Spotlight On...

Michael Rantil Executive Committee Vice Chairman

When one thinks of our Swedish Executive Committee member, a vision that may come to mind is a tall, dark haired man standing in the doorway of an historic Norwegian village in Viking attire (a grey plastic helmet with yellow horns). Sweden hosted the October 1995 Executive Committee meeting and our Swedish hosts pulled out all the plugs for a productive, and yes, fun meeting. As well as being the Swedish ExCo representative, Michael is one of the two nordic Vice-Chairmen.

Michael conducted his Masters studies in Civil Engineering/Regional Planning at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. As part of these studies, he spent a year in the US attending the City Planning Program at the University of Pennsylvania and studied sociology at Stockholm University (perhaps this is what has helped him understand the workings of the ExCo and the IEA).

Michael's work has always revolved around energy. He started his career as an Energy Advisor for a municipality outside of Stockholm. In this position, he advised local industry and the public on cost-effective energy measures to undertake at their factories, businesses and homes. He then joined the Swedish Council for Building Research as a Senior Information Officer and was responsible for disseminating the organization's research results to researchers and the public. His current work as Senior Research Officer focuses primarily on solar energy research and its application in the built environment. In this position, Michael initiates and approves funding for solar and other energy research projects. Presently, he oversees 50 solar projects as well as 50 other energy projects. He enjoys his work very much as he is always learning new things and meeting interesting people in the field.

"The IEA provides an important communication link between researchers," states Michael. And as an Executive Committee member for the IEA CADDET Centre for Renewable Energy, Michael can help to assure that information on energy technology is being exchanged among researchers and IEA member countries. As for the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme, he would like to see the Programme work more closely with industry and adopt a strong market strategy. Michael notes that if solar technology is to gain a larger share of the market, mass production of solar components and efficient retailing will be required to make solar technologies more competitive.

Michael and his wife have three boys to keep their free time full of laughs and adventures. When not working, he enjoys downhill and cross country skiing and sailing a boat he owns with a group of friends. Michael's solar challenge is to build the world's first solar driven sauna with a wood burner for cloudy days.