The main event

Farewell Ken Peters, unsung hero of VRLA possibilities

Borish Monahov retires, steps down as ALABC head

Boris Monahov, the ALABC’s technical program manager, is retiring from the organization after nine years, the ALABC announced on September 27. Monahov told Batteries International that it should not come as a big surprise. “Everybody comes to a time in their lives when they need to think about retirement,” he said. “I’ve worked long hours, full-time, with few breaks and huge amounts of travelling for many, many years. It’s time for a little rest and to enjoy other parts of life.

ELBC proves conference talk of the year — an insider's view

From discovering the perils of Polish vodka ... to dining on islands used by James Bond villains ... to uncovering the pleasures and pitfalls of ad hoc Australian choirs (infamous or otherwise), the ELBC has had it all. But mostly it has been at the heart of bringing an industry together, and, as a consequence, resolving some of the toughest scientific and technical questions challenging the lead battery world.

This year’s ELBC has proven to be the best attended since the conference series began 30 years ago. With a technical set of presentations that contained some of the best names in the industry, it also managed to portray the distinctive trends within lead battery development while carefully setting the larger, and more dangerous, picture of its competitive challenge into perspective. Certainly the technical programme was probably the most comprehensive in the conference’s history and oddly, given the sea of challenges that the battery industry is facing, the most fearful and positive at the same time. The first day’s speeches trumpeted out the warnings.

… and it’s Milano!

Moment of triumph: Mike Dunn and Karen Hampton display their winnings (note the elusive tipster Steve Barnes trying to lean out of the photo on the left)

With speculation mounting, five separate sweepstakes had formed earlier that gala evening. Although the potential winning pots grew larger, the selections of cities proved limited. Reykjavik, for example, was rejected out of hand. “If I can’t spell it, how could the ILA?” All of Scandinavia was thrown out of the window … “the beer’s too expensive”, Ukraine too …”there’s a civil war going on there or is that Holland?”. The analysis was as vigorous as ever. Moira’s favourite shopping weekend spots — Zurich, Rome and Brussels — proved favourites for the ILA watchers. Meanwhile Andy Bush’s choice of conference ties — preferred colour red with a splash of yellow — hinted at a potential former Communist country. The fever mounted when it was rumoured that 15ELBC winner Steve Barnes whose geographical analysis was exacting — “Austria

is the capital city of Vienna (or is it the other way round?)” — knew the answer. “But I will say I’m of a sunny temperament,” he hinted. The eventual winner, Karen Hampton — who conspiracy theorists later noted was seated next to Mr Barnes — said she’d worked it out earlier. “Andy’s wearing Italian shoes, Alistair said Ciao on the phone to me and Moira keeps humming a tune that might be Italian or French (but it’s definitely foreign). And there’s now a rumour that Mr Binks wants to be called Stefano. That’s why I plumped for Italy.” “In that case it’ll be Milan,” said Barnes, who is authoritative on his capital cities. A recount of the betting slips showed in fact that Chloride’s Mike Dunn had also slipped a winning entry in at the last moment. “I know my capital cities too,” he said. “And there’s nothing like Spain at this time of year.”

Not all the sweepstake entries congratulated the winners

The present enthusiasm for eMobility — the seamless integration of renewable energy, battery storage and the smart grids of the future — would never have advanced so quickly without one man. Wally Rippel. Rippel was one of a select few leaders of the first generation of EV pioneers in the 1960s. Without his knowledge of battery technology and electronics it’s arguable that EV-1 — General Motors’ first mainstream electric vehicle — would have emerged in the form it

“My goal was to approach batteries and fuel cells from a fundamental physics point of view — I still feel that this is a very important goal”

A larger than life character with an enormous range of both expertise and friends

Paul Frost, a well known, well respected and well liked figure in the lead industry died on September 30 after a short illness. He had been unwell for some time but his death was sudden and unexpected. Paul was best known for his work at Britannia Refined Metals, which he joined as a business development metallurgist in November 1996. Brian Wilson, who recruited him, recalls: “Paul was an outstanding candidate for the job, he had a huge range of technical knowledge and he soon proved his worth. He was also an outstanding person to work with.” Paul’s career was never a conventional one and never a predictable route to become a worldwide authority on lead. Born in 1952, he left school aged 16 and spent the first years of his working life as a metallurgical apprentice with the UK’s defence ministry. In 1972, after completing his apprenticeship, he moved to Imperial College, London as a research technician. The college — the full name is officially The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine —then, as now, one of the most celebrated technological educational institutions in the world. Imperial College gave Paul a foundation that he was to build on until the end of his life. In a move that would surprise many