Robert L. Galyen

Chair

SAE International Battery Committee

Robert L. Galyen has served as General Manager of Magna

E-Car Systems since September 2009.  In this role, Galyen is responsible for the overall operations of the group’s Battery and Materials Testing team along with the Battery Pack Systems design and build area.
 
Prior to joining Magna, Mr. Galyen owned and managed Tawas Inc., which specialized in testing, technical services and consulting related to battery technology, as well as materials analysis covering a range of technologies from biomedical to energy storage.  He concurrently served as Chief Operations Officer of Indy Power Systems, a start-up company that created a converter for running multiple battery packs within the same application architecture.
 
From 1998 through 2001, Mr. Galyen was an Assistant Chief Engineer for Delphi
Automotive in its lead acid battery business.  During that time he was responsible for
the implementation of several key projects, including the roll-out of a web-based, global quality control system for Delphi’s 11 battery plants.
 
From 1977 through 1998, Mr. Galyen honed his leadership and technical skills at General Motors, during which time he served in various capacities for the Delco Remy division. Highlights included serving as lead designer of the battery and battery pack system for General Motors’ IMPACT, the prototype of the EV1 electric vehicle; successfully launching a lead-acid battery production program; and installing control software for the EV1 battery control module.
 
During this time, Mr. Galyen also managed prototype programs with Ford, Honda and
Toyota while serving on multiple Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) EV-related
committees.  He is the primary author of SAE J-1715, Recommended Practice for EV
Terminology, SAE J-1797, Packaging of Electric Vehicle Batteries, and co-author of SAE J-1798, Recommended Practice for EV Battery Pack Design.  He also served as the Technical Advisory Group USA representative to the IEC and JEVA (Europe and Japan professional technical organizations).
 
For his efforts, Mr. Galyen received the GM President’s Council “Best of the Best” Award in 1995. He also was the recipient of an “Extraordinary Accomplishment Award” for the development of the new Electric Vehicle (EV) battery pack.
 
Currently, Mr. Galyen sits on the Senator Lugar Center for Renewable Energy Board
housed at IUPUI (Indiana University - Purdue University School of Engineering) and the Ball State University Dean’s Executive Advisory Council.  He is also the Chairman of the newly formed SAE Battery Standards Committee, which is leading the industry in establishing peer group battery standards for the emerging electric and hybrid electric vehicle markets while sustaining other standards for traditional applications.
 
Mr. Galyen holds a Master’s Degree in Chemistry with Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Biology, all from Ball State University.