On June 7, The Chemists Club, in joint collaboration with the American Chemical Society, held a luncheon, entitled Back – to the Future, in celebration of the centenary of the of the opening of the original Chemists’ Club building.
The original building was a longtime home to many scientific and industrial groups such as
the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, local sections of the American Chemical Society, the Society of Chemical Industry, the American Electrochemical Society, the Verein Deutscher Chemiker, and le Société de Chimie Industriell, and was a popular meeting place for countless other societies. To reflect upon the rich history accumulated by the Chemists’ Club building and its inhabitants over the past decade, Dr. Edward Cook presented a montage of photographs and images of our first home.
This review was then juxtaposed against a forward-looking discussion of the state of current and future rechargeable battery technology, presented by Michael Lew of Needham & Company and by Robert L. Kanode of Valence.
The presentation given by Michael Lew and Robert Kanode can be downloaded and viewed here.
Speaker Biographies:
- Edward Werner Cook studied under Joseph Park in fluorine chemistry at the University of Colorado, did military research at FMC in Princeton and was a Research Group Leader with the Oil Shale Corporation in Golden, Colorado. Subsequently, he was a Europeanbased consultant to Hein Koolsbergen, CEO of Tosco Corporation. He was technical consultant on alternative energy to the Alberta Gas Pipeline, Manalta Coal, Ontario, and Saarbergwerke. He was also an ambassador to The Highlands and Islands Development board in Inverness. He currently is restoring Caprilands Herb Farm as an educational resource and national heritage and is fascinated with the kaleidoscopic history of The Chemists’ Club.
- Michael Lew, Senior Analyst, Energy Creation and Energy Efficiency, joined Needham & Company in 2010. Previously, he was a senior analyst at ThinkEquity focused on energy storage and advanced material applications. He began his career on Wall Street at UBS focusing on IT hardware. Prior to that, Michael was a credit analyst and engineer at IBM. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, an MS in Materials Science from Columbia University, and an MBA from New York University.
- Robert L. Kanode, President and Chief Executive Officer previously served as senior consultant of product and account development for Valence prior to his appointment as president and chief executive officer. His extensive career includes over 15 years of experience in the battery industry including executive, senior management and technical consulting positions with BASF, IBM, United Technology, Varta Batteries AG
and other technology corporations. He is an award winning leader in the worldwide introduction of new products, implementation of efficient manufacturing and fulfillment systems, and niche market sales expansion.
Mr. Kanode has served on the board of directors for the Portable Rechargeable Battery Association and is a graduate of the Auburn University School of Engineering.