BU-1104: About the Author

Isidor Buchmann is the founder and CEO of Cadex Electronics Inc. as well the author of Battery University.

Fascinated with electronics during his school years, Isidor built and sold broadcast radios that ran with no external power source – they only required an antenna and a ground wire (no battery needed).

During his apprenticeship, he invented an internal combustion engine that was based on continuous propulsion. Felix Wankel in Germany, the inventor of the Wankel Rotary Engine, reviewed the drawings and theory of operation and replied that while the design was unique and original, manufacturing would be too expensive for commercialization. The continuous propulsion ICE invented by Isidor was never built.

After graduation, Isidor left his native Switzerland and immigrated to Canada to pursue a career in electronics. When the anticipated job opportunities did not materialize, he pooled his savings and started his own company. In a small room at his house he worked on product developments long into the night while raising a large family.

Isidor conceived the business model in the early 1980s while working at General Electric. NiCd batteries caused many failures then, and while repairing two-way radios he discovered a way to rejuvenate these “memory” prone batteries. In his spare time at home, he developed a battery analyzer that featured the proprietary “recondition” program. To prevent conflict of interest with GE, Isidor quit his job and went on his own. The beginning was challenging but with perseverance, his company Cadex Electronics, eventually flourished.

Isidor knew early on that manufacturing battery analyzers to reverse memory had a limited market, and in 2000 Cadex began researching battery diagnostics that included rapid-test methods. The development secured several patents and established a leading position in the field of battery diagnostics and monitoring. Spectro™, one of the inventions, is currently the only commercial device that employs electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to estimate the capacity of a battery. Most competitive test systems use the simpler internal resistance method. Batteries have improved and resistance alone no longer provides reliable health indications.

Realizing the importance of batteries for an increasing number of users from all walks of life, Isidor began to write articles that have been published in roughly 300 trade magazines worldwide. Many articles were translated into different languages and he earned a writer’s award.

The growing interest in batteries enticed Isidor to publish a book entitled, Batteries in a Portable World: A Handbook on Rechargeable Batteries for Non-Engineers. The first release dates back to 1997; a larger second larger edition arrived in 2001 and subsequent editions followed. The book became a bestseller.

Isidor wanted to share his battery knowledge with a broader audience and in 2003 he began publishing the material on the web. Today, Battery University is an open teaching resource for engineers, academia, media, as well as students and ordinary battery users.

The website is continuously being updated to reflect advancements in battery technologies and how to apply them in industries. As the battery improves, Isidor believes that the use of the battery will further grow to eventually become a partial alternative to fossil fuel in the electric powertrain, drones and wheeled mobility. This, he says, has much room for improvement.

Isidor is the father of five grown children and lives in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby. To reduce greenhouse gases and keep fit he commutes the 10km (6 miles) trip to work by bicycle, rain or shine. The downhill ride to the shores of the Fraser River where the Cadex Headquarters is located is easy; climbing the hill in the evening takes a bit more effort. He believes in human propulsion and has not yet switched to an e-bike. He wants to keep the fossil fuel that is so frivolously being burned in the ground to lower green-house gas and enable future generations to enjoy.

Isidor and the Cadex team take pride in sharing battery knowledge and are open to suggestions. We can be reached at www.batteryuniversity.com/contact

Last Updated: 12-May-2017
Batteries In A Portable World
Batteries In A Portable World

The material on Battery University is based on the indispensable new 4th edition of "Batteries in a Portable World - A Handbook on Rechargeable Batteries for Non-Engineers" which is available for order through Amazon.com.

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Serhii

Thank you for the battery university. The best source to get trustful information.

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On November 28, 2018, Stanko wrote:
Thank You Mr. Isidor Buchmann Stanko
On May 15, 2014, sameer juwatkar wrote:
Dear Sir, i am a non-technical beginer in your knowldge farm. i was just searching for solution without battery for solar energy. can i get some info on this. and are you working on batteries which can be use to store solar energy with lower maintance. after reading you articles gain a lot knowledge about batteries Thanks
On October 31, 2012, Richard Jesch wrote:
I am so pleased to rediscover your awesome web encyclopedia of Battery information. I first visited through a link on Kitty Rodden's page way back when. I look forward to being not just a consumer, but also a producer. I have a long way to go. Thank you, Richard Jesch
On May 26, 2012, J. Larry Bloodworth wrote:
Can you explain how we can properly diagnose a battery that is capable of starting and running a vehicle, but will not clean the DC signal in the system supply voltage to the vehicle's PCM? We've has multiple instances to where we replaced the battery and that cleaned up the signal, and our 'ghost' malfunction problem was cured. How can we properly diagnose this without guessing? Thanks, J. Larry Bloodworth Certified Transmissions Draper, Utah
On March 15, 2011, Gene Upp wrote:
no questions yet I just discovered you today looking for battery imfo on an electric bike on craigs-list. I am very interested as I wish to build an electric or hybred light weight mode of transportation. Knowing that I must stay below the radar of federal regulation It won't be as glorius as the VW on the next page (I hope it looks as good), as mine will have to fall under the catagory of bicycle or reversed trike.I have seen some elect. bike builds that use large radio-controled electric airplane motors,and then there is the 95% or more efficent motors that are used in the sun races in Australia. So my search is mostly to understand what size controler and what battery configurations that work togeather with the motors, go farther (would like 100 miles),the motors are of more than sufficent power.(hp and rpm) I see two ways ,two or more battery packs ,or a small gas genrerator charging as I travel and keeps charging untill fully charged while parked for the work day,and automatic shut off when charged(which would be like an elec. train engine,not very fuel wise I know) Thanks for letting me post