Faculty & Staff
David Loomis – Economics
Dr. David Loomis is the Director of the Center for Renewable Energy and Executive Director of the Institute for Regulatory Policy Studies. As an Associate Professor of Economics at Illinois State University, he teaches in the Master's Degree program in electricity, natural gas and telecommunications economics. As part of his duties at the Center, he leads the Illinois Wind Working Group under the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Loomis is part of a team of faculty that has designed the undergraduate curriculum in renewable energy at Illinois State University. He earned his Ph.D. in economics at Temple University. Prior to joining the faculty at Illinois State University, Dr. Loomis worked at Bell Atlantic (Verizon) for 11 years. He has published articles in the Review of Industrial Organization, Utilities Policy, Information Economics and Policy, International Journal of Forecasting, International Journal of Business Research, Business Economics and the Journal of Economics Education.
Randy Winter – Agriculture
Dr. J. Randy Winter is an Associate Director of the Center for Renewable Energy, and a Professor of Agricultural Economics at Illinois State University. He has a B.S. in agricultural industries from Southern Illinois University—Carbondale and a M.S. and Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Oregon State University. He teaches courses in farm management, agricultural finance, agricultural policy and renewable energy.
David Kennell – Technology
David Kennell is an Associate Director of the Center for Renewable Energy, and an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Department of Technology at Illinois State University. He has developed and taught courses in electrical circuits and machines, fluid power, automated systems, and renewable energy. He cofounded the renewable energy major with David Loomis and Randy Winter, and serves as the coordinator for that program. David is also an associate director for the Center for Renewable Energy with responsibility for technology. He collaborated with Kevin Devine to design and build the Caterpillar Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory, a unique flexible automation lab with robots, networked safety, and programmable logic control (PLC) systems.
Matt Aldeman – Technical Assistant
Matt Aldeman assists faculty concerning renewable energy systems in grant writing, provides technical assistance to the external community concerning renewable energy systems, and help maintains the renewable energy laboratory equipment including the anemometer data logger, solar data logger, small wind turbine, SODAR unit, and wind tunnel. Matt joined our Renewable Energy team after working for General Electric as a wind site manager, where he led a team of 12 technicians in the operation, maintenance and repair of 67 1.5MW wind turbine generators. Previously, he proudly served in the U.S. Navy. Aboard the USS John C. Stennis, he was the Reactor Electrical Division Officer and led a division of 30 electricians through a 7.5 month deployment to the Persian Gulf. On the USS O’Bannon, he served as Gunnery Officer and Legal Officer. His education includes graduation with distinction from the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School, a Master of Engineering Management degree from Old Dominion University, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Janet Niezgoda - Coordinator
Janet Niezgoda is the Coordinator of the Center for Renewable Energy, responsible for the behind the scenes work for the Center's conferences, workshops, and forums, as well as all marketing materials, communications with members, and reports. She is a proud Redbird, having earned her B.S. Marketing at Illinois State University in 1991. Prior to joining the Center, Janet enjoyed 18 years of marketing and event planning experience including working as the Vice President of Marketing and Membership at the Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce in Oklahoma.
Sue Deason - Outreach & Special Projects
Sue Deason is in charge of Outreach and Special Projects for the Center for Renewable Energy. Prior to joining the Center, she worked for Illinois State University for 11 years, including as Associate Director of Extended University where she managed off-campus and online education and training. Sue has an M.S. in Education from Western Illinois University, and her Doctoral coursework in Education Administration Foundations took place at Illinois State University.
Pam Fuller - Office Manager
Pam is the Office Manager for the Center for Renewable Energy. Her higher education degree was completed at Illinois State University. Upon graduation from ISU, she taught French in a community high school district in Illinois. Following teaching, she worked in the office of the Consulat General de France in Detroit, followed by experience at American Motors Corporation. Returning to Illinois and ISU, she was active in the ‘Silver-Tongued Redbirds’ Toastmasters Club in addition to employment in the Student Employment service area and the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences, CAST.
