Tom Guarr

Dr. Guarr earned a PhD at the University of Rochester and performed postdoctoral work at Caltech before joining the faculty at the University of Kentucky in 1986.  In 1994, he left his tenured position at UK and joined Gentex Corporation, where he served in several roles, including Vice President for Chemical Research and Aerospace Technology.  Gentex developed electrochromic devices for automotive and aerospace applications and has now grown to over 6000 employees and $2B in annual sales.  Dr. Guarr served as both the Director of the Organic Energy Storage Laboratory and the Director of Research and Development at the Michigan State University Bioeconomy Institute in Holland, Michigan from 2012-2024.  In 2015, he co-founded Jolt Energy Storage Technologies, LLC and currently functions as its Chief Technology Officer.  His research interests include photochemistry, electrochemistry, materials science, and device design.  He has co-authored numerous scientific publications in several fields and is an inventor or co-inventor on approximately 75 US patents.