Dr. Steven J. Bomba and Dr. Bryan L. McKinney deserve special mention as contributing editors. Both have extensive prior experience in energy systems; numerous conversations with key executives of the fuel cell companies and other professional gatekeepers made them especially valuable participants. Dr. Bomba was active with us in a number of energy system conventions and has been a key member of our team working on fuel cell energy client assignments.
We are indebted to David J. Emmons, Jr. who has tirelessly worked on gathering and inputting fuel cell information into our computers. His skills at implementing the graphics and formats designed to make the copy more user friendly are evident. Many extra hours were dedicated to this effort. His ability to handle a multitude of changes and remain calm in spite of the turmoil going on around him will long be remembered.
Other regular contributors were Eric Bloch, Paul Sheldon and Larry Compton. They provided considerable input, support and companionship throughout this lengthy process. Finally, my wife Janet never complained about the long hours, missed opportunities for personal activities and greater demands on the family recognizing that the first priority was the first edition of the book.
Special Outside Gatekeepers – We owe many thanks to many of the companies included in this first edition. We sent draft copies of the detailed company profiles to each of the companies so that they would have the opportunity to review their material to make certain that incorrect statements were corrected before the publishing. The response was overwhelming. Many companies not only provided their recommended changes but also provided improved pictures, white papers and recent presentations to various audiences. We also received input from many government leaders in fuel cells, including Dr. Michael Binder, DoD, Dr. Mark Williams, DoE, Richard Dennis, NETL, and Dr. Diane Hooie, NETL. This was a very valuable cross check to insure that the funding numbers checked with the reported information from the fuel cell manufacturers on quantities, sizes, technologies and locations.
We cannot guarantee the accuracy of every statement but from the process are sure that the information should be quite accurate because of our efforts to make direct contact with the companies, contacts, enablers and then triangulate the information for accuracy.
We do appreciate any comments including suggestions from any readers for the improvement in the second edition. We apologize if we failed to include many other people who are project managers of fuel cell sites, members of the media, university professors and participants in the fuel cell industry that provided assistance. The list could go on and on.
John D. Roethle
Managing Editor and Publisher