Firefly Energy Inc., (www.fireflyenergy.com), the Peoria, Illinois-based company developing an innovative Microcell™ foam-based battery for commercial and military applications, today announced the appointment of Major General Ken Guest (U.S. Army Ret.) to the company’s Advisory Board. Mr. Guest’s appointment fills a vacancy on the Advisory Board created by the death last year of General Wayne Downing.
By mid 2008, Firefly Energy is slated to begin shipping prototypes of a combat vehicle microcell foam battery for testing by the U.S. Army. Key applications will include the “Silent Watch” program. Using the batteries, electronic reconnaissance can be conducted from military ground vehicles while noisy engines are off, thus helping avoid detection by the enemy while saving fuel. The goal of the program is to provide consistent power for four to 72 hours.
Before becoming a consultant in June 2006, Mr. Guest served as chief operating officer of Karta Corporation where he was responsible for all operating groups including business development, marketing and organizational development. Earlier, he was a group president and general manager at Anteon International, a $1.8 billion corporation. There, he led 3,500 employees involved with military and intelligence projects. .
Mr. Guest served 34 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as Major General. His last assignment was Commanding General, U.S. Army Combined Arms Support. He commanded Fort Lee in June 1996 after an assignment as Commanding General and Commandant of the army’s Quartermaster Center and school at Fort Lee. He served two tours in Vietnam as the operations officer of the 64th Quartermaster Battalion (petroleum operations) and as an advisor in the Mekong Delta. Deployed to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm for one year, Mr. Guest served as Deputy Commanding General of the Army’s support command, providing logistics support to more than 500,000 military personnel and civilians.
“Ken Guest’s accomplishments over more than three decades in the military and in industry will add important perspectives to our Advisory Board as we move beyond final developmental phases and into production and distribution of our microcell foam battery for combat vehicles,” says Ed Williams, CEO of Firefly Energy.
Fellow Advisory Board member Chuck Mahan, vice president and general manager, law enforcement and security for DynCorp International and former Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army, says, “Ken Guest is an outstanding addition. His many years of military experience in the company’s targeted military markets will strengthen Firefly Energy’s strategic insight.”
“I’m pleased to be joining Firefly Energy’s Advisory Board,” said Mr. Guest. “The company’s battery technology has attracted worldwide interest and acclaim and has received significant development funding support from the military. I look forward to lending my experience and counsel as the company soon transitions from product development to broader commercialization in the military.”
Besides Mr. Mahan, Mr. Guest joins existing Advisory Board members: Michael Kepros, former R&D director of GNB Technologies (now Exide); and James O. Wilkins, Jr., president and principal consultant of SCI Consulting.
About Firefly Energy (www.fireflyenergy.com):
Firefly Energy Inc. (“Firefly”) is a Peoria, Illinois-based battery technology company developing a portfolio of lead-acid battery technologies and products to enhance battery performance within major portions of the worldwide battery marketplace, now estimated at $30 billion in annual sales. The company’s first applied technology is a microcell foam-based battery technology, which can deliver a unique combination of high performance, extremely low weight and low cost, all within a battery which unleashes the full power potential of lead acid chemistry while overcoming its historical performance drawbacks. Firefly’s battery products and their patented microcell technology deliver to battery markets a level of performance achieved with advanced battery chemistries (Nickel Metal Hydride and Lithium) but at one-fifth the cost. Microcell foam battery products can be manufactured as well as recycled within the existing lead acid battery industry’s vast infrastructure. The company won the prestigious R&D 100 award from R&D magazine in 2007 and was a co-winner along with Los Alamos National Laboratories of the 2007 Technology Innovation Award presented by The Wall Street Journal. Firefly is backed by multi-billion dollar product companies such as Caterpillar (www.cat.com) NYSE: CAT), BAE Systems (www.baesystems.com) (London Stock Exchange over the counter symbol: BAESY), and Husqvarna (www.husqvarna.com Other OTC: HSQVY.PK). Additional investors include Chicago-area Venture Capital firm KB Partners (www.kbpartners.com) and the State of Illinois’ Illinois Finance Authority.
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Dave Reiners
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847-279-0022
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Dave.Reiners@techimage.com
