Thomas Strange Named to Tri-County’s Commission
June 30, 2011
PENDLETON, SC – June 30, 2011 – Thomas Strange, of Easley, has been appointed to Tri-County Technical College’s Commission, the nine-member governing board of the College.
Pickens County Council appointed Mr. Strange to the Commission, effective in June. His term expires April 2014.
Mr. Strange is senior director of research and development for St. Jude Medical in Liberty.
“Being a South Carolina native, I have been interested in economic development in the state for a long time,” he said. “An integral part of education is a workforce that is educated and prepared to make our state a better place. Tri-County Technical College is a premier example of an organization dedicated to doing just that.”
He says he’s had an informal relationship with the College for years, with St. Jude Medical often relying on the Corporate and Community Education Division for training and hiring graduates to work at St. Jude Medical in Liberty. “When this opportunity came up to serve on the Commission, I was happy to say yes,” he said.
Mr. Strange has an extensive background in materials science and is the author of forty-three patents and numerous papers over the last two decades, covering all aspects of capacitor development, with an emphasis on foil development for aluminum electrolytics.
After receiving his undergraduate degree and completing graduate studies in Physics at the University of South Carolina, he joined Philips Components as a member of the research staff.
During his 15 years with Philips Components in Columbia, South Carolina, and two years with Aerovox, Inc., in Huntsville Alabama, he participated in or led the research activity involving the development of electrochemical and AC film capacitors. He was a member of a small team of entrepreneurs who, from 1994 to 1996, developed and produced the pioneering flat medical grade electrolytic capacitor that made thoracic implantable cardioverter defibrillators possible.
Over the last 14 years at St. Jude Medical, Mr. Strange and his team have been introducing new technologies that continue to define state of the art in implantable medical devices for both pacing and arrhythmia correction.
His honors and achievements include receiving the 1985 North American Philips Corporation (NAPC) Creative Innovator award, the highest honor for NAPC; the 1998 St. Jude Medical Hendrickson Award for his work on development of flat capacitors, the highest honor for St. Jude; and the 2001 InnoVision Award for technology development in Upstate South Carolina.
In 2002 he was appointed Economic Ambassador for Pickens County by Governor Jim Hodges. He received the St. Jude Medical Patent Hall of Fame award in 2005, the University of SC Distinguished Alumni in 2007 and the Dr. Charles Towns Individual Achievement Award in 2009.
Mr. Strange serves on the board of directors for the Pickens Chapter of the American Red Cross (chair 2009, 2010); South Carolina Research Authority; SC Launch! (chair); InnoVision Technology Awards; and the Greenville Art Museum Association (president 2008).
He and his wife, Debra, have a son, Derek.
