Ian Baring-Gould, the lead developer of the Quality Assurance Framework for Mini-grids, graduated with a MSME from the University of Massachusetts Renewable Energy Research Laboratory in 1995 and started working at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the United States. Ian's work at NREL has focused in three primary areas: applications engineering for renewable energy technologies, assistance in renewable energy uses and educational outreach for renewable energy technologies, primarily wind. His applications work concentrates on innovative uses of renewable energy, primarily the modeling, testing and monitoring of small power systems, end use applications and large diesel plant retrofit concepts. International technical assistance has focused in energy development for rural populations including the design, analysis, and implementation of remote power systems, primarily through NREL's Energy and Environmental, International Programs Office. Educational outreach, including field technical assistance, has focused in energy development for rural populations and school outreach programs such as the Wind for Schools program, both domestically and internationally. Ian also sits on the International Energy Agency research taskforce looking at wind turbine operation in cold climates and is an editor for Wind Engineering. Ian has authored or co-authored over 60 publications on wind energy and wind diesel power systems. Ian is currently the Wind Technology Deployment Manager at NREL, focusing on assisting organizations deploy wind technologies and addressing barriers to the implementation of wind energy through programs like DOE's Wind Powering America Project