Areas of Expertise:

Alexander G. Fassbender
Education:
M.S., Chemical Engineering, 1988, University of Washington
MBA, Business Economics, 1980, University of Washington
B.S., Chemical Engineering, 1976, University of California, Berkeley
WORK EXPERIENCE
ManTech SRS Technologies January 2011– Present
Program Manager
Relevance: Key member on the proposed DOE EERE support contract management team; assisting in the development of the ManTech solution and technical staff selection process.

Lockheed Martin Corporation August 2010– September 2011
Research Science Senior Manager
Relevance: Served as the Product Stewardship manager in the Corporate Energy, Environment, Safety and Health office (EESH). Chartered to evaluate the use of hazardous, scarce, rare earth and nano materials across all enterprise product lines and developed strategic plans to reduce/eliminate associated business, technical and environmental risks. Led distributed teams of up to 30 multidisplinary staff on concurrent projects to evaluate the technical feasibility of advanced material and chemical processing methodologies to achieve corporate sustainability goals. These methodologies resulted in improved design performance, significantly reduced life cycle costs, achieved efficiencies in manufacturing, and reduced or eliminated environmental waste/hazards. Implemented a risk-based assessment program to identify and prioritize enterprise-wide Product Stewardship initiatives.
Accomplishments: Implemented a successful program to use reusable fixtures in place of disposable packaging for aircraft components resulting in a 50% savings, reduced handling time, and a 100% reduction in packaging waste.

ThermoEnergy Corporation January 1999– March 2010
Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President
Relevance: Provided strategic planning and project management for technology programs. Served as the technical feasibility lead evaluator for all corporate R&D projects and made funding down-select decisions. Performed R&D program portfolio technical management oversight and performance tracking including risk identification/mitigation, milestone criteria achievement, and return on investment assessments for prioritizing funding. Led the planning and successful execution of technology demonstrations for four complex high risk, high payoff technologies. Established a joint venture (JV) of international R&D team partners comprised of the ThermoEnergy, University of Nevada, Reno, CANMET, Reaction Systems Engineering and Babcock Power. The purpose of the JV was to demonstrate and commercialize the Zero Emission Boiler System, a new zero-emission, carbon-capture, clean-coal technology. Identified, acquired and developed innovative Ammonia Recovery water technology which was adopted by New York City resulting in significant capital and operational cost savings and reduced water treatment facility footprint.
Accomplishments: Appointed by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Bodman to the U.S. National Coal Council in 2007. Appointment renewed by Secretary Chu in 2009-2011.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory July 1976– December 1999
Technology Commercialization Manager, Sr. Research Engineer
Relevance: Served in roles of increasing responsibilities as a research engineer, leading teams of up to 20 multi-disciplinary staff, distributed throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. Extensive advanced research program portfolio management focused on both government and industry funded clean energy and environmental research projects. Solicited research proposals across all PNNL technical portfolios, developed evaluation criteria, participated in proposal evaluation, established research funding priorities based on commercialization potential of selected projects, and managed an Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio from basic research through prototype stages. Monitored progress and performance of funded projects against milestones and de-risking objectives. Established analysis and evaluation protocol and made patenting decisions on ideas submitted by PNNL staff and developed IP capture and management strategies.
Member: American Chemical Society and National Coal Council, Licensed Professional Engineer: Chemical Engineer - Washington State
Awards, Honors, and Professional Recognition:
• Research and Development magazine “R&D 100” Awards: 2000 Dosimetry System, 1999 Centrate Ammonia Recovery Process, 1990 Pyroflux® glass melting process, and 1988 Sludge-to-Oil Reactor System.
• Excellence in Technology Transfer from the United States Federal Laboratory Consortium1988 and 1995.
• Fourteen (14) Issued Patents; one (1) Pending Applications

Recent Comments by Alex Fassbender

• "A low carbon economy will not emerge without a price signal.  As long as dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is free it will continue unabate"
  A Realistic Strategy For Climate Change
• "Initially, at a low Carbon Dividend, there will be some move as the signal will be in place.  The big movement will come in the later years when the C"
  A Carbon Dividends Plan
• "Calling this a Carbon Dividend plan rather than a Carbon Tax is reasonable because if the government returns all the money, is it a tax?  The fossil e"
  A Carbon Dividends Plan
• "Some electric utilities do research well but that capability is not the rule in general.  It is likely that there is already far more new technology a"
  The NY REV: To Innovate, More R&D Spending By Utilities?
• "Mr. Vorobeychik Thank you for your comments.  Two points in response. First, distributed generation systems often use multiple heat engines - wheth"
  Protecting the U.S. Electric Power Grid from Attack
• "Distributed generation provides a level security and resiliency that central power stations find hard to match.  When distributed generation is in the"
  Protecting the U.S. Electric Power Grid from Attack
• "It is impossible to have a conversation about the future of coal without the companies that the American Coalition for Clean Coal represents being wil"
  Can We Find a Future for Coal?
• "Southern Company's new facility in Kemper Mississippi shows clearly that CCS technology is available at commercial scale.  Clearly, Southern Company w"
  Obama’s EPA to Cost Americans Billions of Dollars and Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs
• "This bill is a waste of time - literally.  It wastes time the coal industry does not have.  It is likely doomed to veto if it even gets that far and i"
  The Economic Impacts of Eliminating Coal from Our Energy Portfolio
• "Policy driven market distortions are the norm for energy in the U.S.  If the policy is to significantly increase distributed generation, then net mete"
  Is Net Metering a Sustainable Policy for Utility Customers?