Mr. Erickson is a "serial entrepreneur" with extensive experience in start-up and early-stage companies, as well as large organizations, having served as president, CEO or director of a dozen such companies, four of which successfully completed IPOs during his tenure. He has raised more than $500M in equity and debt capital in both the private and public capital markets. Ed will serve Y-Carbon initially on a part-time basis pending completion of certain other entrepreneurial projects.
During his 30 years of business and military experience, Ed has served in senior management positions as well as a consultant in the biotech, defense, energy and technology sectors. In addition to substantial operating and executive management background in biotechnology, Ed's experience includes consulting engagements in strategic and technology planning, system engineering and project management for clients that included major energy and natural resources-based corporations in the U.S. and Europe, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, and corporations controlled by European governments. He served as a military officer in the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Submarine Program aboard the U.S.S. Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first nuclear submarine, during which time his responsibilities included supervision, operation and maintenance of the ship's electrical, nuclear, and steam plant systems.
Ed holds a BS with distinction in Mathematics with a minor in Physics and an MS in Mathematics from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He received an MBA with high distinction from Harvard University where he was elected a Baker Scholar and was awarded the Loeb Rhodes Fellowship in Finance. Ed has received substantial recognition as a business leader, including being named the recipient of the 2004 Small Times Magazine "Best of Small Tech Business Leader" award in nanotechnology.
Professor Yury Gogotsi of Drexel University, Y-Carbon's Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, said, "Y-Carbon's strength lies in its proprietary, materials-science based platform technology which has numerous applications in energy, gas storage, medical science, life science and gas/liquid purification systems. Ed's diverse experience will enable the company to grow in a focused and disciplined manner and move towards fast and successful commercialization of our technology."
Mr. Erickson said, "I am extraordinarily pleased to become a part of this exciting venture and I believe that the company's platform technology has the potential to make major contributions toward solving significant problems related to the global energy crisis and in other fields such as the practice of medicine."
About Y-Carbon, Inc.
Y-Carbon, founded in 2004, is a materials science company with an initial focus in energy applications. Y-Carbon has obtained broad and exclusive rights to intellectual property in the field of carbide derived carbon (CDC), which is an innovative "tuneable" nano-porous, high specific surface area material invented by Prof. Gogotsi's team in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. The company is currently based in the Philadelphia Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) and is a spin out from the A.J. Drexel Nanotechnology Institute. Y-Carbon is also a portfolio company of the Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center and The Nanotechnology Institute of Ben Franklin Technology Partners Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Company contact: Ranjan Dash, Ph.D., MBA, Chief Technology Officer, (203) 209-6688, RDash@Y-Carbon.us
Media contact: Richard Lewis Communications, Inc., (212) 827-0020, Gregory Tiberend, gtiberend@rlcincom, Timothy Rathschmidt, trathschmidt@rlcinc.com