Curtis Ashton is the Training Director for American Power Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of East Penn Manufacturing, Deka Services. In his 30+ year career, he has worked for them, a large telecom / data center company, and an electric utility as a power (including batteries) and grounding subject matter expert. Curtis has a BSEE degree from Arizona State University and is a registered electrician in Colorado and New Mexico. Mr. Ashton is the immediate past chair of the IEEE PES ESSB and serves as a working group officer and technical editor for many of the standards managed by this group. He has also written or helped write standards for ANSI/ATIS, and TIA. Curtis has written papers for and presented at conferences at many places both domestically and internationally. Mr. Ashton has also been “published” many times and has a patent to his name. He also serves as the technical committee chair for the annual Battcon Stationary Battery Conference and Trade Show. In his spare time, Curtis likes to practice his fluent Spanish with others, and referee high school basketball and soccer.