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Astronaut and White House Energy and Climate Change advisor join General Fusion Advisory Council(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/23/14 -- General Fusion, a leader in developing fusion energy, has assembled a world-class Advisory Council that includes veteran Astronaut Mark Kelly and Carol M. Browner, a key figure in two US administrations. Mark Kelly is a retired American astronaut, engineer and U.S. Navy Captain. Kelly flew a number of space shuttle missions, and was commander of the final mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Many know Mark Kelly as the husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, an author and a leading voice for common-sense solutions to gun violence. "I am excited to be joining the advisory council of General Fusion," said Kelly "It's a company which truly shows incredible promise for solving the world's energy needs with a clean, safe and secure solution." Ms. Browner, former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Bill Clinton, and former Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy under President Barack Obama, spearheads a powerful group that will help the company shape its strategy for commercialization. The Advisory Council will provide General Fusion with strategic, financial and policy advice, as well as input into the physics of General Fusion's approach called Magnetized Target Fusion. The Council includes leaders in business, government as well as fusion physics. "I am looking forward to being involved in General Fusion's transformative plan to make fusion energy a commercial reality in the coming years, and look forward to working with the highly-experienced Advisory Council," said Carol Browner. Along with Mr. Kelly and Ms. Browner, the Advisory Council includes: Mark Dudzinski, former Chief Marketing Officer of GE Energy. Dr. T Kenneth Fowler, formerly of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he was associate director for Magnetic Fusion Energy. Before his retirement, Dr. Fowler was Chairman of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. Mike Harcourt, former premier of British Columbia and Mayor of Vancouver, Mr. Harcourt is Chair of University of British Columbia's Regional Sustainability Council for sustainability initiatives, as well as Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainability Continuing Studies at U.B.C. Dr. Thomas Jarboe, Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington. Dr, Jarboe's fusion research focuses on the efficient formation and sustainment of magnetic confinement configurations through a method call helicity injection. Dr. William Lattin, formerly of Intel Corporation where he was Vice President of Intel's System Group and currently president of Lattin Enterprises, which invests in development-stage technology companies. He has served on 14 public and private corporate boards and has a deep background in technology companies. Ram Narula, the former Principal Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of the Bechtel Power Corporation. Donald L. Runkle, Executive Chairman, EcoMotors International and former General Motors top engineering executive. "With diverse backgrounds and world-class expertise from fusion science to environmental policy, the Advisory Council members understand the elements of the research, industrial, and government ecosystem that will be necessary for General Fusion's success," said General Fusion CEO Nathan Gilliland. Biographies of the General Fusion Advisory Council Members are attached to this release. About General Fusion: General Fusion is developing the fastest, most practical, and lowest cost path to commercial fusion energy. The company was established in 2002 and is supported by a global syndicate of leading energy venture capital funds, industry leaders, and technology pioneers, including: Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Cenovus Energy, Growthworks, Braemar Energy Ventures, BDC, Entrepreneurs Fund, Chrysalix SET, and Sustainable Development Technology Canada. www.generalfusion.com About Fusion: Fusion energy holds immense promise as a clean, safe and abundant energy source. Fusion generates neither pollution nor greenhouse gases that drive climate change. Fusion energy is fueled by deuterium and tritium isotopes, which are easily extracted from seawater and derived from lithium, in abundant supply. There is enough fusion fuel to power the planet for hundreds of millions of years. Unlike nuclear fission reactors, fusion energy does not require uranium as fuel, cannot suffer from meltdowns and does not produce nuclear waste or long-lived radioactive wastes. General Fusion Advisory Council Member Biographies June 23, 2014 Carol Browner Carol M. Browner is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and Senior Counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group. Ms. Browner also serves as Chair of the Board of the League of Conservation Voters, on the Board of Directors for Bunge Limited, the Global Oceans Commission, and on Opower's Advisory Board. Ms. Browner most recently served as Assistant to President Obama and director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, where she oversaw the coordination of environmental, energy, climate, transport, and related policy across the federal government. During her tenure, the White House secured the largest investment ever in clean energy and established the national car policy that included both new automobile fuel efficiency standards and first ever greenhouse gas reductions. Previously, Ms. Browner was a founding principal of The Albright Group LLC from 2001 to 2008. From 1993 through 2001, Ms. Browner served as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. As administrator, she adopted the most stringent air pollution standards in our nation's history; set for the first time, a fine particle clean air standard; and spearheaded the reauthorization of the Safe Drinking Water Act as well as the Food Quality Protection Act. She was known for working with both environmentalists and industry to set scientific-based public health protections while providing businesses important flexibilities in how to meet those standards. She worked across the agency to ensure a focus on protecting the most vulnerable, particularly children. From 1991 through 1993, Ms. Browner served as Secretary of Environmental Regulation in Florida, where she launched the largest ecological restoration project ever attempted in the United States to restore the natural flow of water to the Everglades. Ms. Browner serves on the Executive Committee of the Center for American Progress and was a founding board member of the organization from 2003-2008. Ms. Browner earned her B.A. and a law degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville. She has one son and is married to former New York Congressman Tom Downey. Mark Dudzinski Mr. Dudzinski has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. He spent more than 20 years at General Electric Company, where his primary areas of responsibility were in marketing. This included new product and market development, new product introduction, product management, commercial operations, communications and strategy. He was responsible for marketing at GE Energy. GE Energy is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with revenue of over $26 billion. Mr. Dudzinski retired from GE in Feb. 2013, and has since started two organizations. CMO-md LLC with its website cmo-md.com is dedicated to helping B2B Chief Marketing Officers be successful. Light the World Inc is a Non-Profit, Charitable Organization dedicated to bringing cost effective electricity to the 1.2 billion people who live without lighting when the sun goes down. Mr. Dudzinski has been a frequent speaker on technology changes and its impact on future product evolution in addition to marketing topics. Copies of the following public presentations are available for download on CMO-md.com: "The Economics of Green Power", "Energy Industry 2020", "Generation Trends", "Innovation", "The Future Electric Utility", "Marketing in Developing Countries" and "Strategy". Dr. T Kenneth Fowler Prof. T. Kenneth Fowler received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in Physics in 1957. He joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he was a leader of the Plasma Theory Group until 1965. He then moved to General Atomics, where he was appointed head of the Plasma Physics Division in 1967. He transferred to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he served from 1970 to 1987 as Associate Director for Magnetic Fusion Energy. He became chairman of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley in 1988, and he served in that capacity until his retirement in 1994. He is the author of numerous publications including the book The Fusion Quest (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997). Prof. Fowler has numerous memberships and awards including the Fusion Power Associates Leadership Award for 1983 and election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1987. He has been a Fellow of the American Physical Society since 1970. His research interests include plasma physics applications to magnetic fusion energy, theoretical plasma physics, weapons effects at high altitudes, nuclear reactions theory, and scattering theory. For many years Dr. Fowler carried on research in plasma physics aimed toward the development of controlled thermonuclear fusion. Through his fundamental theoretical investigations and perceptive analyses of experiments, he created new fusion concepts that are contributing significantly to the search for solutions to controlled thermonuclear fusion power. His leadership and direction have stimulated other technical people in their work. He has been recognized as one of the leading people in the world in this field and directed one of the largest efforts of study of fusion power in the United States. Through his leadership, the mirror fusion laboratory at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory became the preeminent mirror program in the world. He is author or coauthor of over 100 technical publications and has served as a member of several national scientific committees such as the Controlled Thermonuclear Research Standing Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission. He has been an active leader in the work of the American Physical Society. Mike Harcourt As former premier of British Columbia, Mayor of Vancouver and City Councillor, Mike Harcourt helped British Columbia earn its reputation as one of the most liveable, accessible and inclusive places in the world. His focus on conservation and sustainable development - and his resolve to contribute to the transformation of cities and communities has played a significant role in promoting quality of life for those in Canada and abroad. After stepping down from politics, he was appointed by the Prime Minister to serve as a member of the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy, where he served on the Executive Committee and Chaired the Urban Sustainability Program. He was a federally appointed B.C. Treaty Commissioner and was Chair of the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee for Cities and Communities. Mike Harcourt is Chair of University of British Columbia's Regional Sustainability Council for sustainability initiatives. In addition to acting as Chairman of Quality Urban Energy Systems for Tomorrow (QUEST), he chairs the Canadian Electricity Association's Sustainable Electricity Program Advisory Panel. He is the lead faculty in United Way's Public Policy Institute. Dr. Thomas R. Jarboe Professor Jarboe has been a leader of the development of the spheromak confinement device since the early 1980s. He led a team at Los Alamos National Laboratory that was the first to produce a stable symmetric spheromak and an isolated spheromak; first to produce spheromak that self-heated to greater than 100eV; first to sustain a spheromak by helicity injection; and the first to observe self-heating of a spheromak to the pressure-limit. At the University of Washington he leads a team that is the first to efficiently sustain a kink-stable, axially symmetric, high-pressure spheromak with imposed dynamo current drive; and the first to show that a steady-state spheromak fusion reactor can render coal-fired power generation obsolete from economics alone. Professor Jarboe received his undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Illinois in 1967. He then pursued a doctoral degree at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1974, he received his PhD in plasma physics. He then joined the controlled fusion research division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He served as group leader from 1983 to 1989 where he studied a very attractive magnetic fusion confinement device called the spheromak. He spent one year beginning in 1985 doing the controlled fusion research at Culham Laboratory in England. He came to the University of Washington in 1989 as Professor of Nuclear Engineering and joined the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1992. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society. Professor Jarboe's current research interests lie in plasma physics and controlled fusion. He is presently pursuing three plasma research interests. First, he is Director of the Plasma Science and Innovation Center (PSI-Center). The goal of the center is to develop computational predictability for improved magnetic confinement configurations with controlled fusion applications. The PSI-Center plays an important role in making fusion energy practical and in advancing plasma science in general. Second, he leads the Helicity Injected Torus (HIT) program on Campus. This method allows steady state operation. Developing an efficient current drive method for a spheromak that is compatible with good confinement would be a major advance for practical fusion energy. Finally, Professor Jarboe leads collaboration with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where coaxial helicity injection (CHI) current drive, developed at the UW, is being applied to the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). CHI is to be used on this major US fusion facility for plasma startup and current profile control. Mark Edward Kelly A naval aviator, Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War. He was selected to become a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996 and flew his first mission in 2001 as pilot of STS-108. He piloted STS-121 in 2006 and commanded STS-124 in 2008 and STS-134 in 2011. STS-134 was his final mission and the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour. His wife was the target of an attempted assassination in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8, 2011. After the shooting, in which six people were killed, both Kelly and Giffords were thrust into the media spotlight. His wife's shooting led to a broad national conversation ranging from the duties of a husband to what is acceptable civil discourse. The couple wrote a book about their lives and their experiences, discussing the shooting and Giffords's initial recovery. Kelly's identical twin brother, Scott Kelly, is also an astronaut and served as commander of International Space Station(ISS) Expedition 26. The Kelly brothers are the only twins and only siblings to have both traveled in space. Dr. William W. Lattin Dr. William W. Lattin has had a successful career in the semiconductor industry, spanning over 40 years of service. Since 2002, Dr. Lattin has served as the President of Lattin Enterprises, a firm that invests in development-stage technology companies. Dr. Lattin's career has spanned both hardware and software companies in the electronics industry. In 2005 he was awarded the TechAmerica Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his work in the high tech industry. From October 1994 until October 1999, Dr. Lattin was the Executive Vice President of Synopsys, Inc., a leading supplier of electronic design automation software to the global semiconductor industry. Prior to joining Synopsys, from 1986 to 1994, Dr. Lattin was President and Chief Executive Officer of Logic Automation, and led that company's growth and eventual sale to Synopsys in 1994. Dr. Lattin was Vice President of the Systems Group at Intel Corporation from 1975 to 1986. Dr. Lattin's experience at Intel included responsibilities for microprocessor development and management of Intel's board computer division, which developed embedded systems for many different applications which includes machine control. Dr. Lattin sits on the board of directors of several privately held companies. Dr. Lattin holds a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University and M.S.E.E. and B.S.E.E. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. As well, Dr. Lattin holds seven patents, is a founding member of VHDL International, a semiconductor industry development organization, and is a senior member of IEEE. Ram Narula Ram Narula retired from Bechtel Power Corporation in April, 2011 as Principal Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. He has nearly 52 years of engineering experience in fossil, nuclear and renewable power generation projects with the last 38 years being with Bechtel. He was Bechtel Power Corporation's Chief Technology Officer for 10 years, preceded by 9 years as a project engineering manager for Bechtel's Project Development Group. The other 30 years in various positions includes Chief Mechanical Engineer at Bechtel, Sr. Engineer with Sargent and Lundy Engineers, Chicago and Sr. Engineer with BHEL, India. Because of his stature in the industry and extensive engineering background, he was selected as a Bechtel Fellow (a rare distinction) in 1996 for his expertise in fossil power technology. He was elected a principal vice president of Bechtel Power Corporation in 1998 and an ASME Fellow in 2000. In 2005, he was selected as Chairman of Bechtel Fellows. Donald L. Runkle Donald L. Runkle is a recognized business leader and product/process innovator. He has led divisional profit turnarounds, international acquisitions and divestitures, created new business channels, co-led a large IPO and has led the development of a disruptive product technology. He has led countless product innovations and built engineering teams with award winning technical strength. Mr. Runkle is Executive Chairman of EcoMotors International (formerly CEO for four years), a disruptive engine company with Khosla Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and Bill Gates as primary investors. He is an operating executive for Tennenbaum Capital Partners advising on investments and operational turnarounds, a director of Lear Corporation, Transonic Corporation, WinCup Corporation, and the Lean Enterprise Institute. As well as General Fusion, he is an advisor to TULA Technology; both are disruptive venture capital backed companies. He has consulted on topics including technology and business strategy, electronics, fuel cells, energy development and storage, electric vehicles, and lean implementation. Early in his career he joined General Motors, where he held a variety of assignments, Vice President of GM's Advanced Engineering Staff and GM's North American Engineering Center where he was GM's top engineering executive. Mr. Runkle led turnarounds as President of Delphi Steering in 1993 and Delphi Energy & Engine Management Systems in 1996, co-led the IPO/spin-off of Delphi from General Motors in 1998/99, and acquired Lucas Diesel in 2000 consolidating it with the Energy and Chassis Division. During his tenure at Delphi, Runkle led many international acquisitions. He became Vice-Chairman of Delphi in 2003 through June, 2005. Mr. Runkle has bachelor and master degrees from the University of Michigan in mechanical engineering and an MBA as a Sloan Fellow from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Runkle is a member of SAE and the Tau Beta Pi and Pi Tau Sigma Engineering Honorary Societies; a life member of the Shingo Academy, recognizing distinguished manufacturing excellence; and recipient of the Wu Manufacturing Leadership Award, as role model for visionary and strategic thinking leaders, and the ASM Medal for the Advancement of Research. Mr. Runkle co-founded the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), with the U.S. Department of Energy. Contacts: Breakthrough Communications Paul Sullivan Office: 604-685-4742 Mobile: 604-603-7358 [email protected] Source: General Fusion Inc. |