09/24/2025
By Zhiyong Gu
Date: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025
Time: 3:30 to 4:45 p.m.
Location: Ball Hall, Room 210
Abstract: Al Spinell (BS Nuclear Engineering ’70) will be delivering a seminar on Sept. 25. Al will provide an enlightened perspective on a 55 year career in energy focusing on major learnings, takeaways and tipping points that influenced the direction in his multi-faceted career.
Al will also provide perspective making the big transition from large multinational companies to starting up a business from scratch. The contrasts, financial and technical challenges to grow the business to a sustaining and mature company are quite revealing.
Finally Al will discuss the current, dynamic energy picture and what it means for those looking for career opportunities in the greater energy industry. Geopolitics, current state of US energy infrastructure, climate impacts, and rapidly accelerating demand brought on by AI provide a dizzying array of factors to understand and make decisions on.
Biography: Since 2011, Spinell has been the COO and Co-Founder of Rentricity Inc (www.rentricity.com). Rentricity is focused on renewable energy recovery in in-conduit water and wastewater infrastructure. He has been responsible for design, supply, install and startup of over 30 projects in the US and Nova Scotia ranging from 10-350 kW. More than 10 additional projects are in various stages of development across the US.
Prior to Rentricity, Spinell enjoyed a 38-year career with four world recognized nuclear energy companies; Combustion Engineering (CE), Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), Westinghouse (WEC), and most recently Toshiba Corporation. From 2004-2011, Spinell was a senior Management Consultant to Toshiba Corporation. This period marked the acquisition of WEC and initial deployment of advanced nuclear reactors in the US. From 1972-2004, Spinell held a variety of project and executive positions in CE, ABB and WEC in the areas of engineering, operations, sales and marketing, Instrumentation and Controls, fuel fabrication, and strategy, and startup from 1972-2004. This included projects in the US, Europe and Asia.
Prior to his professional career, Spinell received a B.S in Nuclear Engineering from the U. Massachusetts at Lowell (’70), and M.S. degrees in Nuclear Engineering and Industrial Management from Purdue University (’72).