Built by someone who has run the floor, not just studied it.
Obie Kifle founded Buna Ventures after more than a decade spent keeping some of the most demanding industrial systems in the country running — a nuclear reactor’s coolant systems, a semiconductor fab’s mission-critical utilities, and the manufacturing floors that depend on both. That same discipline — understand the system, protect what’s critical, execute without drama — is what Buna Ventures brings to every sourcing and facilities requirement.
“From reactor coolant systems at Palo Verde to fab operations at Intel and Texas Instruments, my career has been about keeping complex, mission-critical systems running safely and efficiently. Buna Ventures is that same discipline, applied to how government agencies get supplied, maintained, and supported.”
— Obie Kifle, Managing MemberNuclear plants to fabs to founding Buna.
Idaho State University
B.S. Mechanical Engineering and B.S. Nuclear Engineering. Undergraduate research on signal modeling for smart prosthesis design; President, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society; Secretary, National Society of Black Engineers.
Nuclear Systems Engineer — Palo Verde Generating Station
Engineered and troubleshot Reactor Coolant and Safety Injection systems at the nation’s largest nuclear plant. Led multidiscipline teams through emergent issues and championed engineering modifications from evaluation through close-out.
Facilities Engineer & Operations Manager — Intel
Advanced from mechanical facilities engineering to managing a 15-person cross-discipline team responsible for a semiconductor campus’s mission-critical systems — ultra-pure water, chillers, electrical — with zero tolerance for production interruption.
Manufacturing Operations Manager — Texas Instruments
Leads equipment engineering and production teams, aligning staffing, maintenance planning, and continuous-improvement initiatives with factory-wide performance goals.
Experience attributed correctly
This background is the professional experience of Buna’s Managing Member and is not represented as corporate past performance by Buna Ventures.
Affiliations: Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), American Nuclear Society (ANS), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.