James Smith

James Smith has a long and varied work experience in the energy and engineering fields. James began their career in 1994 as a Catalyst Development Laboratory Researcher at Universal Oil Products (UOP). In 1996, they took on a Graduate Research Assistant role at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where they developed experimental heterogeneous catalysts for automotive fuel cell programs. In 1997, they moved to Xcellsis/Ballard Power Systems as a Senior Product Development Engineer. From 2003 to 2005, they worked as an Independent Contractor for Merlin CSI and others, where they served as a Control Systems Contractor. In 2005, they joined Bloom Energy as a Senior Principal Engineer/Manager - Product Development, where they designed electrical systems, programmed control logic, commissioned, and operated the first series of prototype fuel cell power systems. In 2014, they founded IACS Energy, an independent systems integration firm specializing in energy and chemicals. In 2016, they took on the role of Gizmologist at Loon, Google. Finally, in 2021, they became the Director Test Engineering at Electric Hydrogen Co., where they are helping to cost-effectively decarbonize the massive industrial sectors.

James Smith obtained a BSc in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Iowa between 1990 and 1995. James then attended The University of New Mexico in 1996 for Chemical Engineering. In 2004, they attended the University of California San Diego for Chemical Engineering and obtained their Professional Engineer certification in 2008.