Setting the record straight on NDB, Inc. of Pleasanton | Tim Talk | Tim Hunt | PleasantonWeekly.com |

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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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Setting the record straight on NDB, Inc. of Pleasanton

Uploaded: Oct 20, 2020
I need to set the record straight on NDB, Inc., the Pleasanton-based company that I wrote about in September. The company announced proof of concept for its revolutionary batteries on Aug. 25. The nano diamond battery uses radioactive isotopes as fuel, so it becomes a lifetime power source that never needs recharging. The isotopes are coated with layers of synthetic diamonds that isolate the isotopes and capture the electrons to power the battery. The diamonds are one of the hardest materials to break or damage. It involves proprietary nanotechnology to surround the isotopes.

I met with Neel Naicker of San Ramon, the chief strategy officer for NDB. The press release had cited Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as one of the places that had proven the concept. Naicker said that was an error and should not have been in the press release. I had reached out to the public information office at the lab and they could find no record of any personnel working with NDB or a non-disclosure agreement.

Naicker showed me a signed and redacted non-disclosure agreement with the lab dated in May 2017. He declined to identify lab personnel who had worked with the company and said they have moved on to other potential partners. Following up with a lab spokesman, he was unable to confirm that the lab had a non-disclosure agreement with either NDB or its parent company.

Naicker said the concept had been proven by another organization that he declined to name. He indicated it could be made public in the next two to three months. The company’s push now is to develop a prototype.

In our conversation, he outlined even more potential applications. The core team has been working on the technology for eight years and now is hustling to build prototypes.


Friends of the late Jacque Holder gathered Friday at GraceWay Church to celebrate her life. It was a powerful event with her three girls and the grandchildren speaking with one theme—the Good News of Jesus Christ. It demonstrated a powerful multi-generation legacy.

My bride has known the Holder family since the oldest daughter, Karen Burton, was in middle school. We volunteered with Carl and Jacque to lead the youth program at our church for a few years early in our marriage.

It was particularly poignant after the moving service when Karen said to me—you’ve got to come see us. She and her husband Brook have lived in the Denver area since they married. The other daughters and their families are in Arizona and Portland, Or. We’d seen Karen a couple of times yearly when she’d come to visit her parents as their health declined. With both parents passing, there’s no regular reason to come to Pleasanton.

It was the same for us in the Denver area. My wife’s aunt lived in Arvada for most of her adult life before moving to Pleasanton to spend her last two years living with us. That was the one relative that we were close too in the Denver area, so I understood Karen’s comment as a change of life’s seasons.

Incidentally, I was visiting with David Elkins, Kelly’s husband, about the riots and looting in Portland. He works downtown and has been urging his friends to come downtown see how awful the situation has become. The once-vibrant downtown is largely boarded up he said. Sad, sad commentary on a liberal mayor who is letting organized mobs destroy what had been a beautiful city.
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Comments

Posted by DKHSK, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Oct 20, 2020 at 10:13 pm

DKHSK is a registered user.

Perhaps I wasn't seeing it, but the profs at NDB don't seem to have battery experience in their resumes and there were no line employees listed on the website, just PhD-types.

Also, Naickers responses seemed a little...evasive.

Dan


Posted by Kevin, a resident of Castlewood,
on Oct 25, 2020 at 12:06 pm

Kevin is a registered user.

Hey Tim, here you go again - liberal mayor destroying the city ? what BS! So, your so called “conservative “ President has nothing to do with destroying this country? I have to call your BS. Once you demonstrate your biased opinion about a liberal ba ba ba, your real character shows up. You are a so- called evangelical Christian elder of a church who loves a president that was caught with porn star and has given high $ jobs to his family members in his administration. Trump is destroying the Republican Party which has been in decline for many years anyway. He is destroying this country. I don't agree with protestors causing damage to private property but I am all for protesting and causing some “Good Trouble".


Posted by DKHSK, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Oct 25, 2020 at 9:24 pm

DKHSK is a registered user.

Kevin,

I can't wait until Trump is declared the winner and your type will scream in abject misery.

Dan


Posted by Kevin, a resident of Castlewood,
on Oct 26, 2020 at 9:10 am

Kevin is a registered user.

If Trump wins, which I don't think he will, I and millions of other Americans will make “Good Trouble". This country has gone through many worse challenges- civil war, ww 1 and 2, depression, bad leaders, etc and has always come on top.


Posted by DKHSK, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Oct 26, 2020 at 2:57 pm

DKHSK is a registered user.

Kevin,

"Good trouble", lol!

You all are so brave. Protesting a Republican President in a Democrat-run state is the height of scariness.

So brave.

I look forward to his mandate and your tears.


Posted by Kevin, a resident of Castlewood,
on Oct 26, 2020 at 7:53 pm

Kevin is a registered user.

Democrat or Republican states, white racist xenophobic men like you are everywhere unfortunately. We will fight you anywhere.


Posted by DKHSK, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Oct 26, 2020 at 8:24 pm

DKHSK is a registered user.

Kevin,

It must really burn you to have a new Conservative woman just appointed to SCOTUS.

Dan


Posted by DKHSK, a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Oct 26, 2020 at 8:25 pm

DKHSK is a registered user.

Kevin,

It must really hurt that Trump just signed an executive order giving him more freedom to fire senior executive-level bureaucrats without cause.

Dan


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