The team
Recognition
- Severino Center Award in Entrepreneurship, 2025
- RPI Ventures Innovation Fellow, 2025
- Albany Business Review “Inno Under 25”, 2023
Jeff Osborne
Founder and CEO, inventor of GridLeaf
Jeff invented GridLeaf as a student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute through years of research and development, and has led it from first concept through full-scale prototyping and field deployment. That experience is supplemented by research across four RPI labs spanning renewable energy systems, energy-efficient building technology, advanced manufacturing, and sustainable materials.
Alongside his technical background, Jeff is a trained entrepreneur. Through internships and consulting roles with three tech startups, including one commercializing a renewable generation product and another backed by venture capital, he saw early-stage companies built from the inside. He also completed NSF I-Corps training and RPI’s Catalyst incubator, where he received the Catalyst Launch Prize. As CEO, he leads system architecture, product development, partnerships, and overall venture execution.
Operating team
Ultan Gaylord
Chief Operating Officer
Runs daily operations and fulfillment of pilot orders.
Industrial and Management Engineering, RPI
Aleks Maric
Business Development Lead
Leads the company’s fundraising effort.
MBA, RPI
Alex Zhang
Engineering Lead
Leads the engineering team in hands-on design and manufacturing.
Mechanical Engineering, RPI
Sean Sampler
Business Operations and Customer Experience
Supports organization and communications, and leads customer engagement.
Business, University at Albany
Advisory bench
GridLeaf is backed by a diverse bench of industry advisors who have built, installed, and tested small wind, covering the expertise that makes or breaks a hardware company.
- Manufacturing and supply chain
- Regulatory
- Installation and integration
- Power electronics
- Energy modeling
- Small wind industry leadership
Advisor details are shared with partners and investors during diligence.
Built with premier student talent
GridLeaf is supported by a team of student engineers and businesspeople from RPI and other Capital Region schools, who make real contributions across R&D, manufacturing, installs, sales, and fundraising.