CCS Innovators and Founders
CCS was founded by individuals who were central to the development of fiberglass structure in the cooling tower industry. At CCS, they innovated our exclusive tower structure—the most advanced composite fiberglass cooling tower structure in the industry today. Its roots trace back to one of the landmark companies in the history of our industry: the Ceramic Cooling Tower Company (CCT). It was at CCT that fiberglass replaced concrete and wood as primary structure for cooling towers, and it was the future founders of CCS that played a pivotal role in this innovation.
When CCS was formed in 2004, our founders saw the Phoenix epic of Greek mythology as a metaphor for the CCT-CCS lineage, and adopted the name Phoenix as the trade name for their new, advanced fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) structure. Today, the CCS field-erected composite fiberglass counterflow tower carries on the Phoenix name; a nod to its developmental heritage and roots through two great companies.
Charles J. Bardo
CHAIRMAN
Charles Bardo has been involved in the cooling tower industry since 1971. He spent the first six years of his career with Zurn Industries and was responsible for the Zurn Cooling Tower Division. He left Zurn in 1977 to join Justin Industries and became president of Justin's subsidiary, Ceramic Cooling Tower Company, in 1978 -- a position he held until he retired in 1999. Bardo has extensive working knowledge and experience in all phases of cooling tower design, tower application, construction and product development. Under his leadership, the industry was changed from one that built its field erected towers with wood, steel, and concrete to composite fiberglass. The first of his seven patents filed in 1983 revolutionized the design and construction of cooling towers.
Jesse Q. Seawell, P.E.
FOUNDING PARTNER AND PAST PRESIDENT
Jess Seawell's cooling tower industry career began in 1980. He held positions at the executive level in engineering, operations, and marketing at the former Ceramic Cooling Tower Company. Mr. Seawell holds multiple patents in the structural and mechanical design of cooling towers including CCS' FRP structural design. Mr. Seawell is a technical expert on composite materials and their application with cooling towers as well as the leading industry consultant for FM Approval as applied to cooling tower design. Mr. Seawell has presented numerous articles and related technical publications to the cooling tower and power industries. Jess holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from Vanderbilt University.
