Jim Welsh is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Peak Nano. Founded in 2016, Peak is a manufacturer of high-performance optical systems and dielectric films using next generation metamaterials for defense, energy, and aerospace markets.
Jim has built global teams of technical, sales, marketing, and operations experts to drive new technology introductions, disrupt markets, and deliver revenue. He spent most of his career in the technology sector at Compaq, HP, and Emulex (Broadcom).
He has held leadership positions in program management, product marketing, procurement, and sales, making a significant impact on a global scale. He has an acute sense of technology that can change and disrupt the market. This led him to join Emulex and lead the converged networking revolution powered by server virtualization and blade server technology. He led a global team that displaced Broadcom as the leading networking provider for 10Gb Ethernet to HP. His ability to forge strategic OEM partnerships with Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Dell has positioned him as a key innovator in high-tech markets.
Jim has a proven track record of building leadership teams that deliver high-impact technology and industry growth. He has consistently turned visionary ideas into market-leading realities. The key to this is partnering with and enabling seasoned executives who are best-in-class in their respective fields. His entrepreneurial journey began with MW2 Defense, where he co-founded a nano-materials venture focused on carbon nanotube solutions for aerospace and defense, laying the groundwork for Peak Nano’s cutting-edge manufacturing capabilities.
Jim is a pragmatic leader who drives Peak Nano with a shared set of values and a focus on innovation. As CEO, he leads a team of battle-proven executives, building a culture that is anchored in a set of core values that define the company.
– Own it & get it done
– Transparency
– Don’t be a jerk
– Do the right thing
– Be a team player
– Steady in the storm
Jim is an avid golfer, skier, and Texas A&M sports fan. He’s also actively involved in his community and church. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
Company: Peak Nano
Jim Welsh: Thanks for having me! I am the youngest of seven children born into a military family. My Dad was a fighter pilot. Mom and Dad both served in the Army Air Corps and Air Force for 33 years. Dad fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. I grew up in Texas and followed in my Dad’s footsteps to attend Texas A&M, where I met my wife. We have been blessed with an incredible daughter who just graduated from college and is on her way to medical school, following in her Mom’s footsteps.
I started my corporate career at Compaq Computer Corporation, where I spent the next 20 years in various technology roles. I had an absolute blast learning about how things get sourced, assembled, produced, and sold through channels. I spent seven years in a global sales role that shaped who I am today. I learned a lot, made many mistakes, and mostly feel grateful for those opportunities.
In 2016, I founded Peak with Chad Lewis. Chad and I met at Texas A&M and have been friends for over 30 years. I am the least talented among our senior leaders, and certainly among the founders! Chad is a serial entrepreneur and is basically a marketing agency, law firm, and banker rolled into one single human. Over the last 10 years we’ve been working together, we’ve never had a single fight. Although we are very different in many ways, we seem to land in the same spot almost always. I trust him completely.
Peak is a manufacturer of high-performance optical systems and dielectric films using next- generation metamaterials for defense, energy, and aerospace markets.
Our core technology, NanoPlex™, can be used in many applications, from defense to power grids, fusion, EVs, aviation, aerospace, product packaging, protective films, and dozens of other plastics-based markets.
Today, as much as 80% of our defense systems and power grid infrastructure rely on products, components, and critical materials imported from China. While we can’t unwind the current supply chains, we can develop a new generation of solutions focused on allied nations’ supply chains and integration. This is at the heart of Peak’s mission.
We believe in U.S.-based manufacturing. We’re scaling production for our solutions here in the U.S. and, more importantly, working to establish the first real large-scale dielectric film production capacity in the United States.
Our two primary product lines are:
– HawkSight Optics: Using NanoPlex™ metamaterials, our AI-optimized hybrid optics systems (glass, polymer, LGRIN) enhance designs for night vision, fire control, and drones, improving tools for our warfighters.
– NanoPlex™ Capacitor Films: Delivering 5x longer life, 4x more energy storage, and higher temperature tolerance, these next-generation films are a seamless upgrade for energy systems. They help scale, stabilize, and secure the power grid, supporting advancements in energy, EVs, aerospace, aviation, and defense, simplifying designs and lowering costs.
This is especially urgent given the $578 billion grid investment gap and rising demands from AI, data centers, manufacturing, and electrified transportation. With over 40 peer-reviewed publications, 20 global patents, and extensive experience leading defense and commercial tech programs, I’m proud that Peak Nano’s innovation is helping secure America’s defense and energy future while revitalizing our manufacturing base.
Finally, the key to all this: our people. We are fortunate to have an amazing group of people here at Peak that blow my mind every day. Our first job as a company is to protect these tremendous folks and enable their success.
Jim Welsh: Two that immediately come to mind are Artificial Intelligence and fusion energy.
AI is the single most instrumental technology influencing product development, customer interactions, and the partners we co-create products with daily. AI data centers are driving electricity consumption and generation, powering next-generation defense systems like analytics and integrated smart weapons, and advancing energy management systems, such as solid-state transformers, high-frequency systems, and high-temperature capacitors. AI also plays a crucial role in driving demand for our technology, and is fundamental to how we develop and design new technologies and innovative products that meet the needs of industries such as fusion energy.
Fusion energy is poised to fundamentally transform not only how we generate energy, but also how we power shipping, travel to space, and cure cancer. Companies like Helicity Space are enabling interplanetary space travel, while Shine Fusion is developing treatments that could cure cancer. These applications are extraordinary on their own. Just as the space race of the 1960s led to the development of GPS, microelectronics, and Velcro, fusion is fueling a wide range of technological advancements, from high-powered magnets and advanced metal alloys to medical isotopes and more that are still emerging. At Peak Nano, NanoPlex™ sits at the nexus of these transformative megatrends. As an American-made innovation, it is critical that we strengthen supply chains to ensure energy security and maintain our global leadership and competitiveness.
Jim Welsh: NanoPlex™ is a fundamental game-changer for many industries. Peak Nano can create stable and scalable nanolayered metamaterials in a way that has never existed before. We enable our products and customers to think about how physics works by providing nano-scale control of light, atmospherics, material tensile strength, heat/cold management, electricity storage, and insulation.
One great example is our ability to replace BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene) in film-based capacitors. Today, BOPP-based film capacitors can’t handle heat above 85°C, and they have challenges with material shrinkage under thermal stress, which causes them to lose efficiency as temperatures rise, forcing manufacturers to “derate” their product’s performance. This is forcing manufacturers to add extra cooling systems to use the capacitor. NanoPlex’s ability to create a thermally stable and low-dissipation capacitor film material enables the capacitor to provide full performance up to 135°C, with virtually no shrinkage, no need to derate the device, and lasts up to five times longer. Finally, the OEM/system customers using NanoPlex-based capacitors can now remove cooling systems that are no longer needed, at lower costs and with increased reliability.
Jim Welsh: We’ve spent the past decade balancing breakthrough innovation with real-world practicality. Our NanoPlex™ films are proven to last five times longer than BOPP, store up to four times more energy, and operate at higher temperatures without derating or shrinkage. Our optical lenses are thinner and lighter than glass, with outstanding clarity and color correction. Now that we’ve validated these results through extensive testing, we’re focused on scaling up and getting these solutions into the hands of our customers.
Jim Welsh: The capacitor film industry has long depended on legacy BOPP materials, and we recognize that adopting a new material requires hard evidence and proven field testing to enable transitions. Second, we must focus on plug-and-play operation compatibility to integrate with existing capital equipment, designs, manufacturing, testing, and processes at a price point that provides both our customers and their customers measurable value through new revenue, improved reliability, cost savings, and a secure supply chain. That’s why we designed NanoPlex™ as a genuine drop-in replacement, allowing customers to upgrade quickly, without changing equipment or disrupting operations.
NanoPlex™ consistently outperforms on key criteria like dielectric strength, thermal limits, and reliability, all validated through rigorous testing and real-world trials. Our U.S.-based manufacturing ensures secure supply, rapid delivery, and complete alignment with reshoring initiatives. We partner closely with clients throughout their evaluation process, from technical validation to plant trials and procurement, making it easy for them to realize immediate gains in performance, supply chain security, and long-term value.
Jim Welsh: Peak Nano is driven by a set of six core values. Our values are not corporate poster art; they are very straightforward and bluntly worded values that outline how we treat each other, our work responsibilities, and our partners. It is a set of practical and programmatic principles that enable the team to innovate.
– Own it & get it done
– Transparency
– Don’t be a jerk
– Do the right thing
– Be a team player
– Steady in the storm
These values are how we decide to hire, fire, promote, and reward. Adherence to them is not optional. I truly believe this raw and simple approach cuts all the corporate nonsense out of the way so we can focus on the team and the task. Innovation requires an understanding that we are taking a risk to get a reward, and the path to success is neither linear nor achieved on the first try. We are fortunate to have the most amazing, intelligent, and driven people working here who are all on board with our mission: to modernize energy systems, defend nations, and expand U.S. manufacturing.
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