December 2005

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Scientific American magazine has named Hydrogen Solar Ltd. as one of 50 Scientific American Business Leaders of 2005 for its work towards the commercial development of technology to produce hydrogen via its Tandem CellsTM. The list appears in the magazine’s December issue which will be on newsstands Nov. 22. The tandem cell design splits water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen with sunlight. Hydrogen Solar Ltd. has offices and laboratories in Guildford, England and Henderson, NV........Stanford R. Ovshinsky, president and chief scientist for Energy Conversion Devices, Inc., Rochester Hills, MI has been awarded the 2005 Innovation Award for Energy and the Environment by The Economist magazine for his pioneering work in and the development of high-power nickel metal hydride technology. Ovshinsky was one of seven leaders and innovators honored by the magazine for “transforming the businesses, industries and markets in which they work.”..........Prof. Juergen Garche has been named as a new management board member of the German Future Energies Forum, Berlin. Garche previously headed the Center for Solar and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) in Ulm, working on regenerative energies and fuel cells and related areas, and he is member of the management board of the German Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association (DWV). Last year, the Forum organized its first Beijing HYFORUM conference on hydrogen (H&FCL June, July 04)..........Prof. Jochen Twele, until now coordinator for regenerative energies for the Netherlands-based alternative energy consultancy Ecofys, has been named to chair a studies program in regenerative energy systems at the University for Applied Sciences for Technology and Economics in Berlin, Germany. The program, one of the very few in Germany, leads to Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in areas such as biomass utilization, wind energy, photovolatics, and fuel cells........Jan van Dokkum, president of S. Windsor, CT-based UTC Power, has joined the board of directors of WestStartCALSTART, the Pasadena, CA-based non-profit organization promoting advanced, clean transportation technologies.......Frederick, CO-based UQM Technologies, a developer of high-efficiency motors for hybrid and fuel cell vehicles, has appointed Douglas K. Smeltzer as its new national product sales manager of its UQM Power Products Inc. manufacturing subsidiary. He previously worked for Stature Electric, Inc. a high-volume maker of motors for the industrial market, and other similar companies......Plug Power Inc., Latham, NY, developer of small on-site fuel cell power systems, has named Peter Woicke and Robert Buckler to its board of directors. Woicke most recently served as managing director of the World Bank. Buckler, president and CEO of Detroit Edison, replaces Anthony Earley, Jr., chairman and CEO of DTE Energy, who has stepped down from the board....... The California Hydrogen Business Council (CHBC) has named clean air advocate and environmental consultant Mark Abramowitz, of Yorba Linda, to its board of directors. He replaces Elias Azrak, a founding member of Hydrogen Ventures, El Segundo.......FuelCellStore.com, the Boulder, CO-based seller of fuel cell and hydrogen-related equipment and services, has announced the untimely death of its founder, Douglas K. Larson, from heart failure. Doug was 54. He started the company in 1999. Kay Larson, who has been working with Doug in running the company, will assume the duties of president, and Jason Burch, who has been with the company since startup, will continue to manage operations. He has also joined the board as its secretary and treasurer.