| Bio |
| HM (Hank) Leibowitz is the Principal Engineer and President of WHS. |
| Most of Hank's 39-year career in mechanical engineering has focused on advanced energy conversion systems, principally from alternate sources such as industrial waste heat and geothermal energy. He has acquired expertise in non-conventional power systems, particularly organic Rankine and ammonia-water type power systems, and, having held senior positions in both technical development and engineering sales for the major suppliers of these systems, has also enabled Hank to become 'fluent' in both technical and commercial issues. |
| In recent years Hank worked for two of the major organic Rankine cycle suppliers; Ormat International and UTC Power (a division of United Technologies Corp). Working mostly in a project development/sales and marketing capacity he led the commercial development of ORC power systems for industrial waste heat applications. Glass and cement manufacturing, gas pipelines and midstream gas liquids plants were among the target markets selected for ORC installations. |
| Prior to that Hank spent twelve years as VP of Projects for Exergy, Inc. There, Hank developed and managed the world’s first reduction to practice of an ammonia-water power cycle (Kalina cycle) near Los Angeles. Following a successful demonstration. Hank took the lead role in commercializing the technology for water-dominated geothermal applications. In 1998 Hank developed and sold the first Kalina-type geothermal plant for installation in Husavik, Iceland. |
| Before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1985 Hank worked for Mechanical Technology Inc (MTI) for seven years. There he managed an energy systems group that focused on advanced energy conversion systems (ORC, steam injected gas turbines, industrial heat pumps, etc.) using high performance turbo-machinery. It was at MTI, in the late '70s that Hank was introduced to and then became very active in heat recovery power generation and the ORC. |
| Early in his career Hank worked at the GE Corporate R&D Center, mostly on water-cooled, high temperature gas turbines for coal gasification combined cycles, and before that as a project engineer at Pratt & Whitney where he was responsible for the assembly and testing of axial compressors for military jet engines. |
Hank's formal education is in mechanical engineering, all on the east coast:
BSME; City College of New York, 1965
MSME; University of Connecticut, 1968
MBA; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1977 |
| He holds four US patents in the area of energy conversion systems and turbo-machinery. |
| Hank has authored or co-authored more than 25 peer-reviewed technical papers. |
| Hank's favorite things to do are playing golf, reading non-fiction, engaging in political debate, baseball trivia and landscaping. |
