With more than three decades of experience managing successful technology startups, Michael McQuary is known as a skilled leader. “Many business leaders focus only on running the business and leaving the technical understanding to the scientists and engineers,” said his staff. “By contrast, McQuary immerses himself fully in the new technology, which allows him to manage with more clarity and purpose.”
McQuary’s technical expertise has proven to be an asset as the CEO of JTEC Energy.
JTEC Energy was founded to further develop the JTEC device (Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Converter). Created by Dr. Lonnie Johnson, it is a novel device that uses electrochemical transformations and hydrogen to convert a heat differential into usable electricity at unprecedented efficiency. The firm has a mission to electrify the planet by providing a new power source for the world and to revolutionize the energy industry by developing and implementing a groundbreaking process for the efficient creation of environmentally friendly power.
“When Dr. Johnson decided to form a company to further develop the technology, he found in McQuary a leader who had the technical chops to learn and understand the technology behind his invention, the passion and prescience to understand its significance for the world’s energy crisis and the business acumen to bring it to life,” said McQuary’s staff. “Together, they founded JTEC Energy in 2020 with five employees.”
The company now has 25 full-time employees, many of whom are young engineers and scientists in their first non-academic position and all of whom share a passion for solving the world’s energy crisis. In the next three years, JTEC Energy will debut the JTEC in the oil and gas industry, harnessing the geothermal heat lying dormant in abandoned U.S. oil wells.
“McQuary has identified a mission that will change the world, bringing a new renewable hydrogen power source to life,” said his staff. “He is methodically building the team, extending the knowledge and executing an exacting plan that will make that mission a reality.”
Prior to launching JTEC Energy in 2020, McQuary was president and COO of MindSpring Enterprises, an early Internet Services Provider, and grew the company from 20 employees and 1,000 subscribers to over 5,000 employees and one million subscribers, to a $1.2 billion company.
McQuary is recognized for mentoring young engineers and businesspeople as they begin their careers. He is a board member for Inner Strength, an organization supporting at-risk inner-city youth. Under McQuary’s leadership, JTEC Energy was named one of the 20 Startups to Watch in 2021.
“I believe that every CEO of every company has a responsibility to three constituents – their investors, their employees and their customers; they all must be treated with respect and honesty, and if the company is managed correctly, the actions that the company takes should never cause conflict between the obligations to these parties,” said McQuary.
