding Valere, he spent almost 18 years with Lucent Bell Laboratories in a variety of sales and technical management positions.

Mr. Marsh is chairman of the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association and a member of the Hydrogen Council. He holds a master’s in electrical engineering from Duke University and a master’s in business administration from SMU. He has served a resource to U.S. lawmakers who have looked to him for guidance on expanding the adoption of hydrogen.

Paul Middleton joined Plug as Chief Financial Officer in 2014, bringing a proven background in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, controls and risk management for manufacturing and technology companies.

Prior to Plug, Mr. Middleton worked at Rogers Corp., a global manufacturer and distributor of specialty polymer composite materials and components. During his tenure at Rogers, Mr. Middleton served in many senior financial leadership roles including Corporate Controller and Principal Accounting Officer, Treasure and Interim Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Rogers, Mr. Middleton managed all financial administration for the tools division of Cooper Industries.

Mr. Middleton holds a master’s in and a bachelor’s in business administration BA from the University of Central Florida. Additionally, he is a Certified Public Accountant.

Mr. Middleton holds a Master of Science in Accounting and a BBA from the University of Central Florida. Additionally, he is a Certified Public Accountant.

In 2021, Tim Cortes was promoted to Chief Technology Officer for Plug. His focus includes responsibility for the company’s long-term technology strategy and vision. Mr. Cortes works with the leadership team to develop technology roadmaps, design solutions and implement processes that make technology development a significant differentiator for Plug. He collaborates with industry leaders and assesses customer needs to ensure that the organization proactively anticipates, supports, and solves technical problems in support of customer issues. Additionally, Mr. Cortes identifies potential M&A opportunities that will drive the technology roadmaps as well as position Plug Power to vertically integrate in key component and subsystem elements.

Mr. Cortes joined Plug as Vice President of Hydrogen Energy Systems in January of 2015. Prior to joining Plug, Mr. Cortes served as Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Engineering at Smiths Power. In these positions, he was responsible for research and development, as well as solutions for global applications. During his tenure at Smiths Power, Mr. Cortes led product line expansion that resulted in a doubling of revenue growth in less than six years.

Mr. Cortes holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from New Mexico State University. Additionally, he holds several patents covering power system architecture.

Preeti Pande joined Plug as Chief Marketing Officer in 2021. As CMO of Plug, Preeti leads Plug’s comprehensive marketing strategy aimed at facilitating growth and increasing sales through elevated brand recognition while transforming the green energy market through Plug’s innovative hydrogen solutions.

Mrs. Pande engages and shares Plug’s vision with customers, prospects, investors, industry groups, press, and analysts to promote proactive solutions, communications, tools, and products to meet business needs.

Mrs. Pande joins Plug from Bloom Energy, where she served as Vice President of Product and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for eight years. In those roles, Mrs. Pande was responsible for managing the product life cycle, defining integrated product offerings and product roadmaps for the next generation of fuel cell technologies and energy solutions. She was also responsible for Bloom Energy’s entry into maritime transport markets, where she developed and managed partnerships with shipyards, vessel charterers, oil and gas manufacturers, cruise lines, and regulators. Her experience is global, having developed and launched multiple technology platforms across the US, Korea, Japan and India.

Prior to Bloom Energy, Preeti was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Shocking Technologies, where was responsible for the overall product offering and for strategic partnerships internationally. She has also held senior positions in the semiconductor industry, as General Manager for the Advanced Test Solutions business unit at Kulicke & Soffa, and as Senior Director of Product Marketing & Management at Asyst Technologies. Preeti has a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Arizona.

Jose Luis Crespo, GM Material Handling & Global Key Accounts, is responsible for the global business strategy, sales growth and market entry of all of Plug’s products aimed at the material handling market. He joined Plug as Vice President of Business Development and International Sales in 2014 and was promoted to Vice President of Global Sales in January of 2015 and Executive Vice President of Global Sales in 2020.

Under Mr. Crespo’s leadership, Plug has seen tremendous growth in fuel cell adoption, securing multi-site global customers including Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot, GM and Stellantis. Plug has additionally secured Carrefour in France and ASDA in the UK and continues to expand its European presence. Mr. Crespo has enabled accelerated adoption of hydrogen fuel cells and today there are more than 50,000 GenDrive products operational in electric material handling equipment.

Prior to joining Plug, Mr. Crespo served as Vice President of International Value Stream at Smiths Power. He successfully brought together two international business divisions, including sales, manufacturing, and field support. Under his leadership, Smiths Power achieved combined sales of $14M in the first year after the acquisition.

Mr. Crespo holds an MBA in global management from the University of Phoenix and a degree in telecommunications engineering from the Engineering University of Madrid, Spain.

Ole Hoefelmann joined Plug in 2021 and serves as General Manager of the Electrolyzer Solutions business unit. Mr. Hoefelmann is an expert voice in the global hydrogen economy. His career includes an impressive 30-year tenure at Air Liquide S.A., with extensive international experience spanning the US, Korea, France, Spain, Portugal, and Germany. He notably served as CEO for Air Liquide in Iberia, COO Industrial Customers US, Chairman of Air Liquide Advanced Materials, CEO Advanced Technologies US, Vice President Hydrogen Energy Americas, and most recently Vice President Markets, Strategy, Innovation, Strategic Accounts, and Communication for the World Business Line Industrial Merchant.

In these roles, Mr. Hoefelmann led almost 3,000 employees, developed commercialization strategies to scale hydrogen fuel production from small to high-volume manufacturing, influenced safety education and protocol, and accelerated growth in new markets, including transportation. In fact, Mr. Hoefelmann created the Hydrogen Energy Americas organization with the purpose of developing a strong presence in the fuel cell energy transportation sector, resulting in Air Liquide announcing a hydrogen refueling network in collaboration with Toyota in the Northeast US. Additionally, the organization enabled the expansion of Air Liquide’s Hydrogen Fueling Network in California, highlighted by the investment in low carbon hydrogen production and distribution in Nevada.

Mr. Hoefelmann has served as chair and vice-chair for the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) and Vice Chair of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA). He holds an MBA in International Business from Saint Mary’s College in California.

Keith Schmid joined Plug Power Inc. as Chief Operating Officer in 2013, bringing more than 24 years of experience in the fields of industrial power systems and energy storage. Mr. Schmid is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the corporation.

Prior to joining Plug Power, Mr. Schmid served as President of SPS Solutions, a power solutions and energy storage consulting firm, from 2011 to 2013. Previously, Mr. Schmid served as CEO of Boston- Power Incorporated, a provider of large format lithium ion battery solutions, in 2011, and as President and CEO of Power Distribution Incorporated, a power distribution and protection company, from 2007 to 2010. Additionally, Mr. Schmid held the position of General Manager, Industrial Energy Division- Americas for Exide Technologies from 2001 to 2007.

Mr. Schmid holds an M.B.A and a Master of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Sanjay Shrestha joined Plug Power as Chief Strategy Officer in 2019. Prior to joining Plug, Mr. Shrestha served as the CIO of a global solar IPP and President of Sky Capital Americas since 2015. Under his leadership, Sky Capital America built and acquired over 100MW of operating solar assets and secured a pipeline over 100MW. He also sourced various types of financing solutions to support this growth including project debt, construction equity and long-term equity. Before global solar IPP, he led the renewables investment banking effort at FBR Capital markets. During 2014, and under his leadership, the firm was ranked among the top renewable energy underwriters in the U.S.

Prior to joining FBR, Mr. Shrestha spent seven years as the global head of renewables research coverage at Lazard Capital Markets. During his tenure at Lazard Capital Markets, he was a member of the Institutional Investor All America Research team and was also ranked as one of the top five stock pickers on a global basis. Prior to Lazard Capital Markets, Mr. Shrestha spent seven years at First Albany Capital, where he built the firm’s renewables and industrial research practice. Starmine/Forbes Magazine ranked him the number 1 stock picker and the number 1 earnings estimator during his tenure at First Albany Capital. Mr. Shrestha serves as an independent director on the board of directors of Fusemachines, an AI company.

Mr. Shrestha holds an Honorary Doctorate from Saint Rose College.

Chris Suriano joined Plug as Executive Vice President of Service in 2019, bringing nearly two decades of experience in the Power Generation Services business in a variety of technical, commercial, operational and P&L leadership roles. His most recent previous experience was as Region Director for Field Core, Inc., a GE company where he led the successful startup of a new Field Services organization in the Northern United States.

Prior to Field Core, Mr. Suriano held multiple leadership positions with GE over the course of 16 years with the company, including Service Director for Power Service, North Operations Leader for Power Generation Service, and Global Steam Turbine Leader for Power Generation Service.

Mr. Suriano earned his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Manhattan College.

David Mindnich joined Plug as Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing in 2021. As EVP of Global Manufacturing, he is responsible for optimizing the performance of Plug’s growing number of global manufacturing facilities.

He is focused on building out a robust talent pipeline of global employees who have extensive experience in engineering, production, manufacturing, and design. With a thorough understanding of the frontline workforce impact, Mr. Mindnich is building a solutions-oriented team that continues to push the boundaries of innovation – significantly expanding the accomplishments of Plug Power’s day-to-day manufacturing and operations.

Prior to Plug, Mr. Mindnich spearheaded operations for Tesla’s first-ever Gigafactory in Nevada, leading a team of more than 5,000 employees to strategize and execute manufacturing, production, engineering and maintenance functions at the world’s largest battery and powertrain manufacturing facility. During his career at Tesla, he and his team enhanced many of the factory’s performance metrics across multiple business units, including increased efficacy, savings, and quality.

Prior to Tesla, Mr. Mindnich held senior manufacturing roles for other global companies, including International Game Technology and Trex Company, Inc. He earned his MBA from the University of Phoenix and bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University.

Gerard Conway joined Plug as Associate General Counsel in 2000 and was promoted to General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in 2004. As General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, he is responsible for advising the Company on legal issues such as corporate law, securities, contracts, strategic alliances and intellectual property.

Mr. Conway also oversees governmental affairs. In this role, he advocates on energy issues, policies, legislation and regulations on the state, federal, national and international levels on behalf of Plug and the alternative energy sector.

Prior to joining Plug, Mr. Conway spent four years as an Associate with Featherstonhaugh, Conway, Wiley & Clyne, LLP, where he concentrated in government relations, business and corporate law. Mr. Conway has more than 20 years of experience in general business, corporate real estate and government relations.

Mr. Conway holds a Juris Doctorate from the Boston University School of Law. He received a bachelor’s in English from Colgate University.

Tammy Kimble is a Human Resource leader with over 25 years of global experience as a business partner in multiple industries. She joined Plug as Vice President ofHuman Resources in 2019, having served SEFCU in a similar capacity since 2015. Ms. Kimble’s specialties include organizational development, coaching, staffing, benefits, compensation, HRIS, succession planning/talent planning, mergers & acquisitions, and organizational transitions. Her prior career experience includes executive leadership roles at such companies as Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corporation, Momentive Performance Materials and Berkshire Bank.

Ms. Kimble holds an MBA with an emphasis in human resources from Sage Graduate School and a bachelor's from Siena College. She has also served as an adjunct professor at The Sage Colleges, the Lally School of Business at RPI, and Siena College.