[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 20, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1210-E1211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNITION OF JOE GESSLER AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICA'S NATIONAL 
                                DEFENSE

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. C.A. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 20, 2006

  Mr. RUPPERSBERGER. Mr. Speaker, the strength of America is found in 
the commitment of the service men and women defending our liberties, 
and the lifelong dedication of American engineers and scientists 
developing the technologies upon which these brave warriors depend. 
Today I have the opportunity to recognize Joe Gessler, one of these 
unsung engineers, who at the age of 82, is finally taking a well 
deserved retirement as America's oldest active thermal battery 
engineer.
  For over half a century, Joe Gessler has quietly made a profound 
contribution to our nation's defense through development of the battery 
technology that has become an essential component in a vast array of 
modem defense systems. Receiving his bachelors degree in chemistry and 
math from Loyola College in 1945 and his masters in chemical 
engineering from Johns Hopkins, Joe immediately

[[Page E1211]]

entered the thermal battery business at its infancy, joining Catalyst 
Research, a division of Mine Safety Appliances (MSA), in 1948.
  Catalyst Research had just been challenged by the National Bureau of 
Standards to develop a battery that could sit inertly on a shelf for 
years, and when needed, be instantaneously turned on without requiring 
any mechanical activation. Thermal batteries were the answer. Joe was 
part of the team that in the early 1950's provided the first thermal 
batteries for the U.S. Navy. Over the next decade, Joe helped refine 
this technology for use by our other services. In 1964, Joe went to the 
U.K. to start up a new MSA thermal battery factory in Scotland meeting 
the needs of our NATO allies.
  Joe Gessler's contribution goes beyond engineering; he has been both 
a teacher and mentor. As the production and engineering manager at 
Catalyst Research, Joe had a direct and future impact on his current 
employer, Saft America. Three of the engineers he trained met him for 
lunch one day to announce they had decided to go out on their own and 
form KDI Score Thermal Batteries, which was eventually acquired by 
Saft.
  Joe himself joined Saft in 1983 where he shared his expertise until 
his ``first'' retirement in 1990. But retirement for Joe Gessler meant 
he only worked 40 hours a week as a ``part-time'' employee. In the 16 
years since then, Joe was instrumental in ramping up Saft's battery 
production for Operation Desert Storm and applying his vast knowledge 
of battery technology and production to help grow Saft America's 
Cockeysville facility to where it is today, the largest supplier of 
advanced lithium ion battery systems to America's Armed Forces.
  Whatever the challenge, at an age when most men are content playing 
golf or sitting in a club house, Joe Gessler puts in a full 40 hours 
every week generating amazing results with the same positive ``can do'' 
attitude he had on the day he graduated college.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join with me today in recognizing Joe 
Gessler for over 58 years of dedication and contributions to the 
defense of the United States through superior technology, and 
congratulates him on his retirement as America's oldest thermal battery 
engineer.

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