NORTHBOROUGH, Mass.,
Jan. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspen
Aerogels, Inc. (NYSE: ASPN) ("Aspen", the "Company"), a technology leader in
sustainability and electrification solutions, today announced the
retirement plans of the Company's CFO. John
F. Fairbanks, Aspen's Chief
Financial Officer, informed the Company of his intent to retire
after 15 years of dedicated and valuable service to the Company.
Mr. Fairbanks plans to step down from his role effective
April 1, 2022. Concurrently,
Ricardo C. Rodriguez, the Company's
Chief Strategy Officer, will succeed Mr. Fairbanks as CFO. In
addition, the Company announced several recent additions to its
senior management team.
"I would like to thank John for his significant contributions to
the Company," noted Don Young,
Aspen's President and CEO. "During
his tenure, Aspen went from being
an early stage company endeavoring to master its technology and to
gain a commercial toehold to what is now a leader in its field – a
dynamic company, rich with opportunity. He has been a leader and
mentor for all of his colleagues, and his impact on Aspen is immeasurable. John and I have worked
side-by-side during these 15 years and my respect for him is deep.
On behalf of the entire Aspen team
and our Board of Directors, we wish him a very happy, healthy, and
well-deserved retirement."
Mr. Young added, "I am excited to announce that Ricardo Rodriguez will be named Senior Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer, effective upon John's
retirement. Ricardo brings with him a wealth of automotive
knowledge and financial acumen, with a strong track record of
driving growth and delivering results. His leadership will be
invaluable to Aspen and will make
an immediate impact as we continue to stake our position in the EV
megatrend."
Mr. Fairbanks remarked, "My decision to join Aspen in October
2006 was the best of my career. I've been privileged to work
with a talented and deeply dedicated team at Aspen for more than 15 years and am proud of
the company we've built. I'm fortunate to be in a position to
retire and look forward to spending more time with my family and to
giving back to my community. I'm also thankful for Don and the
Board's support during my tenure with the Company and am committed
to providing a smooth transition for Ricardo into the role of Chief
Financial Officer. Most importantly, I'm confident that Ricardo has
the precise set of talent, skills and experience to be a successful
leader at Aspen today and for the
next 15 years."
Ricardo Rodriguez joined
Aspen in November 2021 as the Company's Chief Strategy
Officer. Mr. Rodriguez brings to Aspen deep strategic, operational, and
financial experience in the auto industry. Prior to joining
Aspen, Ricardo was a Corporate
Strategy Director at Aptiv, a $15
billion automotive technology company where he led the
establishment of its Vehicle Electrification Systems group, among
other value-adding initiatives. Previously, he has served in a
variety of finance, planning and P&L leadership roles at
ClearMotion, GM's OnStar division, Amazon and Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles (now Stellantis). In addition, Mr. Rodriguez worked as
an investment banker at Lazard, where he focused on automotive
M&A and restructuring advisory. Mr. Rodriguez received his
Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from General
Motors Institute / Kettering University
while working at Magna International and holds an MBA from
Harvard Business School.
"I am honored to be appointed as Aspen's next CFO," commented Mr. Rodriguez.
"With a revenue plan that is aligned with the megatrend of
electrification and powered by a safety-critical proprietary
solution, Aspen is a very unique
technology supplier. I feel privileged to be part of the team that
has been working with the top OEMs at the first principles level to
address a core EV system level issue like thermal runaway. Joining
the Company at this inflection point is extremely motivating and I
am confident in our ability to create value as we execute our
strategy. I look forward to working closely with Don and the
talented Aspen team to build a
company that can make the most of the opportunity that
electrification presents to us."
Mr. Young added, "Aspen is in
the midst of a significant growth trajectory. We have recently
recruited a number of additional talented leaders to bolster our
outstanding team, a process that will continue as we build Aspen
Aerogels."
Keith Schilling has been
appointed to the newly created role of Senior Vice President,
Technology, reporting to Mr. Young, effective January 29, 2022. Mr. Schilling joined
Aspen in November 2021 and brings extensive executive
leadership experience to the Company. Prior to joining Aspen, Mr. Schilling held senior level
commercial and technology leadership roles at Schlumberger, Tetra
Technologies, the combined Baker Hughes and GE Oil & Gas
Companies and Basic Energy Services, both domestically and
internationally. Mr. Schilling also has extensive experience in
developing partnerships, and has negotiated and successfully closed
multiple acquisitions. Mr. Schilling received his Bachelor of
Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University and holds an MBA from
Erasmus University in the Netherlands.
Mr. Young commented, "Keith is an accomplished leader, who has
led businesses globally and worked with research and development
teams to successfully develop and commercialize technology. He is a
perfect complement to Aspen's
brilliant group of scientists led by George
Gould, Chief Technology Officer, and Alexei Erchak, Chief Innovation Officer. Their
charter is aligned with our strategy to leverage our Aerogel
Technology Platform™ into large and dynamic markets,
with a mission to keep the technology platform central to the ethos
of Aspen Aerogels and to enable us to have a profound impact on
global sustainability."
Mr. Schilling added, "I am honored and excited to lead the
technology teams at Aspen,
particularly as we build on the legacy of this great company. We
seek to leverage our strong position in the Energy Infrastructure
market, grow our EV and sustainable building materials markets, and
explore new markets aligned with our strategy. I am excited to join
this amazing and talented team and I look forward to a bright
future with Aspen."
Amy Damiano joined Aspen in June
2021 as Vice President of Marketing. In this role, Ms.
Damiano provides strategic and marketing leadership to grow
Aspen's business. Ms. Damiano
joins Aspen from Sensata
Technologies, a global technology company focused on automotive,
industrial and aerospace markets, where she held several strategic
and marketing roles. Prior to her tenure at Sensata, Ms. Damiano
was employed at United Technologies in commercial sales. Ms.
Damiano received her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical
Engineering from Villanova University
and her MBA from Southern Methodist
University
Laura Guerrant-Oiye joined
Aspen in September 2021 as Vice President of Investor
Relations & Corporate Communications. In this role, Ms.
Guerrant is responsible for establishing the strategic direction
and execution of the IR and corporate communications practices of
the Company, in addition to establishing Environmental, Social and
Governance (ESG) reporting standards. Ms. Guerrant has 30 years of
IR and capital markets experience, including the last 20 years as
the principal and owner of her own IR & corporate
communications advisory practice which predominantly served
companies in the technology, industrials and life sciences
industries.
"Amy and Laura are additional examples of our adding talented
individuals to the Aspen team as
we capitalize on our rapidly growing opportunities in the EV and
other sustainability driven markets," said Mr. Young. "These
strategic hires have track records of success in their respective
fields and are a testament both to the quality of the organization
we are building and to the exciting growth opportunities at
Aspen."
About Aspen Aerogels, Inc.
Aspen is a technology leader in
sustainability. The Company's aerogel technology enables its
customers and partners to achieve their own objectives around the
global megatrends of resource efficiency, electrification and
sustainability. Aspen's PyroThin®
thermal barrier products enable solutions to thermal runaway
challenges within the electric vehicle and energy storage markets.
The Company's carbon aerogel program seeks to increase the
performance of lithium-ion battery cells to enable EV manufacturers
to extend the driving range and reduce the cost of electric
vehicles. Aspen's
Spaceloft® sustainable building materials provide
industry-leading energy efficiency and fire safety to building
owners. The Company's Cryogel® and Pyrogel®
products are valued by the world's largest energy infrastructure
companies. Aspen's strategy is to
partner with world-class industry leaders to leverage its aerogel
technology platform into additional high-value markets.
Headquartered in Northborough, MA,
Aspen manufactures its products at
its East Providence, R.I.
facility. For more information, please visit www.aerogel.com.
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking and Cautionary
Statements
This press release and any related
discussion contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
be materially different from historical results or from any future
results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements,
including statements relating to Aspen's 2021 financial outlook. These
statements are not historical facts but rather are based on
Aspen's current expectations,
estimates and projections regarding Aspen's business, operations and other factors
relating thereto, including with respect to Aspen's 2021 financial outlook. Words such as
"may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict,"
"potential," "continue," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects,"
"believes," "estimates," "outlook," "assumes," and similar
expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements.
Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among
other things, Aspen's expectations
about its long term growth strategy, future growth trajectory,
revenue and operations; Aspen's
technology and alignment with broader trends in the EV market;
opportunities presented by electrification; beliefs about the
general strength, weakness or health of Aspen's business; and beliefs about current or
future trends in EV thermal barrier, EV battery materials or other
markets and the impact of these trends on Aspen's business. All such forward-looking
statements are based on management's present expectations and are
subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause
actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the
following: an inability to create new product, partnership and
market opportunities; the right of EV thermal barrier customers to
cancel contracts with Aspen at any
time and without penalty; any costs, expenses, or investments
incurred by Aspen in excess of
projections used to develop pricing under the contracts with EV
thermal barrier customers; any failure of Aspen or PyroThin to meet contractual
specifications and requirements under contracts with EV thermal
barrier customers; any failure of Aspen's products to meet applicable
specifications and other performance, safety, technical and
delivery requirements; the general economic conditions and cyclical
demands in the markets that Aspen
serves; and the other risk factors discussed under the heading
"Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2020 and filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 12, 2021, as well as any updates to those
risk factors filed from time to time in our subsequent periodic and
current reports filed with the SEC. All statements contained in
this press release are made only as of the date of this press
release. Aspen does not intend to
update this information unless required by law.
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SOURCE Aspen Aerogels, Inc.