Interview with Carl Eibl

On March 19, 2003, Maxwell Technologies announced that Carlton J. Eibl, CEO of Maxwell Technologies since December, 1999, will be leaving this position shortly, to be succeeded by Rich Balanson, former President and COO. Mr. Eibl will continue to serve on Maxwell's board of directors.

In an informal interview, Mr. Eibl shared his thoughts on Maxwell's past, his role with the company - then and now - and the current status of Maxwell as he hands the reigns to Dr. Richard Balanson. When asked to reflect on the changes and developments of the company during his time with Maxwell, Mr. Eibl first described his view of the company as it is today:

"The company is right now focused in the area of ultracapacitors, and as a corollary strategy around ultracapacitors, in high-reliability components. I think we've seen by virtue of developing ultracapacitors and looking for their applications in the market, that there is a real need in the marketplace by customers to have components in systems that absolutely work all the time. With that we see a great value proposition for Maxwell in other product sets besides ultracapacitors."

While Maxwell's ultracapacitor business has the greatest potential for huge growth and profits, it is only one of several business units within the company - each of which Mr. Eibl sees as a key component to future success:

"I think our microelectronics business that we have for the aerospace industry is going to be significant, meaningful, profitable and exciting. It is not going to be the mega-dimensional growth element that an ultracapacitor can be. The ultracapacitor side just has that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for mega-volume because it's such a unique component. But that should not dwarf the importance of the microelectronics business that we have, or the high-voltage capacitor business that we have. I think that the other capabilities within Maxwell are very important, not only for microelectronics, the high-voltage capacitors, the power systems, but it creates a complement of people, and it creates a culture within the company around high-reliability that makes the ultracapacitor business and our capability behind ultracapacitors much more credible."

Mr. Eibl considers Maxwell to be in a very solid position to go forward without further large-scale changes to the structure of the company, and explains what makes Maxwell's current position so strong:

"When you stand back and look at what are the elements that are credible and real within Maxwell - besides the people, besides the factory, besides the technology - there are two additional elements that are very important. One is we are a global company; we have operations in Switzerland and we have a fabulous partner in China. We also have money. We have plenty of cash on the balance sheet and with the property up the street, which will sell sometime this year, we'll have additional cash resources coming into the company. I think Maxwell is very well positioned."

When Mr. Eibl came on board in 1999, Maxwell was a very different company than it is today, and there have been significant unforeseen and unavoidable hurdles for the management team to clear.

"Maxwell, in December of 1999 had 14 different subsidiaries, 14 different management teams, 14 different product lines and businesses. It was a mini conglomerate. We recognized then that we had to simplify and streamline and restructure and rebuild. I think the magnitude of what we had to go through was anticipated. What was not anticipated was the meltdown of the telecommunications industry. Also what was not anticipated was the frailty in the economy with 9/11 - which really stretched out the design-in timeframe for some of our technologies. So the traction on some of the new technologies or the products with the new technologies has taken longer that what we thought, but we've persevered and we're still in a good position."

Having joined Maxwell to mold Maxwell into a more commercially viable company, Mr. Eibl describes his primary role at Maxwell and sheds light on the reasons for this most recent change in leadership.

"I came into Maxwell to be the change agent. I think I arrived at the company at the right time to really fundamentally drive the change process, and to take the company through the pain - not only the financial pain, but the whole restructuring pain - of those changes. Where the company is situated right now - when you look at the next chapter in the company's history - it needs somebody who really knows how to run a factory day to day; how to run operational teams day to day; and how to make what's immediately in front of Maxwell successful. Rich Balanson and the team that's here are the people who can take it forward. They are the people with the requisite experience and pedigree to do that. I feel very good, very satisfied, that the company has arrived at this point where there really is a page turn in the chapter history of the company. With that, I'm able to stand back, recognize what's happening, and be very deliberate about the leadership that's needed for the next chapter and very confident about the team that we already have. That's a very satisfying thing."

Leaving his position as CEO does not mean that Mr. Eibl will not continue to be involved with many aspects of Maxwell. He is clearly interested in having a hand in the continued success of the company:

"I'm really not leaving Maxwell, I will be on the Board of Directors. The strategy that the company has is one that has been developed by current management and the board. That strategy won't change. The board will be as supportive of Rich as they were of me - they are a very dedicated group of people. To be able to continue to contribute at the board level will be satisfying - to see this story continue to unfold. I also will be intimately involved with the development of the company's patent estate. Value in technology companies is directly related to the strength of the intellectual property positions, and I will have oversight responsibility for the patent estate in Maxwell, so I will continue to be very intimate with that. I will also be involved with the disclosures to the SEC and other corporate governance. There's just been an avalanche of changes and regulations that have come down, and I'm very familiar with those, so I can be of service to Rich and the team by staying involved with those items, and I will."

Besides future involvement with Maxwell, Mr. Eibl expresses a desire to take what he's learned and put it to practice for other companies as well:

"With Maxwell I personally think I've learned a tremendous amount on how to take a technology from existing in the lab and making a commercial enterprise with an industrial base underneath that technology to bring it forward. I've been involved with both the bio-tech side, and now the high-tech side, I next would like to be involved with multiple companies - rather than being involved with one company where you're an inch wide and a mile deep. I'd like to be able to work with multiple companies, and the senior teams within those companies."

Asked if that meant he would be involved with those companies in a consultative capacity, Mr. Eibl explained how he feels he could facilitate the most change:

"No, you have to be in the position to build change; to make change; to really be an influence. I think that what I will be looking for are opportunities within the venture capital community - to be on the money side of things where people are making investments in emerging growth companies, and are working with the senior teams - not only recruiting those teams, but working with those teams to make those companies successful."

Maxwell would like to thank Mr. Eibl for his leadership and commitment through a challenging period in the company's history. While Dr. Balanson will surely prove to be an exceptional leader, Mr. Eibl's skills have been crucial in creating a Maxwell that has as bright a future as it's seen since it's founding in the mid-sixties.