Hi-Z Technology, Inc.

Company Profile

Founded in 1988, Hi-Z is a small R & D oriented thermoelectric business of 17 engineers, physicists, metallurgists and technicians which designs, develops, manufactures, and markets bulk material Thermoelectric Modules and Generator systems, ranging from milliwatt size to multiple kilowatt size in power output, based on Hi-Z’s patented gapless eggcrate technology.

Recognized as a world leader in the emerging market of power producing thermoelectric modules. Hi-Z’s mission is to expand upon the modestly sized bulk material thermoelectric product to develop, manufacture and commercialize the next generation of high efficiency Thermoelectric modules, called Quantum Wells, which show promise of conversion efficiencies ranging from 15% to 40%, which will lead the way to energy recovery in several industries.

Management Team

Mr. Norbert B. Elsner

Mr. Elsner is a Co-Founder and President of Hi-Z Technology and is responsible for the overall technical strategy and management of the Company. Mr. Elsner’s specialties include the development of solid state energy conversion devices - thermoelectrics (primarily), thermionics, thermophotovoltaic and electrically conducting ceramics. Mr. Elsner is currently leading Hi-Z’s low-cost development of thermoelectrics for numerous waste heat applications and stand-alone thermoelectric generators for various applications. Other programs he is pursuing include 1) the very promising multilayer quantum well program which has demonstrated that the various alternating materials of Si/SiGe, Si/SiC and B₄C/B₉C can increase conversion efficiencies several fold, 2) the ongoing 40 milliWatt power supplies developed for DOE/NASA for space applications as well as to power wireless sensors, and 3) the segmenting of various thermoelectric materials over very wide operating temperatures to increase efficiency. Prior to helping found Hi-Z in 1988, Mr. Elsner was responsible for the management of advanced energy conversion systems involving thermoelectrics at General Atomics. Mr. Elsner has also authored numerous papers in the thermoelectric field, and is the author/co-author of many US and foreign patents relating to thermal to electric conversion and nuclear energy. Mr. Elsner holds his BS degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Metallurgical Engineering, a MBA from Pepperdine University and is a California registered Metallurgical Engineer.

Mr. John C. Bass

Mr. Bass is a Co-Founder and Vice-President of Hi-Z Technology. Mr. Bass has currently been involved in the development of new applications and modules for both conventional and quantum well thermoelectric systems. Mr. Bass has initiated many thermoelectric developments for Hi-Z, including a 1kW thermoelectric generator which was used to convert waste heat in the exhaust of the Diesel engine directly to electricity, the self-powered pellet stove and heater for recreational vehicles, a prototype generator for sensor systems that harvest its energy from small (5°C) differences in the ambient environment, as well as the 40mW radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Prior to helping found Hi-Z in 1988, Mr. Bass was Chief Engineer of Thermoelectric Systems and Design at General Atomics. Mr. Bass has also authored numerous papers in the thermoelectric, thermophotovoltaic and automotive fields, and is the author/co-author of thirteen US and foreign patents relating to thermal to electric conversion and nuclear energy. Mr. Bass holds both his BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of California Berkeley, and is a California registered Professional Engineer.

Dr. Saeid Ghamaty

Dr. Ghamaty heads up the QW development at Hi-Z and is responsible for the eventual fabrication and evaluation of the films and technical coordination. Dr. Ghamaty has been involved with QW thermoelectrics since their inception on a DOE funded SBIR in 1994 and presented the first thermoelectric experimental data demonstrating that multiple layers of Si/SiGe QWs yield large gains in the power factor (Seebeck coefficient2/electrical resistivity) and the resultant high figures of merit (Z) which are very favorable for power and cooling applications. Since these initial studies, he has been developing the B4C/B9C QW materials for power applications which are exhibiting ZTs that are 3 to 4 times better than the present bulk Bi2Te3 based alloys. He has recently measured an efficiency of 14% on a Si substrate. Dr. Ghamaty is the prime author/co-author of several QW patents including Si/SiGe, B4C/B9C and Si/SiC materials. Dr. Ghamaty holds a B.S. in Physics & Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology and both a M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, San Diego.

Mr. Daniel Krommenhoek

Mr. Krommenhoek has been with Hi-Z since May 2005. He is a Program Manager responsible for thermoelectric generator development and modules with quantum well thermoelectric materials. He is currently working on a 10 kWe generator and various other quantum well and portable thermoelectric generator developments. He brings extensive experience in direct energy conversion and advanced concepts to this work. Mr. Krommenhoek has managed GE and Lockheed Martin projects on mechanical design, advanced materials, thermal design, fluid flow, thermophotovoltaics, thermoelectrics, acoustics, nuclear reactor design, advanced energy sources, lasers and radiolysis. Mr. Krommenhoek also has extensive technology and design experience gained from his work on nuclear safety, reactor energy conversion systems, nuclear quality, nuclear reactor test programs, direct energy conversion, acoustics and reactor design at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory. Mr. Krommenhoek holds a BSME from Lafayette College, Easton, PA, a MSME from Cornell University and is a New York registered professional engineer.

Dr. Aleksandr Kushch

Dr. Kushch has been with Hi-Z since October 2000 and is a Program Manager responsible for the waste heat recovery system development for the Heavy duty Diesel truck, GM pick-up truck waste heat recovery system for the US Navy, US Army 500 generator and Self-Powered Army field feeding system, self powered mosquito trap, small thermoelectric generators and self-powered appliances. From 1992 to 1999 he worked as a senior Director in Quantum Group, Inc. responsible for the Photon Emission Energy Division. At Quantum Group, Dr. Kushch directed multiple projects for the DOD (DARPA, Army, and BMDO), for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power generation, DOE and CEC for self-powered appliances, combustion driven laser development and near-infrared surveillance system design. Dr. Kushch has authored/co-authored in multiple technical papers in the field of energy conversion technologies. He has also authored/co-authored six US Patents and seven former USSR Patents. Dr. Kushch holds a Ph.D. in Technical Sciences from the Academy of Sciences former USSR, and a MSME from Kiev Polytechnical University (former USSR).

Dr. John McCoy

Dr. McCoy is Hi-Z Technology’s Senior Materials Scientist. His current primary focus is on the development of bonding and fabrication technology in support of a NASA JPL initiative to develop a more efficient radioisotope thermoelectric generator for deep space probes. His career specialization has been in the development and analysis of metal/ceramic, metal/carbon, and carbon/ceramic interfaces in the application areas of both aerospace composites and also in electronic packaging. Work in the aerospace composites area included oxidation-resistant coatings for carbon-carbon composites and actively cooled hypersonic airframe skin materials using graphitic foam cores and superalloy face sheets. In the area of thermal management for electronic packaging, he developed low thermal expansion, high thermal conductivity, copper-matrix composites using both graphitic foams and diamond particles for the second phase. He holds one patent on the latter copper/diamond material and a second patent on an integrated metal/ceramic antenna structure. Dr. McCoy received a B.S. in Physics from the College of William & Mary in Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Mr. Velimir Jovanovic

Mr. Jovanovic is the Project Manager of a program at Hi-Z Technology, Inc., where he is currently analyzing and designing a novel Quantum Well (QW) thermoelectric (TE) nanocooler. Previously he was the Principal Investigator of a program to analyze, design, fabricate and test an energy-harvesting QW TE power generator for wireless sensors. Mr. Jovanovic has extensive experience in the TE technology, thermal design, thermal management, and devising of thermal control techniques. Previously, at Boeing, Mr. Jovanovic was a Principal Engineer responsible for the thermal design of the Delta IV launch vehicle from the proposal stage to the analysis, design and fabrication. Prior to Boeing, he was a Staff Engineer at General Atomics with the responsibility for the thermal analysis and design of civilian nuclear reactor components and systems. Mr. Jovanovicholds MSME and BSME degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana. He is a Member of ASME and a California Registered Professional Mechanical Engineer. He is the author of several recent papers on QW TE devices. He has one US patent and another one pending.

Ms. Jill Elsner

Ms. Elsner joined Hi-Z Technology full time in August 2006 and is currently the Chief Financial Officer, responsible for financial related matters of Hi-Z as well as contract administration and other non science issues. Prior to Hi-Z, Ms. Elsner successfully started, grew and then sold a Hong Kong based international tax practice, which provides US and Asian tax return preparation and advice to US citizens and residents, US owned foreign businesses and to non-residents engaged in a US trade or business. Ms. Elsner commenced working as a tax professional with an international accounting firm, and over a seven year period, had the opportunity to work in their San Francisco, Melbourne, Sydney and Hong Kong offices. Ms. Elsner holds an undergraduate degree in Accounting, graduate degrees in both Taxation and Economics and is a California licensed Certified Public Accountant.