The Team Behind Zentus

We’re a team of wind energy researchers, ML engineers, and software architects united by a mission: turning fragmented operational data into decisions that matter.

Meet the Founders

Aoife, PhD

Neural networks & ML
Big data pipelines
Control systems

Juan

Probabilistic forecasting
High-performance computing
Real-time data systems

Ishaan, PhD

Predictive O&M
SCADA analytics
Field campaign validation

Rafael

Platform architecture
Data engineering
Simulation frameworks

Aoife leads ML architecture and control systems development at Zentus. Her PhD research at CU Boulder and NREL spans transformer-based probabilistic forecasting models, stochastic model predictive control for wake steering, and reinforcement learning for grid integration.

Aoife is a Stanford Sustainability Accelerator Fellow. Before Zentus, she worked at Apple and EKZ (a Swiss smart grid operator), and held research positions at NREL, ETH Zürich, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Background

PhD — University of Colorado Boulder / NREL
Stanford Sustainability Accelerator Fellow
M.Sc. Energy Science & Technology — ETH Zürich
B.Eng. Electrical Engineering — University College Dublin
Apple, EKZ, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Key Projects

Ultra-short-term probabilistic wind farm modeling
Stochastic MPC for wake steering with Gaussian wind preview
H∞-tuned individual pitch control for load reduction
Real-time learning-based MPC for grid-scale energy systems

LinkedIn Mail

Juan develops probabilistic forecasting systems and high-performance data pipelines at Zentus. His Master’s thesis at the University of Oldenburg—conducted as a Visiting Scholar at CU Boulder in collaboration with NREL—produced an open-source deep learning system for ultra-short-term wind farm forecasting that enables real-time wake steering decisions.

For his Bachelor’s thesis, Juan developed an MPC solver achieving sub-millisecond computation times (550 µs), a breakthrough that enabled real-time experimental validation for NREL research that was previously impossible.

Background

M.Sc. Engineering Physics (Wind Energy) — University of Oldenburg
Visiting Scholar — University of Colorado Boulder / NREL
B.Eng. Engineering Physics — University of Oldenburg
Researcher at ForWind — Center for Wind Energy Research (4 years)

Key Projects

Ultra-short-term probabilistic wind farm forecasting (Master’s thesis, CU Boulder/NREL)
Real-time MPC solver (550 µs) for wind turbine control (Bachelor’s thesis)
Offshore wind farm yield predictions using ML + FLORIS
SpaceX Hyperloop Competition — Innovation Award winner

LinkedIn Mail

Ishaan focuses on performance monitoring, predictive maintenance, and wind farm control validation at Zentus. His experience spans onshore and offshore wind assets—including bottom-fixed and floating platforms—across both research and industry settings.

Before Zentus, Ishaan was a Wind Specialist at ENGIE Laborelec, where he led projects on fleet performance analysis and wind farm control. His field campaign experience includes representing asset owner interests in AWAKEN, one of the largest wind farm control field tests ever conducted.

Background

PhD, Mechanical Engineering — KU Leuven (5 years)
Wind Specialist — ENGIE Laborelec
M.Sc. Aerospace Engineering — University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
TotalControl, FarmConners, TWAIN (EU H2020 projects)

Key Projects

AWAKEN: Wake steering validation across 15 turbines (US DOE)
TotalControl: Dynamic wake models using field measurements
Floating offshore ML diagnostics for underperformance
Lillgrund: LES validation against SCADA, LiDAR, and strain gauges

LinkedIn Mail

Rafael leads software architecture and data engineering at Zentus. Over 8 years at NREL, he coordinated the Wind Energy Software Portfolio and led the FLORIS wake modeling framework from inception to broad industry adoption.

His work on OpenFAST modernization—including testing infrastructure, deployment automation, and community management—improved developer productivity and software stability across the wind energy research community. Rafael’s background includes CFD engineering for turbomachinery and aerospace systems development.

Background

NREL — Wind Energy Software Portfolio (8 years)
FLORIS Framework Lead Developer
OpenFAST Modernization Lead
MEng, Aerospace Engineering — University of Virginia
CFD Engineering — Turbomachinery & Aerodynamics

Key Projects

FLORIS: Industry-standard wake modeling framework
OpenFAST: Modernization, testing infrastructure, and CI/CD deployment
KiteFAST: Airborne wind energy modeling (Makani partnership)
High-fidelity CFD for turbomachinery analysis

LinkedIn Mail

Why We Built Zentus

We saw the same problems everywhere: wind operators drowning in fragmented SCADA data, storage traders using yesterday’s models for tomorrow’s markets, and fleet engineers manually reviewing thousands of inspection images.

We’re building the data infrastructure that connects these dots—physics-informed AI that understands both the engineering and the economics.

Backed by Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability, we’re proving our approach through pilot partnerships with operators who need answers, not just dashboards.