Maxwell Technologies, Inc. announced that it has appointed David J. Schramm President and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Richard D. Balanson, PhD, who will remain a part-employee of the company, functioning as a senior technical advisor.
Schramm has spent the bulk of his 36-year business career in a series of senior management and engineering positions with General Motors and its primary Tier I parts supplier, Delphi Automotive Systems and several of their divisions and subsidiaries. More recently, he was president and CEO of EADS North America Defense Test and Services, the U.S. subsidiary of the corporate parent of Airbus, and immediately before that was president and CEO of Arrowhead Products Corp., a supplier of specialty systems to the aerospace and automotive industries.
Balanson said that Schramm’s automotive and aerospace industry experience and contacts and strong technical background give him ideal credentials to accelerate the transition of the company’s core ultracapacitor business from basic research and product development to high-volume production of energy storage components and systems for transportation and industrial applications worldwide.
"We believe that the company is at an inflection point, so the time is right for this transition," Balanson said. "David understands what Tier I automotive suppliers and transportation and industrial OEMs expect from a components supplier such as Maxwell, and he has the demonstrated leadership and operational skills to guide the company through the next phase of its growth and development."
Commenting on behalf of Maxwell’s Board of Directors, Chairman Edward Caudill said, "We are pleased that Rich Balanson has agreed to stay on as a key advisor, and we acknowledge his outstanding contributions in building the company’s management team and creating a robust suite of industry-leading ultracapacitor products from what was little more than a promising technology when he joined Maxwell in 1999."
