Upstart Power, a leading developer and manufacturer of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power systems for long-duration backup and distributed generation, has made two key executive hires to strengthen its leadership team and accelerate the commercialization of its UpgenTM product portfolio.
Linda DeJulio-Gribben and Darren Hickey, Vice Presidents of Quality and Fuel Cell Technology, respectively, have recently joined Upstart Power’s executive leadership team. Ms. DeJulio-Gribben is in charge of the company’s Quality and Regulatory teams, which are responsible for delivering exceptional product quality and customer experiences across the company’s product lifecycles. Darren Hickey will be in charge of the company’s Fuel Cell Technology team, which is in charge of innovating and developing new SOFC technologies for the company’s next generation UpgenTM Power products. DeJulio-Gribben and Hickey join Upstart Power at a critical juncture in its development of its initial commercial products, as the company accelerates its ramp into volume manufacturing and global deployment.
Linda DeJulio-Gribben previously worked as a Senior Business Consultant for Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc.’s Power Systems Group (MEPPI). She also held several General Management positions at MEPPI, where she led Quality Assurance for the High Voltage Switchgear Division, focusing on production and supply base quality, as well as improving equipment field performance for major North American IOU customers. Prior to joining MEPPI, she held positions of increasing responsibility at Dupont, Corning, ABB, Siemens, and Pennsylvania Breake. Linda has over 25 years of experience in general management, operations, and quality management, as well as a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Darren Hickey joins Upstart Power from Cummins, where he was the Director of Fuel Cell Technologies, leading a team of expert engineers in the innovation and development of heavy-duty fuel cells, as well as the Principal Investigator on several DOE-funded programs. Prior to joining Cummins, Darren worked as a Product Design Leader at GE Fuel Cells, where he created SOFC systems such as the base cell and stack architecture that went into pilot production. As a Co-Founder of EnerVault, he assembled a team of engineers to develop and scale-up an advanced flow battery for grid-scale energy storage. Previously, he was a member of the founding teams at Bloom Energy and Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited. Darren joins the Upstart Power team with over 25 years of expert innovation experience in fuel cells and energy storage. He earned an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona and a B.E. in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Melbourne in Australia.
