Louis Desgrosseilliers, PhD

Inventor, Co-Founder

Louis grew up in North Bay, and has lived in various Ontario communities before moving to Nova Scotia in 2010. He is a multidisciplinary heat storage expert and inventor, holding a doctorate and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Dalhousie University and a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo. Neothermal’s proprietary heat storage cell technology resulted from Louis’ NSERC-supported PhD research, from which he graduated in Fall 2016. With a life-long passion for science, Louis is committed to developing ways to mitigate climate change by producing a breakthrough energy storage device to immediately move away from fossil fuels and enable cleaner, low-cost electricity to heat homes. 

In his limited spare time, Louis likes to hike, play soccer and sample local brews.  

Jill Johnson, MA

Co-Founder

Jill took an unconventional path to entrepreneurship. Born and raised in Prince Edward Island, she earned her Bachelor of Arts from UNB Fredericton and later, a Master of Arts from the University of Waterloo. Focusing on Anthropology, she studied human evolutionary history, ethics and environmental issues; this background has shaped Jill’s understanding of humans’ impact on the world and what can be done to improve our future.

After moving to Nova Scotia in 2010, she started working for the provincial government. Seeing the potential of this technology, she left to become a co-founder of Neothermal Energy Storage, a climate-tech start-up on a mission to electrify central heating systems and reduce the environmental footprint of home heating. 

Outside of working on Neothermal, Jill gets out of bed for her three rescue cats and a great cup of coffee, and daydreams of summer days on Maritime beaches.