February 23, 2023: Battery veteran Michael Fetcenko has been appointed chairman of the board of directors at CHASM, the carbon nanotube developer, effective January 18.
Fetcenko (pictured) brings extensive experience in the battery industry to CHASM. He joined Ovonic Battery Company in 1980, and was the key figure and inventor in its development of NiMH batteries which became the basis for an early generation of electric vehicles.
He was president of the company when Ovonic was acquired by BASF in 2012. He subsequently became managing director of BASF Battery Materials, North America before taking on the position of director for global licensing.
After retiring from BASF he joined Sion Power in April 2019 as executive chairman of the board.
Fetcenko holds more than 70 patents and has authored 100+ publications in the NiMH and Li ion field. He has over 40 NiMH licences and led the successful Argonne National Laboratory NCM patent enforcement and licensing effort which resulted in 14 licences and sub-licences.
“His inventions are used in all NiMH batteries for consumer, stationary, and hybrid vehicle applications such as the iconic Toyota Prius with over 10 million vehicles on the road,” says a CHASM announcement.
“Michael served on the board of directors and Technical Steering Committee for Sion Power for five years, a leader in advanced ultra-high energy lithium battery systems including protected metallic lithium anodes for Li ion batteries.”
Fetcenko said: “The potential for carbon nanotubes to deliver benefits such as improved battery performance has been known for some time. What is new is that CHASM has achieved breakthroughs that will lead directly to widespread adoption: affordability, production at massive scale, methods for safe and easy handling and tunability to customer specifications.”
David Arthur, co-founder and CEO of CHASM said: “This appointment comes at a critical time as we accelerate the development and commercialization of our advanced materials solutions. Michael’s experience in the areas of intellectual property, building strategic partnerships with large corporations and his successful track record of scaling businesses are equally important.”
