CalCars at the Maker Faire April 21-22

We've got an enthusiastic and experienced crew converting a stock Prius into a PRIUS+ at the Maker Faire, and helping to showcase our efforts to Faire attendees.

	Sherry Boschert Sherry Boschert co-founded (with Marc Geller) the San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association, a chapter of the national Electric Auto Association. She is the author of the upcoming book, Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America (New Society Publishers, fall 2006).
	Mike Brown A Nebraska native, Mike studied engineering briefly at the University of Wyoming before settling in the San Francisco Bay area in 1965, where worked as a mechanic at various auto dealerships, with a specialty in Volkswagens. In 1975 Mike opened his own auto repair shop and gas station. During the gas crisis of 1979, a customer asked him to build an electric car, and Mike discovered a dearth of conversion parts suppliers. As a result he founded Electro Automotive, and eventually closed the gas car repair business to work full time on electric cars. Mike now lives in the Santa Cruz, California, area and run Electro Automotive with his wife, Shari Prange.
	Tom Driscoll Maker Faire project manager Tom Driscoll had "too much prep school, not enough college, and just the right amount of canoeing, hiking, and skiing." His longtime pursuit of renewable energy and climate stabilization reflects this. Tom's first flirtation with renewables was via a 1930's Jacobs 2kw windmill, and his current renewables include 3KW solar and hot air solar systems. His powered transportation comes via an Oxygen electric scooter, Honda Insight or 1993 (electric) Dodge Tevan. Tom works for Akeena Solar.
	Ryan Fulcher Future PRIUS+ Owner! (when he drives the Faire car back to Seattle) Ryan is a System Administrator at DigiPen Institute of Technology, a video game programming, computer animation, and computer engineering school. He became interested in EVs after attending a show in Portland, OR, and quickly realized that "my 2000 Insight was not nearly as electric as it could have been." Since then he's been immersed in the world of electric transportation and sustainable energy. His latest undertaking has been the organization of the Electric Auto Association's Plug-In Hybrid Vehicle site.
	Marc Geller Marc Geller is a member of the Board of Directors of the Electric Auto Association. A proponent of electric drive since leasing a Th!nk City in 2001, he helped organize demonstrations against Ford's cancellation of the Th!nk electric program in 2002. He co-founded DontCrush.com and Plug In America, which protested the crushing of electric cars by the auto makers and achieved historic agreements with Ford and Toyota to save their remaining EVs. He now drives a Toyota RAV4 EV. Geller is a photographer and sells solar PV systems.
	Ron Gremban Ron Gremban is an electrical and software engineer and CalCars' Technology Lead. He led the conversion team that built the world's first plug-in Prius, the PRIUS+. A CalTech EE, Ron helped build and drive Caltech's entry in the 1968 "Great Electric Car Race" against MIT--the precursor of all current EV and green vehicle competitions. His team drove nonstop from Pasadena to Boston in 8.75 days, becoming the first people to drive across the continent purely by electric power.
	Amanda Kovattana Amanda is a professional organizer with a certificate in Construction Technology from the state's Regional Occupational Program. This two-semester course teaches basic electrical wiring (as well as plumbing, carpentry, roofing and drywall installation). As part of her organizing services, she installs closet systems, garage shelving and storage cabinets. Amanda has been an EV enthusiast since she purchased a Corbin Sparrow following the 2004 presidential election. She also owns an eGo Cycle scooter. Along with taking her bicycle on the train, these non-gas vehicles help her leave her Honda wagon at home most of the week while seeing clients all over the Bay Area.
	Steven S. Lough Steven Lough has been president of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association since 1981. He is a former GM and US-Electricar Lectric Leopard Dealer, and Electronics Instructor for the US Army Signal Corps. He is an EV Builder, Spokesperson, Lobbyist, Enthusiast, and Promoter.
	Shari Prange Shari grew up in Illinois and moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1978. In 1982, her VW was towed into Brown’s Auto Service, home of Electro Automotive, and by 1983, Mike Brown and Shari had joined both personal and business lives. Shari's auto education was on-the-job with Mike, and in 1988 she combined that new knowledge with her writing background and coauthored Convert It. Shari's stated niche is "taking technical information and turning it into simple language that a nontechnical person can understand," just about perfect for the Maker Faire. Shari and Mike live and work in the Santa Cruz Mountains with two cats and a boa constrictor, and solicit and consult on alternative transportation articles for HP.
	Nick Rothman Nick is a longtime advocate of alternative transportation. He started his career as a mechanic for Zap Electric Bicycles and later spent time with E Bike and Vego Scooters. At Vego Nick was the head of the service department and created service procedures as well as wrote all the instruction manuals. Nick is a former Toyota mechanic specializing in Prius repair and maintenance and trainee of Toyota's T-TEN (Toyota Technical Education Network) program.
	Mike Sasnett Mike was born in Seattle and stayed for BSEE and MSEE degrees from the University of Washington. For the past 39 years he has lived in Los Altos and worked in Silicon Valley on the development of lasers and optical systems for industrial and medical applications. For fun he and his wife Roberta like to go touring by bicycle--often in Europe, where they conduct research on alternative transportation fuels. Kilometers per equivalent strawberry tart is a favorite unit of measure.