Axion Power Appoints Vani Dantam to Head Business Development, Sales & Marketing
NEW CASTLE, Pa., Jan. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Axion Power International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: AXPW), the developer of advanced leadcarbon PbC® batteries and energy storage systems, announced today that Vani Kumar Dantam, 53, has been appointed to the new position of Senior Vice President/Business Development, Sales & Marketing. Mr Dantam was previously Vice President/Business Development & Sales for NYC-based Ener1 Inc., a supplier of lithium-ion batteries and associated software and systems. He brings to Axion his nearly 30 years of experience in leadership roles with automotive and commercial vehicle OEMs, as well as his working knowledge and understanding of grid scale storage marketing.
Chairman & CEO Thomas Granville commented, "Vani has an extraordinary background, having managed projects with GM, Ford, Daimler, Detroit Diesel, Cummins, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari, Volvo, Navistar, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Daewoo and Hyundai. We are extremely pleased to have him on board, and consider his joining Axion Power, and relocating to New Castle, an impressive vote of confidence in our PbC® technology and in our long range business plan. He began his employment with us this week, and will be reporting directly to me on some of the most strategically important areas of our business."
Mr Dantam, a native of India, joined Ener1 in 2010, and built a significant pipeline of battery customers and developed comprehensive quotes for new global customers in transportation, defense and in grid based energy storage. Prior to joining Ener1, he served from 1994 to 2010 with Pendleton IN-based Remy International in a series of increasingly responsible positions, reaching Global Director/Hybrid & Traction Motor Sales & Business Development. He served through two LBOs and an IPO at Remy, and worked on numerous overseas acquisitions and joint ventures in Hungary, Mexico, India, Brazil, Argentina and Japan. He won many commendations and awards, including the Freightliner Masters of Quality award on 5 separate occasions. Prior to his tenure with Remy International, he served at the Delco Remy division of General Motors from 1983 to 1994 in positions as varied as product design for batteries, starters, alternators and ABS systems. He also had other business responsibilities that included product licensing and international customer development. He began his career as a Research and Teaching Associate at Vanderbilt University in 1979.
Mr Dantam holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from Indiana University in Bloomington, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, and a BE in Metallurgical Engineering from Babaras Hindu University in Varanasi, UP India. He also spent a year at Trinity College, UK, as a Churchill Scholar.
Mr Dantam will relocate to the New Castle area with his family.
About Axion Power International, Inc.
Axion has developed and patented a next generation energy storage device that won the prestigious Frost & Sullivan Technology Award for North America in the field of lead-acid batteries. According to Frost & Sullivan, Axion's new PbC batteries have "the potential to revitalize the lead-acid battery industry by breathing new life into an established technology that is not well suited to the requirements of important new applications like hybrid electric vehicles and renewable power."
Axion Power International, Inc. is the industry leader in the field of lead-acid-carbon energy storage technologies. Axion believes this new battery technology is the only class of advanced battery that can be assembled on existing lead-acid battery production lines throughout the world utilizing Axion's proprietary carbon electrodes. Axion's future goal, after filling their plant's lead-carbon battery production capacity, is to become the leading supplier of carbon electrode assemblies for the global lead-acid battery industry.
For more information, visit www.axionpower.com
Contacts
Axion Power International, Inc.
Thomas Granville, CEO
(724) 654-9300
Allen & Caron Inc
Rudy Barrio (Investors)
[email protected]
(212) 691-8087
Len Hall (Media)
[email protected]
(949) 474-4300
SOURCE Axion Power International, Inc.
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