Robert B. (Rob) Anderson

Rob holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering – BS Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo ’82; MS Stanford ’90.  Rob’s 35 year career has been split between aerospace and automotive industries.  From the mid-80’s to 1994, Rob held positions at the Naval Air Warfare Systems laboratories at Point Mugu, California, where he worked in dynamic and environmental test and with aerial target systems. 

Subsequently, he worked in several positions in the automotive industry which involved zero-emission vehicles and traction battery systems (Dreisbach Electromotive, Inc., Santa Barbara, CA), traction control products and IP development (ASHA Corp., Santa Barbara, CA), diesel engine exhaust after-treatment (Ceryx, Santa Paula, CA) and high performance centrifugal compressor and supercharger products (Vortech Engineering, Oxnard, CA). 

Rob also held a VP Engineering position with Cryogenic Experts, Inc., Simi Valley, CA, where he developed industrial gas compressor and pump products. 

Throughout his career, Rob has pursued work focused on product development and the preparation of products for sale in the market.  He has considerable expertise in the high-speed turbo-machinery and combustion engine fields.

More recently, Rob held the title of Senior Technologist at Vortech Engineering, where he worked since early 2001.  His responsibilities at Vortech included the design and development of high-efficiency compressor stages for automotive supercharger and industrial blower products.  In addition, he designed and developed a complete line of industrial blower products, known as the AirPower™ line, under the Vortron brand name. 

While still at Vortech, Rob was also responsible for the development of a new product industry space when he introduced a high-performance retro-fit impeller product for the Sea-Doo.  This revolutionary product later garnered a Product Innovation Award from Watercraft World Magazine, in June 2005. 

Also during this time, Rob developed breakthrough technologies involving oil-free turbomachinery products.  He successfully designed, developed and placed in the hands of customers a highly competitive compressor product specifically for use in hydrogen PEM fuel-cell vehicles, and for small hybrid-electric vehicles as a power adder.  This product technology, called Direct-Coupled High-Speed Electric Oil-less (DCHSEO) began within Vortech when Rob authored a white paper in June 2005, after recognizing a need within an emerging green industry and creating the ideal product concept for fulfilling it. 

Throughout Rob's long and accomplished career, the desire to innovate and also improve existing products, systems, and industries has been central to all of his work and is a driving force today with his work at Voltaire.