Our Leadership

David W. Moon was appointed Energy Recovery’s President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2024, after previously being named Interim President and CEO in October 2023.

Mr. Moon brings 25 years of commercial/industrial refrigeration and commercial HVAC leadership, having served global leaders in food retail, food processing, cold storage, pharmaceuticals, and telecom.

Mr. Moon served as President of Carrier Commercial Refrigeration from 2020–2021, leading CO₂-based refrigeration systems across EMEA and Asia. Prior, he advised Ares Management on acquiring CoolSys and joined its Board post-acquisition. From 2006–2017, he was President and COO of Heatcraft Worldwide Refrigeration (Lennox International), a global leader in commercial refrigeration. He held earlier roles at Lennox, Allied Signal, Case Corporation, and Tenneco Oil, working across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He also served on the Board of American Woodmark Corporation from 2015–2020.

Mr. Moon holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering and an MBA from Texas A&M University.

Mike Mancini was appointed Energy Recovery’s Chief Financial Officer in 2024, overseeing the company’s finance, accounting, information technology, and investor relations departments.

Mike brings over 20 years of experience as a financial leader, business strategist, and investor to the role and has a proven track record of leading finance organizations in high-growth, dynamic engineering and manufacturing environments.

He previously served from 2020–2024 as CFO of Astranis Space Technologies, a next-generation communications satellite company where he was responsible for building and leading the finance and accounting organization. He raised over half a billion dollars in debt and equity capital, and played a key role in bringing this revolutionary new satellite technology to market. He previously served as CFO and Executive Vice President of Strategy for Aerion Supersonic, where he led partnership efforts with leading global aerospace companies and crafted the company’s multibillion-dollar financing strategy. Mike was also a private equity and hedge fund investor, deploying capital in both growth-stage and value-based investment strategies.

Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Boston College.

Ram Ramanan was appointed Energy Recovery’s Chief Technology Officer in 2025, to oversee all product engineering and research and development. He is responsible for pushing the frontier of the company’s pressure exchanger technology while ensuring long-term strategic plans are translated into near-term initiatives with measurable commercial outcomes.

Ram has over 30 years of experience in clean technology, semiconductor, and software industries, and has an established track record of creating innovative, disruptive products and driving business growth from startups to IPOs. From 2023–2024, he served as Executive Vice President of Engineering for Rondo Energy, where he built and scaled the engineering team to be the leader for the rapidly growing electrical thermal storage market. At Bloom Energy, he held several leadership positions and reduced operational costs, cultivated a high-performance culture, and implemented key design innovations that contributed to significant revenue growth.

Ram received a doctorate in mechanical engineering from The Ohio State University, completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University, and holds over 50 patents.

William Yeung was appointed Energy Recovery’s Chief Legal Officer in 2017 after serving as General Counsel the prior year. William brings extensive knowledge of legal, corporate governance, and intellectual property functions.

William’s 20 years of experience includes securities law, corporate governance and compliance, corporate strategy, SEC reporting and regulatory compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and general contracts. Previously, he served as the General Counsel and Secretary for SharesPost, Inc., and as a senior legal executive for Thomas Weisel Partners Group Inc., as well as Socialutions, Inc. His clients have included Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Citigroup Global Markets, Lehman Brothers, UBS, Salomon Smith Barney, BNP Paribas, Del Monte, Sony Capital Corporation, McDonald’s Corporation, KBC Bank, The Interpublic Group of Companies, The Bank of New York, United Technologies Corporation, and Nortel Networks. He began practicing law at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York and practiced at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco.

William earned a Juris Doctor (JD) from New York University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in Asian studies from Boston College.

Matt Hostetler was appointed Energy Recovery’s Chief Human Resources Officer in 2024, leading the company’s talent strategies including organizational design, leadership development, and culture programs.

Matt brings more than 20 years of experience in global human resources leadership across multiple industries including OEM, biotechnology, and consumer products. He previously served as Chief People Officer of Sientra from 2022–2024, where he oversaw the company’s talent and retention strategy. Prior to this role, he was the Vice President of Human Resources from 2019–2022 for Kite Pharma where he led HR strategy during the rapid scale-up of innovative cell therapy launches. He has also held global HR leadership positions with Gilead, Amgen, and Honeywell.

Matt holds a master’s degree in labor and human resources and a bachelor’s in business, both from The Ohio State University.

Rodney Clemente is the Senior Vice President of Water at Energy Recovery, where he leads the company’s Desalination Water Business Unit with full P&L responsibility. The functions under his leadership include sales growth, strategy, business development, product development, technical services, and aftermarket.

A 25+ year veteran of Energy Recovery, Rodney merges deep international business experience with intimate knowledge of global water treatment markets, resulting in the company’s global market leadership position. Rodney’s expertise spans several corporate disciplines, including operations, corporate development, marketing, and finance. He is an active member of many leading industry organizations, such as the International Desalination and Reuse Association, the European Desalination Society, and the American Membrane Technology Association.

Rodney earned an Executive MBA at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from California State University, East Bay, and has completed Executive Education at Columbia Business School.

Ricardo Freitas was appointed Energy Recovery’s Vice President and General Manager of CO₂ in 2024 to lead the company’s expansion in the commercial and industrial refrigeration markets and related industry verticals.

Ricardo has three decades of executive experience in the global HVAC&R market with proven achievements in new markets, product development, manufacturing, sales, and R&D. He most recently served as Vice President and General Manager of Lennox EMEA where he oversaw the company’s HVAC&R business across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He was previously General Manager of Lennox’s South American refrigeration business and served in various leadership roles with Carrier Corporation.

Ricardo holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, as well as an MBA from Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

David Kim-Hak was appointed Energy Recovery’s Vice President of Wastewater in 2025, following his role as Product Manager and Technical Support Lead for the company’s water business unit, a position he held since 2018.

David is responsible for wastewater sales, engineering, business development, aftermarket services, and expanding Energy Recovery’s service offerings for wastewater applications. David established and led the water product team and oversaw several successful product launches, driving growth in new market verticals. He was instrumental in setting the strategic direction for Energy Recovery’s wastewater product portfolio, which enabled the company to expand beyond its legacy desalination offerings.

David has over 20 years of experience in desalination and wastewater treatment, working at startups and global billion-dollar public companies such as Khosla Ventures-backed NanoH2O, which was ultimately bought out by LG Chem.

David earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California.

Remick Hernandez Portillo was appointed Energy Recovery’s Vice President of Operations in 2024.

Remick brings over 20 years of experience as an operations leader in the automotive sector with proven achievements in greenfield projects, new product launches, quality, manufacturing, engineering, and operational turnaround facilities. He most recently served as the Director of Operations for Aludyne, a lightweighting solutions and components supplier to the mobility industry, where he oversaw the operation of two facilities in the U.S. and one in Mexico. In this role, he was responsible for developing and executing the overall operational and lean strategy across manufacturing, quality, engineering, logistics, human resources, and finance in order to grow the bottom line and increase overall profitability. He was previously Director of Operations at American Axle Manufacturing, where he was responsible for its Driveline product portfolio in Mexico.

Remick holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from ITESM Campus Toluca, Mexico.

Kelley Vendeland is the Vice President of Marketing and Sustainability at Energy Recovery, where she oversees the company’s sustainability program, corporate communications, branding, market intelligence, and product marketing, and drives strategy to maintain a position of leadership in our core markets and expand to new ones.

After leading the successful launch of Energy Recovery’s sustainability program, Kelley continues to oversee the program’s development across all departments and geographies. Under her leadership, the program has been awarded an MSCI ESG Rating of “AAA,” and won IR Magazine’s award for “Best ESG Communications” and “Best ESG Reporting among small to mid-cap companies.”

Kelley joined Energy Recovery from Recurrent Energy, one of the largest solar project developers in the United States, where she oversaw marketing, community and stakeholder engagement, public affairs, media relations and communications strategy. Prior to Recurrent Energy, Kelley kicked off her career with NBC’s special projects team in San Jose, California and communications agencies in New York and San Francisco, with a focus on technology policy and communications.

Kelley previously served on for the board for the International Desalination Association’s Young Leaders Program and the Young Professionals in Energy leadership committee.

Kelley holds a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University.

Chris Hartlage was appointed Energy Recovery’s Senior Director of Business Operations in 2025, where he leads the company’s product introduction process from concept to market launch, providing leadership for cross-functional teams to direct successful delivery.

Chris has more than a decade of leadership experience in strategic growth, business transformation, and operational excellence initiatives that span industries such as industrials, energy, and consumer markets. He most recently served as Senior Vice President of Product Strategy and Operations at Restoration Hardware, where he oversaw product roadmaps and supply chain management. Prior, he spent six years at Emerson, a Fortune 500 multinational corporation. As Vice President and General Manager of Valve Instrumentation, he managed global operations, P&L ownership, and strategic expansion initiatives. With extensive international exposure across APAC and EMEA, he has developed a deep understanding of global markets, supply chain dynamics, and regional business strategies.

Chris earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Kentucky and his MBA from the University of Notre Dame.