Geoffrey Ballard is acknowledged worldwide as the father of the fuel-cell industry. One of the founders of Ballard Power Systems in 1979, his vision was to create an alternative non-polluting source of energy. In 1993, the world’s first hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered, zero-emission transit bus was introduced at Science World in Vancouver. He retired as chair of the company in 1997 and, two years later, formed a company called General Hydrogen Corporation to provide energy-delivery technologies, systems and infrastructures for fuel-cell vehicles and devices. He has numerous publications and patents to his credit, has been granted honorary degrees from six Canadian universities and is a Member of the Order of Canada.