PowerSpot: Dave Lott

This is PowerSpot, Plug Power’s monthly blog series where we highlight the Plug Power employees who inspire us and, we hope, will inspire you, too. Today, we’re meeting Principle Chemical Engineer, Dave Lott.

Please explain what you do for a living in 20 words or fewer.

I am responsible for evaluating the core technology components used in the air-cooled fuel cell stacks.

Tell us one of the most extraordinary/unusual experiences you’ve had in your career.

My first trip to China was an amazing experience.  It was my first time outside the U.S. and experiencing a different culture up close.  The food was delicious, the sights were amazing, and it really helped broaden my perspective on the world.  Also, it was very humbling when I realized the worker behind the counter at the Beijing KFC knew more English than I knew of any Chinese dialect.

If you could share a meal with any 4 individuals, living or dead, who would they be?

Albert Einstein: Spending time with such an intelligent scientist such as Einstein, I would hope to get some insight into how he thought, and hopefully be able to apply that to the challenges that I deal with.

Marilyn Monroe: Beautiful, funny and charming, I’ve always been a fan of her and her movies.  I think that she had such an interesting life and it would be fun to talk with her about all the experiences she had.

Gary Gygax: The creator of Dungeons & Dragons, his vision has been the foundation for numerous games of all types and he had a huge impact on “nerd culture” in general.  I would be really interested in knowing about his creative process and what he thought the impact would be.

Leonardo da Vinci: As one of the most influential inventors and scientists, I’m sure that even a brief conversation over a shared meal would inspire me and steer me in new directions.

What was the last movie you went to? What did you think?

The last movie I saw in the theater was Captain Marvel.  I really enjoyed the film, both as a fan of the Marvel movies and as a fan of movies in general.  It had humorous “buddy-cop” dialogue between Carol Danvers and Nick Fury, good action, exciting plot twists and a great cat.  What’s not to enjoy?

If you were a superhero, what powers would you have?

The ability to read minds always sounded like the best super power (as long as I had the intelligence to understand everything I learned).  It would be immensely helpful in communicating and all types of problem solving.

If you could go back and give your 21-year-old self a valuable piece of advice, what would you say?

Trust in yourself and follow your gut feelings, but make sure that you always have the data to back it up.  Useful advice for work and life in general.

Dave Lott – Just one more of the innovative characters of the Plug Power team.

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