Rick has led EnerG2 as CEO and Co-founder since 2003 through all its stages of growth. Initially focused on developing the technology platform, Rick and the founding team explored technical and commercial opportunities in hydrogen and natural gas storage before officially launching the company in 2008 as the world's premier source for next-generation carbons for batteries and capacitors. Following quickly with a large DOE grant in 2009, Rick led the company through the design and build of its full scale manufacturing facility. With world-class manufacturing capability, and novel technological approaches, Rick led the push into new product spaces establishing commercial sales for ultracapacitors and lead-acid batteries. Most recently, Rick initiated the spin-out of a new company, Group14 Technologies, focused on materials for Li-ion batteries. Throughout the growth of EnerG2, Rick's primary focus has been on recruiting, developing, and leading the EnerG2 team. With this highest quality team of executives, scientists, engineers, and operators, Rick navigated EnerG2 through the challenges and opportunities of the Cleantech bubble and burst, establishing EnerG2 as one of the preeminent global suppliers of advanced battery technologies.
Beginning his career as an Army aviation officer, Rick led an aeroscout platoon in Desert Storm, where he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Air Medals in recognition for performance in combat operations against the Iraqi Republican Guard. Rick later flew Apaches as commander of an Attack Helicopter Company. Rick brought start-up experience to the team as the co-founder and CEO of Hubspan, one of the most successful integrators of web-based business-to-business transactions. At Hubspan, he raised the company’s first two rounds of funding and developed and closed its flagship customer. Rick also brings experience as management consultant with Booz Allen, where he specialized in operations, manufacturing efficiency, and developing and implementing lean manufacturing.
Rick earned a BA in Biology from Cornell University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
“In batteries, energy is stored in chemical bonds. Materials determine all the important characteristics of those bonds -- how much energy goes in and comes out, how easily, how safely, and at what cost. Rapidly evolving understanding of materials, especially at the nanoscale, will create our near-term opportunities for breakthroughs in energy storage.”
“There are tremendous inefficiencies between the energy we generate and the energy we use in all facets of our lives. Until we invent point-of-use micro-generation, energy storage is the only solution to these inefficiencies. The current technology trends are only introducing more and more things that need energy to be useful. In virtually every case, the usefulness of these new technologies is limited by energy storage. Imagine a car that will run 12 hours on a charge or a phone that fits in your ear. All the technology exists today for those devices except the batteries. Energy storage is now the largest impediment to technology evolution. Radical innovations in energy storage will trigger a technology revolution.”