Three transportation industry-leading executives join Weststart-Calstart

Three industry executives acknowledged as global leaders in advanced transportation have joined the WestStart-CALSTART Board of Directors, further expanding the capabilities and reach of the North American advanced transportation organisation.

Jan van Dokkum, President of UTC Power, Michael Gallagher, President and Chief Operating Officer of Westport Innovations, and John Formisano, Vice President of Global Vehicles for FedEx Express, each bring extensive industry knowledge, commitment and standing to the organisation as it expands its operations.

“Adding three leading executives from the private sector to our board of directors is a statement about the improving business outlook for clean and energy efficient transportation technologies,” said John Boesel, President and CEO of WestStart-CALSTART. “The diversity of technologies and approaches represented by these new board members reinforces our corporate philosophy that there will be a variety of successful approaches to solving the nation’s transportation energy challenges.”

Jan van Dokkum, heads UTC Power. UTC Power has not only expanded its on-site power generation and heat recovery products and services for both the commercial and industrial markets, it has also focused the company’s fuel cell activities on the transportation market. UTC Fuel Cells, a unit of UTC Power, works with the world’s major automakers in fuel cell implementation, and is exploring other early fuel cell applications, including transit bus, marine and space and defense products.

Prior to joining UTC Power in 2002, Mr. van Dokkum was president and CEO of Siemens Power and Transmission & Distribution, a company which manufactures power transmissions and distribution equipment and energy service solutions.

Dr. Michael Gallagher is President and COO of Westport Innovations, a developer of advanced engines running on natural gas and other gaseous fuels. Since 1995, Westport Innovations has engaged in the research, development, and marketing of high-performance engines and fuel systems which use gaseous fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, and hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG). Through its joint venture, Cummins-Westport, it is the leading global supplier of heavy-duty natural gas engines.

Prior to joining Westport, Dr. Gallagher was Senior Vice President of Fluor Corporation, an international engineering company headquartered in Orange County, California. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Environmental Division, and later Mining and Minerals Division with the London-based Kvaerner Group.

John Formisano is the Vice President of Global Vehicles at FedEx Express. Mr. Formisano has spearheaded the company’s efforts to boost its service fleet with the addition of low-emission diesel-electric hybrid delivery trucks and is committed to pursuing the continued use of promising technologies that both reduce fuel costs and provide more environmentally responsible vehicles. FedEx Express currently has 18 hybrid trucks in service in Sacramento, New York, Tampa and Washington, D.C. with an additional 75 due for delivery by mid-2006. FedEx provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services.

Formisano began working for FedEx Express in 1983 as a Project Engineer and subsequently progressed though the ranks at the company, becoming Managing Director of Regional Planning and Administration in 1987, and Vice President of Regional Ground Operations in Washington, DC in 1997. He has been the Vice President for Global Vehicles since 2003.

WestStart-CALSTART is a leading advanced transportation technologies consortium. It is a participant-supported organisation of approximately 120 firms and organisations worldwide, dedicated to expanding and supporting a high-tech transportation industry that cleans the air, creates jobs and improves energy efficiency. WestStart serves as a strategic broker to spur advanced transportation technologies, systems and the companies that make them. Its California operating division does business as CALSTART.

Source: Fuel Cell Today