OUR STORY

Together, we’re building solar that works where it never could before.

At Active Surfaces, our team blends deep technical expertise with strategic market insight to revolutionize solar energy. Co-founders Shiv Bhakta and Dr. Richard Swartwout bring a unique mix of commercial and scientific leadership—Shiv with experience at DOE and ExxonMobil and an MS/MBA from MIT, and Richard with over a decade of solar R&D and printed electronics innovation at MIT.

We are supported by a world-class advisory board—including Nobel Laureates and deeptech pioneers from MIT, Konarka, and 3M—as well as a growing team of engineers, scientists, and operators with proven track records in climate tech, advanced manufacturing, and solar materials. Together, we’re building solar that works where it never could before.

The leadership

Shiv Bhakta

CEO & Co-Founder
Passionate climate solutions advocate with experience at the Department of Energy, ExxonMobil, Verizon, and MUUS Climate Partners. MIT Sloan MBA, MIT MS, & University of Houston BS. His expertise in corporate sustainability and deeptech commercialization makes him a key driver of capital, customer acquisition, and talent recruitment. Named on Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Richard Swartwout

CTO & Co-Founder
Dr. Swartwout, an MIT PhD in Solar R&D and Printed Electronics, has over a decade of experience in energy innovation. As a Tata Center Fellow, he co-developed MIT's GridEdge program and recognized the potential of flexible solar panels for remote areas. He brings deep technical expertise, inventing 3 of the patents in Active Surface’s IP portfolio.
Jeremiah Mwaura

Chief Manufacturing Scientist
Dr. Mwaura was a Research Scientist at MIT’s ONE Lab, focusing on scalable printing processes and materials for organic thin-film flexible solar. He has over 20 years of experience in the field, having led technical teams at companies like Konarka, Sunew, and Armor, specializing in organic photovoltaics (OPV) development and scaling. Jeremiah holds a PhD in Chemistry and Materials Science from the University of Connecticut and is a veteran in roll-to-roll manufacturing scale-up.

Interested in working with us or investing in the future of solar?

Join our team

Meet the Team

Dusty Stahl

Director of Business Dev.
Dusty, Harvard MBA, brings experience in taking climate technologies to market, early-stage investing, and product management at Clean Energy Ventures, energyRe, and General Motors.
Matt Duff

Device Engineer
Dr. Duff, PhD and B.S. in Materials Science from University of Pittsburgh, joins with expertise in project engineering and deep tech SBIR research from Triton System. He specializes in PbS quantum dot solar cells, focusing on charge transport characteristics.
Brian Hayes

Senior Technician
Brian, with over 20 yrs of experience from Verdox, LUCENT, Nokia Bell Labs, Ionic Materials, and various startups, brings a vast amount of expertise in experimental work and lab expansions in optical/electrical manufacturing.
Matthias Grotevent

Director of Research
Dr. Grotevent brings nearly a decade of experience advancing perovskite solar technologies. At MIT, he developed scalable approaches to improve stability and efficiency of high performance solar devices, helping push perovskites toward real-world deployment. His earlier work at ETH Zurich and Empa focused on advanced materials and device engineering.
Michael Holland

Material Chemist
Dr. Holland has over 7 years of experience in chemistry and materials innovation. He earned his PhD in Chemistry from Northwestern University and, at CubicPV, drove advances in perovskite solar cell performance and durability through novel material development. He brings a wide range of experience spanning calorimetry, DOE, and chemical engineering, built on foundations at the University of Michigan and Schoolcraft College.
William Ahearn

Facilities Manager
William brings more than 13 years of experience managing facilities and operations in advanced energy and technology companies. He has overseen safe, efficient, and scalable lab operations at Plug Power, Solid Energy Systems, and Prysm Inc., supporting technical teams and enabling smooth day-to-day operations and growth.