KR Sridhar is the principal co-founder and CEO of Bloom Energy. Prior to founding the company, Dr. Sridhar was a professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, as well as Director of the Space Technologies Laboratory (STL) at the University of Arizona. Dr. Sridhar has successfully assembled and led major project teams consisting of strategic consortia of industry, academic institutions, and national labs, and has served as an advisor to NASA. Among his significant projects, Dr. Sridhar helped develop strategic plans for the space agency in the areas of nanotechnology and planetary missions. His work on NASA payloads to Mars, designed to convert Martian atmospheric gases to oxygen for use in propulsion and life support, was recognized by Fortune Magazine, where he was cited as one of the top five futurists who are inventing tomorrow, today.