ROGER E. BILLINGS

'Roger Evan Billings' (born 1948) is an American entrepreneur and developer of high-tech products. He is widely regarded as a promoter of hydrogen energy, having converted a car to run on hydrogen in 1965 as a high school student, which won him a Gold and Silver award at the International Science Fair and a scholarship to Brigham Young University. Billings attempted to generate renewed interest in the technology by demonstrating working prototypes, including buses, forklifts, tractors, and a hydrogen powered home. In 1977, he drove a hydrogen-powered car during the inaugural parade of Jimmy Carter. In 1991, he demonstrated a hydrogen fuel cell car prototype in Philadelphia. Billings and his efforts to perfect hydrogen energy technology received coverage in the July 21, 2003 issue of ''Time Magazine''. (Barlett, Steele 2003). Billings is the author of two books on hydrogen energy technology, ''Hydrogen from Coal: A Cost Estimation Guidebook'' (1983) and ''Hydrogen World View'' (1991).
Billings is also notable for bringing a lawsuit against Novell, Inc. in 1991 asserting patents on networking technology. (''International Academy of Science v. Novell Corporation'', Northern District of California). After more than a decade in court and patent office proceedings, he lost his appeal. The case made news, in part, because of Novell's investigation of Billings' religious views and his connection to the Church of Jesus Christ in Zion.

Contents

Education

Business ventures and promotion of hydrogen energy

Religious beliefs

References

External sources

Education

Billings enrolled as a student at Brigham Young University (BYU) in the fall of 1966. As an undergraduate, he received a research grant from the Ford Motor Company and was given his own research lab to continue his studies of the hydrogen-fueled automobile. In the summer of 1972, Billings headed a team from Brigham Young University that won first prize for low emissions at the Urban Vehicle Design Competition held at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their winning entry was a hydrogen powered Volkswagen.
Billings received his Bachelor of Science degree from BYU in 1974 with a composite major in Physics, Chemistry, and Electrical, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering.
After his university studies, Billings says he was selected by Bill Lear, the creator of the Lear Jet, to be his protégé. Lear moved Billings and his young family into the Lear home in Reno, Nevada. According to Billings, Lear shared his knowledge of high-tech entrepreneurship for almost a year. (Johnson 2005, p. 1). According to a 1984 article in ''Forbes'', however, Billings is quoted as saying that Lear hired him as an engineer, then changed his mind about letting Billings work on hydrogen research, so Billings had quit in a huff (Johnson 2005, p. 3). Lear's son said he had never heard of Billings (Johnson 2005, p. 3), while Billings was being mentored, John Lear was flying 707s for the Tropicana and Thunderbird hotels in Vegas.

Business ventures and promotion of hydrogen energy

In 1973, Roger Billings founded the Billings Energy Corporation. This was his first publicly-traded company, and it gained worldwide attention with the successful development of numerous hydrogen vehicle prototypes. Billings also developed hydride-filled hydrogen storage tanks, and a homestead that was entirely hydrogen powered. By 1979, he was working on coal-to-gas conversion plants. (Mother Earth News 1979)
In 1985, Billings sold the Billings Energy Corporation, and joined with Dr. Geoffrey K. Pardoe, Chairman, General Technology Systems in London; Dr. Alexei A. Tupolev of the Tupolev Design Bureau in Moscow; Willis Hawkins, President of Lockheed Corporation in California; and Olof Tegström, Founder and President of Tebetron in Sweden, to establish what they called the "International Academy of Science", a not-for-profit organization for the advancement of applied science and scientific education (not to be confused with the Euro-Asian based organization International Academy of Science).
The academic arm of the IAS -- the International Institute of Science and Technology -- is a non-traditional school promoted on its website as teaching gifted students how to develop high-tech products and successfully “launch” high-tech companies. Billings is referred to by the title "Doctor" because he was awarded the school's second Doctor of Research Degree in 1991.

Religious beliefs

After completion of the first semester of study at BYU, Billings went to São Paulo, Brazil, where he served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and where he learned the Portuguese language. In the early 1980s, while Billings was living in Utah, he severed his ties to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). According to newspaper reports, Billings began following "the teachings of his late friend, Ken Asay, who claimed to be the reincarnation of church founder Joseph Smith" (Warner 2004). In 1985, Billings wrote a paper to his family entitled "The True Dream of Zion", which, according to newspaper reports, "explain[ed] his decision to leave the LDS Church" (Warner 2004). The pamphlet reportedly "criticized church leaders for abandoning polygamy" (Warner 2004; Lawhorn 2004; Johnson 2005).
Billings is quoted as saying: "In my opinion, I no longer believe (the LDS Church) to be true and divine. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young taught that it was the will of God that men should have more than one wife.... Either polygamy was wrong and the church was never true, or Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were false prophets and the church was never true" (Warner 2004).
After leaving the LDS Church, he moved to Independence, Missouri and became a "patriarch and prophet" of the Church of Jesus Christ in Zion (Warner 2004; see also archive of church's website circa 2005). Billings says he only has one wife (Lawhorn 2004).

References

#Barlett, Donald and Steele, James (Jul. 14, 2003), "Hydrogen is in his Dreams", ''Time Magazine''.
#Billings, Roger E. (1985), ''The True Dream of Zion'', unpublished manuscript.
#Foy, Paul (July 25, 2003) "Ex-Utahn loses battle over patent", ''Deseret News''.
#Johnson, Allie (Jan. 20, 2005), "Dr. Hydrogen", ''The Pitch''.
#Lawthorn, Chad (April 27, 2004), "Cloud of controversy follows 'Dr. Hydrogen'", ''Lawrence Journal-World''.
#Mother Earth News (Mar/Apr, 1979), "Hydrogen, Another Solution to the Energy Crunch", ''Mother Earth News''.
#Warner, Laura (Jan. 3, 2004), "Publicity follows Billings' brother", ''Deseret news''.

External sources

★ Related Web sites

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★ Billings Energy

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★ His personal website.

★ Books

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★ ''Hydrogen from Coal: A Cost Estimation Guidebook'' (1983)

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★ ''Hydrogen World View'' (1991)

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★ ''WideBand Networking'' (1996)