US expert John Lemmon takes advantage of his expertise in the energy industry in his work at the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy, an R&D facility funded by the Shenhua Group.[Photo provided to China Daily]

At an international conference in the US, Lemmon met Wei Xu, CEO of NICE, whom he knew from his GE years. Wei expressed his organization's desire to start new efforts in energy distribution and invited Lemmon, who was just finishing his previous contract, to join.

Lemmon says they almost immediately reached an agreement during a break in the conference.

"I was at a point in my career when I wanted to do something that had significant impact on the world. I'd like to see some of my technologies actually impact the trend," he says.

Lemmon spent a couple of evenings thinking over the proposal. He admits he first felt uncertain about working in a foreign country, where he would face a language problem.

But once he got here, he says he had little difficulty adapting to the corporate culture at NICE, because people in leadership positions in the facility had been to Western countries to study, and the management was also Western.

Instead of focusing on mostly the technological side as was his job before, NICE provided Lemmon a chance to learn about the sales of products, too.

"I've been able to see the broader picture of the business side. It's been a very good experience."

Tang Kun, manager of the battery material department at NICE, says Lemmon's expertise has been very helpful for their team.

The institute was previously working on a lithium-sulfur battery project and was trying hard to make a breakthrough.

But Lemmon advised them to temporarily suspend the direction and instead shift their efforts to research lithium metal electrodes.

Lemmon had experience reviewing the directions of projects related to energy storage while working in the US and has good professional judgment, Tang says.