講演者情報
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Daniel Abraham, PhD, Senior Materials Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory
Dr. Daniel Abraham conducts research on lithium batteries used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and grid energy storage. He has authored over 180 articles in peer-reviewed journals and delivered over 350 technical presentations in popular, academic, and industrial settings. His work enables the development of materials and components that enhance battery performance, life, and safety. Dr. Abraham is also a research advisor and mentor to various undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and junior scientists. He has received awards for “exceptional work in developing the next generation of scientists and engineers.”
Philipp Adelhelm, PhD, Professor, Institute of Chemistry, Humboldt-University Berlin
Philipp Adelhelm is a professor for physical chemistry at Humboldt-University Berlin. His current main interest is research on sustainable batteries. After studying materials science at the University of Stuttgart, he moved to the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam (department of Professor Antionetti / Smarsly, 2005-2007) for his doctoral project. This was followed by a 2-year postdoctoral stay at the University of Utrecht (Professor de Jongh) and then a position as a junior research group leader at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Justus Liebig University in Giessen (Professor Janek, 2009-2015). From 2015-2019 he was a professor at the Institute for Technical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. He has been a professor at the Institute for Chemistry at Humboldt-University since 2019, and heads a joint research group on operando battery analysis at the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB).
Richard Ahlfeld, PhD, Founder & CEO, Monolith AI
Dr. Richard Ahlfeld is CEO and Founder of Monolith, a no-code AI platform used by the world's leading automotive, aerospace and industrial engineering teams from Siemens and Honeywell to Rolls-Royce and BMW. Dr. Ahlfeld received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering and Data Science from Imperial College. He has been recognized across academia and industry including being named to MIT Technology Review's Top 10 Innovators under 35, invited as a Research Engineer to NASA where he worked on the Mars rocket, and recognized as an Automotive News Europe 'Rising Star.' Through his leadership, Monolith received Series A funding in 2021 and was named one of the UK's top 100 start-ups. The company was named by Gartner as a Cool Vendor in AI in Automotive, has been featured in Forbes magazine and won the coveted Automotive Testing Technology International 'Crash Test Innovation of the Year' award.
Hany Ahmed, PhD, Expert Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Company
Hany Ahmed is an Expert Engagement Manager in McKinsey’s Atlanta Office, an active contributor within McKinsey’s global Battery Accelerator Team and supports McKinsey’s work on battery manufacturing and giga factory scale-up in North America.
Ahmed Ahmed-Fouad, Project Engineer, BEV Power Electronics, PACCAR
Ahmed is a project engineer at PACCAR, focusing on high voltage architecture and power distribution for the Super Truck 3 program. With a background in developing high voltage battery packs and power distribution for solar electric vehicles, Ahmed is passionate about EVs, electrification, and advancing technologies that promote a sustainable economy. His work aims to enable high charging power while reducing total cost of ownership in heavy duty automotive applications.
Mahdi Alavi, PhD, Battery State Estimation Engineer, Stellantis
Seyed Mohammad Mahdi Alavi is currently a Battery State Estimation Engineer at FCA US LLC since April 2022. From 2017 to 2022, he was an Assistant Professor at Cardiff Metropolitan University in the UK and at Shahid Beheshti University in Iran. From 2009 to 2017, he worked as a researcher at several universities, including the University of Oxford and Duke University. He received B.A.Sc. and M.A.Sc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from K. N. Toosi University of Technology in Iran in 2001 and 2003, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Limerick in Ireland in 2009. His research interest includes the design of condition monitoring and control systems for transportation electrification and neural engineering.
Shunsuke Amagai, Founder & Co-CEO, Beff
Shunsuke Amagai, Co-CEO of Beff, has 15 years of experience in lithium-ion battery R&D and manufacturing in the automotive industry. He joined Nissan Motor Corporation where he was involved in the development and manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries. After that, he transitioned to Mercedes-Benz Group, taking charge of the advanced and mass production development from cells to battery packs. Subsequently, he led the establishment of strategic partnership agreements between Mercedes-Benz and lithium-ion battery manufacturer.
Matt Anders, Vice President, Batteries & Future Mobility, Pangea Talent Solutions
With 6+ years dedicated to the battery ecosystem, hydrogen, biofuels, EVs, and energy storage, I've developed a deep understanding of the talent landscape in this dynamic industry. As the sole author of the industry's first Battery Talent Salary Survey and Program Director of Battery Workforce Development at the Volta Foundation, I've been at the forefront of addressing the critical talent gap. My expertise spans the entire spectrum of recruitment, from executive search and niche placements to high-volume projects. I've successfully partnered with both established cleantech giants and promising startups to build world-class teams. I'm committed to delivering exceptional results through quality, long-lasting client partnerships, ethical practices, efficient services, quick delivery, and creative solutions.
Rob Anstey, CEO and Founder, GDI
Mr. Anstey is the CEO/Founder of GDI. He has over a decade of experience as an entrepreneur, globally commercializing technologies in energy storage and advanced materials. A co-inventor on >15 patent filings, and 7 issued patents. He works on technologies that fight climate change, and focuses on the intersection between manufacturing, strategy, and business development. He is a proponent of accelerating technology with partnerships.
Renata Arsenault, Tech Expert, Advanced Battery Recycling, Ford Motor Co
Renata Arsenault is Ford Motor Co.’s Technical Expert Value Chain, Battery Cell Materials and Recycling. Based at Ford Ion Park, Ford’s Battery Center of Excellence, she has been interfacing closely with battery and material suppliers, recyclers and other industry members since 2006. She is involved in multiple facets of Supply Chain and Sustainability at Ford, working with internal and external partners (industry, academia and government) to bring the energy transition to fruition sustainably. She serves as PM for numerous USABC programs, is Chairman Emeritus of NAATBatt International, co-chair of NAATBatt’s Battery Recycling Committee, and manages projects with multiple universities in Ford’s University Research program. After graduating from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada with a B. of Sc. in Chemical Engineering, Renata spent 1989-1998 working in specialty chemicals for Diversey/Diversey-Lever where she led process development and scale-up of specialty products in North America.
David Arthur, CEO, CHASM Advanced Materials
Dave Arthur is the CEO of CHASM. He has 35 years of leadership experience, including work at Rogers Corp and TPI Composites. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University, MS in Chemical Engineering from University of Connecticut and an MBA from Northeastern University. He was recognized by NanoBusiness Alliance as one of the top ten most influential people in the field of Nanotechnology and is an inventor with more than 30 patents.
Mohammad Asadi, PhD, Assistant Professor, Illinois Institute of Technology
Dr. Asadi joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) as Assistant Professor in 2017. Asadi completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at UIC and received his Master of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology. He spent seven years of working experience in the oil and gas industry before joining UIC. He has authored and co-authored 25 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Science, Nature, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, ACS Nano, and Nature Communications, and has 13 US patents and four patent applications. He has more than 5000 citations (h-index 20) in the area of advanced functional materials, catalysis science, electrochemical energy storage, and energy conversion systems.
Peter Attia, PhD, Department of Materials Science, Stanford University
Peter Attia received a PhD from Stanford University in materials science and engineering in 2019 and a BChE in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Delaware in 2014. He currently works at Tesla. For his PhD, Attia worked with Prof. William Chueh to study degradation in carbon negative electrodes of lithium-ion batteries from the interfacial to full cell scales. Attia’s work ranges from fundamental characterization and modeling of the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) to predicting and optimizing battery lifetime using machine learning techniques. His work has been published in high impact journals including Nature and Nature Energy. Attia’s honors include the ECS Battery Division Student Research Award (2019), the MRS Graduate Student Award (2019), the MRS Open Data Challenge (2019), the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2014), and the Stanford Graduate Fellowship (2014).
Gabrielle Aversa, Senior Research Analyst, Supply Chain and Technology, S&P Global Mobility
Gabrielle Aversa is a Senior Research Analyst at S&P Global Mobility for the electric vehicle domain. She is responsible for North America in Auto Battery Research Group and is extensively involved in battery raw material research as well as high and low voltage battery topics. Gabrielle's background prior to joining S&P is in battery research and development. She has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University.
Yaocai Bai, PhD, Associate Staff Scientist, R&D, Oak Ridge National Lab
Yaocai Bai is an R&D Staff Scientist within the Emerging and Solid-State Batteries Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Yaocai’s research focuses on accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy through materials innovation and developing sustainable processes for lithium-ion battery recycling. His specific interests include lithium-ion battery manufacturing and recycling, where he leads the Advanced Resource Recovery research thrust in DOE's ReCell center, as well as catalyst development for metal-air batteries and electrolyzers. Yaocai has extensive research experience in materials synthesis, energy conversion and storage, and battery recycling, in which he has published ~60 peer-reviewed journal articles and holds eight patent applications with four granted. He is also the recipient of several awards including ECS Toyota Young Investigator Award (2023), UT-Battelle Outstanding Research Output team award (2023), and ORNL Supplemental Performance Award (2023). He received a B.S. degree in Materials Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2010, an M.S. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in 2017.
Chirranjeevi Balaji Gopal, PhD, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Product & Engineering, Mitra Chem
Chirranjeevi "Chirru" Gopal is the Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Mitra Chem, a battery materials start-up that is innovating and commercializing next-generation iron-based cathodes for Li-ion batteries. Chirru leads the product and engineering orgs spanning cathode materials R&D and process development, and machine learning accelerated R&D to scale-up. Prior to founding Mitra Chem, Chirru was at Illumina, building informatics-based approaches to accelerate genomics assays and applications at Illumina, and then at Toyota, using physics-based machine learning and analytics to accelerate battery optimization and manufacturing quality control. Chirru has a PhD from Caltech and a Post-Doc from Stanford University on battery materials and catalysis.
Godwill K. Bancole, Head, Solid State Battery Incubator, Umicore
INSEAD Executive MBA. Engineer ENST Paris. Masters in Math, Physics and Finance. I joined Umicore New Business division in 2022 to lead the ramp-up up of SSB technology and business development . Previously, I served thirteen years Renault and the Alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi in various roles including supply chain, finance, strategic partnerships, and corporate venture capital. Following my service to the Alliance, I joined a European Technology Innovation agency where I built from scratch and led a division in charge of business creation, including deep tech startups early stage investments. I am passionate about creating and leading complex technology driven business.
Saikat Banerjee, PhD, Senior Scientist & Analytical Lab Leader, DuPont
Dr. Saikat Banerjee is a Senior Scientist and the Analytical Lab Leader at DuPont Automotive, working cross-functionally across different product life cycle stages with diverse internal and external stakeholders. The Analytical function empowers new product launches, product scale-up, regulatory analysis, customer issues and test requests as well as root cause analyses. Saikat and the Analytical Team have collaborated heavily over the last two years to develop state-of-the-art analytical solutions to empower product development in Advanced Mobility. Before joining DuPont, Saikat worked on materials for catalysis applications in his postdoctoral research at Northwestern. Saikat earned his bachelor’s degree with Chemistry Honors from the University of Calcutta, his master’s degree from IIT Kanpur, India, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota in Twin Cities.
Brian Barnett, PhD, CTO, Nyobolt
Dr. Brian Barnett serves as CTO for Nyobolt and leads the company's US operations. Dr. Barnett has extensive experience in development and commercialization of battery technology. He is recognized as both a technical and industry expert related to batteries and an expert in battery safety and has directed a series of successful lab-based, highly multidisciplinary battery technology development programs that resulted in technology licensing, spin-off or sale.
Kevin Beaty, President, YUNEV LLC
Mr. Beaty is President of YUNEV LLC, where he consults and advises corporations, government organizations, institutional investors, startups, and other privately held firms. Prior to forming YUNEV, Mr. Beaty held a series of executive, technology and business leadership roles at CALSTART, Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN), Woodward Controls (NASDAQ: WWD), and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). His innovative career record includes launching and managing advanced powertrain products and businesses in the commercial vehicle industry. Mr. Beaty works on E-Mobility and Smart Mobility programs in the commercial vehicle industry, with a special focus on building a more efficient battery supply chain. Under his leadership, strategic businesses within Eaton, Woodward and SwRI experienced profitable growth resulting from Mr. Beaty’s skills in commercializing new powertrain technologies and building collaborative partnerships with leading global Truck/Bus/Engine OEMs, Tier 1 Suppliers, and Fleet customers.
Lukasz Bednarski, Associate Director, Battery Raw Materials, IHS Markit
Lukasz Bednarski is an associate director at IHS Markit. He covers battery materials market with particular focus on lithium, graphite, manganese, cathodes, and anodes materials. Lukasz has worked in the commodity sector spanning physical trading, training, product management, and research. Prior to joining, his interest in battery materials led to the development of an independent industry portal covering the sector. In addition to his degree in economics and business administration from Aalborg University, Lukasz has studied financial topics in China, Russia, Germany, and Liechtenstein. He is the author of popular non-fiction book "Lithium: The Global Race for Battery Dominance and the New Energy Revolution.”
Ilias Belharouak, PhD, Section Head, Electrification and Energy Infrastructure Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Dr. Ilias Belharouak is a Distinguished Scientist and the Leader of the Battery Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing Group in the Energy and Transportation Sciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Tennessee. Dr. Belharouak also serves as a Professor of the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Before joining ORNL, he was a Research Director and the Founding Chief Scientist of the Electrochemical Energy Storage Center in Qatar Foundation. He was a Material Scientist and Battery Expert in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Illinois. Dr. Belharouak is currently an Editor of the Elsevier’s Journal of Power Sources. He was recognized with several awards including R&D-100 innovation awards and topical society awards. Dr. Belharouak authored more than 150 peer-reviewed papers, 30 US Patents and Applications, 5 books, and holds an h-index of 55.
Stefan Bergold, Chief Commercial Officer, Vianode
Based in Germany, Stefan Bergold has over 15 years of experience in global sales and engineering executive positions. He has served as General Manager and a member of the board of directors. Stefan’s academic background includes a PhD, highlighting his strong foundation in engineering and leadership.
Kimberly Berman, Senior Consultant, SFA Oxford
Kimberly recently joined SFA Oxford (UK) as Principal Consultant, specializing in energy transition materials and related commodities and has researched, written/co-written, and published numerous major papers and reports on lithium-ion and next-gen battery technologies, alternative fuels, electric vehicles, stationary power storage and the deglobalisation of battery supply chains. Previously, she worked at BMO Capital Markets and developed the firm’s proprietary industry knowledge around energy transition technologies and completed a short-term contract for the World Bank to develop battery raw material policy recommendations for the DRC to develop its cobalt industry.
Wolfgang Bernhart, Senior Partner, Automotive Competence Center, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH
Dr. Wolfgang Bernhart has been working in consulting for over 30 years. He has been Senior Partner at Roland Berger since 2007. Within Roland Berger's Automotive and Industrials platform, he is the Global Co-Head of the Advanced Technology Center, supporting automotive, industrial, and technology clients globally to master the challenges and opportunities that new technologies bring to their businesses and markets. One of his core areas of expertise is the Lithium-Ion battery industry. Since 2008 he advises OEMs and other battery customers, most of the global relevant cell suppliers as well as new players, material producers, refiners, mining companies and LiB recyclers, as well as public and private funds and lenders - in Europe, China, Japan, Korea, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas.
Thomas Bibienne, PhD, Global Dir, Battery Materials & Recycling, Hatch Ltd.
Thomas has more than fourteen years of experience in materials chemistry and ten years in the Li-ion battery market - holds a MSc in Inorganic Chemistry and a PhD in Materials Science and Energy. Thomas conducted several studies as Process lead for refining virgin material (i.e. from mining) and recycling materials from used Li-ion batteries. He also led multiple technical studies on battery recycling companies and scouted the battery recycling landscape from technical and market standpoint. He was also involved in various projects with reputable clients from the pCAM/CAM industry, as well as AutoOEM. Thomas participated to several Advisory studies for clients in the Li-ion battery value chain, from the due diligence on CAM manufacturers to strategic battery grade materials/battery recycling projects for newcomers to the industry. Thomas’ experience combined a strong technical understanding of the processes used in the Li-ion value chain, especially for production of refined battery-grade salts, pCAM, CAM for Ni-rich based CAM and LFP CAM, along with battery recycling - coupled with a deep understanding of the Li-ion battery market to provide highly valuable insights for Hatch as Technical Subject Matter Expert.
Thomas Blazak, Chief Engineer, Proterra
Thomas Blazak has a passion for making batteries safe and reliable. With over 20 years of experience in the electric vehicle industry he has helped start-ups advance to world class organizations in the battery electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicle space. His expertise lie in bringing early development programs of high voltage battery packs to production through architecture development, accelerated life testing, and off-normal abuse testing. He received his B. Sc. In Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. Currently he is the Chief Engineer for Proterra Inc., a leading EV technology company which designs and manufactures heavy-duty battery systems for commercial vehicle applications.
Somasekhar Bobba, SABIC
Somasekhar (“Soma”) Bobba., is serving as Global Technical Manager Automotive for SABIC’s Specialties business division. In this executive role, he is responsible to work closely with OEM’s and Tiers to identify new and innovative solutions for automotive applications using SABIC’s thermoplastic materials to achieve benefits like light weighting, part integration for improved production rates, performance enhancement and cost optimization. Soma has over 17 years of professional experience in automotive industry and his achievements include 26 invention disclosures with 17 issued patents, and multiple articles in technical magazines, international journals and conference publications. He is currently vice chair of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Polymers & Coatings committee and has been serving as a session organizer for the SAE World Congress & Exhibition since 2011.
Eric Boschert, EV Battery Process Expert, Engineering, Jacobs Engineering
Eric is a manufacturing engineering leader and technical expert for Jacobs Engineering. His expertise includes battery cell manufacturing, process engineering, equipment selection, product development, and product commercialization. Demonstrated ability to complete projects on time and on budget. He played key roles in the development and commercialization of over a dozen of new battery cells ranging from solid state lithium metal cells to high power Formula 1 race cars cells while partnering with teams in Europe and Asia.
Daniel Britton, National Sales Head - US, Cybernetik Inc.
Dan Britton is the National Sales Head (USA) for Cybernetik, leading business development for all industries in the North American market. A Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Milwaukee School of Engineering, Dan’s career trajectory spans across the United States, Europe, Asia and India. With over 28 years of experience, Dan is passionate about technical design, automation and developing solutions to improve a customer’s business. Having worked in varied roles such as mechanical design, project management, and sales, he has been instrumental in the installation and commissioning of multiple projects ranging from robotics and process automation, to material handling for major global companies.
William Brown, Business Development Manager, Henkel Corp.
Bill Brown is Business Development Manager for Henkel's E-Mobility market segment in North America. Previously, he served as North American manager of the Applications Engineering group, providing product technical support, testing and validation and troubleshooting. Brown has been with Henkel since 1997 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University.
Beatrice Browning, Senior Recycling Analyst, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Beatrice Browning is the senior recycling analyst in the forecasting team at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. She completed her PhD in battery recycling in September 2024, which has given her an in-depth technical understanding of lithium-ion battery recycling techniques-something that has been highly useful for her role as a recycling analyst at Benchmark. Beatrice has been working on the recycling forecast since March 2022, tracking regional advancements in battery recycling infrastructure, technologies, and policy frameworks to build up a global understanding of the lithium-ion battery recycling market.
Cameron Bruce, Director of Engineering, ATS Automation
Cameron Bruce is Director of Engineering at ATS Industrial Automation. Mr. Bruce has more than 15 years’ experience in the automation industry, including the Nuclear, Medical, Consumer Product, and Electric Vehicle markets, and has led several major Tier 1 automotive electrification programs. With extensive experience in Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA), Mr. Bruce has helped customers improve EV module throughput and quality for cylindrical and pouch cells, with a focus on product design and processes such as laser welding, TIM dispensing, and cell testing. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering - Mechanical from the University of Waterloo.
Emilio Bunel, PhD, Professor, Catholic University of Chile
Emilio Bunel received his M.S. in Chemical Engineering in 1980 from the University of Chile and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1988. He began his professional career at DuPont Central Research where he spent 12 years working on catalysis. From 2001 to 2008 he worked in the pharmaceutical industry. After spending twenty years in industry, in October 2008 Emilio Bunel was named director of the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, where he was responsible for directing a science-based research, development, and early-stage engineering organization. In November 2017 Emilio Bunel was named VP of Innovation at SQM which is one of the largest lithium producers in the world. After a year with SQM he joined the Catholic University of Chile as a professor with a joint appointment between the School of Chemistry and Pharmacy and the School of Engineering.
Colin Campbell, CTO, Redwood Materials
Colin Campbell leads Redwood’s technology and product development as CTO. Colin joined after 17 years at Tesla as VP of Powertrain Engineering where he was responsible for the electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering of high power electronics, as well as motors, gearboxes, battery packs, and charging systems across both the vehicle and energy businesses. Colin earned his BS in Physics and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
- Battery Intelligence for Automotive Applications
- EV Technology for Heavy-Duty Applications
- xEV Battery Technology, Application, and Market
- High-Performance Battery Manufacturing
- Advanced Battery Manufacturing Production
- Battery Engineering for Automotive Applications
- Battery Recycling
- Global Battery Raw Materials
- Battery Chemistries for Automotive Applications
- EV Fast Charging & Infrastructure
- Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
Halle Cheeseman, PhD, Program Director, ARPA-E
Dr. Halle Cheeseman has been working in the battery business for 35 years. From the growth of Alkaline in Europe in the 1980’s, to the emergence of Lithium Ion in the 1990s, to the avalanche of interest in all Electrochemical storage systems that has dominated the first two decades of this century. After senior leadership positions in the battery industry, Dr. Cheeseman is now a Program Director for the Advanced Research Program Agency for the US Department of Energy (ARPA-E) and is based in Washington DC.Dr. Halle Cheeseman has a BSc with honors and a PhD in Chemistry & Materials Science from the University of Nottingham.
Junzheng Chen, VP of Advanced R&D, Advanced R&D, 24M Technologies Inc
Dr. Chen is an outstanding materials scientist with a focus on electrochemical energy storage and conversion for both transportation and stationary applications. He holds more than 50 patents/applications and research papers in lithium-ion and next-generation energy storage systems. He serves as a principal investigator in multiple government contracts as well as a subject matter expert for internal and external technical development programs
Kai Lun Chiu, PhD, Tech Mgr, Intl Business, Botree Recycling Technology
Kailun possesses a PhD in the recycling of lithium battery materials from Taiwan Chenggong University and graduated as valedictorian and honorary member of The Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society. He has over 10 years project experience in the Li-ion battery industry, with expertise in discharge processes, mechanical recycling, and metallurgical engineering. He collaborated with a diverse workforce of over 100 nationalities and cross-cultural teams across Europe and spearheaded the construction of Europe’s largest battery recycling Giga factory at Northvolt. He was previously CTO of a battery recycling supplier for Apple Inc.
Michael Collarin, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Gresham Smith
Michael Collarin, P.E., BEMP, LEED AP, is a senior mechanical engineer in Gresham Smith’s Industrial market that specializes in the design of HVAC, plumbing, and solar thermal systems. His sustainable and innovative designs include ground loop heat exchangers, solar thermal domestic water systems, and desiccant dehumidification systems. He performs U.S. Green Building Council LEED building commissioning, energy analysis, and energy modeling for a variety of buildings, and has significant experience with EV battery facilities.
Rick Costantino, PhD, Co-Founder & CTO, Group14 Technologies
Rick Costantino is CTO and co-founder of Group14 Technologies, founded in 2015 to commercialize the company’s lithium-silicon battery technology to meet the world’s increasing demand for advanced energy storage. Rick has over 30 years of experience developing stable, high-performance products at the molecular level, spanning chemical and biopharmaceutical industries for companies such as Genentech, Alkermes, and Nastech. Rick’s efforts have culminated in numerous commercial products, from marketed therapeutics to electrode materials for advanced ultracapacitors and lead-acid batteries. Rick holds more than 50 U.S. patents and has over 50 publications. Prior to founding Group14, he served as the VP of Research and Development at EnerG2. Previously, Rick served as the CSO of delivery at MDRNA Inc. and CSO at G2B Pharma. Rick holds a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from M.I.T.
Yi Cui, PhD, Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, and Energy Science & Engineering, Stanford University
Dr. Cui is the Fortinet Founders Professor of Materials Science & Engineering and Energy Science & Engineering. He is the Director of the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford. He studies the fundamentals of nanomaterials and their applications in batteries, catalysts, wearables, carbon capture, mineral extraction and environmental technology. Cui attended the University of Science and Technology of China for a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He then pursued a PhD in physical chemistry with Charles Lieber at Harvard University, where he worked on silicon nanowires and developed highly sensitive nanoscale sensors. After completing his PhD in 2002, Cui went to the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a Miller Postdoctoral Fellow hosted by Paul Alivisatos. Cui joined the Stanford faculty in 2005. He has published approximately 550 research papers and has an outstanding H-index impact score of 249 (Google Scholar). In 2014, he was ranked #1 in materials science by Thomson Reuters’ “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.” In 2022, Cui was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Materials Research Society, Electrochemical Society, and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is an associate editor of Nano Letters. He is a co-director of the Battery 500 Consortium, and co-director of Stanford’s StorageX Initiative. His selected awards include the Global Energy Prize (2021), U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Award (2020), MRS Medal (2020), and Blavatnik National Laureate (2017). He has founded five companies to commercialize technologies from his group: Amprius (NYSE: AMPX), 4C Air, EEnotech, EnerVenue and LifeLabs Design Inc.
Shane Davies, Director, Vehicle Battery Systems, Nyobolt
Shane, an ex-Mercedes and Ricardo specialist, leads Nyobolt’s battery systems team. With over 25 years’ experience in the automotive industry, Shane has led development teams across multiple areas, delivering high-end software, controls, and electronics into the hybrid and electric vehicles segments. He began his career in 1996 in Cambridge-based start-up Tarragon Embedded technology as an embedded software engineer and has subsequently gone on to take technical lead and chief engineer roles at Ricardo, MathWorks, and Mercedes AMG. During his time at Ricardo and Mercedes he worked on delivering advanced battery and hybrid applications into production. In his role at Nyobolt, he is building a team to deliver advanced battery management and charging solutions across automotive, aerospace, and industrial platforms showcasing the high-power and ultra-fast charge capability of the Nyobolt Cells.
Shmuel De-Leon, CEO, Shmuel De-Leon Energy Ltd.
Shmuel De-Leon, Founder and CEO of Shmuel De-Leon Energy Ltd., is a leading international expert in the business of energy storage. Prior to founding the company, for over 21 years, Shmuel held various positions as an energy storage, electronic engineering, and quality control team manager. Shmuel holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Tel Aviv University, and an M.B.A. in Quality Control and Reliability Engineering from the Technion Institute in Haifa, as well as an Electronic Technician's diploma.
Stefan Debruyne, Director of External Affairs, SQM International
Stefan Debruyne joined SQM in 2005 as Asia-Pacific Sales Director, Lithium and Iodine, where he witnessed firsthand the lithium-ion battery production boom in Asia and the emerging electrification of transportation in China. In his present role as Business Development Director, he is focusing on the engagement with the automotive battery value chain and its stakeholders. Prior to joining SQM in 2005, he held a variety of international commercial roles at different listed companies. He has earned a Business Engineering degree from University of Leuven and an executive MBA from Vlerick Business School. He currently works for SQM as Director of Business Development.
Matt Denlinger, Battery Research Engineer, Energy Storage Research, Ford Motor Company
Matt Denlinger is a research engineer at Ford Motor Company’s recently announced Ford Ion Park. He has been working in Lithium-ion battery research since 2009, including 12 years at Ford. During this time, he has focused on battery materials development, safety characterization, and cell design. His current role is centralized on the evaluation and development of next-generation cell technologies for full electric vehicles. Matt also serves as the Technical Advisory Committee Lead for Ford within the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC).
Nathaniel Dick, Business Development Manager, Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina EDPNC
Nathaniel Dick joined the EDPNC (Economic Development Partnership) in November of 2020, bringing with him his knowledge and expertise of the Chinese market. As part of the Business Development team, Nathaniel cultivates business for North Carolina in the North American and Greater China market. Nathaniel is a member of the North Carolina Economic Development Association, a member of the Wake County Economic Development FDI Advisory Committee, as well as serves as the President of the RTP Chapter of the Carolinas Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
Susanne Doerfler, PhD, Group and Project Manager, Fraunhofer
Susanne Dörfler studied chemistry and received her Ph.D. in the field of vertical-aligned carbon nanotubes for supercaps and lithium-sulfur battery electrodes from the University of Technology Dresden in 2013. She then led a junior research group financed by the European Social Fund in the field of LiS batteries. Since 2016, she has been working as a group manager in “Battery and Electrochemistry” at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology in Dresden. Her main research topics are material development for next gen batteries and establishing structure-property relations between the respective materials, electrolytes, and their electrochemical performance.
Eric J. Dufek, PhD, Research Scientist & Group Lead, Energy Storage & Advanced Vehicles, Idaho National Laboratory
Dr. Eric Dufek is the department manager for Idaho National Laboratory’s Energy Storage & Electric Transportation Department, overseeing over 40 research scientists, engineers, postdoctoral researchers and interns. The department focuses on advanced transportation systems with an emphasis on use, analysis and controls for electric vehicle infrastructure, the development, evaluation and identification of technology gaps for advanced battery technologies and analysis of current and future mobility systems. His research interests are in electrochemical systems with an emphasis on Li metal and Li-ion batteries. He has focused primarily on methods to better understand failure modes for batteries impact life and performance. This work has included how to enhance the life for high energy batteries as well as increasing the ability of batteries to charge at high rates. He has published over 80 peer reviewed journal articles in the fields of electrochemistry, batteries, interface modification, immunoassay development and corrosion. He received his bachelor’s in chemistry from the University of South Dakota and his doctorate in Analytical Chemistry (Electrochemistry) from the University of Wyoming. Before joining INL in 2010 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Utah.???
Jessica Dunn, PhD, Senior Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists
Jessica Dunn is a senior analyst in the Clean Transportation Program, specializing in lithium-ion battery sustainability. She conducts research on material circularity and reducing battery impacts through repurposing and recycling. Jessica has a Ph.D. in Energy Systems from the University of California, Davis. During her studies, she co-facilitated for the California Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Advisory group and was a private consultant for the International Energy Agency on energy technologies and battery systems. In addition, she published several academic journal articles that use industrial ecology methods to forecast and evaluate the impact of battery recycling. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, she earned a master’s degree from University College London in Economics and Policy of the Environment and Energy and worked in the energy and environmental consulting industries.
Nicholas Faenza, PhD, Managing Engineer, Materials and Corrosion Engineering, Exponent
A materials engineer by training, Dr. Faenza specializes in lithium-ion batteries. He has vast experience synthesizing positive electrode materials and in characterizing them, physically, structurally, and electrochemically. Dr. Faenza uses his diverse technical capabilities to characterize the performance of batteries, particularly in regards to the safety hazards they present (e.g. thermal testing, abuse testing, hazard assessments), and in identifying root cause failure mechanisms. He has extensive experience in a host of physical and structural characterization techniques, as well as in abuse testing of batteries, which he uses to evaluate material and product performance, and in identifying the root causes of failed batteries and devices, focusing on consumer products ranging from wearables to electric vehicles (EV).
Daniel Farzannekou, PhD, Research Affiliate, Advanced Materials, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Daniel Farzannekou is the Chief Operating Officer and Cofounder of Westwood Aerogel, an advanced manufacturer of aerogel insulation materials for the renewable energy, aerospace and mobility industries. Currently a Research Affiliate at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, he leads product development for ZeroTherm, an aerogel-based cell-to-cell thermal barrier for pouch and prismatic cells. Daniel received his BA from UCLA in 2022 and actively collaborates with world-leading labs in life sciences, materials science and computer science.
Alejandro Franco, PhD, Professor, Reactivity & Chemistry of Solids Lab, University of Picardie Jules Verne
Professor Alejandro A. Franco is Full Professor at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens, France). He is also Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France and the leader of the Theory Open Platform at the ALISTORE European Research Institute. He won an ERC consolidator grant for his project ARTISTIC on the digitalization of battery manufacturing processes based on multiscale modeling and artificial intelligence. He also won an ERC Proof of Concept grant for his project SMARTISTIC on the assistance of battery manufacturers using digital technologies. He is/was involved in multiple projects dealing with the use of digitalization to assist battery R&D (e.g. EU PULSELION, EU BIG MAP, EU HELIS, EU POROUS4APP, and bilateral projects between Professor Franco's group and industry). He is the Chairman of the Expert Group “Digitalization, Measurement Methods and Quality” in the LiPLANET battery manufacturing network and he won the French Prize for Pedagogy Innovation 2019 for his use of virtual reality to teach battery sciences. He is the author of more than 140 scientific articles and of more than 120 invited lectures in international conferences.
Aki Fujita, Co-Head, Research & Consulting, Nomura Research Institute America, Inc.
Advised clients on both short- and long-term growth strategy while bridge-making between Asian-USA/European companies as a management consultant for more than 10 years. Expertise Area: Business strategy, Transformation, Cross border M&A, Business Due Diligence, Alliance advisory & PMI (Post Merger Integration). Industries: Chemical / materials and automotive / auto-parts / aerospace industries including lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle.
Rajit Gadh, PhD, Professor, UCLA and Co-Founder, MOEV
Dr. Rajit Gadh is Professor of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA, Founder and Director the Smart Grid Energy Research Center or SMERC (http://smartgrid.ucla.edu) and Co-founder of MOEV an AI software company that enables fleet electrification, optimized operations and managed charging. Dr. Gadh has a Doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), a Masters from Cornell University and a Bachelors degree from IIT Kanpur all in engineering. He has taught as a visiting researcher at UC Berkeley, has been an Assistant, Associate and Full Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was a visiting researcher at Stanford University.
Yuan Gao, Independent Board Director, Nano One
A world-renowned inventor, Dr. Yuan Gao has over 25 years of experience in the complete supply chain of lithium-ion battery industry, from lithium extraction to batteries. One of his inventions, the Ti/Mg technology, enables high voltage lithium-ion batteries and is being practiced today in a vast majority of lithium-ion batteries for small portable electronics such as smart phones and tablets. Dr Yuan Gao joined Pulead Technology in May 2014 and had served as its President and CEO until Sept 2019 and currently he is Vice Chairman of the board. Concurrently he is serving on the Board of Directors of Lithium Americas Corporation. Previously Dr Gao served as a Corporate Vice President at Molycorp (USA), and a Global Marketing Director and Technology Manager, as well as other management positions at FMC Corporation (USA). Dr. Gao received his BSc from the University of Science and Technology of China, and his PhD in Physics from the University of British Columbia in Canada. He received his postdoc training from Professor Jeff Dahn’s lab at Simon Fraser University. He has also received Executive Education from The Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania in the USA.
Paul J. Gasper, PhD, Staff Scientist, Energy Conversion & Systems Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. Paul Gasper is currently a Staff Scientist specializing in battery testing, data analysis, and predictive degradation modeling at the National Renewable Energy Lab, with a deep interest in using computational modeling and machine-learning to complement traditional materials science and electrochemical analysis methods. Paul’s interest in electrochemistry began during an undergraduate research internship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on the recycling of lithium-ion batteries, and then worked for a year at Saint-Gobain North America manufacturing solid oxide fuel cell components. Paul conducted his Ph.D. research on the modification and performance characterization of solid oxide fuel cells at Boston University until his graduation in 2019. Dr. Gasper joined NREL as a post-doctoral researcher in the fall of 2019, working for the Behind-The-Meter-Storage, ReCell, and Rapid Operational Validation Initiative DOE research consortia as well as battery testing and modeling for industrial partners and international organizations. Dr. Gasper’s long-term research vision is to consolidate traditional materials science methods with modern data science approaches to accelerate scientific advancement.
Katharina Gerber, PhD, Engagement Lead for Battery Industry, Siemens DISW
Katharina has 15+ years of experience in the battery industry ranging from the direct lithium extraction to dry battery electrode process. Her mission is to bring value to a wide range of battery companies. In addition to her role at Siemens, Katharina is a Vice President of NAATBAtt International and a Co-chair of the “Electrode Materials Committee” at NAATBatt. Katharina holds a doctorate degree in Battery Materials from the University of Bonn, Germany.
Alexander Girau, Co Founder & CEO, Group1
Alexander Girau is the CEO, Executive Director, and Co-Founder of Group1, leading the commercialization of potassium-ion battery technology developed in the lab of Nobel laureate Professor John Goodenough. With over 15 years of experience in battery materials, chemical engineering, and technology commercialization, Alexander is a recognized leader in the global Energy Transition. He is also the Founding CEO of Advano, a silicon anode battery material company. At Advano, he grew the company from concept to 50+ employees, raised $25M, and built an IP portfolio of over 30 granted patents. In addition, Alexander holds 16 granted patents across materials, processes, and cell design.
Professionally, Alexander has worked as a chemical engineer with Fortune 50 companies like Shell, Exxon, and Valero on engineering projects exceeding $2B. He was a visiting researcher at Tulane University, where he matriculated as a Ph.D. candidate and took a leave of absence to commercialize his research, which became the foundation for Advano. He is currently an Energy Transition Fellow at the UT-Austin Energy Institute.
Alexander holds an M.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Tulane University and a B.S. (Honors) in Chemistry and Mathematics (with a focus on Computational Science) from Loyola University of New Orleans. He is also an alumnus of the Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator (Advano S17).
Tobias Glossmann, Principal Systems Engineer, HV Battery Research and Test Lab, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America
Dr. Tobias Glossmann is a Principal Engineer at Mercedes-Benz R&D North America and works on battery research from material level to vehicle integration for more than 20 years. He is engaged in community education as an officer of the Detroit section of the Electrochemical Society. His current research interests include Li-metal batteries and interfaces in batteries and electrochemical sensors.
Stefan Goede, CTO, Co-Founder, Munich Electrification GmbH
Stefan Goede is the CTO and CO-Founder of Munich Electrification, a battery management system supplier. He has been working in the BMS domain since 2008 and previous career steps include positions such as Staff Engineer for BMS at Tesla Motors, BMS Project Manager at BMW and BMS Function Developer at Daimler.
Rohan Gokhale, PhD, Applied Technology Manager, Umicore Rechargeable Battery Materials
Rohan Gokhale is the Applied Technology Manager for the Rechargeable Battery Materials Division of Umicore in North America. He has a strong background in materials science and electrochemistry. Rohan earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry (National Chemical Laboratory, India) working on novel ways to synthesize carbon materials for use in electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Subsequently, he contributed to the development of carbon based Pt-free electrocatalysts for achieving cost reduction in fuel cells, at the University of New Mexico. Before joining Umicore, he was a Research Scientist at the Nissan Tech Center of North America, working on solid state battery research program for next generation EVs. He has 20+ high impact publications and 3 awarded US patents to his credit.
Joshua Goldman, Director Business Development - EV Products, Liten Automotive
With over 25 years of experience, Joshua Goldman has been instrumental in the development of electrified Medium and Heavy Duty Buses and Trucks, fueling, and charging systems. Joshua's hands on expertise spans over 75 makes and models of electrified vehicles from dozens of OEMs and most types of engines, batteries and fuels. He has worked at prominent business and startups such as ISE, Proterra, TransPower, Meritor, and Volta Trucks. Joshua has a passion in driving the market for alternative fuel hybrids, hydrogen fuel cell hybrids, and battery electric class 4-8 commercial vehicles, including being one of the first to help develop, patent and deploy dual-500kW transit bus automated charging stations in 2010 and these first V2G School Buses in 2015. Joshua holds 3 patents for automated high-power DC Fast charging systems. Joshua is now the Director of Business Development at Litens Automotive helping OEMs and Fleets deploy the next generation of battery and thermal systems for on and off-road applications. Joshua has been reliably and affordably charging his various plug-in cars since 2013 at his solar-powered home in San Diego, California and is an avid environmentalist, cyclist, sailor, and proud father of two teenagers, two dogs and two tortoises.
Leslie Goodbody, Engineer, California Air Resources Board
Leslie has worked for CARB for 16 years and is currently managing incentive programs and working on heavy duty ZEV infrastructure efforts. She is overseeing numerous projects involving on-road demonstration and pilot deployments of fuel cell trucks, fuel cell and battery electric transit buses, high-capacity hydrogen fueling stations and depot charging. Leslie is also overseeing administration of $150 million in Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust funding for Zero-Emission Class 8 trucks and low-NOx trucks and freight equipment. Leslie previously worked with CARB’s Advanced Clean Cars group focusing on automotive hydrogen fueling and charging infrastructure. She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Resources Engineering from Humboldt State University and 31 years working in the public and private sectors.
Matthew Gordon, PhD, Senior Manager, Advanced Manufacturing Research, Toyota Research Institute
Matthew Gordon is a manager in the Advanced Manufacturing Research group at Toyota Research Institute, in the Energy and Materials Division. His work focuses on data-driven optimization of battery manufacturing. He also helps advise Toyota on reaching its carbon neutral goals. He received his PhD in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has spent over a decade in Silicon Valley developing large-scale data architecture for business and scientific computing applications.
Jerome Gregeois, Director Commercial Vehicles Development, Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center
Jerome Gregeois is the Director of commercial vehicles development at the Hyundai America Technical Center where he oversees the Engineering and planning of medium and heavy duty vehicles for the United States market. Mr Gregeois joined Hyundai in 2008 and held positions in the powertrain development department on engines, transmissions and electrified systems, with a focus on performance and suitability to market expectations. In the past 10 years, he was involved in the development of the first hybrid electric, the first battery electric and the first hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles by Hyundai for the North American market. Additionally he was engaged in the zero emissions refueling/recharging infrastructure development support. He is passionate about resolving environmental issues by developing innovative, relevant and cost effective technologies. Mr Gregeois holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Prior to joining Hyundai in 2008, he held positions in design, testing and quality for powertrain systems at Nissan in the United States and Renault in Europe.
Thomas D. Gregory, Owner and Consultant, Borealis Technology Solutions LLC
Tom Gregory received his BS in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1978 and his MS in 1979, specializing in electrochemical engineering. His 34-year career at Dow Chemical encompassed a variety of R&D roles including development and scale-up of production technology for organic, inorganic, polymer, and ceramic materials. He led pioneering rechargeable magnesium battery R&D and engaged in development of novel lithium ion battery and fuel cell-related technologies. Tom is currently a consultant specializing in chemical process analysis, design, and scale-up and electrochemical energy generation and storage. He is active in both AIChE and The Electrochemical Society and frequently serves on proposal review panels for the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy. He is the inventor or co-inventor on 16 U.S. and 42 foreign patents and has published or presented 25 papers in scientific journals and conferences.
Michael Harenbrock, PhD, Principal Expert, Engineering Electric Mobility, MANN+HUMMEL GmbH
Michael Harenbrock holds the position of Principal Expert, Electric Mobility at MANN+HUMMEL GmbH, a global leader in filtration solutions for the automotive industry. After receiving his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from WWU Münster in 1994, he worked in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry before joining MANN+HUMMEL in 1998 as Manager Materials Development Filter. Further positions in the company included Manager, Advanced Development Filtration Transportation and Manager, Advanced Development Electric Mobility & Fuel Cells. He has worked on fuel cell and battery projects since 2010. Through market and technology monitoring, he identifies the need for new innovative filtration solutions for Electric Mobility, and coordinates their related activities worldwide. International networking and collaboration in industry organizations are essential parts of his work. His passion is for Clean Transport - helping to protect man and environment from transport-related emissions.
Gavin Harper, PhD, University of Birmingham
Gavin Harper is an Academic at the University of Birmingham, working on challenges around critical materials and clean mobility. His work has been published in Nature, and mentioned in Science. His books on sustainable technology have been published internationally and translated into many languages. Quoted widely, his work has featured in and on CNN, Fortune, Forbes, Grist, National Public Radio, Sky News the BBC and Wired. In addition to his research, he is actively engaged in energy policy, working on Policy Commissions chaired by Lord Teverson, and former UK Chief Scientific Advisors Prof. Sir David King and Sir John Beddington. He is a member of a couple of International Energy Agency Task & Experts’ groups, and a member of the National Energy Foundation’s Advisory Council.
Daniel Higgs, Director, Revenue, Iontra Inc.
Daniel leads sales, licensing, and customer development at Iontra, engaging with top OEMs in power tools, consumer electronics, and automotive markets to drive adoption of the company’s battery charging technology. With over a decade of experience in battery materials, cells, and charging technologies, Daniel previously worked as Director of Product Marketing at Forge Nano, generating over $15M in sales and developing supply chain and distributor networks for cathode and anode powder processing equipment. He holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder and is fluent in Spanish and Mandarin, having worked and lived in Spain and China.
Kenji Hosaka, Battery Engineering, Deputy General Manager, Nissan Japan
Kenji Hosaka is a Deputy General Manager of Battery Engineering Group of Powertrain and EV Battery Strategy and Product Technology Department at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. His work focused specifically on Battery performance design for Nissan Electric Vehicle and Hybrid Electric Vehicle. His important work for EV was 24kWh and 30kWh battery performance design for first generation Nissan LEAF. He joined Nissan in 2002 and spent eight years working on research and development of automotive lithium-ion batteries, after which he was in charge of battery pack performance design for the Leaf, eNV200, and ePOWER projects until 2014. From 2015 to 2020, he seconded seconded to Nissan Europe in United Kingdom, where he worked on research into not only batteries but also technology of electric vehicles and autonomous driving. In 2020, he returned to Nissan Research Centre in Japan, where he engaged in research into implementing mobility services that utilize autonomous driving and electric vehicles in society. He took up his current position in 2024 and is leading the next generation battery pack design for EV and ePOWER.
Vincent Huang, Senior Manager, R&D, HCM Co Ltd
Dr. Hsin-Da Huang is the Senior Manager of R&D Division at HCM Co., Ltd. He leads a team of researchers in developing olivine-structured LMFP cathode material. Dr. Huang has over 10 years of R&D experience in cathode materials and Lithium-ion batteries. He collaborates extensively with the Energy Storage Materials and Technologies Division of ITRI in TAIWAN on developing LMFP/NMC cells with a dual-layer electrode structure.
Tyler Huckaby, Principal Consultant, Hydrogen, Wood Mackenzie
Tyler Huckaby is Principal Consultant for Wood Mackenzie’s Global Hydrogen Consulting practice, joining the team in 2023, bringing over 13 years of energy experience. Prior to joining Wood Mackenzie, Tyler was with private equity backed Humble Midstream leading Business Development efforts, and spearheading Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance efforts. During his tenure, he led BD efforts for Humble Midstream’s world-scale hydrogen/ammonia facility on the United States Gulf Coast. This facility was sited with access to marine transport for global export of ammonia to Europe and Asia, for a nascent but rapidly developing ammonia and hydrogen power market. Further experience at Humble included working with stakeholders, regulatory and policy makers, and commercial counterparties around the world. Before this, Tyler spent over 8 years with privately held Anschutz Exploration Corporation in Land, performing A&D, greenfield leasing programs, and business development efforts across North America. This involved work across Federal, State, and Local governments. Tyler carries a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Denver, in Colorado, U.S.A.
Sam Jaffe, Principal, 1019 Technologies
Sam Jaffe is the principal at 1019 Technologies. He has been in the battery industry for two decades as an analyst, a consultant, and an executive. He was previously the founder and managing director of Cairn ERA, a company acquired by E Source in 2021. Prior to that he worked at Navigant and before that at IDC Energy Insights. He was also the founder and CEO of Panea Energy and Cygnus Energy. He is the author of two books, Jewish Wisdom for Business Success and The New Korea, and lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Judy Jeevarajan, PhD, Vice President and Executive Director, Electrochemical Safety Research Institute, UL Research Institutes
Dr. Judy Jeevarajan is the Vice President and Executive Director for the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at UL Research Institutes (ULRI). With more than 27 years of experience in the area of batteries and a primary focus on the lithium-ion chemistry, she specializes in battery safety research, including safety trends in aged lithium-ion cells and modules, thermal runaway propagation in lithium battery systems, characterizing fire and fire suppressants for lithium-ion batteries, and consumer battery safety. Dr. Jeevarajan serves in the Technical Working Group for standards organizations such as UL Standards & Engagement (ULSE), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)/Society of Aerospace Engineers (SAE), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and American National Standards Institute (ANSI). From 1998 until 2003, Dr. Jeevarajan worked for Lockheed Martin Space Operations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. In 2003, she started her work as a NASA civil servant, serving as the Group Lead for Battery Safety and Advanced Technology. Dr. Jeevarajan has several awards to her credit, including the noteworthy NASA Exceptional Service Medal and NASA-NESC Engineering Excellence Award. She has been an active advocate of battery safety at meetings and conferences. She has also authored or co-authored several book chapters, including the “Battery Safety” chapter in Elsevier’s publication titled “Safety Design for Space Systems” in March 2009 (first edition) and July 2023 (second edition), and the “Managing of Risk by Manufacturers of Consumer Equipment” chapter in Elsevier’s “Electrochemical Power Sources: Fundamentals, Systems, and Applications” in September 2018. She continues to contribute to many journal publications and articles. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry (Electrochemistry) from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (1995) and holds a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame (1991).
Nicholas M. Josefik, Mechanical Engineer, US Army Construction Engineering Research Lab
Nicholas M. Josefik is a Project Manager/Principal Investigator in the Energy Branch, Facilities Division, at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and development Center (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, IL. He is the fuel cell and distributed generation team lead, studying the performance of all types of fuel cells, hydrogen generation, electrolysis, and hydrogen storage technology in the military environment. Nick is the ERDC technical lead on the H2@Rescue emergency vehicle project. His research also includes harvesting hydrogen from wastewater to turn wastewater into an asset. He also leads research investigating building energy conservation and developing energy audit methodologies for the DoD.
Kiwook Jung, PhD, Associate Partner, Digital Advisory, MHP a Porsche Company
Kiwook Jung is an associate partner at MHP - a Porsche Company. With over a decade of experience in the high-tech industry, spanning automotive battery cell, equipment engineering and consumer electronics, he advises clients in manufacturing domain with a strong focus on capital projects and cost competitiveness. Prior to MHP, he was Director of Digital & Analytics at Northvolt in Sweden, where he was responsible for CAPEX and Cell Cost targets for Gigafactory programs in Sweden, Germany and in Canada. He also served in the Chief of Staff offices at Evergrande Group (China) and at LG Electronics (Korea). During his time in consulting services at LG Group, he led numerous competitiveness projects ranging from shop floor optimizations to corporate-level transformation. He was also a research associate at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for developing information standards to enable connection across the product lifecycle. He graduated from New York University (BA) and POSTECH (PhD). His though leadership in Production Engineering is recognized in numerous academic papers with an H-index of 11.
James Kaschmitter, CEO, SpectraPower LLC
James Kaschmitter is the CEO of SpectraPower, which he founded in 2002. SpectraPower operates a battery research facility in Livermore, CA that performs contract energy storage research, consulting and expert witness services for government, private companies, law firms, startups and investors. Jim has founded, or co-founded, several companies in the energy storage field. He began research in Li-ion batteries in 1989 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). He was co-founder and CEO of PolyStor Corporation starting in 1993. PolyStor is the only U.S. company to have commercially manufactured in high volume in the U.S. all form factors of lithium-ion cells, including cylindrical, prismatic and polymer. In 1997 Jim founded PowerStor Corporation to commercialize the carbon aerogel supercapacitor that he co-invented at LLNL. PowerStor supercapacitors are now manufactured and sold in high volume by Eaton Bussman. He founded UltraCell in 2002, which successfully developed the world’s first reformed methanol micro fuel cell. UltraCell’s micro fuel cells are currently manufactured and sold by Brentronics and are deployed with U.S military and intelligence units, and are in use in combat in the Middle East. Jim holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and has a bachelor’s degree in the Physics Honors Program from the University of Utah. He holds more than 20 patents in the alternative energy field. He owns, maintains and operates an experimental aircraft and holds instrument and multi-engine ratings.
Kurt Kelty, Vice President, Battery Cell & Pack, General Motors
Kurt is currently the vice president of battery cell and pack for General Motors. Prior to that Kurt was the VP of Automotive at Sila Nanotechnologies, a battery materials company that enables lighter, higher energy density lithium-ion batteries for mass adoption of electric vehicles, longer-lasting portable electronics, and broader use of renewable power sources. Kelty brings more than 25 years of experience in the battery industry, including 11 years at Tesla, where he most recently served as Senior Director of Battery Technology. There he was responsible for leading numerous key initiatives, including setting the company’s battery cell usage strategy, delivering the batteries implemented in the Roadster, Model S/X and Model 3, and leading partnerships and material sourcing efforts at the Gigafactory, among many others. Prior to Tesla, Kelty was Director of Business Development at Panasonic, where he founded the U.S. battery R&D lab. Kelty holds a BA in Biology from Swarthmore College and a Master of Science from Stanford.
- Battery Intelligence for Automotive Applications
- EV Technology for Heavy-Duty Applications
- xEV Battery Technology, Application, and Market
- High-Performance Battery Manufacturing
- Advanced Battery Manufacturing Production
- Battery Engineering for Automotive Applications
- Battery Recycling
- Global Battery Raw Materials
- Battery Chemistries for Automotive Applications
- EV Fast Charging & Infrastructure
- Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
Nikolaus Keuth, PhD, Head of Product and Solution Management, IODP XI Data Analytics Solutions, AVL List GmbH
After the studies of mechanical engineering with the focus on automotive engineering as well as automation and control theory at the Technical University in Vienna, Dr. Nikolaus Keuth did his PhD in automation and control with the focus on data driven modelling in 2004, at the Technical University in Vienna. Since 2005, he is working at AVL List GmbH in different roles starting from project manager, product manager, department manager for data analysis and modeling products. Currently, Dr. Nikolaus is product manager for data analytics products in the area of battery, cell development in the automotive market.
Kostyantyn Khomutov, Co-Founder and CEO, GBatteries
Kostya is a seasoned executive with more than 15 years of experience in the global technology sector. He is the Chief Executive Officer of GBatteries, an advanced battery technology company, based in Ottawa, Canada. His focus is to deliver advanced battery technology while driving operational excellence. He has a Master of Applied Science in Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University. Prior to GBatteries, Kostya was the founder of several organizations including Wolna, a SatCom company, and Smart Rotor Systems (SRS), a company that developed vibration and noise reduction technology for helicopters.
Kevin Konecky, Vice President, Battery Systems Engineering, Ola Electric
Mr. Konecky brings over 20 years of xEV experience to his work, having worked on multiple complex designs for battery system development, charging system integration, and high-voltage powertrain integration. He is skilled in new product design and development, product testing, product safety, integration of multiple sub-systems for vehicles, new product launches and has expanded his skillset beyond batteries into power electronics. His experience in batteries includes multiple technologies (Li-ion, NiMH, UltraCapacitors, Lead-Acid). Mr. Konecky has worked for multiple OEM and Tier 1 battery suppliers (GM, Fisker, Byton, Cobasys, EnerDel, Lockheed Martin) and has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY) and MS from Purdue (IUPUI - Indianapolis, IN).
Vishant Kothari, Manager, Electric Mobility, World Resources Institute
Vishant is a manager in the global electric mobility team at World Resources Institute. In the almost-three years at WRI, he has worked on topics ranging from vehicle-grid integration, charging infrastructure, to EV transition planning and battery recycling - in the US and Asia. Vishant has a keen interest in urban systems and climate technologies, having worked with several major US cities in supporting them overcome barriers to decarbonization, prior to WRI. He has a master's degree in sustainability management from Columbia University and a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Manipal University.
Shoudai Kurosumi, Sr Engineer High Performance Chemicals Dev, Applications R&D, ENEOS Materials Corp
Shoudai Kurosumi is a senior engineer in ENEOS Materials Corporation and has 12 years of experience as a R&D member for binder materials in lithium ion battery. Prior to joining ENEOS Materials, he was an engineer at JSR Corporation from 2012 to 2021 and a technical manager at ENEOS Materials Europe Belgium from 2021 to 2023.
John Kwon, General Counsel of Global Legal & Strategy, Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL)
As General Counsel of Global Legal & Strategy of the largest manufacturer of EV ad ESS batteries in the world, John is tasked with providing supply chain solutions to the manufacture and assembly of LFP and MNC cells. Previously, he oversaw global investments and acquisitions for the biggest logistics player in Asia, which culminated in the USD 2.3 Billion acquisition of Kerry Logistics in 2022 and will culminate on its IPO in 2023. Qualified to practice law in four jurisdictions, he started his career at a magic circle firm and progressed to the position of General Counsel at a Forbes 50 MNC, where he project managed the building of many iconic buildings across the globe. He has also held cross-functional and P&L leadership positions having served as CEO & Board member to a NYSE listed MNCs and start-ups.
Byoungchul Kwon, PhD, Research Scientist, UL ESRI
Dr. Byoungchul Kwon is a research scientist at the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI), part of UL Research Institutes (ULRI). At ESRI, his research focuses on the safety risks associated with lithium-ion batteries, particularly in thermal runaway characteristics, gas and particulates analysis, and fire suppression in large lithium-ion battery systems. To understand the underlying physics, he conducts various lithium-ion battery safety tests from cell-level to battery energy storage system containers. His works support the development of fire safety strategies for first responders and standards for the safe use of lithium-ion batteries. Dr. Kwon earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, where his research focused on spot ignition of firebrands in wildfire and the analysis of gases released from lithium-ion cells under thermal runaway and fire.
Christina Lampe-Onnerud, PhD, Founder and CEO, Cadenza Innovation
Recognized for more than 25 years of developing and commercializing lithium-ion batteries, Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud is Founder and CEO of Cadenza Innovation, a growth-stage company transforming energy storage for grid, EV, commercial and industrial, and urban battery deployments. Previously, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud was Founder, CEO, and International Chairman of Boston-Power, a battery company providing products to the consumer electronics, transportation, and other end markets. Earlier in her career, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud held executive positions with Bridgewater Associates and Arthur D. Little, where she led the world’s largest non-captive battery lab. A two-time World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and former co-chair of its Global Future Councils, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud is a co-chair of Li-Bridge, a public-private alliance convened by the U.S. Department of Energy to accelerate the creation of a robust domestic manufacturing base and supply chain for lithium-based batteries. She is also a former board director with the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology (NY-BEST) Consortium, a coalition working to build a vibrant, world-class, advanced battery and energy storage sector in New York State. Dr. Lampe-Onnerud holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Uppsala University, Sweden, conducted post-doctoral work at MIT and currently sits on MIT’s Chemistry Department Visiting Committee.
Jayse Langdon, Senior Scientist, Science, 6K Energy
Jayse Langdon is a Senior Scientist responsible for the development of 6K Energy’s single-crystal NMC811 product. Under professor Arumugam Manthiram, he published papers on high-nickel cathodes including 955, 9406, and LNO, and is first author on what is currently the most-cited review of single-crystal cathodes. After working to scale cobalt-free cathodes at another domestic manufacturer, he joined 6K Energy to help develop the next generation of low-cost, high-performance cathode materials. He holds a B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Arizona State University and University of Texas at Austin.
Amirmasoud Lanjan, Battery Cell Application Engineer, Stellantis
Amirmasoud Lanjan is currently leveraging his expertise as a Battery Cell Application Engineer at Stellantis, where he applies his extensive background in computational modeling, nanomaterial development, and battery technologies. With solid foundation in scientific research cultivated through his doctoral studies, Amirmasoud brings a unique perspective to his role. Furthermore, his previous experience in project management, leadership, and interdisciplinary collaboration equips him to achieve outstanding results.
Reik Laubenstein, Sr Engineer, High Voltage Battery Systems, IAV Automotive Engineering Inc
Dr. Reik Laubenstein is Senior Engineer at IAV’s battery group in North America. He graduated from Humbolt-Universität zu Berlin in 2018 with a PhD thesis in inorganic chemistry. Subsequently, Dr. Laubenstein started at IAV’s Material Science Lab in Berlin, Germany, working on module, cell testing, and simulation topics. Additionally, he was involved in developing abusive testing capabilities for thermal propagation studies. Since May 2023, Dr. Laubenstein has been part of the high-voltage battery system team at IAV Automotive Engineering Inc. in Northville, MI.
Matthias Lex, Senior Battery Engineer, Customer Success, TWAICE Technologies GmbH
Matthias is a passionate engineer for alternative energy sources and has been working in the field of batteries and renewable energies for more than 5 years. With a Master’s degree in chemical engineering his focus is primarily on the materials and overall electrochemistry behind the processes. After previously being responsible for the functional development of selected charging-, temperature- and contactor-control safety components in the software of electric vehicle BMS units, his current position as a Senior Battery Engineer at TWAICE sees him leading all technical discussions about battery aging and its proper integration in customer’s battery management toolchain. With his battery knowledge alongside software development experience, he manages both, customer as well as research projects, with international partners from industry and academia.
Weihan Li, Research Group Leader, RWTH Aachen University
Weihan Li is leading a BMBF research group at RWTH Aachen University, where he received his Doctorate degree with the highest praise, summa cum laude, in 2021. During 2018-2021, he was team leader, project leader, and research associate at RWTH Aachen University. During 2016-2017, he was a research assistant at Active Adaptive Control Lab and Sloan Automotive Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received his MS and BS in automotive engineering at RWTH Aachen University and Tongji University. He was with the Volkswagen AG, Porsche Engineering GmbH, and SAIC Volkswagen, in various electrical and mechanical engineering roles. He is involved in the development of digital twin for batteries with physics-based modeling and machine learning. His current research interests include model-based battery analytics and monitoring, machine learning for aging estimation and lifetime prediction, battery fault identification with big data analysis, and reinforcement learning for fast charging and energy management.
Jin-Hyung Lim, Technical Specialist, Powertrain, Lucid Motors Inc.
Jinhyung Lim manages Lucid Motors' Cell Materials & Modeling Team, with seventeen years of expertise in the battery and automotive industries. His primary focus is advancing the EV experience through cutting-edge R&D in materials, cells, and algorithms. Previously at LG Chem, he spearheaded the development and commercialization of high-power cathode materials, driving innovative cell designs and BMS algorithms using multi-physics cell models. Currently, Jinhyung directs his efforts toward material research, thermo-electrochemical modeling, and optimizing performance-driven designs for Lucid's next-generation batteries.
Sungbin Lim, Managing Director, Development Division, Sebang Lithium Battery
Pack design engineer for 15 years, Pack development team leading manager for 7 years. Vice President of pack development for 3 years at Samsung SDI. Now I'm working at Sebang Lithium Battery as a CTO from 2 years ago.
Innovative Battery pack developer with a proven track record of designing battery system and applying knowledge of electricity and material in a beneficial way to battery pack development. Experienced complete product cycle from team building, development, manufacturing technology, manufacturing of LIB pack. Strategic collaboration with marketing team and cell development team. Various outsourcing experiences worked with university and industry for new technology. Committed to working as a collaborative and positive teamleader, striving to utilize my knowledge and expertise for optimal engineering results.
Tim Lin, PhD, CTO and Founder, Solid Energies
Dr. Timothy Lin is the founder/CTO of Solid Energies Inc (www.solidenergies.com), which started its business in 2017, with a focus on the research, manufacturing, and commercialization of new-generation solid-state batteries. Dr. Lin is a veteran scientist and entrepreneur in developing and commercializing new generation renewable/clean energy technologies for over 20 years, having founded 3 companies including SEI and Bioenno Tech. Since 2009, his team has received more than 20 grants from federal agencies including DoE/DoD/NASA, and has collaborated with several major EV/defense companies for the technical commercialization related to all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries (ASSB). Recently, his team received grants from (1) the California Energy Commission (CEC) to establish initial commercial manufacturing of ASSB directed toward mass production for potential applications in renewable energy and electric vehicles, and (2) ARPA-E to develop and manufacture a new-generation of solid-state Li-air battery for applications in electrified transportations.
Cameron Lippert, PhD, Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer, ElectraMet
Dr. Lippert is a technical entrepreneur with 15 years’ experience in developing and commercializing technical innovations. Prior to founding ElectraMet, Dr. Lippert managed technology development & demonstration projects at the Center for Applied Energy Research, ranging from carbon capture to new battery chemistry. Dr. Lippert received his BS in Biochemistry from Eckerd College, and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology and has more than 50 publications and patents in the field.
Jordan Loos, Senior Specialist, Battery Integration, Cummins Battery Systems North America
Jordan Loos is a Senior Battery Integration Specialist at Cummins Inc., where he works in the evaluation and integration of batteries for hybrid on- and off-highway applications. With a Bachelor’s in physics from Willamette University and a Master's in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University, Jordan has extensive experience in battery management systems (BMS), system engineering, validation, electrochemistry, and control strategies. His career includes development of lithium-ion BMS systems, battery supplier collaboration, and contributing to the mechanical, electrical, and thermal integration of battery systems. Prior to Cummins, Jordan worked at eChemion Inc., developing electrode materials for flow batteries. He holds multiple patents related to battery technology and continues to play a key role in advancing sustainable battery solutions for the automotive industry.
Mark Lu, PhD, Senior Industrial Analyst, Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center, Industrial Technology Research Institute
Mr. Lu graduated from Department of Business Administration in National Cheng-chi University, Taiwan, and continued to acquire an MBA degree from National Sun Yat-sen University. His first job concerned with the optical film in China for two years, then came back Taiwan to serve Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) as an analyst in Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center (ISTI) until now. As a certified industrial analyst of the biggest think-tank in Taiwan, he is responsible for the research about Taiwan battery-related industry, including material, cell, pack and related applications. Not only handling the official government statistics about Taiwan battery industry, sometimes he also plays a role to provide consulting suggestions for Taiwan government and firms. From 2010 to June 2020, he served as the secretary-general of the Taiwan Battery Association.
Melody Lyu, PhD, Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Engineer, Toyota R&D
Melody is a hydrogen fuel cell integration engineer at Toyota Motor North America Research and Development. With the background of growing up in China, moving to Texas at the age of 15, and the experience of backpacking South America and Europe, Melody brings a global perspective to her work. She thrives in diverse cultural environments, always open-minded and ready to learn. As a first-generation immigrant and college student, Melody embodies the belief that everything is figureoutable. With grit, perseverance, and a dash of curiosity, she tackles challenges head-on. She's an advocate for women in STEM and first-gen college students, striving to make the path smoother for those who follow. Currently, Melody is on a mission to combat climate change through her work in advancing hydrogen fuel cell applications.
Yasaman Masoudi, Engineer, BMS Algorithm, Stellantis
Yasaman Masoudi is the BMS Validation Supervisor at FCA US LLC, where she is leading the validation of battery state estimation (SOx) and performance. Prior to this role, she worked as a COE lead on battery state estimation (SOx) as well as thermal and climate control systems simulation and controls. She has a MSc in systems design engineering from University of Waterloo, and a BSc in mechanical engineering from Sharif University of technology.
Michael Maten, Director, EV Policy & Regulatory Affairs, General Motors
A veteran of the automotive industry, Michael is the Director, EV Policy and Regulatory Affairs for General Motors. He has worked in the Electric Propulsion space for over 10 years as part of GM’s Product Planning and Strategy group. He led the advanced planning effort for GM’s next generation of battery electric vehicles, debuting in the form of the Cadillac Lyriq and Hummer EV. Michael has worked all over the globe for GM on electrification and strategy projects, including a three-year assignment in Germany with GM’s former subsidiary Opel. He leads GM Policy work on EV incentive, infrastructure, supply chain, and regulatory topics. He is a Chair of the Indiana EV Product Commission, and also sat on the advisory panel for Drive Change, Drive Electric, a public/private partnership between automakers and Northeast states to promote electric vehicles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Naoki Matsuoka, General Manager, R&D Center, Asahi Kasei Europe GmbH
Dr. Naoki Matsuoka is a Battery Specialist highly skilled in chemical research and development, general and technical project management, needs assessment, strategic planning, establishing priorities, delegating tasks, and motivating teams to reach their best potential. He studied chemistry at Keio University in Japan and obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Magnetism.
He began his career with Asahi Kasei in 2000, where he was responsible for developing catalysts for a wide variety of petrochemicals. Since 2010, he has focused his career on developing materials for advanced lithium-ion batteries, under the guidance of Dr. Akira Yoshino, who made pioneering contributions to the development of the lithium-ion battery.
Dr. Naoki Matsuoka is currently the General Manager of the Research & Development Center at Asahi Kasei Europe GmbH, a diversified chemical company, and is also responsible for leading the advanced electrolyte development team.
Mark McArthur, Director of R&D, R&D - Cathode, NOVONIX
Dr. Mark McArthur is the Director of R&D at NOVONIX Battery Technology Solutions in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He and his team focus on discovering and developing useful materials and production methods for the energy storage ecosystem. Since 2020, Dr. McArthur has led the NOVONIX Cathode Materials team in developing and scaling up their patent-pending all-dry, zero-waste cathode synthesis technology, which is expected to significantly reduce the costs and environmental impact of nickel-based cathode production. Prior to his role at NOVONIX, Dr. McArthur worked at Tesla Canada, uncovering new lithium-ion battery materials and technologies for the EV and ESS sectors. He completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at McGill University on energy storage materials and his M.Sc. in Physics at Dalhousie University under the supervision of Prof. Jeff Dahn.
Jaroslaw Milewski, PhD, Assoc Prof, Power Engineering, Warsaw Univ of Technology
Prof. Jaroslaw Milewski is a distinguished academic at the Warsaw University of Technology, where he serves as the Head of the Power Division within the Institute of Heat Engineering. He also directs the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Center at the Institute of Applied Research. As an expert in fuel cells, particularly Molten Carbonate and Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Prof. Milewski's work extends to hybrid systems, advanced hydrogen-based power systems, and steam/gas turbine generation. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Power Technologies and a member of the Editorial Board of Applied Energy. With over 300 publications, multiple patents, and significant industry collaborations, his contributions to the field are widely recognized. Prof. Milewski also teaches courses on various aspects of power engineering, including turbomachinery and hybrid systems.
Kevin Miller, Senior Advisor, Joint Office of Energy and Transportation
Kevin George Miller is Senior Advisor for the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, where he focuses on accelerating investment in zero-emissions transportation and infrastructure for light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles. Kevin’s recent work includes the National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy, which was published by the Joint Office in March 2024 and developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Previously, he served as Senior Director of Public Policy for ChargePoint and Acting Chief Financial Officer for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
Fabrizio Moltoni, Vice President & General Manager, Clean Energy, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Fabrizio Moltoni has been with Thermo Fisher Scientific since 1987, originally joining through the acquisition of Fisons (UK). With over three decades of leadership experience in the company, Fabrizio has a distinguished career spanning multiple divisions and roles. Since 2007 he has been General Manager for several analytical instrument businesses. Since the end of 2022, he has served as the Vice President and General Manager of the Clean Energy division, where he oversees strategic growth and innovation.
Zahra Moradi, Battery Cell Lead, Stellantis
Zahra (Farnaz) Moradi is the Battery Cell Application Lead at Stellantis, driving innovation in battery technology for next-generation electric vehicles. With a strong focus on research and development, she leads projects that advance cell design and applications. Previously, Farnaz worked as a Cell Design Release Engineer also at Stellantis, where she managed battery design and manufacturing processes, conducted risk assessments, and facilitated key review meetings. Zahra holds a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering and Process Design and served as a Research Scholar at McMaster University. Her research at McMaster involved multi-scale multi-physics modeling and simulation of novel battery materials, contributing to significant advancements in the field.
Frederik Morgenstern, Senior Battery Technology Engineer, BMW Group
Born in Bavaria and raised in Uruguay, Frederik has been working for BMW's R&D Battery team as a cell project manager since 2017. After completing his PhD in solid-state and semiconductor physics in Cambridge UK, Frederik has worked in a broad range of novel technologies, ranging from Solar cells, OLEDs, AR-head-up displays and now batteries. He has co-developed the next-generation of BMW’s Batteries for the "neue Klasse", optimizing the cell with regards to performance, cost as well as ease of pack-integration and manufacturability. As part of BMW's Solid-State Battery team, he worked on the evaluation of the potential and maturity of solid-state batteries for automotive applications. He now works at BMW's technology office in Mountain view as senior battery technology engineer, where he develops and manages research projects with national partners from industry and academia.
Victoria Mosolgo, Conference Producer, Cambridge EnerTech
Since 2015, Victoria has served as a Conference Producer for Cambridge Enertech, with primary responsibilities for scientific conference program development within energy market sectors, with conferences based in the United States and Europe. She has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Rob Murano, Senior Director of Product Development & Commercialization, Coherent
Rob Murano is the Senior Director of Product Development & Commercialization at Coherent Corp. (formerly II-VI Inc.), where he leads strategic platform development within the semiconductor and thermal management markets as well as the commercialization of immobilized sulfur technology to enable high-performance, low-cost lithium-sulfur batteries. With 25 years of experience successfully developing and transitioning materials technologies from R&D to volume production, he is passionate about driving innovation in energy storage from the lab to market to meet the growing demands of the electrification era.
Ian Murray, Associate Conference Producer, Cambridge EnerTech
Since joining Cambridge EnerTech as Associate Conference Producer in March 2024, Ian has spearheaded the production of new conference programs dedicated to addressing the global bottleneck in electric vehicle fast charging and infrastructure. Prior to joining Cambridge EnerTech, Ian conducted mathematical research in physical oceanography before foraying into K-12 education for gifted and talented mathematics students. Ian enjoys engaging others in their fields of expertise and staying current on latest trends and developments in the battery, electric vehicle, and charging infrastructure space.
Nicolina Nanni, Chief of Staff, Liminal
Nicolina is the Chief of Staff at Liminal, a battery manufacturing inspection and intelligence provider whose mission is to accelerate the transition to electric mobility by improving quality and reducing cost of batteries. Nicolina holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and has focused her career on production-scale artificial intelligence and industrial machine learning applications.
Frank Nikolic, Vice President, Base & Battery Metals, CRU Group
Frank has 20 years of experience in a variety of senior leadership roles in the mining industry spanning strategy, intelligence, metallurgy, digital transformation, and commercial operations - all during his tenure with Vale Base Metals. He recently joined CRU as the Vice President for Base and Battery Metals North America responsible for providing thought leadership and guidance to the commodity value chain industry. Frank holds a Bachelor of Applied Science and Engineering specializing in Mineral Processing from the University of Toronto, and an MBA specializing in Strategic Planning and Industrial Relations from York University.
Jeff Norris, CEO, Paraclete Energy Inc.
Jeff Norris, the visionary CEO and founder of Paraclete Energy, leverages over two decades of experience in renewable energy storage. With advanced degrees from Duke University and USC, Jeff’s expertise is well-recognized in the industry. His accolades include the prestigious E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year award. Jeff has a proven history of securing substantial financing and forging strategic partnerships. Notably, he guided a previous venture from concept to a NASDAQ IPO, delivering a phenomenal 106:1 return. His dedication to innovation continues to drive Paraclete Energy towards pioneering advancements in energy technology. Jeff is passionate about:
God, family, and the legacy he lives 24/7 and leaves for them.
Taking on the near-impossible with a great team and exceeding expectations for all stakeholders.
Launching disruptive technologies and driving innovation in the energy sector.
Serving others and contributing to economic development in developing countries.
New ventures, start-ups, technology, and commercialization.
Sascha Nowak, PhD, Head of Analytics & Environmental, Electrochemical Energy Technology, University of Münster
Dr. Nowak studied Chemistry at the University of Münster and got his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry. After his doctorate, he joined the working group of Professor Winter at the MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Münster in 2009 as a postdoctoral researcher, where he established the Analytical department. From 2010-12, he was the Head of the Analytics and Recycling competence areas, and since 2012, he has held a position at the MEET Battery Research Center as Head of the Analytics and Environment division, which mainly focuses on electrolyte aging, transition metal migration and surface investigations, recycling, and second life, as well as toxicological investigations.
Eddy Nupoort, Director of Sales and Business Development, Cavendish Hydrogen Americas Inc.
Eddy Nupoort is the Director of Sales and Business Development for the Americas at Cavendish Hydrogen, formerly Nel Hydrogen Fueling, which spun off in June 2024. With over 14 years in the hydrogen refueling industry, Eddy started as a Project Manager, leading Nel’s first 700bar fueling station in 2010 and overseeing 35+ stations across nine countries. After moving from Europe to California in 2017, he initiated 10 additional fueling sites for major operators like Shell and launched Nel's first U.S. fueling entity. Since then, he has contributed to dozens more hydrogen fueling sites in California for operators like Chevron. Eddy’s leadership spans sales, business development, and advancing hydrogen fueling technologies, actively shaping the industry's future.
Emil Nusbaum, Vice President Strategy, Gov & Regulatory Affairs, Automotive Recyclers Association
Emil Nusbaum is the Vice President of Strategy, Government and Regulatory Affairs for the Automotive Recyclers Association. He also serves as Co-Chair of NAATBatt’s Policy and Regulatory Committee. Prior to joining ARA, Emil was Policy Counsel for the National Vehicle Service, which is widely recognized as the world leader in providing unique vehicle theft, vehicle fraud, and asset protection solutions to the law enforcement community, vehicle finance industry, and insurance and rental car industries. Throughout his career, Emil has worked in many areas of the automotive industry in ways that have allowed him to focus on the intersection of law, policy, privacy, technology, and the entirety of product lifecycle. Emil frequently works on crafting policy recommendations and best practices with federal and state government. This includes policies relating to a diverse range of subjects including electric vehicle batteries, pollution control, catalytic converter theft, vehicle data access, vehicle exports, and other automotive related issues.
Michael O'Kronley, CEO, Ascend Elements
Michael O’Kronley was named CEO of Ascend Elements in March 2020 and has served on the company's board since 2017. Before Ascend Elements, he was Head of Corporate Strategy at A123 Systems. He has worked in the automotive and EV battery industries for over 25 years with previous business development, operations and engineering roles at Metaldyne Corp. and Robert Bosch. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in Engineering from the University of Michigan. Based in Westborough, Mass., Ascend Elements is revolutionizing the production of lithium-ion battery materials by establishing a clean and sustainable supply chain using recycled feedstock. Its patented Hydro-to-Cathode™ technology directly synthesizes new cathode active materials from spent lithium-ion cells more efficiently than traditional methods, resulting in reduced cost, improved performance, and lowered GHG emissions. With fewer batteries going to landfill and a cleaner manufacturing process, Ascend Elements is taking the lithium-ion battery industry to a higher level with a truly sustainable, closed-loop battery economy.
Richard Osuch, CEO & Founder, My EV Charger, LLC
Ricard Osuch is the Founder and CEO of My EV Charger, LLC., which focuses on innovative electric vehicle charging and management solutions for residential, fleet and commercial properties. He has over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry and has broad experience with EV chargers and EV infrastructure including: Hardware, Management Software, Infrastructure Assessments, Client Education, Layout, and Installation including activation of EV Chargers. His recent focus has been collaborating with numerous automotive dealers to guide them through the options and challenges of commissioning Fast Charging infrastructure.
Benjamin Park, PhD, Founder & CTO, Enevate Corp.
Dr. Park leads Enevate’s R&D efforts. He is an expert in battery and surface/bulk chemistries, and novel battery manufacturing techniques. Ben has authored 45+ talks/publications, and has 100+ patents issued/filed. He holds a doctorate in mechanical & aerospace engineering from UC Irvine, MSEE from Purdue University, BSEE from Seoul National University.
Jaebum Jake Park, Senior Principal Researcher, POSCO Research Institute
Jaebum Park is senior principal researcher at POSCO Research Institute (POSRI). He began researching the EV and battery industry at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) in 2005 and has provided insight into the future of battery industry based on EV/battery technology and market analysis. Since 2011, he has been researching the battery metal and material industry at POSRI (POSCO Research Institute). He conducts market forecasts and technology outlooks for the lithium, nickel, cathode/anode materials and battery recycling industry. He has also presented his research results at leading forums and seminars. In other words, Jaebum Park is researching the entire battery value chain (metal-material - battery - EV - recycling). Additionally, he participates in establishing business strategies for POSCO's business divisions (cathode/cathode materials, lithium, nickel, and battery recycling) and also serves as an in-house consultant presenting strategic directions.
Yednesh Parnaik, Head of Sales, Sales & Marketing, ENNOVI
Yednesh Parnaik is Head of Sales at ENNOVI and responsible for driving profitable growth, customer relationships and developing strategic commercial vision. Yednesh has a background in mobility and EV battery industries. He has led teams and organization to drive revenue growth, develop product strategies, enhance customer experience and launch multi-billion dollar projects seamlessly across multiple channels and international markets. With a background in engineering, finance, program management, and business development, he is a transformational leader who has excelled in both small and large-scale organizations. He has completed his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University & MBA from the University of Michigan.
Anil Paryani, Executive Engineering Director, Advanced EV Program, Ford
Anil Paryani is an innovator, entrepreneur and environmentalist who has developed and deployed EV battery and charging technology since 1990. He led Tesla’s battery management system for almost 6 years. He started his career at Honda R&D and held various leadership roles at FF, BTC Power, and AeroVironment. In 2017, Anil founded AMP, an E-Mobility company with the mission of electrifying the world. In 2023, Ford Motor Company acquired AMP, where he presently leading the EV Systems Architecture of a ‘Skunk Works” program. Anil has over 35 patents in the field. He graduated with a BSEE from Cal Poly Pomona.
- Battery Intelligence for Automotive Applications
- EV Technology for Heavy-Duty Applications
- xEV Battery Technology, Application, and Market
- High-Performance Battery Manufacturing
- Advanced Battery Manufacturing Production
- Battery Engineering for Automotive Applications
- Battery Recycling
- Global Battery Raw Materials
- Battery Chemistries for Automotive Applications
- EV Fast Charging & Infrastructure
- Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
Yatish Patel, PhD, Research Associate Mechanics of Materials, Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London
Dr Yatish Patel is a Research Fellow at Imperial College London in the Electrochemical Science & Engineering Group. Having trained as a physicist before moving to engineering, his research is based around developing engineering solutions centered around scientific understanding of lithium-ion batteries. His research portfolio focuses on understanding degradation mechanisms, failure modes and the limits of operation of batteries and the impact these have on system design and control. His research has led to his involvement with a start-up company in the battery and energy sector.
Aishwarya Patwardhan, Application Engineer Current Collector Systems, Engineering, ENNOVI
Aishwarya is an Applications Engineer with extensive experience working in the e-mobility industry. At ENNOVI, she has demonstrated her expertise in the battery interconnect systems by successfully leading customer inquiries for both cylindrical and prismatic cell interconnects while also being involved in the advanced engineering projects for pouch cell current collector development. Previously at Rivian, Aishwarya worked in various teams like Battery and Body Structures gaining cradle to grave product development experience. She holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University and a bachelor's degree from Pune University. She believes in thinking and acting towards continuous improvement, has a fresh perspective on design and product development that leads to innovative solutions.
Cameron Peebles, PhD, Battery Technical Manager, Alkegen
Cam Peebles first whet his teeth on batteries at The University of Texas at Austin during his PhD. He then went to Argonne National Laboratory as a Postdoctoral Fellow and investigated electrolytes, cathode materials, and diagnostic methods for lithium-ion batteries. After a couple years in Illinois he moved to San Diego to work at Wildcat Discovery Technologies as a lead scientist and then at Rivian Automotive as a Staff Cell Engineer. He has been the battery technical manager at Alkegen since late 2022.
Richard W. Pekala, CTO, R&D, Entek International, LLC
Dr. Pekala is Chief Technology Officer for ENTEK International LLC. He has a B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University and a Sc.D. degree in polymeric materials from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Pekala began his career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he worked for 11 years in the Materials Science Department on sol-gel chemistry and organic-based aerogels. In 1996, Dr. Pekala joined PPG Industries as a scientist working in the Silica Products business unit where he had responsibility for precipitated silica used in battery separators and synthetic printing media. In 1999, Dr. Pekala joined ENTEK where he helped to commercialize new products such as lithium-ion battery separators, Pb-acid battery separators, and waterproof breathable membranes. Dr. Pekala has over 100 technical publications, 2 R&D 100 awards, 1 BCI Innovation award, and 41 patents.
Ahmad Pesaran, PhD, Chief Energy Storage Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
After receiving his Ph.D. from UCLA, Ahmad has been working at NREL on energy efficient technologies including electrified vehicles. Until 2017, Ahmad was the Manager of the Energy Storage Group researching science and engineering of high energy anodes and cathodes, battery thermal management, 3D electrochemical-thermal modeling, safety and thermal runaway modeling, battery second use, techno-economic analysis of batteries for EVs; he led the Computer-Aided Engineering for Electric Drive Vehicle Batteries for Department of Energy (DOE).Between 2016 and 2018 he was detailed at the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) as technical advisor to the Battery program supporting battery processing, extreme fast charging and recycling. He was the Administrator for the first Phase of the DOE Battery Recycling Prize.Currently, Ahmad is pursuing energy storage business development activities for NREL and supports VTO with battery processing, manufacturing, solid electrolyte, and low-cobalt cathode projects.
Kirstyn Petras, Senior Reporter, Pricing, Fastmarkets
Kirstyn Petras is a Senior Price Reporter at Fastmarkets, where she covers nonferrous recycled materials including aluminum and copper scrap, as well as reporting of battery materials and battery recycling markets, such as black mass. Prior to joining Fastmarkets in 2021, she covered petrochemical and uranium markets and previously worked writing news briefs for MGOs and MNCs.
Wilhelm Pfleging, PhD, Head of Group Laser Materials Processing/Lithium-ion Batteries, Institute for Applied Materials (IAM-AWP), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Wilhelm Pfleging is head of the group Laser Materials Processing at the Institute of Applied Materials (IAM-AWP) which is part of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). He received his Master and Ph.D. at the Fraunhofer Institute of Laser Technology (RWTH Aachen, Germany) in the field of pulsed laser deposition, laser micromachining, and electron spectroscopy. He has more than 30 years of experience in laser technology and material science. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, books and conference reports (h-index 32). He is member of scientific and programme committees in several international conferences (e.g., LAMP, CLEO, ICALEO, MRS, SPIE Photonics West, SPIE Photonics Europe) with focus on laser processing and energy storage materials. He has six patents granted. At KIT, he initiates and manages several industrial and academic collaborative research and development projects with emphasis on functional surfaces and energy storage systems. His research is focused on the development of laser-assisted processes, analytics (electrochemical analytics, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) and manufacturing of advanced lithium-ion batteries and related energy storage materials (3D Battery). Furthermore, he is Professor at university (KIT) for “Laser Technology” and “Laser-assisted methods and their application for energy storage materials."
Vu Phan, Manager Engineering Energy Systems, Engineering , ENNOVI
Vu Phan is the Manager of Energy Systems for ENNOVI. Vu has been leading the global Application Engineering team at ENNOVI (former Interplex) to develop the EV battery interconnect systems since 2016. Vu has over 25 years of experience in the field of automotive, renewable energy, electronics and hardware engineering. He started his engineering career with Intel Corp. working on the PCB design and manufacturing of motherboard for Desktop and Enterprise products. Vu then continued accelerating his career through multiple design roles with commercial truck’s CAB Engineering and Fuel Cell system. He holds a Master of Science degree in Engineering and Technology Management from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon Institute of Technology. Vu has a great interest and passion to take part in developing innovative solutions for green technologies.
Anusha Pillay, Product Manager - Busways & Busplugs for Datacenters, Electrical Products, Siemens
Anusha Pillay is a Product Manager at Siemens Electrical Products. She is responsible for managing product development cycles of EV fast chargers from ideation to launch. She is extensively involved with requirements evaluation, prototyping, testing and working with UL. Anusha's background prior to joining E-mobility was in Low Voltage Motor Control center manufacturing. She has a master's in Power Systems Engineering from NC State University and an MBA in Strategy & Leadership from Kenan Flagler School of Business, UNC Chapel Hill.
Christophe Pillot, PhD, Director, Avicenne Energy
Christophe has built up considerable expertise in the area of batteries. He joined AVICENNE 26 years ago and spent 3 years in Japan analyzing the Japanese electronic, mobile & battery market. Christophe has acquired extensive experience in marketing, strategy analysis, technology and financial studies for the battery and power management fields. He developed the Battery market analysis for AVICENNE, which serves more than 220 customers worldwide. Christophe has published several annual surveys such as "The Rechargeable Battery Market". He is also the founder & chairman of Batteries - an international industry conference held in France since 1999. He is now Director at AVICENNE ENERGY. Globally, he has been involved in more than 300 projects for 200+ customers in the Battery value chain. Before joining AVICENNE, Christophe held a key position in FRANCE TELECOM's innovation division. He has a degree in Chemistry & an MBA in Innovation Management from Paris IX Dauphine. His mother tongue is French, and he speaks fluent English.
Gregory L. Plett, PhD, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Professor Plett received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1998. Since then, he has been on the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. His research focuses on control-systems theory as applied to the management of high-capacity battery systems, such as found in hybrid and electric vehicles. Current research efforts include: physics-based reduced-order modeling of ideal lithium-ion dynamics; system identification of physics-based model parameters using only current-voltage input-output data; physics-based reduced-order modeling of degradation mechanisms in electrochemical cells; estimation of cell internal state and degradation state; state-of-charge, state-of-health and state-of-life estimation; power and energy prediction; and battery pack fast charging.
Laurenz Ploechl, Sr Key Account Mgr, Battery Materials, Onejoon Thermal Solutions GmbH
Laurenz Plöchl is Senior Account Manager - Battery Materials at ONEJOON Germany and in charge of CAM project business development. His background is mechanical engineering and material science. He has been working in the advanced materials manufacturing industries and furnace business for more than 25 years.
James E. Powell, President & Founder, Consulting, Transportation Development Group LLC
James E. Powell is president and founder of Transportation Development Group LLC (TDG) a dangerous goods (hazardous materials) training company and consultancy based in Seattle, WA. Jim founded TDG in 1992 after 16 years in executive level positions in the airline, trucking and logistics industries throughout the US. His career includes 5 years at Skyway Freight Systems, a leader in Third Party Logistics services, as well as Air Express International, DHL, and Air Polynesia in Hawaii. He served as Director of Cargo for DHL Air Cargo in the early 1980s and created their first FAA-approved HazMat Training Program. Jim is an international author, speaker, and trainer on dangerous goods and logistics issues. He is a delegate to the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods for the UN and has attended the UN meetings regarding lithium battery transportation regulations in Geneva for the past 5 years. From 1998 to 2002, Jim was involved in training over 150 FAA Special Agents at their academy in Oklahoma City. Jim was an original instructor for California State University Long Beach’s “Global Logistics Specialist Program” for nearly 10 years. In addition to Jim's work at the UN on behalf of the DG Trainers Association, he is an alternate member of the Canadian Government Standards Board task force on Competency-Based Training.
Tomasz Poznar, PhD, Vice President, Strategy, Ascend Elements
Tomasz Poznar, Ph.D. joined the Ascend Elements in 2021. He has diverse battery industry experience in multiple functional areas, including strategic planning, products and new business development. He came to Ascend Elements from A123 Systems, where he was responsible for corporate strategy and business development. His previous experience includes various executive roles and years of lithium-ion battery and vehicle electrification experience with EnerDel, Delco Remy and Volvo. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Poland.
Robert Privette, Manager, Business Development, Umicore Battery Materials USA Inc
Rob Privette is responsible for Umicore Battery Material business development in North America. He has extensive experience developing and commercializing new products in the battery and fuel cell industries. He earned his MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and has completed MBA coursework. Before rejoining Umicore in 2018, he was Vice President of Energy Markets at XG Sciences where he created and grew the company’s Energy Materials business targeting silicon/graphene anode materials and graphene-conductive additives for lithium-ion batteries. Prior to that, he was Product Development Director and US Fuel Cell Development Director at Ovonic Energy Conversion Devices and Umicore Fuel Cells, respectively.
Wenzel Prochazka, PhD, Senior Product Manager, Electrification Systems, NXP Semiconductors Austria
From 2002 - 2008, Wenzel Prochazka studied Mechanical Engineering for Mechatronics at the University of Graz in Austria and the Institute of Applied Sciences in Rouen, France. During his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Graz (Prof Sommitsch, TuGraz; Prof Winter, Meet Münster) from 2009 - 2013, he investigated aging mechanisms of lithium-ion cells for electrochemical aging modelling. Since 2007 he worked for vehicle thermal management at AVL. In 2010, he joined AVL’s Global Battery Competence Team. In 2013, he switched to his current position of Senior Product Manager for Battery Systems, responsible for global Business Development and Battery Strategy.
Vallabha Rao Rikka, PhD, Research Scientist IV, UL Research Institutes
Vallabha Rao Rikka is a Research Scientist-IV at the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI) of Underwriters Laboratories in the USA. Renowned for his expertise in developing safe and efficient fast-charging techniques for lithium-ion batteries, Vallabha's work has been instrumental in advancing battery technology in the electric vehicle (EV) sector. His innovative contributions extend beyond traditional battery technologies, embracing the evolving realm of green energy solutions. Formerly a scientist at ARCI Chennai's Centre for Advanced Energy Materials (CAEM), Vallabha has a rich history in electric vehicle and energy storage applications. His proficiency extends to in-situ and ex-situ operando characterization of battery interfaces. Over the past decade, his work has focused on innovating rapid formation methods for solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layers in lithium-ion batteries. This innovation, reducing cell formation time by 75% and patented in India (Indian patent No. 202011052906), is a testament to his contributions to the field. Vallabha is also the architect behind a cutting-edge fast-charging protocol, which stands as one of the safest and most efficient charging methods, capable of fully charging batteries in merely 15 minutes, significantly easing range anxiety for EV users. Vallabha Rao Rikka's comprehensive expertise and innovative vision make him a pivotal figure in battery technology and green energy, contributing significantly to pursuing a sustainable and carbon-neutral future.
Marco Romero, Founder & CEO, Positive Materials
Marco Romero is an entrepreneur with over 40 years of experience in the technical services, mining and construction materials industries. He has held leadership roles in exploration, mine planning and operations, permitting and finance, as well as project and corporate development. He co-founded several Canadian companies, including Eldorado Gold, Polaris Materials, Delta Gold and Euro Manganese. He has received several international, national and regional awards for achievements in corporate social responsibility and environmental excellence.
Robert Rosen, PhD, Senior Director, Strategic Materials, ENOVIX Corp
Robert K Rosen, PhD, is the Senior Director, Strategic Materials at Enovix. In this capacity, Rob initiates and oversees interactions with world-class suppliers of critical strategic materials for the unique Enovix cell. Rob joined Enovix in 2014 as a key member of the research and development team responsible for developing the company’s proprietary stacked cell architecture. From 2014 until early 2023 (with the exception of a brief stint at a company in the renewables field), Rob held various technical and leadership positions in Enovix R&D, including development of key inactive components used in the Enovix cell, managing and expanding the Active Materials Group, and leading the original team that developed BrakeFlow technology. Rob has a PhD from UC Berkeley in Chemistry, and before joining Enovix spent 13 years at Dow Chemical, and 11 years at Symyx Technologies.
Eric Rountree, PhD, CEO, FastLion Energy
Eric Rountree is currently the head of special projects and the head of business development at EC Power. He holds a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of North Carolina and has research interests in general electrochemistry, lithium-ion batteries, electrochemical fuel generation, and electrochemical manufacturing techniques.
Cyrus Rustomji, Co-Founder and CSO, South 8 Technologies
Cyrus Rustomji is Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer of South 8, a San Diego-based company focused on electrolyte for advanced lithium-ion batteries. Cyrus earned his PhD from UC San Diego for his original work on developing South 8’s Liquefied Gas Electrolyte technology and a B.S. in Physics from UC Los Angeles. He has over fifteen years of research and product development experience.
Jeffrey Sakamoto, PhD, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
Jeff Sakamoto joined UC Santa Barbara’s College of Engineering faculty in 2024 with joint appointments in the Mechanical Engineering and Materials Departments. He has 25 years of experience studying and translating electrochemical materials into energy storage technologies. Prior to joining the UCSB faculty, Sakamoto spent nine years at the University of Michigan, where he served as director of Michigan’s Department of Energy Frontiers Research Center, called the Mechano-chemical Understanding of Solid Ion Conductors), MUSIC. Last year, Sakamoto also served as the faculty lead in a successful push to establish the EV Center at Michigan, testifying before state representatives about the importance of developing next-generation batteries, manufacturing state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries, and educating and training battery scientists and engineers. Sakamoto also spent six years as a faculty member at Michigan State and seven years as a senior engineer at NASA/Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow, a recipient of the Major Space Act Award from the NASA Inventions and Contributions Board, the primary contributor on nearly three dozen patents, and founded and co-founded three startups. Sakamoto received his PhD in materials engineering from UCLA and served four years in the U.S. Army.
Jeff Samalot, Public Network Product Manager, Electrify America
Jeff Samalot is Product Manager for the Public Network at Electrify America and Electrify Canada, leading technical teams across several programs to drive customer experience and business efficiencies for the Hyper-Fast charging network. With over 10 years of experience in technical and business facing roles in the electric vehicle industry, his expertise is focused on product strategy, technical requirement development, and electric vehicle charging. Since joining Electrify America in 2021, Jeff has led programs involving new charger architecture, technical systems design, and pricing structure. Prior to joining Electrify America, he held multiple roles at BMW North America ranging from Product Management to Engineering and Aftersales support for all EV models. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Michael Sanders, Senior Advisor, Energy, Avicenne Energy
Mike has significant energy storage materials value chain understanding with an emphasis on lithium-ion batteries and systems with 13 years of market knowledge and relationships. Successful program leadership experience with significant business growth in ventures and existing businesses with a proven track record leading mergers and acquisition teams to enter the lithium-ion battery materials market. He joined AVICENNE in May of 2016 as a Senior Advisor. Since joining the AVICENNE team, Mike has been leading the US AVICENNE activity working with many clients holding strategy workshops, validation of growth opportunities, helping clients establish their growth plans in energy storage, and establishing M&A targets/diligence. Before joining AVICENNE, Mike had a very long career with DuPont, his most recent role was the Global Marketing Director - Energy Storage Venture where he developed significant understanding and insights for the energy storage materials market, device manufacturing, and systems while leading global marketing and customer interface efforts to establish programs to enter the $20B energy storage materials market. Executed strategic and market planning for opportunity evaluation, research, choices, and M&A activity for entry into rapidly growing new market. He has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Delaware and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and Electrochemical Society.
Austin Sendek, PhD, Founder/CEO, Aionics, Inc.; Adjunct Professor, Stanford University
Dr. Austin Sendek is the founder of Aionics, Inc., an industry-leading artificial intelligence and high performance compute co-innovation partner for the battery industry. Dr. Sendek is also Adjunct Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University and was included on Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 in Energy list in 2019. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University and a B.S. in Applied Physics from UC Davis.
Taylor Shively, Principal Consultant, CRU Group
Taylor, a Principal Consultant with CRU Consulting, delivers targeted, actionable advice to senior decision makers and stakeholders up and down the base metals, battery materials, and aluminum value chains, emphasising sustainability trends and the critical minerals enabling the energy transition. He has worked on projects on six continents, spanning mining and metals value chains from exploration to recycling, as well as strategic decision-making support concerning supply chains and sourcing, government policy, project development, production, and marketing. Taylor holds a Masters of Science degree in Engineering and Technology Management and a Bachelors of Science degree in Economics with an area of specialisation in Engineering Physics, both from the Colorado School of Mines.
Tal Sholklapper, PhD, CEO & Co-Founder, Voltaiq, Inc.
Dr. Tal Sholklapper has an extensive record of success as a cleantech engineer and entrepreneur. Prior to founding Voltaiq, he worked as the lead engineer on a DOE ARPA-E funded project at the CUNY Energy Institute, developing an ultra low-cost grid-scale battery. Before joining CUNY, Dr. Sholklapper co-founded Point Source Power, a low cost fuel-cell startup based on technology he developed while at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley, where he also did his graduate work in Materials Science and Engineering. As a Materials Postdoctoral Fellow at LBNL, he successfully led the transfer of lab-scale technology to industry partners.
Tal Sholklapper, CEO & Co-Founder, Executive, Voltaiq
Dr. Tal Sholklapper has an extensive record of success as a cleantech engineer and entrepreneur. Prior to founding Voltaiq, he worked as the lead engineer on a DOE ARPA-E funded project at the CUNY Energy Institute, developing an ultra low-cost grid-scale battery. Before joining CUNY, Dr. Sholklapper co-founded Point Source Power, a low cost fuel-cell startup based on technology he developed while at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley, where he also did his graduate work in Materials Science and Engineering. As a Materials Postdoctoral Fellow at LBNL, he successfully led the transfer of lab-scale technology to industry partners.
Tina Singh, Principal Engineer, Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs, Toyota Motor North America
Tina Singh is a Principal Engineer within Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs at Toyota Motor North America. Here she works on vehicle federal regulations in which automotive xEV batteries play a significant role. She brings 11 years of experience in environmental, health & safety, emergency response, petroleum engineering, environmental engineering, and water treatment design, as well as soil and groundwater treatment.
Brian Sisk, PhD, CTO, Sepion Technologies
Brian Sisk is CTO of Sepion Technologies, developer of innovative materials including size-selective coated separators and electrolyte systems for automotive and other applications where excellent fast charge and cycle life are paramount. Before joining Sepion, Brian was Senior Director of Energy Storage Systems for Rivian, where he developed the battery systems for the company's award-winning R1T truck, R1S SUV, and Electric Delivery Van. Brian also served as Vice President of Cell Product Development at A123 Systems where he launched NMC and LFP batteries with extreme charge rates for EV, mild-hybrid, and 12V applications. Brian has a PhD in Chemistry from California Institute of Technology.
Steve Sloop, PhD, President, OnTo Technology LLC
Steve Sloop has pioneered comprehensive methods to improve safety and efficiency in recycling lithium-ion batteries and materials. These include deactivation of lithium-ion batteries to eliminate hazards in transportation and storage; electrolyte extraction; electrode harvesting and separation; and cathode-healing™, which is a direct method to reintroduce lithium, structure, and performance to scrap electrodes.
Seung-Wan Song, PhD, Professor, Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, Chungnam National University
Dr. Song is a battery expert, in particular, on electrolyte and the SEI control. Song's recent work is focused on the development of nonflammable and flame-retarding organic liquid electrolytes for safe, long-cycled and high-energy density advanced lithium-ion batteries; and the SEI stabilization technologies at both anode and cathode. She is the author of more than 120 refereed journal papers, co-inventor of 93 inventions with patents issued or filed and 3 technology transfers.
Bart Sowa, Research and Development, Manager, GTI Energy
Bart is a Research and Development manager at GTI Energy, a leading non-profit research and training organization focused on developing, scaling, and deploying innovations that support low-carbon, low-cost energy systems. Bart is focusing on the decarbonization of the transportation industry by helping fleets, truck manufacturers, and technology developers evaluate new technologies through pre-production demonstration projects. He is managing projects showcasing technologies and vehicles such as hydrogen-fueled switcher locomotive, hydrogen-fueled terminal tractors, 500-mile hydrogen-fueled Class 8 tractor, mobile liquid hydrogen fueler, developing a blueprint for Houston-to-Los Angeles Hydrogen Corridor, and more. Bart has over 19 years of experience in the mobility and energy industries; prior to joining GTI Energy, he worked for Navistar and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
Erin Sowerby, Principal, Roland Berger
Erin is a Principal in the Regulated and Infrastructure team at Roland Berger, a global management consulting firm. In her career, Erin has participated in and advised the project development, commercial strategy, contract negotiation, and regulatory strategy for large energy and infrastructure companies in the Americas and Europe. At Roland Berger, Erin leads much of the EV charging infrastructure work in the Americas. She works with regulated utilities to help them plan and prepare for new load from electrification and works with investors across the entire value chain, including charger manufacturers all the way to V2G software companies.
Jacob S. Spendelow, Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Jacob S. Spendelow performs research on electrochemical technology related to energy and the environment. He received his BS/MS from Case Western Reserve University in 2002/2003, and his PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006, where he conducted research on electrocatalysis and fuel cells. He subsequently joined LANL as a Director's postdoctoral fellow in 2006 and has been a staff member since 2008. His research activities include work on catalysts and electrode structures for fuel cells, electrolyzers, and other electrochemical applications.
Venkat Srinivasan, PhD, Director, Center for Collaborative Energy Storage Science, Argonne National Laboratory
Venkat Srinivasan is a Senior Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory (LBNL), the Director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) and Deputy Director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR, the battery “Hub”). His research interest is in developing next-generation batteries for use in vehicle and stationary applications.
Ionel Stefan, Chief Technology Officer, R&D, Amprius Technologies
Ionel Stefan is Amprius’ Chief Technology Officer. He joined Amprius in its very early days in 2009 as a Senior Scientist, initially to lead electrochemistry for silicon nanowire anode-based lithium-ion batteries. Dr. Stefan now leads Amprius' development of silicon nanowire electrochemistry, cell technology -- including material design, cell design and engineering -- and product development. At Amprius, he has served as Principal Investigator on multiple projects, including NASA, Army, DOE and USABC-funded research and development efforts.
Ionel Stefan received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University (2002) with research activities focused on the development of new materials and devices for energy production and storage. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, developing high temperature solid oxide fuel cells. Later, at Nanosys, he became familiar with silicon nanowire materials and developed methanol fuel cells with catalysts supported on nanowire electrodes. At Nanosys, Ionel began developing silicon anodes for lithium-ion batteries. At Amprius since 2009, he leads development of materials and electrochemistry for silicon anode-based cells and products.
Carine Steinway, Technology Development Leader, US Department of Energy
Electrochemist and process engineer by training. Spent 10 years working for a lithium-ion battery manufacturer taking on roles of scientist, R&D program Manager and Incubator Manager. Currently working for VTO as a Technology Develpment Manager.
Chady Stephan, Dir Applied Markets, Analytical & Enterprise Solutions, PerkinElmer Inc
Chady Stephan holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Université de Montréal. He joined PerkinElmer as an Atomic Spectroscopy application scientist. He since then occupied various roles inside of the organization in product management and business development. He currently directs a team of market managers focusing on core capabilities within focused end markets. He is a thought leader in elemental analysis with over 30 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters.
Philip Stephenson, PhD, General Manager, PACCAR Technical Center
Dr. Philip Stephenson is General Manager, PACCAR Technical Center. He has held this position since 2012. Dr. Stephenson leads teams responsible for advanced engineering, and is globally responsible for validation for PACCAR and its truck brands, Peterbilt, Kenworth and DAF. Before joining PACCAR, he worked as Director of Product Development and Engineering at A123 Systems where he led engineering teams in the US and Germany. Dr. Stephenson was also Chief Engineer for product development and validation at automotive supplier Behr in Michigan. His experience also includes 7 years with computational fluid dynamics software developers Fluent and CD-adapco Group, and diesel engine research experience at Daimler-Benz Research Institute in Stuttgart, Germany. Dr. Stephenson earned a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin (Engine Research Center) and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University.
Sarah Stockwell, PhD, Conference Producer, Cambridge EnerTech
Since joining Cambridge EnerTech in Feb 2024, Sarah has worked within the recycling, mining and mineral processing areas of the battery value chain. She has industry experience in power supply and conversion for clean energy applications, Li-ion battery cathode research, oil and gas and mineral processing. Sarah holds a PhD in Materials Science & Metallurgy from the University of Cambridge and a BEng in Mineral Engineering from the University of Leeds.
Evelina Stoikou, Senior Associate, Energy Storage, Bloomberg New Energy Finance
Evelina Stoikou is a Senior Associate at BloombergNEF in New York, covering energy storage technologies and the lithium battery supply chain. Her research provides insights on the upstream battery value chain including technology, prices, markets and policies. She leads the company's research on battery prices and costs, battery startups, and policy landscape in North America. Prior to joining BNEF Evelina worked in management consulting, and she holds a dual degree in chemistry and engineering from Dartmouth and Vassar College.
Dee Strand, PhD, CSO, R&D, Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Inc.
Dr. Dee Strand is Chief Scientific Officer at Wildcat Discovery Technologies. Dr. Strand has over twenty years of experience in materials research, development, and commercialization, primarily in the areas of energy storage and electronic applications. Prior to joining Wildcat in 2013, Dr. Strand served as a Research Fellow at Dow Chemical, where she was the technical lead in Dow Energy Materials, as well as the Principal Investigator on external research programs with universities and national labs on battery materials. Dr. Strand also has extensive experience in patent analysis and technical due diligence of new technologies. Dr. Strand completed her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, under the supervision of Professor John Schrag. Her Ph.D. research focused on rheology and birefringence of polymeric solutions.
Mika Takahashi, Technology Analyst, Electric Vehicle Research, IDTechEx
Mika Takahashi is a Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, focusing primarily on Electric Vehicle technologies. Prior to joining IDTechEx in 2023, Mika graduated with First Class Honors from the University of Edinburgh with a Masters in Physics. During his final year, he conducted research on novel methods of locomotion in granular systems, with commercial applications in the agriculture industry. This was conducted in collaboration with the Institute for Condensed Matter and Complex Systems. He is also well-versed in a variety of topics including advanced computational modeling, statistical physics, and biophysics.
Venkataraman Thangadurai, PhD, Chair in Energy & Faraday Institution; Adjunct Professor, School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews
Dr. Venkataraman Thangadurai is a full professor and Chair in Energy at the School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom. He is the inaugural Faraday Adjunct Professorial Fellow at the University of St Andrews. He is elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), Royal Society of Canada, and the Electrochemical Society (USA). He has published more than 260 peer-reviewed papers in journals (H-index of 69). He has received the Keith Laidler Award from the Canadian Chemical Society (CSC) in 2016 and Research Excellence Award in Materials Chemistry from CSC in 2021. Dr. Thangadurai is founder of two start-ups based on his lithium-ion electrolytes research. His current research activities include the discovery of novel solid-state electrolytes and electrodes for advanced batteries and fuel cells.
Shane Thompson, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, Cirba Solutions
Shane Thompson has an impressive 20-year career in battery life cycle management. This experience includes leadership in environmental sales, commercial operations, and process development. He currently serves as the EVP of Strategy and Business Development at Cirba Solutions. With a passion to make a positive impact on environmental initiatives, he has used his knowledge to help drive U.S. policy and regulations related to battery recycling and been a trusted consultant regarding recycling various materials. Shane is committed to creating innovative opportunities for a circular battery supply chain and second life applications. His combined experience and knowledge make him one of the world’s most qualified experts in a rapidly evolving industry.
Antoni Tong, PhD, CEO, Smartville
As CEO and co-founder of Smartville, Dr. Antoni Tong leads the technology development and commercialization of its low-cost and scalable second-life battery energy storage solution. He has extensive expertise in lithium battery management, control, and their integration with the utility grid, distributed renewable resources, and electrified transportation. Prior to Smartville, He worked as a research scientist at UC San Diego and served as principal investigator for the energy storage integration lab.
Loraine Torres-Castro, PhD, Battery Safety Lead, Sandia National Laboratories
Loraine Torres-Castro is the battery safety lead for vehicle electrification and grid energy storage at Sandia National Labs. The research that Loraine oversees focuses on evaluating batteries well outside of manufacturer recommended specifications and the severity of any catastrophic thermal runaway. In the Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory, her efforts are focused on understanding the mechanisms that lead to energy storage system safety incidents, and developing mitigation strategies for single-cell and system failures. Loraine has innovated abuse testing by targeting problems using a predictive approach (early detection for intervention) to eliminate failure rather than reacting to it. Her work has led to developments in advanced abuse testing, including a fundamental understanding of cell failure, to facilitate the design of safer energy storage systems. Her expertise and commitment to safety science have led to multiple cross-collaborations among sponsoring organizations, including the Department of Energy (Office of Electricity, the Vehicle Technologies Office, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy), Department of Transportation, and NASA. On behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, she authored and maintains the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) Battery Abuse Testing Manual, widely used by car manufacturers to evaluate new technologies. Loraine is also a member of the USABC, for which she provides technical advice and recommendations.
Scott Trimboli, PhD, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Professor Trimboli’s research focuses on development of control strategies for the management of high-capacity battery systems such as found in electric vehicles. He is currently involved in multiple projects where he leads investigation on battery modeling and the application of model-predictive control to improve the performance and extend the lifetime of lithium ion battery cells. Other research efforts include: reduced-order modeling methods, modeling of lithium-ion degradation mechanisms, empirical and physics-based modeling of lithium-ion battery thermal properties, as well as predictive methods for power estimation.
Ralph Troute, Principal Engineer, Ralph Troute Consulting
After 30 years of experience in the electric vehicle and alternative fuels industry, Ralph Troute left the corporate world to start his own independent consulting services. Ralphs experience in electric and hydrogen vehicle infrastructure extends to organizations like CALSTART, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), Ford Motor Company, and Siemens Light Rail Division. Over the years, Ralph has proven technical expertise in developing standards, including active membership in organizations such as SAE, ANSI, NFPA, and NIST. Ralph designed and built the first utility owned and operated public DC fast charging sites while working at SMUD.
Masanobu Uchimura, Senior Manager, Nissan Advanced Technology Center Silicon Valley, Nissan North America Inc
Masanobu Uchimura is a Senior Manager at Nissan Advanced Technology Center Silicon Valley and a researcher specializing in nanomaterials and electrochemistry. He is engaged in battery system design utilizing telematics data, and materials research related to batteries and CO2 reduction using materials informatics.
Ulderico Ulissi, PhD, Manager, 21C Lab, Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL)
Dr. Ulderico Ulissi is a manager in technology assessment and system analysis at 21C Lab, part of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL). Before, he worked in consulting and market research. He held technical roles as Battery Research Engineer at Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (technical lead for energy storage technologies, AMIEO region) and as Senior Scientist at OXIS Energy ltd. (technical manager and team lead, cell design of pre-A-Sample Li-S batteries). He was awarded his doctorate (chemistry) in 2017 from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), and holds both BSc and MSc (industrial chemistry) from Sapienza, University of Rome (Italy). He authored several scientific publications, five patents and one book on energy storage technologies.
Benny Varghese, PhD, Research Engineer, Energy Storage & Advanced Transportation, Idaho National Laboratory
Dr. Benny Varghese is a research engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory working on EV Charging Infrastructure. He leads the Diagnostics Task Force within the ChargeX Consortium, funded by the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to improve EV charging experience. In his current role, he is working to improve the reliability of public DC fast charging infrastructure and remove roadblocks to EV adoption. His areas of expertise include testing, design, and development of EV charging infrastructure. Areas of research interest include cyber-physical security of chargers and anomaly detection. Benny has a PhD from Utah State University, where he developed static and dynamic wireless charging solutions for electric vehicles.
Maithri Venkat, Manager-Battery Cell Lifetime and Parameterization, Lucid Motors, Inc.
Maithri Venkat manages Lucid Motors' Battery Cell Lifetime and Parameterization team. She has 9+ years of industry experience in lithium-ion cell development for automotive applications. Currently, she is also leading next-generation cell selection, qualification process, and key supplier partnerships for Lucid Motors' SUV vehicle platform-Gravity. Her technical expertise ranges from cell material evaluation, design tradeoff assessments, performance optimization, and new product introduction. Prior to Lucid, she worked at XALT Energy and benchmarked cell designs & sub-components for high-energy cell development for transportation and marine requirements. She collaborated with top tier OEMs and national labs for USABC 12V start/stop battery development.
Vishnu Vijayakumar, PhD, Senior Engineer, ZEV Energy & Infrastructure Strategy, Commercial Vehicles Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inc.
“A seasoned business scientist with over a decade of experience in project and product management. Hands-on experience managing new vehicle and infrastructure deployments. At Hyundai, I work on creating a H2 ecosystem needed to deploy Class 8 Fuel cell trucks ( XCIENT) in new markets and also for pilot demonstrations with fleet customers. I hold a PhD from UC Davis and my dissertation was on Hydrogen supply chain development in Western US. Featured speaker and thought leader at hydrogen conferences/workshops.”
Venkat Viswanathan, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
Venkat Viswanathan is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Viswanathan’s research focus is on identifying the scientific principles governing material design, inorganic, organic, and biomaterials, for novel energy conversion and storage routes. The material design is carried out through a suite of computational methods being developed in his group, and validated by experiments. Some key research thrusts include identifying principles of electrolytes design (organic material) that can tune electrode catalysis, identification of new anode, cathode (inorganic materials), and electrolyte materials for next generation batteries, and new electrocatalysts (inorganic) and biomaterials for energy storage and separation applications. In addition to material design, his group is involved in several cross-cutting areas such as battery controls, electric vehicle security, and GPU accelerated computing. Viswanathan received the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in 2019, Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry in 2018, the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2016, the American Chemical Society PRF Young Investigator Award in 2014, and the Electrochemical Society Daniel Cubicciotti Award in 2010. He was a finalist for MIT TR Innovators Under 35 in 2014, and was an Electrochemical Society Herbert H. Uhligh Summer Fellow in 2009.
William Walker, Chief Technology Officer, Engineering, KULR TECHNOLOGY GROUP
As the Chief Technology Officer at KULR Technology Group, Inc., Dr. William Q Walker leads a team of engineers and scientists dedicated to the development and implementation of cutting-edge thermal management solutions for energy storage applications that are utilized in aerospace, space, and by the DoD. With over 12 years of experience in design, test, and analysis of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, Dr. Walker specializes in the areas of battery safety, thermal runaway, and passive propagation resistant design methodologies. Dr. William Q Walker's professional and research focus revolves around the design of battery assemblies capable of safely mitigating the effects of thermal runaway and preventing cell-to-cell propagation. Dr. Walker has garnered multiple awards and recognition for significant contributions to Li-ion battery thermal analysis and calorimetry methods, including the NASA Trailblazer Award and the RNASA Stellar award. His continued involvement in academic and professional communities dedicated to battery safety reflects a commitment to advancing the field. Driven by a mission to enhance global safety standards, Dr. Walker aims to propel battery safety solutions to new heights, contributing to a safer world through innovative advancements.
Michael Wang, PhD, Group Center Director & Distinguished Fellow, Systems Assessment Center, Argonne National Lab
Dr. Michael Wang is a Distinguished Fellow and director of the Systems Assessment Center, Energy Systems Division at Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Wang leads the ongoing development of Argonne’s GREET software model for life cycle analysis of vehicle technologies and transportation fuels. The GREET model and his research results have been used by regulatory agencies such as the California Air Resources Board, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop automotive fuel regulations. In addition to his work in the U.S., Dr. Wang has collaborated with government agencies, automotive companies, energy companies, universities and research institutions in Asia and Europe. Dr. Wang is a fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers and a member of the Transportation Energy Committee of the Transportation Research Board. He served on the boards of NGOs, companies, and Chinese automotive research organizations, and is on the editorial boards of four international journals. Dr. Wang has over 270 publications in the areas of transportation energy and environment effects. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Environmental Science from University of California at Davis and a B.S. in Agricultural Meteorology from the China Agricultural University, Beijing.
Keven Wang, Co-Founder & CEO, UnitX
Keven Wang is the co-founder & CEO of UnitX, a robotics company automating visual inspection in factories. Keven previously led the desktop software team at RelateIQ (acquired by Salesforce for $390M). Keven graduated with an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University, and a BSE in Computer Science from University of Michigan.
Chunsheng Wang, PhD, Professor & RF & FR Wright Distinguished Chair, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland College Park
Dr. Chunsheng Wang is a Robert Franklin and Frances Riggs Wright Distinguished Chair Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland. He is an associate editor of ACS Applied Energy Materials, UMD Director of the UMD-ARL Center for Research in Extreme Battery, and a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society. His research focuses on rechargeable batteries and fuel cells. He has published more than 350 papers including Science, Nature, Nature Energy, Nature Materials, and Nature Chemistry. His work has been cited more than 75,000 times with an H-index of 143. He has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher since 2018 by Clarivate and received the 2021 Battery Division Research Award from The Electrochemical Society.
Hansen Wang, PhD, Special Technology Officer, Advanced Metal Anodes, 21C Lab, CATL
Dr. Hansen Wang is Special Technology Officer for Advanced Metal Anodes at 21C Lab, CATL. He leads fundamental research, materials development, and product design of high-energy lithium metal batteries. He is also in charge of developing aqueous zinc batteries and other metal-anode-based next-generation battery systems. He was awarded his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Stanford University in 2021 and holds a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University. He authored over 40 scientific publications, with an H-index of 37.
Fei Wang, R&D Manager, R&D, Saint Gobain
Fei has a PhD in polymer science from MIT, she joined Saint-Gobain in 2010 and has been actively developing new product solutions for various applications. Her expertise is in the development of products to mitigate thermal propagation and manage cell swelling in batteries for EV’s.
Jay F. Whitacre, PhD, CEO & CTO, Materials Science & Engineering, Stratus Materials
Jay is a material scientist and physicist with over 25 years of technical, business, and academic experience. His career has been focused on understanding and developing electrochemical materials and systems with a focus on lithium-ion batteries, energy policy, and innovation theory. He is a Professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the Materials Science and Engineering & Engineering and Public Policy departments, holds the Trustee Chair in Energy, and is currently on academic leave (after serving as the director of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation for 6 years). Whitacre developed a novel aqueous battery chemistry that was manufactured and sold by Aquion Energy, a company he founded in 2008 that produced and shipped over 30 MWh of energy storage worldwide. Earlier in his career, he was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he worked as a battery technologist, system engineer, and mission cognizant engineer. Jay holds a BA in Physics from Oberlin College as well as a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Martin Winter, PhD, Director & Professor, Electrochemical Energy Technology, University of Muenster
Martin Winter holds a professorship for “Materials Science, Energy and Electrochemistry” at Muenster University, Germany. He is a Director of the MEET Battery Research Center at Muenster University and of the Helmholtz-Institute Muenster (HI MS) “Ionics in Energy Storage”, a branch of Forschungszentrum Jülich. Martin Winter is the spokesperson of German Battery Research. He holds several president and chairmen positions in scientific societies and is the recipient of more than 50 awards and recognitions.
Craig Wohlers, General Manager, Cambridge EnerTech
Since 2014, Craig has served as Executive Director of Conferences for Cambridge Enertech, with primary responsibilities for scientific conference organization and program development within energy market sectors with conferences based in the United States, Asia, and Europe. Previously to joining CII, from its inception in 1998, Craig was the Founder and President of the Knowledge Foundation, a scientific conference and publishing company until it was acquired by CII in 2014. Additionally, Craig was a Director at IBC USA (now Informa), and has previous experience in conference development, publishing and techincal marketing.
- Battery Intelligence for Automotive Applications
- EV Technology for Heavy-Duty Applications
- xEV Battery Technology, Application, and Market
- High-Performance Battery Manufacturing
- Advanced Battery Manufacturing Production
- Battery Engineering for Automotive Applications
- Battery Recycling
- Global Battery Raw Materials
- Battery Chemistries for Automotive Applications
- EV Fast Charging & Infrastructure
- Hydrogen & Fuel Cells
Kevin Wood, PhD, Director, Battery Consulting & Services, Voltaiq, Inc.
Dr. Kevin N. Wood is a Sr. Solutions Engineer and Electrochemistry Expert for Voltaiq. He is also currently an adjunct professor of Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State University. Before joining Voltaiq Dr. Wood was both a Professor and CTO managing over $7.5 Million dollars of battery related government and industry sponsored research projects since 2018. He has 5 Patents in the energy storage space and 25 peer reviewed journal publications focused on electrochemical data analysis. His technological advances in characterization and electrochemical analysis have been highlighted by the National Academy of Engineering, PBS, and the Discovery channel. In 2018 his advances were awarded impact paper of the year by Nature Publishing for Future Lithium-based Batteries. In 2021 Dr. Wood gave a TEDx talk on “The Coming Battery Revolution”.
Johnathan Woodside, Mechanical Engineer, Gresham Smith
Johnathan Woodside, P.E., LEED AP O+M, CxA, CEM, is a project executive in Gresham Smith’s Building Engineering market, where he helps clients create long-term savings with sound, sustainable buildings. He is a certified energy manager with a passion for energy efficiency, shown by his more than a decade of experience conducting energy modeling and commissioning for various building types, including battery plants, higher-education institutions, healthcare facilities, office buildings, public spaces and federal facilities.
Kevin Wujcik, PhD, CTO, R&D, Blue Current Inc.
Kevin Wujcik serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Blue Current, leading the development of the company's fully dry solid-state battery utilizing silicon-active materials. Before joining Blue Current, Kevin worked on the research team at Ford Motor Company, concentrating on battery materials and fuel cell systems research and development. His contributions include being named in over 12 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 9 patents. Kevin earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley, with a thesis centered around lithium-sulfur batteries containing solid polymer electrolytes. Additionally, he holds a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University, where he contributed to the advancement of novel fuel cell electrode microstructures.
Jack Xia, Director of Materials Research, Nanopore Innovative Materials
Dr. Jianzhong (Jack) Xia is Director of Materials Research Institute and Director of CEO Office at Nanopore, with a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from National University of Singapore, and a postdoc from University of Texas at Austin. He has 16 years of R&D experience in the field of polymeric thin films and batteries.
Yong Xiang, Founder & CEO, Tsing Bosch Zhuhai Technology Ltd
Tsinghua University material processing engineering major Doctor of engineering, professor-level senior engineer, Mainly engaged in new energy lithium battery safety testing and quality evaluation, and material non-destructive testing and non-destructive (NDT&NDE), advanced manufacturing technology NDT&NDE, online automatic testing and quality intelligent diagnosis and control research. Presided over or participated in a number of national, provincial and ministerial scientific research projects, including the "14th Five-Year Ministry of Industry and Information Technology civil aircraft special" 1, the "13th Five-Year National Key Research and Development Plan" 3, the National Standards Commission standard revision project 12, the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission project 2, the General Administration of Quality Inspection industry public welfare project 3 and the Ministry of Science and Technology innovation fund project 1. Presided over the formulation of 14 important national and industry technical standards such as GB/T 23902, GB/T 25759, GB/T 31213.1, and applied for and owned 16 invention patents, and edited 4 works such as "New Technology of Nondestructive Testing" and "phased array ultrasonic Imaging Testing". He has published more than 20 papers in core journals and important conferences at home and abroad.
Ang Xiao, Technical Lead, AI for Materials Science, SandboxAQ
Dr. Ang Xiao is the technical lead of AI for materials science at SandboxAQ. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Rhode Island. Boasting over 20 years in the industrial realm of battery materials, his expertise encompasses battery materials, advanced analytical techniques, AI and simulations. Dr. Xiao championed the development of Li-TFSI at 3M Company, a prevalent electrolyte salt and additive, generating over $200 million in sales over the last decade. He published 40 papers and 17 patent applications in the field of materials, AI and simulations.
Chao Yan, CEO, Princeton NuEnergy
Dr. Chao Yan is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Princeton NuEnergy and a research scientist at Princeton University. He is the co-inventor of Princeton NuEnergy’s low-temperature plasma-assisted separation, or “LPAS™”, that enables the direct recycling of lithium-ion batteries. A leading expert in physical chemistry and battery materials, Dr. Yan earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, has authored over 30 high-impact publications, and has given over 40 conference presentations in the energy field. As an entrepreneur and practicing academic researcher, Dr. Yan is uniquely positioned to scale cutting-edge lab technology to commercial applications.
Gleb Yushin, PhD, CTO, Co-Founder, Sila Nanotechnologies; Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology
Gleb Yushin is a Co-Founder & CTO of Sila Nanotechnologies and serves as a Professor of Materials Science at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Editor-in-Chief for Materials Today. Gleb has co-authored over 170 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 patents. For his contributions to the development of energy storage materials, Gleb has received numerous awards and was recognized as one of the world’s most influential scientific minds by the Electrochemical Society. Gleb holds BS and MS degrees in Physics from Polytechnic Institute and a PhD in Materials Science from North Carolina State University.
Jubair Yusuf, PhD, Senior R&D S&E Electrical Engineer, Sandia National Laboratories
Jubair Yusuf is a Senior Member of the Technical Staff in the Electric Power Systems Research Department at Sandia National Laboratories. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in Electric Power and Energy Systems from the University of California, Riverside, USA, where he worked in the Sustainable Integrated Grid Initiative (SIGI) group. His research interests and expertise include EV load modeling and grid integration, distribution system modeling, and applying both optimization and data driven approaches to grid modeling, study the integration of high EV penetrations and other distributed energy resources.
Iryna V. Zenyuk, Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Irvine
Professor Zenyuk holds a B.S. (2008) in mechanical engineering from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. She continued her studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where she earned M.S. (2011) and Ph.D. (2013) in mechanical engineering. Her graduate work focused on fundamental understanding of electric double layers in electrochemical energy-conversion systems. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Electrochemical Technologies Group, Zenyuk joined the faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Tufts University in 2015. In July 2018 she joined Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of California, Irvine, where she is also a Director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center. At UC Irvine, Zenyuk’s group works on enabling energy solutions by researching low-temperature hydrogen fuel-cells, Li-metal batteries and electrolyzers. Zenyuk works on design strategy encompassing novel materials, diagnostic tools and device-level testing. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award (2017), Interpore society Fraunhofer Award for Young Researchers (2017), Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Scialog Fellow in Advanced Energy Storage (2017-2019), Electrochemical Society (ECS) Toyota Young Investigator Award (2018), UCI Samueli School of Engineering Early Career Faculty Excellence in Research Award (2019) and ECS Energy Technology Division Srinivasan Young Investigator Award (2021), UCI Beal Applied Innovations Early Career Innovator of the Year (2021), UCI Samueli School of Engineering Mid Career Faculty Excellence in Research Award (2022). Prof. Zenyuk published over 80 journal publications and delivered more than 100 invited presentations on topics of energy conversion and storage.
John Zhang, PhD, CTO/CSO, Celgard
John is recognized as the leading authority on lithium-ion battery safety and separators. He is a leader in establishing lithium-ion battery industry standards (P1625, P1725, and CTIA) through the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has chaired and/or organized more than 60 international conferences and delivered more than 60 invited keynote or plenary speeches at various international conferences. John has published more than 110 patents, papers, and books, including the first ceramic coating separator patent (US 6, 432, 586) and some of the most cited papers (Chem. Reviews, 2004 and Li-ion safety papers 2006-now). Dr. Zhang received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai University. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Electrochemistry from Shandong University, and a Ph.D. in Material Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has also completed additional Post Doctorate studies in Nuclear Interactions.
John Zhang, Senior Director, Global Account Management, ATF-Battery, Exyte US Inc.
Mr. Zhang has been transforming the high-tech facilities business in Northeast Asian, as well as establishing the global EV battery business division under ATF business unit at Exyte since 2022. Working with the ATF Global team, Mr. Zhang successfully leaded the team and established the high-tech lithium battery Dryroom Laboratory in Songjiang Shanghai of China. One of his major achievements, Mr. Zhang led a global team and assisted top global EV battery companies (such as CATL, GOTION, etc.) in cross-border cooperation and launched the lithium battery programs in European and US markets. Mr. Zhang serves on as a member of Steer Committee between CATL and Exyte for the CATT G2 program in Germany since May 2020.
Prior to Exyte Group, Mr. Zhang severed various leadership positions, such as Interface Manager of Olympic Development Authority-CLM for London 2012 Olympic Games in London, head of Infrastructure Investment of CCCC Americas region from 2015 to 2017, executive director of CH2MHILL (now Jacobs) in China from 2009 to 2013, and served as a Board Director of Industrial Design Corporation China (IDC China - JV of CH2MHILL and EDRI) from Oct 2004 to Jan 2013. With both Engineering and international trade degrees from China, Mr. Zhang successfully gained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from EDHEC Business School in France in 2002. In addition, Mr. Zhang completed the executive training program of Innovation & Strategy from The Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2009.
Bob Zollo, Strategic Portfolio Planner, Automotive & Energy Solutions, Keysight Technologies
Bob started at Hewlett-Packard in 1984. During his 38 years with HP, Agilent, and now Keysight, Bob has been part of the company’s marketing and R&D organizations. Now, as a solution architect, Bob is responsible for Keysight’s battery testing solutions roadmap. He has also managed Agilent’s power supply test systems business and wireless power business. Bob holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ.
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