Forty Under 40: Sharmila D. Mounce

Sharmila Mounce was the second employee hired at Arkansas Power Electronics International, a research and development and manufacturing company that specializes in advanced energy-system electronics.

Since the company formed in 2002, she has seen it grow from a team of three to more than 40 employees. The 100-SF office she started in is now a 30,000-SF space with its own manufacturing and laboratory facilities. Mounce is responsible for all corporate business operations and growing corporate infrastructure.

Mounce earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arkansas in 2002 and a master’s in electrical engineering in 2004. She earned an MBA from Webster University in 2011.

Mounce was part of a team that received a Research and Development Award in 2009 for its work on high temperature intelligent SiC power modules. In 2012, the company received the business of the year award from Arkansas’ district office of the Small Business Administration.

Mounce said she’s proud to work for a company that can make a difference in the world. “The technologies we develop here are very high tech and have never been done before,” she said. “Being able to work for a team that can bring new technology into the world is a pretty amazing thing to do.”