Chuck Provini

DENNIS FLOOD NAMED CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFER AT NATCORE TECHNOLOGY NASA VETERAN AND SOLAR PIONEER TO OVERSEE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPER-EFFICIENT SOLAR ENERGY PORTFOLIO

Dr. Dennis J. Flood, a 30-year NASA veteran who developed photovoltaic power systems for space and planetary missions, has been named chief technology officer at Natcore Technology Inc. Natcore is the exclusive licensee, from Rice University, of technology that it is using in its efforts to develop superefficient solar cells.

Dr. Flood will help shepherd Natcore's valuable portfolio of intellectual property through proof of concept and into commercialization stages. Initially he will focus attention on the continued development of anti-reflective film growth equipment; tandem solar cells; thin-film growth on carbon nanotubes; and a flexible, thin-film photovoltaic material capable of silicon solar cell-like efficiency. He will oversee research being conducted at Rice University, Ohio State University, and at Natcore China, the company's new joint venture in the Zhuzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, and one of five co-founders of Natcore. Dr. Flood has more than 30 years of experience in developing solar cell and array technology for both space and terrestrial applications. At the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, he served for 15 years as chief of the photovoltaic and space environment branch, and led programs in advanced photovoltaic systems development. He received two special act or service awards from NASA for his pioneering work on advanced solar cells for space applications and for research that established the feasibility of powering a human outpost on the surface of Mars with solar energy.

He served for seven years as chair of the IEEE Electron Device Society's photovoltaic device technical committee. He also served as a member of the IEEE EDS education committee and participated in the Electron Device Society's distinguished lecturer series, a position he held for more than a decade. He presently serves on the international advisory committees of the European, the United States, the Japan/Asia and the World Photovoltaic Conference organizing committees. He is an inventor or co-inventor on several patents or patent applications in photovoltaics and nanotechnology, and has over 100 peer-reviewed publications and presentations in solar energy, electron devices and materials science.

Dr. Flood earned his BS in physics in June, 1962, from Wittenberg University. He earned his MS and PhD in solid state physics at Michigan State University (March, 1964, and March, 1967, respectively).

A native of Haslett, Mich., and an alumnus of Haslett High School, Dr. Flood now resides in Oberlin, Ohio, with his wife Suzanne (Sue) Sheppard Flood. The couple has four children and seven grandchildren.

"Dr. Flood is a brilliant scientist," says Chuck Provini, Natcore's president and chief executive officer. "By consolidating our R&D work under him, we plan to hasten the move of our solar technology into the marketplace."