Management

Mr. Sheridan is a prominent leader in Canada's business community with a strong track record of success in diverse challenges. Over the course of his twenty-four year career with Bell Canada, he rose to high impact officer roles including Group Vice President of Business Development, Vice Chairman as well as President and Chief Operating Officer.

In between his positions within Bell Canada, Mr. Sheridan served as CEO of Encom Cable TV and Telecommunications in the UK.  He was recognized as an innovative leader in the industry and elected Vice-Chairman of the UK Cable Communication Association in 1994.

Mr. Sheridan has extensive experience in corporate governance, as a director, committee chair and board chair of numerous companies in Canada, the USA, and the UK including Bell Canada, MTS, Aliant and Sun Media Corporation. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Dantherm Power, and is a Board member at Ballard and AFCC.

Mr. Sheridan holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo, a Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University's School of Business and Economics, and a Master of Arts in Economics from Queens University. He has also completed Executive Development Programs at Western, Queen's and University of Southern California and Harvard Business School.   

Mr. Cass joined Ballard in 1997 and his areas of responsibilities have included mechanical engineering, engineering management, product development, customer service, and market development. In January 2003, he was appointed Director, Customer Service & Applications Engineering. In August 2006, Mr. Cass took on the additional role of Director, Bus Market Segment. In February 2008 he was also assigned leadership responsibility for the Material Handling Market Segment.

Prior to joining Ballard, Mr. Cass had previous experience in project management, heavy equipment design and manufacturing, forestry equipment design and manufacturing, and shipbuilding. Mr. Cass is a registered Professional Engineer with the Association of Professional Engineers & Geoscientists of British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Simon Fraser University.

Mr. Guglielmin previously served as SVP Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (CLCO), a $2 billion rapid transit project connecting the Vancouver International Airport, City of Richmond and downtown Vancouver. Prior to joining CLCO, Mr. Guglielmin held senior management roles in treasury, investor relations, corporate development and strategic planning at Finning International Inc. in Vancouver; was Corporate Treasurer of British Columbia Hydro; and held various management positions with The Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto.

Mr. Guglielmin holds a BA in Economics and Political Science and an MBA from McGill University. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and belongs to a number of professional organizations including the Financial Executives Institute. He serves on the Board of a number of private companies as well as the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation (where he also serves as Treasurer and Chair of the Investment, Finance and Audit Committee).

Prior to joining Ballard, Dr. Guzy was General Manager of GE Healthcare’s product development and supply chain operations in Hungary. During his 17 years at General Electric in the United States and Europe, he also held a number of other senior technology and product development leadership positions including Global General Manager of Linear Fluorescent Technology and Vice President and Director of Quality and Technology, Europe for GE Lighting. Prior to joining GE, he led a process development section at Nestlé in Switzerland.

Dr. Guzy began his career as Station Director of the School of Chemical Engineering Practice and Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1983 to 1986. He holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University and a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of New Mexico.

Karim Kassam was appointed Vice President, Business and Corporate Development at Ballard Power Systems in January 2013. Since joining Ballard in 2008, Mr. Kassam’s responsibilities have included leadership of the Company’s strategic initiatives in business and corporate development, as well as formation of strategic alliances and key industry partnerships.
 
His work includes growing Ballard’s presence in developing market segments and building relationships with strategic partners in markets such as Asia and Africa. Mr. Kassam has extensive international experience, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, across a range of sectors, including commercial real estate, government and retail.

Mr. Kassam sits on the Boards of both the Chrysalix Energy Limited Partnership I and the Women’s Health Research Institute at the BC Provincial Health Services Authority. Previously, Mr. Kassam was a member of the Vancouver Economic Development Commission. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta, an MBA from Queens University, and is a designated CMA. He has also completed the Executive Leadership Development program at Harvard Business School.

Larry Stapleton, Vice President Sales

Larry Stapleton joined Ballard as Vice President of Sales in May of 2010.

Mr. Stapleton is responsible for all fuel cell product sales generation activities, including new customer acquisition, account management and sales-related programs. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Stapleton spent more than 25 years in sales, engineering and product development roles in technology companies. This included time at several Fortune 100 companies, as well as start-up’s in the battery power and telecom space. More recently, Mr. Stapleton served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing at Bsquare Corporation in Seattle, WA where he led the expansion of product sales, licensing and engineering services worldwide, penetrating further into Europe and Asia with hardware and software offerings for OEM’s that included Ford, HP, Hyundai, Microsoft, Motorola, RIM and Siemens.

Mr. Stapleton’s education includes a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State and an MBA from the University of Washington.