February 14, 2019: Lead battery recycling company Aqua Metals has appointed Gayle Gibson, a former DuPont Engineering executive, as an independent director, the company announced on 31 January. She replaces Mark Slade, who steps down after four years.

Gibson, who began work at DuPont in 1983 and worked as a director of engineering there for four years, has an extensive experience as a process engineer, working on developing new products and scaling up manufacturing processes — “which is most pertinent to Aqua Metals,” she told BESB.

“The technology has already been proven and today the management team at Aqua Metals is working diligently on making the process reliable and cost effective to allow for scaling into an on-going commercial facility. I expect to bring my experience to that process as needed.”

Gibson said the energy market was an ‘interesting’ growth area to be part of.

“In these types of developments, it is important to keep in mind the customer and market needs and trends,” she said.

“Evolving research and learning from development can bring creative new opportunities, but also challenges. My experience taking discoveries through to commercialization while maximizing the effectiveness of capital assets should be value added as AquaRefining begins to scale.”

Gibson’s experience as an executive taught her the importance of balancing the needs of various stakeholders, she said. “Generally, shareholders want growth in value, customers want products that help them grow, employees want opportunities and the community wants a safe, sustainable environment.”