Byron McCormick Highlighted in Lawrence Burns Book “Autonomy.”

Byron McCormick cited in Larry Burns' book "Autonomy"

September 5th – Pajarito Powder Board Member and Albuquerque resident Dr. J. Byron McCormick is extensively featured in his former colleague Lawrence Burns’ new book “Autonomy,” about the coming revolution in personal transportation. Mr. Burns is the former corporate vice president of research and development for General Motors, who oversaw GM’s advanced technology, innovation programs, and corporate strategy. Within GM he personally championed vehicle electrification, connected vehicles, fuel cells and autonomous driving and subsequent to his career at General Motors, as an advisor to the Google autonomous vehicle spin-out Waymo.

In his book, Burns cites Dr. McCormick’s heavy influence at General Motors, as a fuel cell pioneer and technology innovator, “It seemed like every month Byron McCormick would invite me down to his lab to demonstrate some other new innovation. The lab had been able to increase the power density of the fuel-cell stack by seven times in just a couple of years, which meant the stack could be smaller while still providing more power.”

Burns, in several instances commends Dr. McComick’s prescience about the impending disruption to the automotive industry, “…McCormick was showing us that an alternative-propulsion vehicle could have an order of magnitude fewer parts than a conventional car. And the implications of that were enormous for General Motors, as well as pretty much every other automaker and supplier on the planet.”

For his part, Dr. McCormick commented on his relationship with Burns, “I’m very flattered to have been included in Larry Burns’ book. But the fact is, it’s always been a team effort. First at Los Alamos National Laboratory here in New Mexico where we developed the basic PEM fuel cell technology, to the global teams at General Motors developing electric propulsion, hydrogen and fuel cell technology and vehicles, to now most recently at Pajarito Powder. My inclusion in the book is as a stand in for each and every one of my innovative and dedicated colleagues. I am an extremely lucky person.”

Pajarito Powder CEO and Chairman, Thomas J. Stephenson added “…‘Autonomy’ is a thoroughly compelling narrative about how the automotive industry is adapting to autonomous technologies and places our friend and colleague Byron McCormick as an initiator at the onset of this surging disruption. Once fuel cells have thoroughly established their position in the next chapter of mobility, he will be fully recognized for his contribution to this revolution.”

Pajarito Powder, LLC is a venture-backed startup, funded by the Verge Fund and other investors, focused on developing next-generation fuel cell catalysts and catalyst supports for the automotive and electrolyzer industries. Working with automotive OEMs and other major manufacturers, Pajarito Powder is well poised to lead in the development of advanced catalyst and catalyst support materials in the rapidly developing industries of fuel cells, electrolyzers and hydrogen.

Scroll to Top