PEOPLE NEWS

Hammond welcomes Bisaillon as Goodearl moves on

Brad Bisaillon has been appointed as vice president of sales for the Hammond Group, the company announced on June 14. Meanwhile, Ray Goodearl has left as director of marketing and global accounts to become vice president of strategic accounts at Indic Group Holdings.

Bisaillon, who most recently held positions with American Battery Solutions, Nokian Heavy Tyres and Trojan Battery Company, will lead Hammond’s efforts to support global battery manufacturers in producing a new generation of advanced lead batteries, the firm said.

Goodearl is a well-known and popular figure in the power battery energy systems industry having spent most of his working life in the business. He joined Hammond three years ago from NorthStar Battery where he was a director of national accounts. Before that he was international vice president for sales and marketing at Superior Battery.

Goodearl said: “I’m very thankful for the time I had at Hammond, the entire team was amazing to work with and we did great things for our customers.”

Hammond president and CEO Terry Murphy said Bisaillon, whose expertise spans power generation and energy storage in both the lead acid and lithium ion segments, would “strengthen relationships with our existing customers and develop new relationships with customers in emerging markets”.

Bisaillon said: “Advanced lead batteries, incorporating Hammond’s performance additives, along with many other significant changes in battery configurations, have dramatically improved charge acceptance and cycle life.

“The new generation of advanced lead batteries that are being manufactured by our customers offer a more sensible and sustainable alternative to expensive, complex and difficult to integrate lithium-ion systems for the rapid expansion in the motive power, telecom, and energy storage sectors.”

Goodearl will continue to be an active member of the Data Book, Technical, and Product Information Committees within Battery Council International as will his work on the StartStop and Starter Battery Committees within SAE.

In October 2021, Hammond named its new award-winning acid stratification reducing, battery life extending additive GravityGuard, after winning the BCI Innovation Award a month earlier.

Stevenson named new Alpha/Beta member

The Alpha/Beta Society, an informal group of members who have made outstanding contributions to the development of the lead acid battery industry, has appointed Mark Stevenson as its 29th member, according to Juergen Garche, speaking at the AABC meetings in Mainz in June.

“Mark has had a long and highly impressive career spanning four decades of work in secondary lead — he is a world-leading expert in his field — and we are pleased that his achievements should be recognized.” he said.

Mark Stevenson, who is also the prime mover behind the Asian Battery Conference, is a well-known and well-liked figure in the battery industry with some four decades of experience. In an industry more focused on the manufacture of lead batteries, his expertise has been their successful destruction and recycling.

“I very much appreciate the honour that the Alpha Beta members have bestowed on me,” said Stevenson. “This society has a huge and global range of expertise; it would be wonderful if we could pass the baton of their knowledge on to the next generation and mould this into a lead and battery college for the future.”

David Rand said: “As the cofounder of the Alpha-Beta Society, I am delighted to receive the very good news that Mark Stevenson has been inducted into this prestigious fraternity. Without doubt, Mark is an unrivalled expert in the metallurgy of lead and its use in lead-acid batteries. In addition, over the years, he has been the power behind the outstanding success of the Asian Battery Conference.

“I am sure that Mark will make sure that the Society will be a much -required resource in the future.”

The Alpha-Beta Society was cofounded by Ernst Voss (Varta) and David Rand (CSIRO) in 1989. The object was for lead battery scientists to collaborate in grappling with the ever-emerging demands that new applications place upon the science of lead batteries.

An awards ceremony honouring Stevenson will take place at the ELBC congress in Lyon, France in September.

Mark Stevenson

Former Doe Run CEO Pyatt honoured

Former president and CEO of The Doe Run Company, Jerry Pyatt, has been honoured with a professional distinction award by the Missouri University of Science & Technology, the firm announced on May 16.

Pyatt, who retired at the end of last December after a 43-year career in mining and metallurgy, was appointed as Doe Run COO in 2001, before becoming president and CEO in 2012.

In his decade as head of the company, Pyatt oversaw an operation that contributed more than $1 billion in annual economic impact to Missouri and included mining and milling, lead refining, alloying and fabrication and lead battery recycling, Doe Run said.

From left Jerry Pyatt Chancellor Mo Dehghani and John Komlos. Photo courtesy Michael Pierce Missouri S&T

Missouri S&T grants a limited number of professional distinction awards annually to recognize those who have made important contributions to their profession. Pyatt was nominated by the university’s department chair of mining and explosives engineering, Kwame Awuah-Offei and the award was presented by chancellor Mohammad Dehghani.

Dehghani said: “Doe Run understands the importance of educating the next generation of the workforce and has supported our students and faculty by providing state-of-the-art mining equipment and scholarships through the years.”

Pam O’Brien commended by BCI for dedication

Chris Pruitt surprises Pam O'Brien with WGBI recognition award

Battery Council International surprised a member of its top leadership team — Pam O’Brien — with an honour on May 1, in recognition of her “exemplary commitment and dedication”.

O’Brien, BCI’s senior vice president of operations, was publicly commended for her work at a special directors’ meeting, on the eve of the trade body’s annual convention in Florida.

BCI president Chris Pruitt praised her work in supporting efforts to establish Women in the Global Battery Industry (WGBI) — an organization of professionals, founded to promote and develop the growth of women in the battery industry.

Pruitt said: “Her commitment to this program has exceeded that asked of her and demonstrates Pam’s full and complete dedication and passion to the industry as a whole, and to the industry’s goal of supporting the careers of women in the battery industry and STEM careers.”

WGBI president and chair of MAC Engineering, Julie McClure, who is a member of BCI’s board, proposed the commendation motion for O’Brien, who serves as WGBI’s director.

“Over the past year, Pam has moved mountains to take the WGBI from a concept presented to the BCI board by a small group of BCI members and staff to a fully-fledged and functional networking and professional collaboration group of industry women,” McClure said.

On May 2, McClure revealed details of the newlyformed WGBI, which was launched in January.

McClure said WGBI had grown to include 168 professional members and seven academic members. Of these, 75 participated in the organization’s first webinar, featuring a presentation from Nancy Martin of NRM Consulting on career development.

Microporous appoints Bruno as sales and marketing VP

Separator company Microporous announced the appointment of Rick Bruno as vice president of sales and marketing as of May 1.

The company said Bruno, who reports to CEO John Reeves, joins Microporous with more than 30 years of experience in general management and business development.

Bruno was vice president of sales and marketing for the past eight years at Tuffaloy Products in South Carolina.

He has also worked with Hollingsworth & Vose and Fiberweb.

Lambert plans Wirtz retirement

Doug Lambert, Vice President of Sales and Technology for Wirtz Manufacturing, has confirmed the LinkedIn announcement earlier in July that he is planning to retire “in the next six to nine months”. Lambert has been involved in the battery industry since February 1977.

Lambert (pictured), who is a well known, well liked and respected figure in the lead battery industry, as well as a popular conference speaker, says he does not intend to retire completely. “I don’t intend to leave the business but will continue as a part-time consultant for Wirtz,” he says.

“This is an industry and a family that I’ve loved and cared for my entire working life. I am still passionate about the lead battery technology and believe that it still has a long future, I don’t ever want to walk away from it completely”.

“Wirtz and I have been planning this move since the start of the year,” says Lambert, “and we intend to make the transition of my position as smooth as possible to my successor.”

Lambert has worked for Wirtz since 2011. Before that he spent 12 years as an independent lead battery consultant.

Lucas Sadler moves to Energy Vault from Fluence

Energy Vault Holdings said on May 26 that it had appointed former Fluence executive, Lucas Sadler, as VP of sales and business development for Asia and the Pacific.

Sadler was most recently VP of sales for Australia and New Zealand for US-based battery storage firm Fluence.

Energy Vault said Sadler and his team will focus on building upon the company’s existing presence in the region.

Chief product officer for Energy Vault, Marco Terruzzin, said: “Lucas’ onthe-ground experience in the renewable energy and energy storage sectors in Australia further strengthens our relationships and reach in APAC, where large energy and mining companies have committed to decarbonization.”

Before Fluence, Sadler held senior sales, business development and management roles with companies such as Schneider Electric and Samsung.

Sadler has also worked as a director and board member of the Australian Solar Council and the Australian Energy Storage Council.

Energy Vault announced on May 5 that it had broken ground on its first gravity-based energy storage system in China — the 100MWh ‘EVx’ being built near Shanghai.

CBE honour for spectroscopy pioneer Grey

Electrovaya appoints Raj Das Gupta as CEO

Electrovaya announced the appointment of Raj Das Gupta as CEO of the Ontario-headquartered company on May 24.

Das Gupta, who has been a member of the lithium ion battery maker’s man-

Raj Das Gupta agement team since 2009, succeeds Electrovaya cofounder and chairman Sankar Das Gupta) who becomes executive chairman.

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Raj as CEO,” Sankar Das Gupta said. “Raj is the ideal person to build shareholder value from our superior lithium ion battery technology.”

Electrovaya said Raj Das Gupta had been instrumental in developing the company’s “most critical technology and business relationships”, including its forklift battery systems and OEM partnerships. Leading battery scientist Clare Grey was awarded with the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours in recognition of her services to science.

Professor Grey, from the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry and Pembroke College, pioneered the optimization of lithium batteries with the help of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Grey has to a large extent created, by her own contributions, a flourishing new field of NMR with a great potential for future beneficial discoveries and applications.

NMR spectroscopy, which proved to be a vital tool in the advancement and commercialization of lithium batteries in its early development for EV years, has recently been at the cutting edge of lead battery research in various collaborations with the US Argonne National Laboratory.

Grey said: “I am delighted that my contributions to the general field of energy materials have been honoured in this way.

“I hope that this recognition highlights how important fundamental science is to performing the underpinning work that will help the world transition to a more sustainable society.”