ATRAVERDA APPOINTS NEW OPERATIONS MANAGER TO OVERSEE BATTERY PRODUCTION
Advanced battery company, Atraverda Limited, based in South Wales, United Kingdom, has appointed Martin Greig as its new operations manager.
He joins Atraverda from pump and valve producer Flowserve, where he was plant manager, and has over 15 years experience in overseeing and managing production plants for a number of companies, including Siemens, Caerphilly-based electroluminescent displays and keypads manufacturer Pelikon, and at Natwest’s credit card production facility.
Mr Greig will be responsible for setting up manufacturing control systems and best practices such as ‘lean’ and ‘Six Sigma’ at Atraverda’s factory in Abertillery, South Wales, where it continues its progress to deliver the world’s first commercially viable bi-polar lead-acid battery.
Earlier this year, Atraverda announced a major collaboration with the University of Glamorgan that saw the opening of the UK’s first Advanced Battery Development Facility to help deliver this plan.
Atraverda’s technology base is founded on the properties of its versatile proprietary Ebonex® technology, a titanium sub-oxide material which has a unique combination of metallic-like conductivity along with the characteristic high-corrosion resistance of ceramics.
Ebonex® bi-polar lead-acid batteries are an environmentally strong technology with significantly less lead used than conventional lead-acid batteries. They are typically up to 40% lighter, 20% smaller, have long life and are 100% recyclable. They are also more environmentally friendly, using up to 50% less lead and produce 80% less CO2 during the manufacturing process.
Mr Greig says: “It is really exciting to be joining Atraverda at a time when it moves from a research and development company into production of batteries. I look forward to using my experience to help Atraverda as it prepares to take its technology to a host of markets.”
This marks the latest in several key appointments Atraverda has made to its senior management team since Michael Gilchrist took over as CEO in August 2008.
Mr Gilchrist added: “As we move into production to deliver the world’s first commercially viable bi-polar lead-acid battery, Martin’s significant experience in working for venture capital companies and in running manufacturing operations will prove invaluable.”
Atraverda has already secured $33.4m (£17.6m) from global investors in order to commercialise its bi-polar battery technology and is currently working with eight global battery producers.
Atraverda’s investors are EnerTech Capital, OnPoint Technologies, Scottish Equity Partners Bank, Finance Wales, Invest New Energy Solutions, Espirito Santo Ventures, and Chord Capital.
ENDS
For more information, please contact Mitchell Gadd or Antony Jones on 029 2054 5387 or mgadd@freshwater-uk.com
