Management
Harol (Hal) Koyama, President and Chief Executive Officer, brings to IdaTech 12 years of diversified international sales & marketing experience and general strategic business development for worldwide onsite generation applications within the Combined Heat and Power, Oil and Gas and Waste Fuel power generation markets.
Throughout his career, Mr. Koyama has been responsible for identifying promising markets, increasing sales and implementing communications and advertising campaigns. Most recently, Mr. Koyama was Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Capstone Turbine Corporation (Capstone), a leading microturbine producer where he streamlined sales and marketing and accelerated market development efforts worldwide. Prior to his work at Capstone, Mr. Koyama was Vice President of Business Development for fuel cell company International Fuel Cells (a United Technologies Corporation business). In this position he increased market opportunities through the development of joint ventures. Mr. Koyama also has over five years experience as a management consultant with the international consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, focusing on energy and operations issues.
Mr. Koyama holds a degree in Physics/Mathematics from the University of Oregon, a Masters Equivalent in Nuclear Engineering from the Naval Nuclear Power Training and a Masters in Business Administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
James Cooke, Chief Financial Officer, is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales with more than 14 years experience of senior financial and operational management positions in a number of industries. Before joining IdaTech, Mr. Cooke was the Finance Director of Datong Electronics plc, a defense electronics company trading on the AIM.
Prior to his experience at Datong Electronics, plc, Mr. Cooke worked at Investec Group Ltd. for eight years as Managing Director of a division trading in endowment policies, managing and finding appropriate exits for the private equity portfolio and as a financial controller. Before his role at Investec Group Ltd., Mr. Cooke was the Group Financial Controller of a privately owned international leisure group with responsibility for financial matters, controls and acquisition targets. Mr. Cooke holds a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry.
Michael A. Otterbach, Vice President of Operations, is responsible for manufacturing, system integration, supply chain, information technology and service activities at IdaTech. In addition, he leads activities supporting fuel cell development and quality assessment. Mr. Otterbach is a native of Germany, and he brings to IdaTech more than 17 years of high-level experience in project and program management, engineering and operations management.
Prior to joining IdaTech, Mr. Otterbach was in program management and manufacturing operations with Honeywell, Inc. Most recently, he ran the manufacturing operations for the pulp and paper group in Cupertino, California. Prior to that role at Honeywell, he guided a team of specialists to facilitate several worldwide product launches as the program manager. He worked with Honeywell in both Germany and California.
Mr. Otterbach holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Fachhochschule Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and a certified quality assessor.
Kathryn Schwiebert, Vice President of Engineering
Kathryn Schwiebert joined IdaTech in January 2006 and is IdaTech's Vice President of Engineering. She has more than 10 years of experience in research and product development for fuel cell components and systems. At IdaTech she has directed research, development, design, testing and commercialization of fuel cell stacks and fuel processors, as well as managed the development of two commercial fuel cell systems, ElectraGen™ H2 and ElectraGen™ ME. Prior to joining IdaTech, Dr. Schwiebert spent 10 years at E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. From 1999 to 2005 she led research and development of membrane electrode assemblies and proton exchange membranes at DuPont Fuel Cells, first as a principal investigator and later as a technology manager. Holder of five U.S. patents, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry from Carleton College and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Indiana University.
William Pledger, Chief Engineer, cofounded IdaTech in 1996 and has remained with the company as Chief Engineer. Mr. Pledger has more than 20 years' experience in the design, construction and testing of membrane-based modules, transformer gas analysers, fuel processors and fuel cell systems. Prior to joining IdaTech, Mr. Pledger worked at Bend Research, Inc. from 1985 until 1994 where he was responsible for designing and constructing prototype membrane-based systems and pilot plants for use in food and pharmaceutical processing. Mr. Pledger holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineeering from Oregon State University, is a member of the Amercian Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American National Standards Institute, as well as a registered Professional Engineer in Oregon.
Richard (Rich) Romer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, brings more than 12 years of sales and marketing experience to his role at IdaTech where he is responsible for global sales. Prior to joining IdaTech Mr. Romer was the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cyclics Corporation, where he was responsible for managing an international distribution network and the launch of a new product to market.
Before his role at Cyclics Mr. Romer started and managed the global sales force with Plug Power Inc, as Director of Sales. His other previous positions include Product Manager for Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Director of Product Development at Berkshire Corporation and Field Engineering for Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory.
Mr. Romer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Union College and a Masters of Business Administration from the State University of New York at Albany.
Margo Maddux, Vice President of Human Resources, joined the IdaTech executive team as the Vice President of Human Resources bringing with her a strong background in Human Resource Management.
Prior to joining IdaTech, Mrs. Maddux has held positions in HR Management, Recruitment, Training, Benefits, and Payroll for companies in the logistics, insurance, communications and recruitment industries.
Mrs. Maddux is a member of the local SHRM organization, Human Resources Association of Central Oregon, and is on the Board of the local chapter of the Executive Women's Golf Association.