In Memoriam: Red Bank Resident, Bob Hamlen, Ph.D., 97

Red Bank resident, Robert Paul Hamlen, Ph.D., passed away in the early morning of Nov. 2. He was 97.

“A leading authority on batteries and fuel cells, he spent more than five decades developing portable power sources, from corporate research to the U.S. Army …

“Even as a boy, Bob was drawn to gadgets and science. He attended St. Patrick’s Elementary School and Chatham High School in Chatham, where he won the Latin award and graduated first in his class. He followed his father to Lafayette, earning a B.S. in Chemistry in 1951 and election to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in the 1950s and later completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School …

“Bob loved to travel, and his work took him around the world. He treasured his Lafayette friendships and the annual reunions they kept for decades.”
Loved ones of Bob Hamlen in his obituary

Bob was born on Oct.1, 1929, in Newark, to Paul Feit Hamlen (1904-1964) and Frances Mary (Mears) Hamlen (1908-1979). His father grew up in Phillipsburg and attended Phillipsburg High School and Lafayette College.

Bob began his career at the Linde Division of Union Carbide, working on molecular sieve adsorbents. In 1960 he joined the General Electric Research and Development Center in Schenectady, New York, where he managed the electrochemistry branch until 1973.

He then became general manager of the Battery Division at Exxon Enterprises, which introduced the first rechargeable lithium battery for small devices such as solar-rechargeable watches. In 1982, he joined Alcan Aluminium Ltd. and founded Alupower, serving as its first president. Alupower developed aluminum-air batteries for science kits, underwater power, and potential electric vehicle propulsion.

In 1992, Bob became chief of the Power Division at the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM, later the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center) at Fort Monmouth and Fort Belvoir, VA. His organization developed new portable and mobile power sources for soldiers. He was most proud of that work.

Bob retired in November of 2004 with the Army medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. In 2005, he received the Frank Booth Medal at the International Power Sources Symposium in Brighton, England, where he was also keynote speaker.

He held about 20 patents and chaired the NATO Power Management Treaty Committee for five years. He continued as a consultant, and he organized and chaired the US Army Power Sources Conferences in 2014, 2016, and 2018, having also chaired the conference from 1992 to 2004.

He was predeceased by: his parents; and his son, Robert “Bobby,” in 1972.

He is survived by: his wife, Jean Louise Hamlen; his children, Michele Klein, of Brooklyn, NY, Bill, of Hanover, NH, Kathy, of Niskayuna, NY, and Richard, of Trenton; and grandchildren, Isabella Hamlen, Sophia Hamlen, Chris Klein, Lauren Klein, Stephen Garrasi, Danielle Garassi, and Alex Hamlen.

— Edited obituary prepared by family via John E. Day Funeral Home