Firefly Energy Appoints David Smith To VP Of Product Development & Applied Engineering
Firefly Energy Inc. announced that David R. Smith has joined the company as Vice President of Product Development and Applied Engineering. Smith has a wide background in technology development and new product commercialization, with more than 25 years of experience in the automotive, aerospace and battery industries. Additionally, the company announced that Dr. Robert H. Nelson will return to the Firefly Energy Advisory Board in a prominent consulting capacity following his interim role as Vice President of Engineering.
Smith will lead and expand the company’s Peoria, Illinois-based applied engineering operations, broadening and accelerating the application of Firefly Energy’s technologies to various lead-acid battery designs and markets. Smith’s leadership and expansion plans will build on the highway truck and U.S. military battery products currently under development.
"Dave Smith brings to our company and to Peoria the perspective and record of accomplishments found in a seasoned engineering leader," stated Firefly Energy Chief Executive Officer Edward F. Williams. "He will lead the development of a full suite of battery products and customer-funded applied engineering projects and will help ensure the smooth, successful introduction of our offerings to a market now demonstrating its interest in applying our breakthrough battery technology. And, Bob Nelson’s return to our advisory board will bolster Firefly’s visionary consultant team who think, work and advise at the forefront of our technologies."
"I’m very excited to have joined the Firefly Energy team," said Dave Smith. "I’ve been a part of many types of battery programs, and I believe that Firefly has the right combination of technology and cost, along with a high performance team and financial resources to be the industry leader in energy solutions. I look forward to helping make Firefly Energy into an industry benchmark for battery products."
Smith’s broad U.S. and international background includes the technical development and marketplace introduction of hybrid transportation technologies, high performance electronics and energy storage products. Among his more recent positions, Smith was VP and GM at Wavecrest Laboratories where he directed Wavecrest Energy Systems, LLC, a battery technology subsidiary. He was also VP of Emerging Technologies at Exide Corp., directing worldwide R&D teams, and manager of advanced technologies at Chrysler Corp., where he helped in the transfer of a dual graphite battery program to a supplier. In the 1980s, he served as electronics development manager for Northrop Corp..
His previous industry affiliations include serving as chairman of the technical advisory committee of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium. He serves on the board of directors of Lion Compact Energy and the U.S.-China Chamber of Commerce.
