Louis Hruska
Louis Hruska is the principal executive of the Energy Research Group (ERG), a consulting practice specializing in battery system design, manufacturing, application and related business strategies. Hruska founded ERG after a 30 year career in battery, materials, and control system technology to assist clients in the automotive, utility, aerospace, consumer device, and telecommunications industries. In addition, Hruska maintains an ongoing relationship with some of the world’s leading venture capital firms, providing timely, effective insight into battery and battery-dependent businesses for investment decisions and management of portfolio companies. He is uniquely qualified to understand and analyze complete smart battery systems, where battery chemistry, cell design, power structures, thermal effects, control electronics, and software are combined to provide a safe, reliable system.
Corporate experience includes 15 years of increasing responsibility at Duracell, a general management role at Microchip, and executive roles in startup organizations. While at Duracell, Hruska was responsible for the design and construction of the first lithium battery manufacturing facility in the United States. He later established Duracell’s first rechargeable battery design group and led their development of global standards for battery/control system communication. As co-founder and Chief Technical Officer for PowerSmart, he led the engineering team to develop battery management electronics and software used in personal computer systems, military vehicles, and hybrid vehicles. He worked directly with Ford Motor to qualify and manufacture a critical battery management component for the Ford Hybrid Escape, in close collaboration with its Japanese battery supplier.
As a consultant, Hruska’s expertise and strong communication skills have made him a successful expert witness in several billion dollar patent infringement cases involving LiIon battery control and communication designs. In addition, he has assisted clients in analyzing catastrophic failure of complex battery systems and helping to determine root causes and cascading failure modes.
Hruska was granted Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He holds over 100 patents, including 20 U.S. patents covering materials, electrochemistry, battery manufacturing, electronics, and software.
Hruska can be reached at (805) 729.6755 or at louishruska@gmail.com.
