Frank Fleming

Education & Training

Training: Graduate
Institution: Leeds University
Major/Area: Solid State Proton Conduction
Degree: Doctorate
Year Completed: 1981

Training: Undergraduate
Institution: De Montford University
Major/Area: Honors Applied Chemistry
Degree: Bachelor of Science
Year Completed: 1978

  • Responsible for new business development and electrochemical/technical support.
  • One of the co-founders of NSB and served as its Chief Technical Officer for 16-years. NSB manufactures advanced lead-acid batteries for telecommunication, UPS and transportation applications.
  • Provide overall strategic and technical direction for NSB.
  • Responsible for the technical design and integrity of NSB products.
  • Responsible for the strategic and technical direction of Hawker Batteries standby products for manufacturing facilities in Europe and US.
  • Member of acquisition team purchasing US based manufacturing facility and building a $25m extension.
  • Responsible for the redesign of existing product range in order to improve manufacturability, quality and reliability.
  • Relocation of the manufacturing facility from London to Newport, UK.
  • Ensuring product integrity and quality during transition and growth periods.
  • Introduction of new manufacturing processes and fundamental R&D.
  • Technical support for all sales functions including batteries for civil and military aviation.
  • Product & process development — including the design and implementation of a new rapid infrared thermal sensing formation process.
  • Responsible for the electrochemical design of the product. This resulted in the development of a computer-based expert system to design new product and optimize existing designs.
  • Research Scientist. Part of an R&D program in association with Salford University and the Danish Energy Research Laboratory, studying secondary lithium batteries. This work resulted in the development of a Lithium/PEO/V6O13 secondary button cell.
  • Member of a team of on-site ‘trouble-shooters’ whose role were to resolve local processing problems and to understand the unique electrochemical phenomena that plagued the Chloride VRLA product. During this time I spent extended periods working in the South African and US manufacturing facilities.
  • Research Scientist investigating the fundamentals of valve regulated lead-acid batteries.

Industrial Experience

Publications

The Gassing Behavior of Lead-Acid Negative Active Material and Development of a Quality Control Test for Lead Oxide Purity – Journal of Power Sources, 24 (1988) 127-136

The Effect of Tin on the Positive Active Material-Grid Interface in Maintenance Free Batteries – Power Sources, 13 (1991) 25-33

Thermal Management of VRLA Batteries using Phase Change Material – Proceedings of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1994)

Thermal Management for Hybrid Electric Vehicle VRLA Batteries – EVS 12 (1994) 27-37

EV Battery Life Extension in Field Testing – SAE 970243 (1997)

The Use of Lead-Tin Alloys in VRLA Batteries for Extreme Telecommunication Applications – INTELEC 9-3 (1997)

Making Better Use of Parallel Battery Strings at Solar Sites by the Inclusion of a Simple Monitoring Module – INTELEC 10-1 (1998)

Rapid Recharge Capability of VRLA Batteries for EV and HEV Applications – Journal of Power Sources 78 (1999) 237-243

Float Life Verification of a VRLA Battery Utilizing a High Purity Electrochemical System – INTELEC 3-3 (1999)