A graphene technology company, with Northern roots and an innovative solution to contain COVID-19, is reorganizing the front office.
ZEN Graphene Solutions, based in Guelph and Thunder Bay, is moving chief strategy officer Greg Fenton into the CEO's seat. He replaces Francis Dubé who's now the executive chairman of the board.
To guide the company's strategic direction, ZEN is creating the Office of the CEO, comprised of both Fenton and Dubé to steer the market development of ZEN’s patent pending, graphene-based viricidal coating, new product launches, strategic partnerships along with mergers and acquisitions.
A company news release calls Fenton an instrumental figure since being appointed to the board of directors more than two years ago. The chartered financial analyst and experienced investment professional has worked as a partner in three different investment firms, and also headed the Risk Solutions Group at Scotiabank, and leading the Liability Driven Investment Group at National Bank Financial.
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ZEN has developed an anti-viral ink formulation from a processed graphene product pulled from bulk sample material extracted at its highly pure Albany graphite deposit, west of Hearst.
The mineral-based solution has a 99 per cent success rate in killing the COVID-19 virus when applied to personal protective equipment (PPE).
In the release, the company credits Dubé for transforming ZEN from an exploration and development company to a graphene technology company since he came aboard in May 2018. During that time, ZEN has filed three provisional patents and developed the graphene oxide-based viricidal coating.
In a statement, Dubé called it an honour to continue working with Fenton to "build a world leading graphene technology company."
"We have established a solid foundation over the last few years, and ZEN is now poised for significant growth with the commercial launch of our viricidal coating and our solid research and development pipeline.”
In other moves, Colin van der Kuur is appointed vice-president of science and research.
The release said van der Kuur has excelled in guiding the company’s research program and has established himself as an invaluable member of the management team with his strong science knowledge and business acumen.
