Shop Talk: New Chapter For Technology Leader
PHOTO/RICK SAIA
Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke knows emerging technologies. After all, he has worked in senior roles at Amazon.com's Kindle group, and at Olive Software, which focuses on digital publishing technology. Now, he's president and CEO at Hy9 Corp. in Hopkinton, which purifies and generates hydrogen to enhance its use as an energy source. We caught up with him in April, when he was barely three months into the job at the 10-employee firm.
Is the future of hydrogen stronger given the need to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels?
Absolutely. I think that there's a span of issues helping to accelerate the adoption of hydrogen and also raise awareness. Geopolitical issues, much like what we see right now in the Middle East … are all keeping people a little bit on edge. You see that reflected in gas prices. It's the most abundant element in the universe, so it's there for us to be able to leverage effectively and efficiently. Also, I think the environment is driving it, as we're seeing increased evidence of climactic change, as you're seeing repercussions from heavy metals (and) different pollutants in the air. You're seeing people beginning to adopt these cleaner technologies and hydrogen is among them.
Where does Hy9 fit into all of this?
We have essentially two core technologies. One is our purification system, so we can purify hydrogen to "seven nine" purity (99.99999 percent). And then we also have what we call reformer technologies, where we can take a base fuel like methanol or anhydrous ammonia and we are able to put that through a reaction system. And then we can derive hydrogen from that. Then ... we provide that purified hydrogen over to fuel cells to create electricity.
Where are your products being used today, primarily?
Over the last two years, we've seen adoption within the fuel cell segment in a number of areas: refueling stations for different hydrogen-powered vehicles, the telecommunications backup sector (providing backup power to cellular sites), and then there are some other areas within the stationary refueling market on the lower end, where you're providing hydrogen generation for forklifts and other industrial-type trucks.
You have an intriguing professional background: Army Special Ops, software and ecommerce. What brought you to Hy9?
Really, the challenge to learn something new as well as apply my background in emerging technologies and commercializing those technologies.
Being on the job 90 days, is it a long learning curve for you? Or are things flattening out already?
They're starting to flatten out a little bit. There's a tremendous amount of knowledge that I needed to gain. So it was a very intense first 90 days. And there's still a tremendous amount that I have to learn and I rely quite heavily on my team. I have an excellent team.
As a military veteran, what advice would you give someone about work life after the military to someone who's about to enlist?
I would say to definitely take a focus on moving into a technical field, and really applying yourself to understand how that specific technology applies into the commercial space. Really the big thing that they'll gain is that discipline, the ability to work with different team members, understanding how to overcome a lot of obstacles and deal with different challenges in an operating environment.
From that varied experience in leadership positions, what's the most important leadership lesson that you've learned?
I think being able to listen to a diverse set of opinions and options is probably the best thing a leader can do. And then right behind that (is) to be decisive. You don't want to be caught in "analysis paralysis." You don't want to weigh yourself down with evaluating each option or opinion for too long. You gather the information, you distill it down and you make that decision.
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