Take it to the Limit: The Future of Electrified Commercial Vehicles

John Mikulin

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

United States

John Mikulin is an Environmental Protection Specialist stationed in the U.S. EPA, Region 9 Air and Radiation Division’s Technology and Partnerships Office located in San Francisco, California. There, John is responsible for reducing emissions from mobile sources of air pollution in the United States. John’s current assignments include mobile source emissions control technology demonstration and deployment, alternative fuel infrastructure planning, assistance with national vehicle emissions standards development, coordination of regional electric vehicle deployment, diesel emissions reduction technology benefit-cost assessment, assistance with National Environmental Policy Act review, and stakeholder outreach. Prior to joining U.S. EPA in 2010, John worked for the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance as Project Manager of the California Environmental Dialogue, an environmental policy collaborative comprised of businesses, environmental non-governmental organizations, and government agencies. John holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Public Service from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Bill Elrick

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership

United States

Bill Elrick has over two decades of experience in advanced transportation, using his technical, analytic, and consensus-building expertise to support the transformation of ideas into deliverable products for industry and government entities. He has led diverse project teams and multimillion dollar programs that have created environmental, economic, and energy independence benefits in the United States and abroad. Bill joined the California Fuel Cell Partnership in 2007 and under his leadership Partnership members developed light- and heavy-duty technology roadmaps, educational outreach tools, and measurement metrics and mapping tools that guided vehicle and station deployment activities across the state, helping fulfill each stakeholder’s needs. This collaborative work supported state and federal funding and policy development and industry investment and implementation activities, leading to the world’s first retail hydrogen fuel cell vehicle market. In 2022 he guided members in transitioning the organization into a national non-profit organization, the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership, to accelerate hydrogen mobility market adoption across North America. Previously, Bill worked as an alternative fuel consultant developing vehicle and station rollout plans for battery electric, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, biodiesel, and ethanol vehicles and infrastructure. His clients included state and local government, airport and seaport, military, private fleet, and non-profit entities. He often built new collaborations and partnerships to develop programs that would benefit all stakeholders.

Jackie Birdsall

Toyota Motor North America

United States

Jacquelyn Birdsall is the Senior Engineering Manager of the Fuel Cell Integration Group at Toyota Motor North America Research and Development. The mission of her group is to improve quality of life for all by developing fuel cell solutions to replace gasoline and diesel engines. Prior to joining Toyota in 2012 Birdsall held several roles in the automotive industry. She has over twenty years of experience in hydrogen, including a thirteen-month assignment at the Toyota Motor Corporation Global Headquarters in Japan working on the 2021 Toyota Mirai. In addition to her activities in hydrogen, Birdsall takes personal interest in promoting STEM learning and diversity within the industry. In 2015 she was honored by the Manufacturing Institute as an Emerging Leader and by Automotive News as Rising Star. Birdsall received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kettering University (previously General Motors Institute).

James Kast

Iwatani

United States

James recently joined Iwatani Corporation of America as the Director of Hydrogen Business Development. For the last five years, he supported Toyota’s hydrogen and fuel cell endeavors to expand the adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles in the U.S., namely the Toyota Mirai and Toyota’s Project Portal Class 8 truck. Before joining Toyota, James supported the Department of Energy’s Fuel Cell Technologies Office as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow. He holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California Irvine, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Idaho.

Michael Stark

Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation

United States

Mr. Michael Stark is the EV program manager for Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp (FCCC). Stark has over 35 years’ experience in the trucking industry beginning with his career at White Truck Corp as a design engineer. Subsequent job opportunities included project management for hybrid and alternate fuels design including CNG, LNG, Methanol, and after treatment systems for trucks and buses. Stark started his career at Freightliner as the engineering manager responsible for all design and development projects for the pick-up and delivery market before advancing to his current assignments. Stark holds a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Weber State University and a Master in business management from the University of Phoenix.

Maciej Wojeński

Ekoenergetyka

Poland

Maciej Wojeński is a co-founder and Member of the Supervisory Board of Ekoenergetyka-Polska S.A., a global producer of fast charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, whose products are present in 28 countries, including most European capitals. He is an expert in the field of sustainable development in transport and electromobility, including zero-emission heavy transport, and is an entrepreneur in the new technologies industry. For over 10 years, Maciej has been creating and promoting the latest solutions in fast-charging systems on a global scale. While still a student in the field of electrical engineering, he began to develop charging systems for electric vehicles, and immediately after graduation, he built a technology company from scratch, which is now a leading supplier of charging systems for electric buses in the world. Maciej is also a co-creator of the company's development concept, under which Ekoenergetyka builds Research and Development Centers for new technologies in electric transport. Maciej is currently responsible for the company's expansion strategy to foreign markets, building brand awareness for fast charging systems, which today allow the deployment of zero-emission vehicles in cities and for long-distance transport.