Since its formation in 1994, NexTech Materials has grown from zero employees to 35. Along the way, it has gained attention for both its leadership team and its innovative products.
But the real growth is coming, says William Dawson, NexTech's chief executive officer.
NexTech, based in Lewis Center, does business in 35 countries and offers more than 100 products, mostly related to ceramic materials used in solid oxide fuel cells. The company is working with a number of partners in development of new products -- but much depends on the adoption of fuel cell technology in the U.S. to power vehicles and buildings, Dawson says.
"There's a lot more going on outside of the United States due to government incentives," Dawson says. "Korea provides an 80 percent subsidy for (homeowner purchases of) fuel cells. Japan has thousands of units going into homes right now."
While a number of stationary power demonstration units exist in the United States, widespread use here is in the future, Dawson says. Yet, the advantages are clear, both for stationary units and mobile units used in military applications or to power vehicles, he says.
"They have very high efficiency, they don't create pollution, and because of their high efficiency the greenhouse effect is reduced more than 50 percent."
While NexTech continues building inroads into the fuel cell business, it is also forging ahead with production of a number of sensors used to detect the presence of gases in the surrounding air.
"We just started offering hydrogen safety sensors (to detect hydrogen in the air), and are working on emissions sensors that we hope will be coming to the marketplace in two to three years," says Dawson.
Source: William Dawson, NexTech
Writer: Gene Monteith