Lance Self is the founder and CEO and CTO of Zero RPM.
HANCEVILLE – Lance Self, founder and CEO of Cullman-based Zero RPM, has earned the 2018 Most Outstanding Wallace State Alumni award.
Self was recognized as the recipient at Wallace State’s annual Convocation this month.
“I was obviously surprised when I received the email I was going to be named the Outstanding Alum. I’ve never thought of myself as outstanding. I’m very grateful and honored to be given this award,” Self said. “Ninety percent of the work I do today came from the things I learned at Wallace State. It’s because of the diligence and sacrifice of people in this room that opportunities like this are possible for people like me.”
Self enrolled in both electronics and engineering technology courses at Wallace State in the late 1980s and worked at HH Technologies as a mechanical draftsman while in college. Self later transitioned into a position at REHAU in 1997 where he managed Logistics, Production Control, Industrial Engineering, Cost Accounting and JIT Assembly. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in management of technology at Athens State while working at REHAU.
Self continued to work in various roles at REHAU before eventually becoming the plant manager of the Magna plant in McCalla.
In 2012, Self founded Zero RPM, an award-winning leader in providing worksite idle mitigation solutions for its diverse customer base in utility and telecom vehicles, ambulances, fire engines, border patrol and police vehicles and armored vehicles across the country.
During its inception, ZeroRPM was Wallace State’s first business incubator project and was recognized by Governor Robert Bentley in 2012 as one of the most important new businesses in Alabama since the recession began.
The company continues to excel today, branching out into independent power generators, grid storage, turnkey systems integration for OEMs, vehicle telemetrics and large-scale battery packaging. Zero RPM and its contracted manufacturer, HH Technologies, have currently created 60 jobs.
Self credited the positive influence of Wallace State for the rising success of Zero RPM.
“Wallace State has had a huge impact on my life, my family’s life and the families of our employees. Every manager at Zero RPM attended Wallace State, three employees on our tech team attended here and most of our technicians came up through Wallace State,” said Self, who also serves as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. “It’s made a huge difference for all of us.”
For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu.
