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Holger Althues, PhD, Head, Chemical Surface Technology Group, Fraunhofer Institute for Material & Beam Technology
Holger Althues studied chemical engineering and received his doctoral degree in inorganic chemistry at the University of Technology Dresden in 2007. Since then he is working at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology in Dresden, Germany. In 2008, he became a team manager for the chemical surface technology group and his team was transferred into a division with 3 sub-groups in 2015. In his position as division manager he administrates various projects in the area of film deposition techniques, electrode processing and energy storage applications. His main research topics are materials and surface technologies for high energy secondary batteries. A recent focus is on material and electrode development for lithium sulfur and solid state battery cells.
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.
Peng Bai, Assistant Professor, Energy & Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University
Dr. Bai is currently a tenured Associate Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. He obtained his Bachelor¡¯s degree in Automotive Engineering and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, in 2007 and 2012, respectively. He completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT and joined Washington University in St. Louis in 2017. His research group specializes in combining mesoscale operando microscopy with physics-based mathematical models to achieve precision understanding of battery electrodes and electrolytes. Dr. Bai won the De Nora Foundation Young Author Prize from the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) in 2014, and the Prize for Electrochemical Materials Science from ISE in 2018. He received the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2020 and the NSF Career Award in 2021.
Alex Bates, PhD, Energy Storage Safety & Reliability, Sandia National Laboratories
Alex Bates is a mechanical engineer by training with a background in fuel cell and flow battery research. As a part of the Energy Storage team at Sandia National Laboratories, he is currently focused on solid-state and advanced Li-ion battery safety and reliability. This research seeks to understand battery failure pathways, severity, and associated risks with the aim of failure prediction, mitigation, and/or elimination. Alex¡¯s skill set includes battery fabrication, electrochemical and materials characterization, calorimetry, abuse testing, and modeling.
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.
Josh Buettner-Garrett, CTO, Solid Power
Mr. Buettner-Garrett specializes in transitioning laboratory-scale battery advances into prototype products and pilot-scale manufacturing. As Solid Power¡¯s CTO, he is responsible for developing future market-leading products based on the company¡¯s solid-state battery technology platform. Prior to his role at Solid Power, Mr. Buettner-Garrett led the Energy Storage team at ADA Technologies where he oversaw the development of advanced batteries and pilot-scale manufacturing for primarily DOD applications. Josh did his graduate studies at Colorado State University where he developed high-capacity nickel and fluorine-based cathodes.
Stephen E Burkhardt, PhD, CTO, R&D, Conamix Inc
Stephen Burkhardt is the Chief Technology Officer at Conamix. Stephen has been researching Li-S chemistry for 6 years with Conamix, starting as Director of R&D in 2018. Stephen has over 15 years in electrochemical energy storage R&D with past roles at General Electric and DuPont. His industrial research experiences cover a broad range of topics in energy storage including electrolyte design for Li-ion batteries, high temperature batteries and solid electrolytes, and packaging and thermal management materials for traction batteries. He is an inventor on >40 granted and pending patent families related to technologies for Li-based batteries and has commercialization experience for global products. He earned his Ph.D. in electrochemistry from Cornell University studying under Prof. Hector Abruna.
Mei Cai, Director, Battery Cell Systems Research Lab, General Motors Global R&D Center
Dr. Mei Cai is the director of Battery Cell Systems Research at General Motors Global R&D Center. She is responsible for technology innovations in advanced battery materials/chemistries for future electric vehicles. Mei has 25 years of industrial R&D experience including extensive experience in novel materials processing for automotive applications. She has managed multi-million-dollar R&D projects in the development of low-cost and durable vehicular energy storage materials and systems. Mei was recognized as the 2021 Women of Color Technologist of the Year and 2018 Asian American Engineer of the Year for her contributions in fundamental research and technology development. She is the author or co-author of more than 100 scientific publications and holds 118 issued US patents.
Cheng-Chieh Chao, PhD, Vice President, R&D, Quantumscape
Cheng-Chieh Chao is the VP of Materials Development & Characterization at QuantumScape. Over the last decade, he¡¯s worked on many areas of solid-state battery development and currently leads teams focused on materials innovation and characterization. Cheng-Chieh is a Stanford alumnus with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering (¡®11) and MS degrees in Management Science & Engineering (¡®09) and Mechanical Engineering (¡®07). He also earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from National Taiwan University (¡®03).
Halle Cheesman, PhD, Program Director, Advanced Research Program Agency, U.S. Department of Energy (ARPA-E)
Dr. Halle Cheeseman has been working in the battery business for over 30 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 every possible Electrochemical storage system 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.
Wonsung Choi, Researcher, Samsung
Wonsung Choi is a senior researcher of battery materials development at Samsung Electronics. He completed his PhD in Applied Chemistry at Waseda University, concentrating on electrochemistry and polymer synthesis. He experienced development of lithium-metal batteries materials in the industries including BASF and Samsung. His research focuses on design and development of electrode materials with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as a main tool.
Justin Connell, PhD, Materials Scientist, Materials Science, Argonne National Lab
Justin Connell is a Materials Scientist in the Energy Conversion and Storage Group of the Materials Science Division, Deputy Director for Science for the Center for Steel Electrification by Electrosynthesis (C-STEEL), and manager of the Electrochemical Discovery Laboratory. He is also a member of the Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering affiliated with the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. His current research interests focus on utilizing a combination of vacuum synthesis, electrochemical analysis and spectroscopic tools to understand the bulk and interfacial (electro)chemical processes that govern the stability and reversibility of materials and electrolytes for energy storage and decarbonized manufacturing applications.
Celia Cunningham, Research Engineer, Ford
Celia Cunningham is a battery researcher at Ford Motor Company, primarily working on solid state materials for novel cell technologies. Celia earned her MS in Physics at University of Michigan and has 12 years of industrial experience as a materials scientist, with expertise in thin film deposition and materials characterization techniques.
Hui Du, PhD, CTO, Ampcera
Hui Du is the Co-founder and CTO of Ampcera. He got his Ph.D. degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Materials Science and Engineering. Previously, Hui was the manager of the Solid-State Ionic Materials Department of Sion Power Corporation. Hui has more than 15 years of R&D and management experience in clean energy industry. He has co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 30 energy-rated patents/patent applications.
Zhenxing Feng, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, Oregon State University
Dr. Zhenxing Feng is an Associate Professor in the School of Chemical, Biological, and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University, USA. After completing his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, USA, Dr. Feng worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR) of Argonne National Laboratory. In 2016, Dr. Feng moved to Oregon State University to start his independent career. Dr. Feng received the Office of Navy Research (ONR) Summer Fellowship, Scialog Advanced Energy Storage Award, and was named as the highly cited researcher by Clarivate in 2022. Dr. Feng is interested in finding design principles of various materials for energy harvesting, conversion, and storage applications.
Tobias Glossmann, Principal Systems Engineer, HV Battery Research and Test Lab, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America
Tobias Glossmann has more than 18 years of experience in battery R&D at Mercedes-Benz. He holds advanced degrees in Electronics/Mechatronics engineering from Esslingen University of Applied Sciences and in Chemistry from Oakland University and he is pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. Over the years he has gained experience in a broad spectrum of issues that included high voltage system design, thermal management, battery controls, materials evaluation and system integration. His current responsibilities include battery research collaborations and development projects. His current research interests are interfaces in batteries and electrochemical sensors and advanced battery materials.
Steven G. Greenbaum, Professor, Physics & Astronomy, Hunter College, City University of New York
Dr. Steve Greenbaum is CUNY Distinguished Professor of Physics at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Dr. Greenbaum earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University. He was an NRC Postdoctoral Fellow in the Semiconductor Branch of the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., a Fulbright Scholar at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and a NASA/NRC Senior Research Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Lab, where he was a member of the team that designed the lithium ion batteries for the successful Mars Rover missions. He has held Visiting Professor positions at many universities and was selected as one of eleven Jefferson Science Fellows at the U.S. State Department in 2014-15. Dr. Greenbaum's main research interest is magnetic resonance studies of materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. He has co-authored over 330 peer-reviewed publications, and directly supervised 30 Ph.D. students plus numerous undergraduate researchers. His mentoring has received national recognition through the White House OSTP (PAESMEM Award, 2002).
Fudong Han, PhD, Asssitant Professor & Priti & Mukesh Chatter Chair, Mechanical & Aerospace & Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Fudong Han currently holds the Priti and Mukesh Chatter ¡¯82 Career Development Chair Assistant Professorship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Maryland College Park in 2018. Han has published 84 peer-reviewed articles and more than 30 of them are on solid-state batteries. He has been considered one of the 0.1% ¡°highly cited researchers¡± around the world by Clarivate since 2022. Han is also a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER award and the 2022 Electrochemical Society Electrodeposition Division Early Career Investigator Award.
Ivana Hasa, PhD, Assistant Professor, Electrochemistry for Batteries, University of Warwick
Ivana Hasa is Assistant Professor of Electrochemical Materials in WMG at the University of Warwick. She is a chemist by background with extensive experience on electrochemical energy storage systems. Her research activities are directed toward the understanding of the processes governing the chemistry of the next generation's sustainable battery technologies. Design of technically relevant materials and the understanding of their structure-property correlation and electrochemical behavior are the core of her research interest. Her work is inherently interdisciplinary, tackling challenges at the interface of chemistry, materials science, and electrochemistry. At the Energy Innovation Centre in WMG, she is also working toward the development and scale up of new battery chemistries from concept to full proven cell prototypes.
Hayley Hirsh, PhD, Senior Engineer, Polymer Science and Materials Chemistry, Exponent
Dr. Hirsh specializes in materials characterization, battery science/technology, and electrochemistry. She has extensive experience with the synthesis and characterization of electrode materials for multiple battery technologies including Li-ion, Na-ion, and primary batteries (Li/CFx), as well as batteries with novel electrolytes such as ether-based and liquified-gas. Dr. Hirsh leverages this experience to assess the quality, performance, and failure, of batteries in a broad spectrum of applications. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Hirsh completed her Ph.D. in NanoEngineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) where her research primarily focused on the synthesis and characterization of electrode materials in sodium-ion batteries for grid storage applications.
Christopher S. Johnson, PhD, Senior Chemist & Argonne Distinguished Fellow, Chemical Sciences & Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory
Dr. Christopher S. Johnson is currently a Senior Chemist and an Argonne Distinguished Fellow at Argonne National Laboratory, specializing in the research & development of battery materials and battery systems with 32 years of experience. He is known worldwide for his development of state-of-art lithium-ion battery cathode materials, and recently, Si anodes, and sodium-ion batteries. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Northwestern University following undergraduate studies and a B.S. Chemistry at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He retains a joint position as Senior Chemist At-Large and Lab Innovation Fellow at the University of Chicago. He has published over 150 publications (h-index 68), and 35 issued US patents. He has received the Battery Research Award from the International Battery Association in 2006, and a R&D 100 Award in 2009 for the Commercialization of the NMC Cathode for Lithium-ion Batteries. He is the 2018 recipient of the University of Chicago Argonne Distinguished Scientist Award, and is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society.
Vibha Kalra, PhD, Fred H. Rhodes Professor, Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University
Dr. Vibha Kalra is a Fred H. Rhodes Professor in the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. She also serves as an editor of Chemical Engineering Science journal since 2013. Prior to joining Cornell University in January 2024, Kalra was a George B. Francis Chair professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Drexel University, starting as an assistant professor in 2010. Kalra received her BS from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India, in 2004 and PhD from Cornell University in 2009, both in Chemical Engineering. Her research group combines material assembly & characterization, study of fundamental electrochemical behavior, in-situ spectro-electrochemistry, and device assembly and testing to develop energy storage devices, including next-generation batteries and supercapacitors. She has published over 65 peer-reviewed journal articles and has 13 pending/issued patents in the field of energy storage. Kalra is a recipient of several awards including the NSF CAREER award (2012), ONR summer faculty fellowship award (2013), AIChE DVS Outstanding Faculty of the Year Award (2015), CBE Outstanding Service Award (2018), College of Engineering Outstanding Research Award (both at assistant professor level (2015) and at mid-career level (2020)), Provost Award for Outstanding Mid-Career Research Achievement (2020), and the COE Outstanding Innovation Award (2021). Kalra was also selected as a fellow of the Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATES) program in 2022-23.
Emma Kendrick, PhD, Professor & Chair of Energy, Energy Materials Group, University of Birmingham
Professor Emma Kendrick, CChem FIMMM FRSC FIMMM, is Professor of Energy Materials in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham (UoB), lead of the Energy Materials Group (EMG), and co-director of the Centre for Energy Storage (BCES). Before joining academia, she led innovations in the battery industry, latterly as Chief Technologist in Energy Storage at SHARP Laboratories of Europe Ltd (SLE), and before that for two lithium-ion battery SMEs, Fife Batteries Ltd and Surion Energy Ltd. Her research focuses on design and development of sustainable battery technologies and chemistries. The materials cycle, from component, manufacturing, lifetime, and recycling. In 2021, her work on battery parameterisation was spun out into a company, About:Energy, for which she is chair of the scientific advisory panel. Before UoB, she spent two years as Reader in WMG, University of Warwick. Professor Kendrick holds a PhD from Keele University, obtained as part of a postgraduate transfer partnership (PTP) scheme with CERAM Research, an MSc in new materials from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc in chemistry from the University of Manchester. She has been recognised for her research in sustainable batteries and her continued support to the research community through several awards; 2021 Faraday Institution (FI) Researcher Development Champion, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2021 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division Mid-Career Award, and the 2019 Hothersall Memorial Award for outstanding services to Metal Finishing.
Chisu Kim, PhD, Director of Research and Strategy, Hydro-Quebec
Dr. Chisu Kim is a director of research and strategy of the Center of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage (CEETSE) at Hydro-Quebec, where she leads the development of next-generation battery technologies. She has over 25 years of experience in the battery field, with combined expertise in fundamental research and battery manufacturing. She has been working on battery R&D projects at Hydro-Quebec since 2012 and was responsible for multiple collaboration programs with industrial partners and national laboratories. Prior to joining Hydro-Quebec, she worked for the battery industry for 12 years developing commercial lithium-ion batteries for various applications ranging from IT devices to electric vehicles. She obtained her Ph.D in electrochemistry from Seoul National University in 2000.
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-Universitat zu Berlin in 2018 with a PhD. Subsequently, Dr. Laubenstein started at IAV¡¯s Material Science Lab in Berlin, Germany, working on cell & module testing. 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.
Phung Le, PhD, Scientist, Electrochemical Materials and Systems, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Dr. Phung Le is currently a senior scientist in the group of Electrochemical Materials and Systems. Her research interest has been focused on designing new material for energy conversion and storage systems. She holds a joint position of Associate Professor in Chemistry at University of Science-VNU HCM (Viet Nam). She has extensive experience with electrochemistry and physical chemistry aspects of liquid electrolyte solutions. She has authored and co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed papers.
Michael Liedtke, Chief Commercial Officer, Zeta Energy
Chief Commercial Officer at Zeta Energy for the last 5 years. Involved in everything binging this technology to market. Sr. VP Business Development at Skeleton Technologies. VP Business Development at Maxwell Technologies, launching first auto programs, more then 7 million vehicles on the road with Maxwell products inside. BMW Group Designworks - Director Transportation Design. Boeing - Sr. Technical Specialist, Mercedes-Benz - Assistant vehicle program manager. MS Mechanical Engineering, University of Karlsruhe.
Ping Liu, PhD, Professor and Director, Sustainable Power and Energy Center, University of California, San Diego
Dr. Ping Liu is Professor of Nanoengineering and Director of the Sustainable Power and Energy Center (SPEC) at University of California, San Diego. His research interests include lithium metal batteries, solid state batteries, and battery safety. Previously, Dr. Liu has led research programs in electrochemical conversion and storage as a staff member at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and as a manager at HRL Laboratories. Dr. Liu also served as a Program Director at Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) where he drove the development of robust energy storage and thermal management technologies. Websites: http://liugroup.ucsd.edu; http://spec.ucsd.edu
Arumugam Manthiram, PhD, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin
Arumugam Manthiram is the George T. and Gladys H. Abell Endowed Chair of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). He served as the Director of Texas Materials Institute at UT-Austin for 11 years during 2011-2022. After receiving his PhD in chemistry from Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 1981 and working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and at UT-Austin, he became a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT-Austin in 1991. He has authored 900 journal articles with 95,000 citations and an h-index of 152. He has mentored 300 students and postdoctoral researchers, including the graduation of 69 PhD students. Dr. Manthiram is a recipient of the Battery Division Research Award and Technology Award and the Henry B. Linford Award for Distinguished Teaching from the Electrochemical Society, and the International Battery Association Research Award. He delivered the 2019 Chemistry Nobel Prize Lecture in Stockholm on behalf of Professor John Goodenough.
Shirley Meng, PhD, Professor, University of Chicago; Chief Scientist, Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science, Argonne National Laboratory
Professor Y. Shirley Meng received her Ph.D. in Advance Materials for Micro & Nano Systems from the Singapore-MIT Alliance in 2005, after which she worked as a postdoc research fellow and became a research scientist at MIT. Shirley currently holds the Zable Endowed Chair Professor in Energy Technologies and is Professor of NanoEngineering and Materials Science, University of California San Diego (UCSD). She is the founding Director of the Sustainable Power and Energy Center (2015-2020) and was named as inaugural director of the Institute of Materials Discovery and Design. Professor Meng received the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award in 2011, UCSD Chancellor¡¯s Interdisciplinary Collaboratories Award in 2013, C.W. Tobias Young Investigator Award of the Electrochemical Society (2016), International Coalition for Energy Storage and Innovation (ICESI) Inaugural Young Career Award (2018), American Chemical Society ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Young Investigator Award (2018), a Finalist for the Blavatnik National Award (2018), International Battery Associations Research Award (2019) and Royal Chemical Society Faraday¡¯s Medal (2020). She is the author and co-author of more than 225 peer-reviewed journal articles, 2 book chapter and 5 issued patents. Professor Meng serves on the executive committee for battery division at the Electrochemical Society and she is the Editor-in-Chief for MRS Energy & Sustainability. She is an elected fellow of the Electrochemical Society (FECS) and fellow of the Materials Research Society (FMRS).
Celina Mikolajczak, Chief Battery Technology Officer, Lyten
Celina Mikolajczak is the Chief Battery Technology Officer at Lyten, prior to that, Celina was the Chief Manufacturing Officer at QuantumScape, responsible for bringing QuantumScape's technology to mass production. Previously, Celina was a member of the board of directors at QuantumScape and the Vice President of Engineering and Battery Technology at Panasonic Energy of North America (PENA), which produces Li-ion cells for Tesla at the Gigafactory near Reno, NV. Celina has 20 years of experience in the battery industry which includes filling a variety of roles ranging from developing safety tests and failure analysis techniques, leading cell quality activities, conducting cell materials development, developing battery regulatory frameworks, and leading design of li-ion battery packs at Exponent, Tesla, and Uber.
Ines Miller, Team Lead Battery Cells, E Mobility, P3 Automotive GmbH
Ines Miller is leading the team of battery cells for P3 automotive in the field of E-Mobility. She has been involved in numerous projects with automotive OEMs, suppliers, chemical industry and investment banks mostly covering topics of Li-ion and Next-Gen batteries. Within P3 she is an expert for E-Mobility with focus on Li-ion and all-solid-state cells including technology and cost assessments. Before working for P3, Ines has gained her Master¡¯s degree in Business Chemistry at the University of Ulm.
David Mitlin, PhD, David Allen Cockrell Professor in Engineering, University of Texas Austin
David Mitlin is a Cockrell Endowed Professor at the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to that, he was a Professor and General Electric Chair at Clarkson University, and an Assistant, Associate, and full Professor at the University of Alberta, Alberta Canada. Dr. Mitlin is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher (top 0.1% by impact in field), having published about one hundred and seventy-five journal articles on various aspects of energy storage materials, metallurgy, and corrosion. He also holds twelve granted U.S. patents and fifteen more pending full applications, with all of them licensed currently or in the past.
Leela Mohana Reddy Arava, PhD, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Wayne State University
Leela Arava, PhD, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean for research and Graduate Studies in the College of Engineering, Wayne State University. Dr. Arava earned his PhD in 2007 from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He joined Wayne State University in 2013 as an Assistant Professor. At Wayne State, Dr. Arava leads a distinguished research group focused on fundamental electrochemical principles applied to energy storage systems. Their work encompasses nanomaterial design, transport phenomena, electrode kinetics, and electrocatalytic activity. His primary research goal is developing high-energy and safe batteries for electric vehicles, micro-batteries for sensors, and flexible hybrid energy devices. Dr. Arava boasts a robust academic portfolio, with over 110 peer-reviewed international journal articles, 2 book chapters, and 16 patents. He has delivered more than 60 invited talks and seminars, engaging both academia and industry. His research has garnered over 15,000 citations and boasts an impressive h-index of 51. Dr. Arava's research has earned him prestigious awards, including the NSF CAREER Award, ACS-PRF's Doctoral New Investigator Award, and the Emerging Investigators Award from Materials Research Express.
Rana Mohtadi, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Materials Research, Toyota Research Institute of North America
Dr. R. Mohtadi is a Senior Principal Scientist at the materials research department at Toyota Research Institute of North America TRINA and has been in the decarbonization R&D field for over two decades. She has been spearheading and leading research for the creation, design and demonstration of materials for chemical and electrochemical energy storage technologies, including the research of novel battery electrolyte chemistries for liquid and solid-state batteries, and has contributed important advancements in these areas. She has published influential research and has been awarded over 30 patents. Notable recognitions include receiving the R&D100 award (2011) and being named in ¡°40 under 40¡± by the Automotive and Crain¡¯s news (2014). She was recognized and showed cased in the ¡°We Run on Brain Power¡± initiative by the State Governor in 2015 as a face of cutting edge innovation in the State of Michigan, USA.
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.
Vilas Pol, PhD, Professor, Chemical Engineering, ViPER, Purdue University
Vilas G. Pol is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University, IN, USA. He authored/co-authored >255 research publications (h index 54), and inventor on 16 issued US patents and 25+ applications. Purdue University honored him with Outstanding Engineering Teachers, Most Impactful Inventors, Seed for Success, Bravo, and Purdue Faculty Scholar awards. He delivered hundreds of invited, keynote and plenary talks, including ¡®TEDx¡¯. He is honored with multiple awards from professional AIChE, ACS, MRS, ACerS, TMS Carbon societies, as well as two Guinness World Records.
Timo Rabe, Business Development Manager, Advanced Material Densification & Bus Dev, Quintus Technologies AB
Timo Rabe is working as a Business Development Manager for Energy Storage and joined the Quintus team in 2023. He has a doctorate in chemistry from the Christian-Albrechts-Universitat zu Kiel and is specialized in solid-state inorganic chemistry.
After leaving University he held roles in research & development as well as in accounting.
Dhevathi R Rajagopalan Kannan, PhD, Research Scientist, Electrochemical Safety Research Institute, UL Research Institutes
Dhevathi Rajan R Kannan is a Research Scientist in the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at UL Research Institutes (ULRI). Dr. Kannan has more than six years of experience in battery research on battery cell testing and battery safety.
Ramin Rojaee, Advanced Battery Cell Technologist, Stellantis
Ramin Rojaee is an electrochemist with over 10 years of collective experience in academia and industry. Ramin holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago. He is currently working as part of advanced battery research team at Stellantis.
Rodrigo Salvatierra, PhD, CSO, Zeta Energy
Rodrigo Salvatierra is a chemist with more than 16 years of experience in materials designed for energy applications, including carbon nanomaterials, polymers, and metallic nanoparticles. CSO of Zeta Energy since 2018, coordinating materials and cell development. Principal Investigator of two major US government-funded projects in the development of Li-S batteries. Associate Editor and reviewer of scientific journals.
Kevin Shang, Senior Research Analyst, Battery and Energy Storage Technology and Supply Chain, Wood Mackenzie
Kevin Shang is a senior research analyst in Wood Mackenzie¡¯s Global Energy Storage team, focused on the energy storage supply chain and technology. Before that, he led Wood Mackenzie¡¯s cathode and precursor materials market research. Kevin joined Wood Mackenzie in 2021 following the takeover of Roskill. While in Roskill, he was responsible for research and analysis of cathode materials, battery technology, and the lithium-ion battery supply chain. Kevin is a regular speaker at international conferences on battery technology and supply chains, while he also sits on the advisory board of the Battery Show North America. Before joining Roskill, Kevin worked at the BBC and Reuters TV, reporting on China-related matters and energy markets for the broadcaster¡¯s international audience in both Chinese and English. Kevin obtained his PhD from the Department of Materials, University of Manchester.
Fengyu Shen, PhD, Project Scientist, Solid Oxide Fuel/Electrolysis Cell, Solid State Battery, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Fengyu Shen is a Project Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He is working on solid-state batteries, using garnet and halide solid electrolytes. He also spent several years on solid oxide fuel/electrolysis cells before and after joining in Berkeley Lab.
Robert Stanek, Global Advisor, Business Strategy & Alternative Powertrains, P3 Automotive GmbH
Robert Stanek studied Business Management and Production Technology at the University of Stuttgart. He joined P3 in 2012 as an automotive consultant and worked before for major TIER1s and vehicle manufacturers in the technical sales and controlling departments. Since 2017 Robert is Partner at P3 and responsible for the e-mobility expertise with focus on electric powertrain systems and batteries. His projects encompass among other things cost analysis of batteries, technical benchmarking of e-powertrain components and charging technologies as well as strategic analysis¡¯ for M&A and due diligence activities leading players in Asia, North America and Europe. Current projects and investigations include the activation of European battery material supply chains, the production and equipment planning for li-ion battery cells and electric motors and the ongoing consolidation of players in the charging industry to establish convenient fast charging networks.
Dee Strand, PhD, CSO, R&D, Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Inc.
Dr. Dee Strand is a Senior Scientist 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 PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, under the supervision of Professor John Schrag. Her PhD research focused on rheology and birefringence of polymeric solutions. Dr. Strand also holds a Master of Science degree in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from North Dakota State University.
Michael Tucker, PhD, Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Mike Tucker is a Staff Scientist in the Energy Conversion Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he develops electrochemical technologies including and solid state batteries and solid oxide cells. His group focuses on cell design and fabrication for LLZO and halide SSBs. He holds Chemical Engineering degrees from Brown University (BS) and UC Berkeley (PhD).
Adrian Tylim, Head Business Development North America, Blue Solutions
Adrian Tylim is responsible for driving USA and America¡¯s market at Blue Solutions, a Bollore company. He has broad experience with renewable energy technologies as an engineer, designer, project, and business developer. He was part of NASA¡¯s space station solar power module team, worked on various California wind energy projects, and was responsible for business development for a leading German solar engineering firm. As a sustainability champion, he designed a solution to eliminate landfills and economically produce renewable energy from waste. He earned an MS in Energy Systems Engineering from the University of Arizona and a BS in Applied Physics from California State University.
Steven Visco, PhD, CEO & CTO, PolyPlus Battery
Steven Visco is the Chief Executive Officer, CTO, and founder of PolyPlus Battery Company in Berkeley, California, as well as a Guest Scientist in the Materials Science Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Steven J. Visco currently holds 127 U.S. patents, more than 200 international patents and has authored over 80 journal articles, as well as books, monographs and other publications. Dr. Visco graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts in 1977 and received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Brown University in 1982. Dr. Visco then joined the staff at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a Principal Investigator in the Materials Sciences Division in 1984 where his research interests have included advanced batteries and fuel cells. Steven Visco co-founded PolyPlus Battery Company in 1991. In 2013 Dr. Visco was selected by the City of Berkeley for a ¡°Visionary Award¡± for his work in next generation batteries. Steve also serves on the Technical Advisory the CIC Energigune Institute in Minano, Spain and was awarded the 2011 International Battery Association Award for ¡°Outstanding Contributions to the Development of Lithium-Air and Lithium-Water Batteries.¡± PolyPlus Battery Company was selected by TIME magazine for its 50 Best Inventions of 2011 Issue, and was selected for a Gold Edison Award in 2012. In May 2015 Dr. Visco was elected a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society.
Eric Wachsman, PhD, Professor & Director, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Maryland College Park
Dr. Eric D Wachsman, Director of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute, is the William L. Crentz Centennial Chair in Energy Research with appointments in both the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Maryland. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from Stanford University, and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Wachsman is Vice President of The Electrochemical Society (ECS), Editor-in-Chief of Ionics, on the Editorial Board of Scientific Reports, Energy Systems, and Energy Technology, and a member of the American Chemical Society, the International Society for Solid State Ionics, and the Materials Research Society. He is a Fellow of both ECS and the American Ceramic Society (ACerS); the recipient of the 2017 Carl Wagner Award from ECS; the 2014 Sir William Grove Award from the International Association for Hydrogen Energy; the 2014 Pfeil Award from The Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining; the Outstanding Invention of 2013 award from the University of Maryland Office of Technology Licensing; the 2012 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition Award; and the 2012 HTM Outstanding Achievement Award from ECS. His research is focused on solid ion-conducting materials and electrocatalysts, and includes the development of solid-state batteries, solid oxide fuel cells, ion-transport membrane reactors, solid-state gas sensors, and the electrocatalytic conversion of CH4, CO2, and NOx, using advanced ion conducting materials. He has more than 270 publications and 24 patents on ionic and electronic transport in materials, and their catalytic properties, and device performance, and to date three companies have been founded based on these technologies.
Aamir I. Waidha, PhD, Principal Battery Scientist, R&D, Theion GmbH
Dr. Aamir Iqbal Waidha, received a PhD in materials for energy applications from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. Following a year of postdoctoral research at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, where he specialized in recycling of all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries, he joined Theion GmbH. Joining as a Senior Battery Scientist in October 2022, he currently holds the position of Principal Battery Scientist. Dr. Waidha has received several awards for his research and authored more than 20 peer reviewed papers. In addition, he has also filed several patents related to lithium sulfur batteries.
Colin Wessells, CEO, Natron Energy
Colin Wessells is the founding CEO at Natron Energy, which he co-founded in 2012. At Natron, he has raised over $50 million in equity investments and federal and state awards. For the past several years he has led Natron¡¯s customer engagement in the data center and vehicle electrification industries. He also led the development of Natron¡¯s novel Prussian blue electrode sodium-ion battery chemistry. He is an inventor of fourteen issued patents, has published nineteen peer-reviewed papers, and holds a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
Andrew Westover, PhD, Staff Research Scientist, Energy Storage, Oak Ridge National Lab
Andrew S. Westover is a staff scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with a focus on solid-state batteries. Andrew obtained his PhD from Vanderbilt University in 2016 in interdisciplinary materials science and engineering. After graduating he worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a postdoctoral research associate for 1 year before transitioning to a permanent staff position. At ORNL, Andrew leads research programs focused on Li metal for solid-state batteries, the mechanics of solid-state batteries, and ionic glass electrolytes.
Alevtina White Smirnova, PhD, Prof & Dir, Materials Engineering & Science Program, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Dr. White-Smirnova is a tenured professor at South Dakota Mines and Technology and Director of the NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center for Solid-State Electric Power Storage (www.GreenCEPS.com). In collaboration with faculty from South Dakota Mines and two university sites (Syracuse and Northeastern), the Center is focused on the development of innovative solid-state batteries under the guidance of industry partners, including Honda, Nissan, Mercedes Benz, C4V, Black Hills Energy Corp., Nth Cycle, Daktronics, VRC Metal Systems, and others. Furthermore, Dr. White-Smirnova serves as the Director of the South Dakota Governor¡¯s Research Center for Electrochemical Energy Storage which involves faculty and students from the South Dakota State University. Dr. Smirnova co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles, 12 patents or patent disclosures, and 17 book chapters. She co-edited two books; one is focused on solid oxide fuel cell technology (ISBN:1-4020-3496-2) and another one on solid-state batteries: ¡°Next-Generation Solid-State Energy Storage Technology-A Path to Environmental Sustainability¡± (ISBN: 978-0-323-90635-7).
John Wood, CEO, Gelion
John is an experienced and successful CEO of private and public companies and has led businesses both in the technology and energy industry over a 30-year career. He is also a proven sector specialist with significant commercial, scaling and manufacturing experience. John has deep experience in the lead-acid sector having established Ecoult which gained recognition as one of the 100 Global Cleantech in 2013 and he implemented many seminal projects after its acquisition by East Penn Manufacturing.
Alvin Wu, Research Manager, R&D, UL Solutions
Mr. Alvin Wu has been working as a researcher in studying batteries and for more than 20 years, including 5 years in battery industries and more than 18 years with research group of UL. Up to present, Alvin has provided more than 60 technical presentations, professional consulting services and training to international conferences, battery research organizations and industries all over the world. Alvin is the technical leader in handling a number of battery research projects and setting up battery research test facilities in UL Taiwan battery lab. He is the winner of UL 2014, 2016 and 2021 Mark of Excellence awards. Alvin¡¯s strong foundation in battery technology has a foundation from degrees in chemical engineering (BS and MS) from National Taiwan University where he conducted research on solid polymer electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries.
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.
Hui Claire Xiong, PhD, Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, Boise State University
Professor Hui (Claire) Xiong is a Professor in the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering at Boise State University. Dr. Xiong received her BE degree in Applied Chemistry and her MS degree in Solid State Chemistry from East China University of Science and Technology. She received her PhD in Electroanalytical Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. Between 2008 and 2012, she conducted postdoctoral work at Harvard University and Argonne National Laboratory where her research involved electrochemical characterization of micro-fabricated cathode materials for micro-solid oxide fuel cells and the development of novel nanostructured electrode materials for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries. She joined Boise State University in 2012. Dr. Xiong received the NSF CAREER Award in 2015, is the Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Fellow of the American Ceramic Society, a Scialog Fellow, and the Fellow of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies. Dr. Xiong¡¯s research focuses on design and development of nanoarchitectured and defect-driven electrode materials for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries and beyond, ion irradiation effects on electroceramics, mechanistic insights on electrolyte degradation, and in situ and operando characterizations of energy materials.
Gui-Liang Xu, Chemist, Chemical Sciences & Engineering, Argonne National Laboratory
Dr. Gui-Liang Xu is currently a chemist under the division of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory. He received his Bachelor (2009) and PhD (2014) in the Department of Chemistry at Xiamen University. He has over 15 years' research experience in the development of advanced batteries including lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur and solid-state batteries for electric vehicles and stationary application. He is interested in cutting-edge synchrotron characterization techniques to elucidate in-depth mechanistic understanding on the relationship between structures and the performance, and to provide guidance and approaches to design and synthesize new battery materials with higher energy and better safety. He has published 120+ peer-reviewed papers in Nature, Nat. Energy, Nat. Nanotechnol., Nat. Commun., JACS, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Energy Environ. Sci., Adv. Energy Mater., Nano Letters, Nano Energy, and etc. He also holds 4 granted patents and 4 pending patent applications.