Maria Thompson, an Ann Arbor, MI, entrepreneur who helped develop the technology used in Watertown, MA-based A123Systems‘ lithium-ion automotive batteries, has retired. Thompson founded T/J Technologies in Ann Arbor in 1991. She guided the company’s development of nanophosphate technology that eventually attracted A123Systems, which bought T/J Technologies in 2006. After the acquisition, Thompson continued as president of A123’s research and government solutions group in Ann Arbor. Thompson says she’s going to devote more time to private pursuits, but would not rule out involvement in another company down the road.
Author: Howard Lovy
Howard Lovy is a veteran journalist who has focused primarily on technology, science and innovation during the past decade.
In 2001, he helped launch Small Times Magazine, a nanotech publication based in Ann Arbor, MI, where he built the freelance team and worked closely with writers to set the tone and style for an emerging sector that had never before been covered from a business perspective. Lovy's work at Small Times, and on one of the first nanotechnology-themed blogs, helped him earn a reputation for making complex subjects understandable, interesting, and even entertaining for a broad audience. It also earned him the 2004 Prize in Communication from the Foresight Institute, a nanotech think tank.
In his freelance work, Lovy covers nanotechnology in addition to technological innovation in Michigan with an emphasis on efforts to survive and retool in the state's post-automotive age. Lovy's work has appeared in many publications, including Wired News, Salon.com, the Wall Street Journal, The Detroit News, The Scientist, the Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report, Michigan Messenger, and the Ann Arbor Chronicle.
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