We would like to welcome Steve Hamstra to Melink as the Senior Vice President of Engineering for our Solar & Geothermal team. Steve comes with over 40 years of experience in the geo industry, many notable accomplishments, and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University.
Starting in high school, Steve’s passion ignited when he began working with geothermal heat pumps while working for his father’s HVAC company. During his time with his dad, he helped install around 250 geo systems into homes around Western Michigan. After graduating college, Steve held a handful of positions all with a focus on energy and most with geothermal. The majority of Steve’s career was building an Architect and Engineering firm in Holland, Michigan into what it is today. This is where Steve worked on his first commercial project for geothermal in 1985, which is still running efficiently today! During a briefly leave of absence in the design world, Steve served as CEO/CTO of Greensleeves LLC, a geothermal design and control software company. Here, he received an ASHRAE Global First Place Award for the engineering design of the geothermal HVAC system at the University of Findlay. He was also successful in getting two geothermal-related technology aspects patented.
Throughout Steve’s career he has contributed to many trade publications and conferences, including those held by ASHRAE, IGSHPA, U.S. Department of Energy, among many others. In January, he is speaking at the AHR conference presented by ASHRAE. Steve also serves on the ASHRAE Technical Committee 6.8 Ground Source Heat Pumps where he is currently Vice Chair, and on IGSHPA’s Research Committee. When the ASHRAE guide for commercial geothermal system design was being developed, he supported the efforts on the technical committee. His work as gotten him named Energy Engineer of The Year in IL, IN, IO, MI, MN, OH, and WI, and AEE Fellow for lifetime achievement in the energy industry by the Association of Energy Engineers.
Now, with a shared passion and mission with the Melink Solar & Geo team, Steve wants to help Melink leverage their platform to commercialize geothermal and educate others on the benefits of being green. Among other things, he is most excited with assisting in the design of HQ2 and working on our Department of Energy Grant research efforts.
When Steve isn’t talking geothermal, he loves to give back and serve his community. He has been on the local City Council, Board of Education, Hospital Board and Board of Public Works.
We are thrilled to have Steve on board and know his passion and expertise will help us continue to pave the way for the geothermal market. Welcome to the Melink family Steve!