Management Team
Dr. Paul Osenar
President and Chief Executive Officer
Co-Founder of Protonex
Dr. Osenar founded Protonex in 2000 with a number of colleagues and served as the Company’s Chief Technical Officer from 2000 to 2010. In November 2010, he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and President. Dr. Osenar has had primary responsibility for the technical direction of Protonex since inception and has been a direct participant in the Company’s corporate strategy creation, financing efforts (including a 2006 IPO), product development efforts, manufacturing scale-up and partner negotiations. He has also served on the Board of Directors since the company’s inception. He has extensive fuel cell experience that includes proton exchange membrane (PEM) development and characterization, PEM stack and system design, and fueling solutions (13 patents issued, 45 pending). Dr. Osenar has broad experience in the development and productization of advanced materials and systems. Specifically, he has worked in thin films for the electronics industry, traditional polymer synthesis, organic synthesis, and novel composite materials synthesis, and application in nanotechnology. His educational background is in materials science, engineering, polymer science and organic chemistry. Dr. Osenar received a B.S. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Illinois.
Christopher R. Schuster
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Schuster joined Protonex in April 2006 as its Corporate Controller and was elected Chief Financial Officer in November 2010. He brings over 25 years of strong financial and accounting experience from both early-stage and large company environments. Prior to joining Protonex, Mr. Schuster held the positions of Director of Financial Reporting, Controller and Assistant Treasurer with American Superconductor Corporation. He has also previously held senior financial management positions at Standard MEMS, PerkinElmer and Digital Equipment Corporation. Mr. Schuster holds an M.B.A. in Entrepreneurship from Babson College and a B.S. in Finance from Syracuse University.
David A. Ierardi
Vice President, Operations
Mr. Ierardi has over 25 years of experience successfully bringing new products to market. Mr. Ierardi has lead global operations and manufacturing with specific capabilities in new product introduction, logistics, supply chain management, quality, cost reduction, and contract manufacturing selection and management. Prior to joining Protonex, Mr. Ierardi has held senior level positions at RSA-the security division of EMC, Telco Systems, Integral Access and Lucent Technologies and has set-up manufacturing operations in multiple locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Mr. Ierardi holds a Masters degree in Computer Integrated Manufacturing from Brigham Young University and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lowell.
Phil Robinson
Vice President, Electronics & Power Systems
Mr. Robinson has over 22 years of start-up, technology and senior management experience with an emphasis on product and strategy development. His forte is developing cutting-edge products based on disruptive technologies and growing market demand for these technologies. Prior to joining Protonex, Mr. Robinson served as Vice President of Engineering at Amperion, LAN Access, and NetVantage. He has also held senior management positions at 3Com including as CTO of their Consumer Products Division and CTO and R&D Manager of their Cable Access Unit. Mr. Robinson has served on the HomePlug consortium board of directors, chairs the Consumer Electronics Association R7.3 Data Communications sub-committee, and has authored/contributed to several IEEE 802 and IETF standards. Mr. Robinson received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has been awarded eight patents by the USPTO.