John Elter, visionary leader in Sustainability and Sustainable Systems, and his associates offer a variety of services that help our clients and the planet by achieving profitable sustainability. Our management consulting firm specializes in strategy, technology, and product development for sustainability. Dr. John F. Elter has previously held positions as Empire Innovation Professor of Nanoengineering at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, and Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable Ecosystem Nanotechnologies at SUNY Albany. John’s research interests focused on the development of nanomaterials, structures and devices for clean water and efficient energy generation, conversion and storage.

During his career, Dr. Elter served as Chief Technology Officer for Plug Power, where he was responsible directing the development of advanced fuel cell systems. Dr. John Elter held a variety of executive positions at Xerox Corporation, including Vice President and Chief Engineer of Strategic Programs. Dr. Elter has a proven track record in pioneering high technology innovation and clean sheet product commercialization, including two major clean sheet product platforms that generated over $40B in revenue.

Dr. Elter is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a current member of its Board of Governors. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University, where he was named an “Outstanding Mechanical Engineer for 2007”, an Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from New York University, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Sciences from the University of Rochester, where he also has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus. He has lectured extensively in the US, Europe, Russia and China on alternative energy, renewable products and sustainable systems.

Notable Roles and Professional Appointments

  • Vice President & Chief Engineer, Strategic Programs, Xerox
  • Vice President & CTO of Research and Systems Architecture, Plug Power
  • Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Ecosystem Nanotechnologies, SUNY @ Albany
  • Empire Innovation Professor of Nanoengineering, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY @ Albany

Formal Education and Training

  • BS, Mechanical Engineering Purdue University
  • MS, Mechanical Engineering NYU
  • PhD, Mechanical and Aerospace Sciences University of Rochester
  • Executive Development Program Berkley
  • Creating Corporate Advantage Harvard
  • Visiting Scholar MIT

Honors and Awards

  • Dixy Lee Ray Environmental Award, ASME
  • National Design Engineering Award, Design News Magazine
  • CSSP Leadership Citation
  • Distinguished Alumni, University of Rochester
  • Mechanical Engineer of the Year, Purdue University

Recent Publications and Presentations

  • “Renewable Design”, Presentation at Cornell University and Union College, November, 2013
  • “Business Ecology: Going Beyond the Metaphor” IRI Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, 2011
  • “Organic Solar Cell Architectures” Columbia EFRC, Columbia University, New York 2011
  • “Metal-Air Batteries: Opportunities and Challenges” Advanced Energy Conf., New York 2010
  • “Technology Status and Challenges”, World Hydrogen Convention, Montecatini Terme, Italy, 2007
  • “Sustainability Tools: Applying Life Cycle Assessment”, ASME Webinar, 2007
  • Elter, J. F. “PEM Fuel Cell Systems” in Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, K.D. Kreuer (ed.) Springer, 2012
  • Elter, J.F., “Nanomaterials for Fuel Cells”, in Fuel Cell Science and Engineering, D. Stolten, B. Emonts (eds.) Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2012
  • Elter, J. F., Fuel Cells for Buildings, in Hydrogen and Fuel Cells, D. Stolten (ed.) Wiley-VCH Verlag, GmbH and Co. KGaA, 2010
  • Cooper, J. S., Lee S-J., Elter, J.F., Boussu, J., Boman, S. Life cycle design metrics for energy generation technologies: method, data, and case study. J. Power Sources, 186 (2009) 138-157
  • Boyer, J.R., J.F. Elter “The Dynamic Behavior of a Zero-to-Landfill Strategy for Consumer Products”, Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Boston, MA, July 2005.