Zinc Matrix Power's Marked Growth Attracts Tier One Customers and Top Industry Talent
(Interviews, 11 Jul 2007 )
Zinc Matrix Power, a global provider of silver-zinc, rechargeable battery technology, recently added several key personnel and captured the interest of high-profile manufacturers. The company's award-winning, rechargeable silver-zinc battery technology recently attracted the attention of several tier one electronics manufacturers. These companies are working with Zinc Matrix Power to incorporate its batteries in their future products, beginning in 2008.
"This is an exciting time for our company," said Zinc Matrix Power's President and CEO, Dr. Ross Dueber. "Laptop computer and cell phone makers can see how our silver-zinc technology can handle both their products' power requirements and the need for a longer run time. We're working with tier one companies to develop new products with our battery in the design."
The success of the technology and the surrounding industry buzz has led to the recruitment of several key employees recently hired by Zinc Matrix Power. Noteworthy among the new hires, Dr. Biying Huang, comes to Zinc Matrix Power as Director of Product Development from A123 Systems Inc. His history there included work as a Principal Research Scientist. Dr. Huang brings a high level of battery experience to Zinc Matrix Power. He was involved with the scale-up and set-up of the first lithium-ion battery production line in China. He was also instrumental in resolving production and performance problems with that technology. According to Dr. Huang, the potential for silver-zinc technology to revolutionize the portable power industry was what first attracted him to join the company. "I've seen where the portable power industry is going, and Zinc Matrix Power is taking bold steps to raise the bar even higher in terms of both performance and safety," said Dr. Huang.
Dr. Hieu Duong, who most recently spent four years at General Electric's Global Research Center as a Research Scientist, joins Zinc Matrix Power as a Principal Development Scientist. Dr. Duong's career history demonstrates a strong background in materials science and engineering. Dr. Duong agrees that the Zinc Matrix Power's silver-zinc technology has the potential to change the industry: "No one can argue against the need for this technology. The real success lies in making it safe for consumers and the environment, while maintaining an efficient power source for the portable devices that have become so essential to people's daily lives."
Linsie Tagawa, formerly a Plant Engineer at Amgen Inc., now serves as a Process Engineer with Zinc Matrix Power. Tagawa spent several years overseeing and maintaining a wide array of process equipment for clinical manufacturing. Her quality and production expertise will ensure smooth operations for Zinc Matrix Power as the company continues to develop its technology.
Zinc Matrix Power V.P. of Product Development, Dr. George Adamson, said these new additions to the Zinc Matrix Power team are extremely significant and demonstrate the growth the company has seen recently. "Obviously, we're thrilled to have Dr. Huang, Dr. Duong and Ms. Tagawa among our staff. Their backgrounds and associations with such prestigious companies bring a supreme level of expertise to our organization. The fact that we've attracted such quality personnel further validates our position as an innovator," said Dr. Adamson. "As the product test and evaluation phase continues we've also added key people to our engineering and quality divisions. These individuals will assist us considerably in moving our technology forward." Dr. Adamson most recently served as the head of Virtic LLC, a company providing contract engineering and scientific consulting. He has also helped launch the first two mass-produced product lines while vice president of research and development at Valence Technology Inc., a firm developing and manufacturing lithium-ion polymer batteries.
Among the new hires within Zinc Matrix Power's engineering department is Dr. Ken Kwan who joins the company as Senior Process Engineer. Dr. Kwan has a Ph.D in Industrial, Welding and Systems Engineering. With an extensive knowledge in MEMS packaging, he brings more than eight years of hands-on experience prototyping and modeling from conceptual design. He is the holder of six U.S. patents related to novel fabrication technology for micro-electronic system with 19 other patents under application.
Further indicating the significant growth of Zinc Matrix Power, the company also expanded its headquarters and pilot production facility earlier this spring. The 43,000 square foot facility is now operational in Camarillo, California. The new facility is able to accommodate the growth of the organization, will help to improve operational systems and facilitate communications between research, development and production. "Commercialization of our battery technology has become our focus. Our new location provides a cohesive environment so when research efforts uncover a further improvement to our technology, we can implement production of that improvement right away."
Zinc Matrix Power is carrying out early manufacturing runs, pilot scale production and process development in its new Camarillo facility. Volume production will be launched in China in 2008 through Zinc Matrix Power's contract manufacturing partner, Tyco Electronics Corp.
