January 2005

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Ballard Power Systems, Vancouver, has named Dr. Chris Guzy as the company’s new chief technology officer, effective January 17. Guzy has spent the last 17 years at General Electric where he is currently manager of GE Healthcare, Budapest, Hungary. Previously he has led product development and commercialization activities at other GE divisions, including GE Plastics, GE Appliances and GE Lighting. Before joining GE, Guzy was a section head at Nestec, S.A., Switzerland, and an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology..........Change at MTI MicroFuel Cells: the Albany, NY-based company announced Alan J. Soucy has been named president as well as chief operating officer. Soucy has been COO since joining the company in 2002. He will now head both the Silicon Valley and Albany operations and is charged with increasing operational efficiencies, reducing costs and bringing products to market. His appointment followed the company’s announcement of its first production shipment of an integrated micro fuel cell product powering a portable electronics device (see Briefs, p.8). And the company’s parent, Mechanical Technology Inc., announced the appointment of two new board members: William P. Phelan, CPA, and Thomas J. Marusak. Phelan was a founder and CEO of OneMade, Inc., a company recently sold to American Online. Marusak is president of Comfortex Corp., a manufacturer of window blinds and specialty shades, and he is also the current chairman of the New York Capital Region’s Center for Economic Growth.........Mississauga, Ontario-based Astris Energi Inc. announces that Michael M. Liik, president of Liikfam Holdings, Inc., has joined the Canadian alkaline fuel cell developer’s board of directors. Liik is a professional engineer by training. Before forming his own company in 1997, he was a partner in HSD Partners, Inc., a merchant bank. He was also chairman and CEO of Cymat Corp., a Canadian materials technology company.