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James Dean
James Dean had his first exposure to the fuel cell industry in 1998 when he moved to Vancouver from Toronto to run KPMG's consulting practice and landed Ballard Power Systems as a client. And so began an association with fuel cells that has seen Mr. Dean involved in three different companies.
In April of 2001 he and business partner David Chapman, took a stake in Greenlight Power Technologies, a fuel cell test station company. They refocused the organization, moved it to Vancouver and grew sales from $3.3-million to $27-million as the major auto manufacturers and fuel cell companies became Greenlight customers. In January 2003, they sold the company to their closest rival, Hydrogenics Corporation.
In 2004, bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, Mr. Dean started DPoint Technologies focusing on humidification, one of the key components in the fuel cell system. He saw an opportunity when had learned from his previous customers that the existing humidifiers were too expensive and too large. James ended up back at Ballard signing a license agreement for the patents, designs and manufacturing equipment to an innovative low cost humidification technology.
Mr. Dean is a new father and active in Social Venture Partners. Through this network of 70 entrepreneurs, he is involved in Starworks Packaging and Assembly, which provides light manufacturing and assembly employment for people with mental disabilities.
James was recently recognized as one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40. He has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and a BaSc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
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