Speaker Biographies

Dr. Yaser Abu-Lebdeh is a Senior Research Officer at the National Research Council of Canada, leading the Battery Materials Innovation Team. With a PhD from the University of Southampton (UK) and a Master’s from the University of Manchester (UK), he has a rich background in Material Science and Electrochemistry of battery technology. Since joining NRC in 2005, Dr. Abu-Lebdeh has authored over 130 publications and patents, co-edited a book on Nanotechnology for Lithium-ion batteries. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s MSE department and also the recipient of the 2025 inaugural Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowship.

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).

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.

Dr. Khalil Amine is an Argonne Distinguished Fellow and the leader of the Advanced Battery Technology team at Argonne National Laboratory, where he is responsible for directing the research and development of advanced materials and battery systems for HEV, PHEV, EV, grid, satellite, military, and medical applications. Dr. Amine is also the Codirector of US-German initiative on interface. He serves as a member of the US National Academy of inventors and committee member of the US National Research Consul at US Academy of Sciences on battery-related technologies. He is an adjunct professor at Stanford University, and holds a joint appointment as professor at the University of Chicago and Fellow of Northwestern University/Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering. Among his many awards, Dr. Amine is 2019 recipient of the Global Energy Prize, a 2003 recipient of Scientific America’s Top Worldwide 50 Researcher Award, a 2009 recipient of the US Federal Laboratory Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer, 2013 DOE Vehicle technologies office award and is the six-time recipient of the R&D 100 Award. In addition, he was awarded the ECS battery technology and battery research awards, the International Battery Association award, and NAATBat lifetime achievement award. Dr. Amine holds 207 patents and patent applications and has 713 publications with google h-index of 148. From 1998-2020, Dr. Amine was the most cited scientist in the world in the field of battery technology. He serves as the Executive Director and President of IMLB. He is also the chairman of the International Automotive Lithium Battery Association, ECS fellow, fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials, and associate editor of the journal of Nano-Energy.

Dr. Ramin Amin-Sanayei is a distinguished innovator with 47 granted U.S. patents, reflecting the impact and originality of his work. He is a leading expert in lithium-ion battery (LIB) technology for advanced binders for cathodes and separator coatings—enhancing both safety and performance, particularly in automotive applications. Dr. Amin-Sanayei bridges science and business, ensuring innovations align with customer needs, regulatory standards, and sustainability goals. His contributions have earned him prestigious honors, including the 2025 ACS Heroes of Chemistry Award and the 2014 ACS Team Innovation Award. He is also a long-time DOE project reviewer and an active organizer and session chair at ECS meetings.

With 7+ 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.

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).

With over 30 years of experience translating deep technical expertise into commercial impact, Steve Aubuchon leads Business Development for Battery Systems at W. L. Gore & Associates with a current focus on thermal management solutions for automotive and BESS systems. Steve holds a Ph.D. in physical chemistry (electronic materials) from Duke University and a B.S. in chemistry from Saint Louis University. As an Affiliated Faculty member in UD's Department of Materials Science & Engineering since 2011, Steve advises research groups, serves on doctoral committees, and collaborates across several Engineering departments. As a Lead Mentor and Adjunct Instructor within UD Horn Entrepreneurship, he coaches prospective founders in customer discovery, value proposition development, and business model innovation, drawing directly on his industry experience to prepare students for the commercial realities of bringing technical products to market.

Dr. Meisam Bahari is the CTO and co-Founder of Quino Energy, a leading startup company, where he leads the commercialization of aqueous organic flow battery technology. With his leadership and support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Quino has advanced its technology from lab scale to multi-ton pilot-scale production. Prior to co-founding Quino Energy in 2021, Meisam was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, where he contributed to the development of the quinone-based flow battery technology that forms the foundation of Quino Energy’s product. He holds a Ph.D. in electrochemistry and a background in chemical engineering, with over a decade of experience working on electrochemical systems, including fuel cells, lithium-ion batteries, and flow batteries, the latter being his primary focus in recent years. Outside of work, Meisam enjoys reading, traveling, hiking, and spending time with his two young children.

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.

Yevgen Barsukov is the Algorithm Fellow in the Battery Management group at Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). By applying leading theoretical methods of battery analysis, Barsukov is advancing battery fuel-gauging, health and safety technology used in notebooks, mobile-phones, PDAs, and other portable devices. Prior to joining TI, his research was focused on Impedance Spectroscopy-based testing and modeling of batteries. He co-authored books on impedance spectroscopy and battery power management, in journal publications, has multiple patents, and has presented at numerous international conferences. He was recently elected TI Fellow. Barsukov earned a Ms.C. degree in Organic Chemistry at Kiev National University in 1993, and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Kiel Christian-Albrecht University in 1996.

Ryan Bayliss is a Partner at Leitmotif, where he invests in deep technologies across energy, electrification, advanced materials and industrial technology. Prior to venture capital, Ryan held senior innovation and commercial roles at Corning, where he helped scale new technologies from R&D through manufacturing and commercialization in the automotive industry, contributing to more than $1 billion in new sales. In parallel, he established Corning's solid-state battery product group. Earlier, Ryan co-founded the Faraday Institution, the UK's national battery research institute, helping raise more than $100 million to establish and scale the organization. Ryan began his career as a solid-state chemist focused on energy technologies, with research experience at Imperial College London, the University of Illinois Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Oxford.

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.

Kimberly is an independent consultant specializing in energy transition materials and related commodities working with firms such as Avicenne, Positive Materials and the World Bank Group. She 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 de-globalisation of battery supply chains. Previously, she worked at BMO Capital Markets and developed the firm’s proprietary industry knowledge around energy transition technologies.

Moshiel Biton is the CEO and co-founder of Addionics, a battery technology company providing AI-optimized, Smart 3D Electrodes for the next generation of energy storage. Biton has served as the company’s CEO since Addionics’ incorporation in 2017. With over 10 years of experience in the battery industry and more specifically the semiconductor domain, Biton aided in the development of image structures specific to battery materials and researching degradation in both conventional and novel battery cells. There, Biton conducted fundamental research into the design, synthesis and application of 3D metal structures that eventually paved the way to Addonics’ formation. Having reviewed research published in seven publications and co-authored three patents, Biton was a recipient of prestigious honors & awards including Tech Talent UK Visa Award, Horizon 2020 Program of the European Commision and the Alan Howard International PhD Scholarship for his work in the industry. Biton holds a PhD in imaging and modeling of battery materials from Imperial College London.

Mr. Boolish has served as Director of PRBA – The Rechargeable Battery Association, since 2023. Prior to his PRBA work, he held roles for 27 years at Energizer in Research and Development for lithium ion, lithium primary and dry cell battery chemistries, government affairs and standards for battery and chemical products. Mr. Boolish represents PRBA and its members in the United States and internationally on regulatory, legislative, and policy issues associated with the safety manufacturing, handing, transport, storage, and recycling of batteries. Members of PRBA include primary and secondary cell/battery manufacturers; battery recyclers; manufacturers of electronic equipment, medical devices, power tools, automobiles, dangerous good packaging, and outdoor power equipment; and retailers, testing labs, airlines, and dangerous goods consultants. Mr. Boolish can be reached for contact at the methods below: PRBA – The Rechargeable Battery Association 2050 M Street NW Washington, DC 20036 202-719-7170 [email protected]

With 37 years of experience at Lockheed Martin, Roger has been involved in developing electrical power systems and battery programs across multiple LM Business Units. He also contributes to corporate engineering and enterprise strategies centered around batteries, capacitors and power systems and has delivered several presentations across industry aimed at enhancing power system performance for both existing and future platforms. His recent focus has been centered on the wide-ranging benefits of high-temperature-enabled electronics for military and aerospace sectors. He was inducted as an AIAA Associate Fellow in 2022 and currently holds the position of Technical Fellow at Lockheed Martin with both Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering.

I started my P3 career in February 2008 in Germany. Since August 2021 I am located in Detroit and running our Strategy and Technology Business in the USA. I have 10+ years of experiences in the automotive and commercial vehicle business with execution of projects in Europe, the USA and China. My competencies focusing on strategic advisory, efficiency programs, technical due diligence and program management.

Jeremy Carlson has 20+ years of experience in battery design and battery management in consumer electronics and mobile devices. For the past 15 years he has worked as a battery and power engineer in the Strategic Technology Innovation Center at Lenovo. Focusing on battery technology and smart battery management he strives to provide users with the best battery experience possible with their devices.

Dr. Candace K. Chan is Navrotsky Professor of Materials Research and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona, where she has been a faculty member since 2011. Dr. Chan received her B.S. in chemistry from Rice University, Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University, and a Miller Research Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral studies at the University of California at Berkeley. Her group at ASU carries out research on next generation anode and cathode materials for lithium and sodium-ion batteries, foldable and flexible batteries, new synthesis methods for solid-state and ceramic electrolytes for lithium metal batteries, and new processes for recycling lithium-ion battery materials. Dr. Chan is also director of the ASU Battery Lab, which aims to support batteries-related workforce development and industry collaborations.

Dr. Chilamkurti is a mechanical engineer with experience in flow & heat transfer research for sustainable energy and electric-mobility applications. At BETA Technologies, he works on High-Voltage Battery Thermals and Thermal Runaway safety. So, lots of math, CFD, FEA, programming, testing, data science and fire! He enjoys tackling the tough problems on the path to electrifying aviation through creative engineering and collaboration. Outside of work, he loves exploring the Vermont outdoors - riding, biking, hiking, snowboarding, and flying.

Steven is Co-Founder CEO of ReJoule, an advanced battery diagnostics startup in Southern California. ReJoule is commercializing its patent pending technology, which can grade a battery in minutes rather than hours. Steven was a Standards Technical Panel member on UL1974, the process certification standard for evaluating repurposed batteries. Steven has also been a Power Design Engineer at L-3 Communications, Power Paragon, where he designed and tested military-grade power systems for Navy surface ships and submarines. Steven received a Masters of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto with a specialization in power electronics for automotive battery systems.

Jason Croy received his PhD in physics from the University of Central Florida where his work focused on the electronic, vibrational, and catalytic properties of mono- and bi-metallic nanoparticle systems. In 2010, Jason joined the Electrochemical Energy Storage Theme at Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago, IL. His work at Argonne focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of high-energy, lithium-ion electrode materials. Dr. Croy is currently the Group Leader of the Materials Research Group at Argonne National Laboratory and the principal investigator of the Department of Energy’s Deep-Dive consortium on “Earth-abundant Cathode Active Materials” (EaCAM) consisting of ~70 scientists and engineers across 6 national laboratories.

Sam Dao is a battery modeling engineer with extensive experience in electrochemical modeling and battery technology. He received his Ph.D. in Mechatronics from the University of Waterloo in 2008 and joined GM R&D in 2016 as a Senior Battery Modeling Researcher, where he worked on advanced battery modeling for electric vehicle applications. In 2026, he joined Microsoft Battery Engineering, focusing on battery modeling for consumer electronics. His technical interests include physics-based battery modeling, emerging battery technologies, electric vehicles, and advanced battery systems for consumer electronics.

Eric C. Darcy, PhD, recently finished his 38-year career at NASA in the areas of battery design, verification, and safety assessments for the rigors of manned spacecraft applications. As Battery Technical Discipline Lead at NASA-JSC, his main objective has been the development of safe, while high-performing, battery systems with a deep focus on understanding, preventing, and mitigating latent defects that could lead to catastrophic cell internal short circuits. Now he is a private consultant.

Christopher Davis is Director of Price Reporting for Americas Metals at Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. Based in Pittsburgh, Chris is responsible for managing ferrous, nonferrous, battery materials, rare earth elements and critical metals pricing teams in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. Previously, he was Content Director for EMEA Metals, overseeing regional pricing and news coverage from London. Chris joined S&P Global following its acquisition of Steel Business Briefing (SBB) in 2011. Before his time at SBB, he covered topics ranging from politics and government to biotechnology and manufacturing for newspapers including the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Business Times, as well as South Carolina’s Anderson Independent-Mail and Greenville News. Chris is a graduate of Clemson University.

Victoire de Margerie is Majority Shareholder and Executive Chairman of Rondol, a DeepTech SME that develops and markets precision engineering equipment for high quality and low cost drug formulations, food supplements or energy storage components. She has written papers in those fields in scientific journals such as International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Pharmaceutics, Physical Science & Biophysics Journal or SPE Polymers. Her background is in the industry of advanced materials since 1986 and she has held operational & executive assignments in various countries (Canada, Germany, USA, UK, France) until she joined Rondol in 2007. She also has a strong experience in non executive positions (now Boliden and Ivanhoe Electric, previously Arkema, Babcock, Eurazeo, Italcementi, Morgan Advanced Materials, Outokumpu or Norsk Hydro). She was elected an Academician at the National Academy of Technologies of France in 2020.

Timothy DeBastos is managing director of LG Energy Solution North American Development (ESMI-D), the North American subsidiary of LG Energy Solution (LGES), based in Seoul, Korea. In this position, he has overall responsibility for strategic direction, development, launch, validation, and mass production. Prior to joining LGES, Mr. DeBastos worked at Rivian on HV Battery Electromechanical Design. Prior to that, he was chief engineer for high voltage pack and modules at LG Energy Solution. The majority of his over 20-year professional career was spent at Ford Motor Company, where he worked through various propulsion roles with increasing responsibility. He focused on EV commercial vehicles, integration, and implementation. Mr. DeBastos received a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Wayne State University and his Master of Business Administration from University of Michigan – Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

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.

Dr. Kulwinder Dhindsa is the Manager of Battery Materials & Recycling at Nissan Technical Center North America, where he leads research and development of advanced battery materials, lithium-ion batteries, and battery recycling technologies. His work focuses on cathode and anode materials, battery manufacturing, critical mineral supply chains, battery localization, and sustainable recycling processes to support next-generation electrified vehicles and energy storage systems. Dr. Dhindsa has authored several peer-reviewed publications on lithium-ion battery materials, including LiFePO4 and graphene-enhanced cathodes, and is an inventor on patents related to solid-state batteries and lithium-ion battery recycling. He actively collaborates with industry, universities, startups, and national laboratories to accelerate the development and commercialization of advanced battery technologies.

Giuseppe L. Di Benedetto, PhD is the Power Team Lead and a Chemical Engineer at the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center. Dr. Di Benedetto graduated from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Chemical Engineering in May 2002, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Chemical Engineering in January 2009. During his 17 years at US Army DEVCOM Armaments Center, Dr. Di Benedetto has served as the Technical Lead for many power and energy research and development projects as well as provide Subject Matter Expertise support to munitions power production items. This work has resulted in publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings, paper and poster presentations at national and international conferences, and several patents. He is currently the Chair of the Interagency Advanced Power Group (IAPG) Chemical Working Group (CWG) Safety Panel, and the Capability Area Manager for Munitions Power Technology of the Joint Enhanced Munitions Technology Program (JEMTP).

Emily Dickens is the Chief Commercial Officer at Octet Scientific, Inc. , where she has spent the past six years supporting the aqueous battery industry through both product development and commercial leadership. With a background spanning a range of research in aqueous non-aqueous batteries, Emily brings deep technical insight and strategic vision to Octet’s mission of advancing electrolyte additive solutions for energy storage. Under her leadership, Octet is commercializing its technology across multiple applications, including large-scale energy storage, while building over 30 successful partnerships across the battery ecosystem. Emily’s expertise bridges technical innovation, market strategy, and client collaboration, enabling her to translate cutting-edge chemistry into real-world impact.

Mickael Dollé is a Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Université de Montréal. He earned his Ph.D. from Université Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens – France) in 2002. Prior to joining Université de Montréal in 2014, he was a CNRS researcher in France after being postdoctoral fellows at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Max Planck Institute of Stuttgart. He is the recipient of the American Ceramic Society Global Star Award. His research focuses on materials chemistry, energy storage, and manufacturing. His ongoing projects focus on solid state batteries (ceramic and polymer), dry electrode processing and battery recycling.

Tom Drabble is Global Sustainability Manager at the International Lithium Association (ILiA), where he leads work on responsible production, carbon footprints and sustainability engagement across the global lithium value chain. He coordinates industry collaboration on sustainability initiatives and supports members in navigating evolving frameworks such as the EU Battery Regulation. Tom previously worked as Senior Sustainability Analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, where he specialised in critical raw materials and the lithium supply chains. He holds a Master’s degree in Environment, Development and Politics.

Hieu led the development of Dry Battery Electrode (DBE) manufacturing process at Maxwell Technologies beginning in 2011. He served as the Director of Electrode Engineering at Tesla for 4 years after its acquisition in 2019, driving scaling efforts leading to the commercialization of DBE. Currently, he is the Chief Manufacturing Officer at AM Batteries leading the development and commercialization of Powder-to-Electrode coating process and equipment for low-cost lithium-ion battery manufacturing.

Myriam El Kara is Founder of Sterling Acumen, a Singapore-based strategic advisory firm focused on critical minerals, battery materials, rare earth and industrial supply chains. She previously led supply chain and procurement at European battery manufacturer Verkor, where she developed mine-to-cathode sourcing strategies and negotiated critical raw-material supply arrangements across lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. Earlier, she held commodities trading and investment roles in Asia, including with Noble Group. Her work today bridges commodity market realities, industrial policy, financing and supply chain strategy.

Battery and Hybrid Storage Expert (Li-ion Battery & Hybrid Storage Systems), with more than ten years of industrial and applied research professional experience. Ph.D. (Dr. Eng.) degree holder from the Battery Technical Center at KIT, Germany. In cooperation with Waterloo Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE), University of Waterloo (UW), Canada. Holding an M.Sc. Eng. degree in renewable energy, and B.Sc. Eng. degree in electrical engineering. Certified expert in renewable energy finance from Frankfurt school of Management, and Battery MBA degree. Main career focus and expertise in battery storage (& hybrid storage systems) and its applications focusing on: off-grid & decentralized systems, and Electro-Mobility.

Mark Ellis is the Senior Vice President and Head of Battery Monitoring and Optimization (M&O) Technology at Volvo Energy, a position he assumed in January 2024. He is a member of the Volvo Energy Executive Leadership Team and is focused on shaping the electrification landscape through sustainable energy solutions and innovative battery technologies. His work at Volvo Energy emphasizes leveraging his extensive experience to optimize battery performance, efficiency, and enable circularity through extending the battery lifecycle. Ellis is an experienced engineering manager with over twenty years of active engagement in the battery and automotive industries. Before joining Volvo Energy, he served as the Director of Engineering, Battery Systems at Northvolt from July 2019 to January 2024. His career also includes significant roles at leading automotive companies like Jaguar Cars and Ford Motor Company, where he held positions such as Principal Engineer - Sustainability and Technical Alignment Manager. Additionally, he worked as a Principal Engineer in Battery Systems at WMG, University of Warwick, leading multi-million pound R&D programs. He holds a B.Eng (Hons) in Metallurgy & Materials Science from the University of Birmingham, an MSc in Engineering Business Management from the University of Warwick, and an MBA from Aston University. His technical expertise spans electric vehicles, product development, technical leadership, and process innovation, all contributing to Volvo Energy's commitment to a greener, more sustainable future.

Donal Finegan is a senior scientist at the US DOE National Lab of the Rockies (NLR). His work focuses on understanding degradation and failure mechanisms of Li-ion batteries and taking steps to improve the performance and safety of cells and battery systems. Through his research, Donal pioneered the application of high-speed X-ray imaging to visualize rapid dynamic mechanisms that occur within Li-ion cells as they undergo thermal runaway. He collaborates extensively with the NASA Johnson Space Center on developing a Fractional Thermal Runaway Calorimeter (FTRC) and compiling data for the Battery Failure Databank, the largest open-source database on thermal runaway data from Li-ion cells. He received his B.Eng in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin (UCD) and a Ph.D in Advanced Diagnostics of Batteries from University College London (UCL).

Dr. Alejandro A. Franco is a Full Professor at Université de Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens, France), Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France, and Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA). With over 24 years of experience, he is a leading expert in multiscale modeling and AI for battery manufacturing. He is the recipient of two ERC grants, as well as the 2025 Battery Division M. Stanley Whittingham Mid-Career Award of the Electrochemical Society. Prof. Franco coordinates the Erasmus+ i-MESC Master Programme and serves as an Editor for the Journal of Power Sources. He has an extensive track record with over 185 publications, 23 patents, 175+ invited conference lectures, and 75+ invited seminars. Additionally, he is the co-founder and CSO of Aikemics, a startup leveraging digital twin technology to revolutionize the battery industry.

As the Vice President of Operations for The Battery Network, Eric is responsible for the organization’s supply chain, safety, compliance, and downstream recycling network. This includes optimizing performance and efficiencies while upholding the organization’s commitment to safety standards and compliance obligations. Eric’s day-to-day focus is on helping a variety of stakeholders understand and address the unique safety and environmental challenges associated with lithium-ion batteries. With over 20 years’ experience in engineering and operations leadership at leading transportation solutions providers, Eric is a practical expert in the areas of lithium-ion battery recycling, transportation, compliance, packaging, and safety. Eric has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from Boston University.

Dr. Frith is a principal at the US based venture capital firm, Volta Energy Technologies, where he works as part of the investment office. At volta, James identifies, diligences, underwrites and manages investments in growth-stage companies in the energy transition space. James has over 15 years of experience in the energy storage industry, which includes seven years working on lithium batteries in the laboratory before moving to BloombergNEF, where he led the company’s coverage of energy storage technologies and their associated supply chains. Using his in-depth knowledge and understanding of techno-economics, market dynamics and technology development, Dr. Frith has advised investors, governments, financial institutions, and the automotive and mining sectors as they position themselves for the low carbon economy. James holds a Ph.D in Electrochemistry from the University of Southampton.

After he joined Matsushita electric Co., Ltd in 2001, Mr. Fujikawa started his career as material and safety technology researcher of lithium-ion batteries. In 2015 he transferred to business department and led cylindrical lithium-ion battery developments , especially for automotive use. From 2025 he is managing R&D Center of Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd. As a director he is leading technology developments for future lithium-ion batteries including materials, mechanical design, process development, and post LIB technologies.

Dr. Paul Gasper is currently a Staff Scientist specializing in battery testing, data analysis, and predictive degradation modeling at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, 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 NLR 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.

Javier Gazzarri is a Consulting Application Engineer at MathWorks, where he has worked for 15 years. Most of his work is on battery modeling and simulation, from cell- to system-level, parameter estimation for model correlation, impedance spectroscopy, battery management system algorithm development, thermal management, aging, state estimation, model reduction and artificial intelligence. Before joining MathWorks, Javier worked on fuel cell modeling at the National Research Council of Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), a master’s degree (inverse methods for sensor design), and a PhD degree (solid oxide fuel cell degradation and impedance spectroscopy) both from the University of British Columbia (Canada).

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 President Elect of NAATBatt International, Advisory Committee member at BEACONS battery center by UT Dallas, and Co-chair of the “Electrode Materials Committee” at NAATBatt. Katharina holds a doctorate degree in Battery Materials from the University of Bonn, Germany.

Thomas has been working with AVL on simulation topics in various roles for more than a decade. After achieving a Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Graz University of Technology in 2013 (Austria) he joined AVL to work on system simulation topics as a development engineer, software developer, and senior software developer. Since 2022, Thomas has specialized in business development for AVL’s advanced simulation technologies for the North America market.

Dr. Tobias Glossmann is Chief Product Officer at Pure Lithium. He was formerly a Principal Engineer at Mercedes-Benz R&D North America where he worked 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.

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.

Name: Dr. Jamie Greer Education: BSc (Honours) Chemistry - Monash University, 2015 Ph.D. Inorganic Chemistry - Monash University, 2020

Company: Air Liquide Advanced Materials

Title: European Technology Program Manager in Emerging Markets

Bio summary: From 2015 - 2020, during postgraduate studies, I've worked on the preparation & characterisation of organometallic compounds, mostly heavy alkali metal amide intermediates applied in asymmetric synthesis. Began working for Air Liquide Laboratories in 2020 at their Innovation Campus in Tokyo, developing novel organometallic precursors for chemical vapour deposition (CVD), primarily focusing on emerging applications in next-generation battery material interface modifications, new solar technologies, & advanced optical coatings. In 2022, relocated to Germany to work on business development for Air Liquide Advanced Materials in emerging technologies. This included supporting further research & development of these chemical precursors to tackle specific industry problems, particularly by leveraging the company's 20+ years of experience in the field of atomic layer deposition (ALD) to enhance next-generation materials.

Oliver is the global Subject Matter Expert for Advanced Energy Storage and Conversion at Stellantis where he is responsible for the energy storage and fuel cell systems technology roadmaps and architecture. He is a member of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium Technical Advisory Committee, and chairs several additional committees, including manufacturing, 12V Stop Start and 48V Mild Hybrid batteries. He holds both a BS and a Master’s Degree in Materials Science, for the University of Toronto. Oliver has over 25 years’ experience in the advanced energy storage industry. He currently holds over 10 patents, and more than 20 publications.

Evan Hartley is a battery cells research manager for Benchmark Mineral Intelligence with over five years experience as a price and manufacturing analyst across global markets. Having spent time conducting primary research within factories across China, USA, and Europe, he has first hand experience with changing battery technologies and markets. Benchmark specialises in assessing market prices, supply chain data, forecasting and strategic advisory for the technologies and supply chains central to the energy transition.

Dr. Troy Hayes has over 19 years of experience in Li-ion battery failure analysis and manufacturing, investigating thousands of battery failures of batteries of all shapes and sizes ranging from implantable medical devices to grid scale storage prior to joining Tesla. He is now serving as the Director of Quality for Tesla’s 4680 battery program, where Tesla is leading the efforts to produce fully dry electrode-based Li-ion batteries.

As founder of Ion Storage Systems, Dr. Hitz led development of the groundbreaking multilayer garnet structure at the heart of ION’s battery. Greg now sets the vision for the company’s technology growth, oversees intellectual property and data science efforts, and leads technology roadmapping. He has fostered a culture focused on excellence, integrity, and rapid learning cycles across all activities.Greg has built a world-class team dedicated to delivering no-compromise customer solutions with highly scalable manufacturing. His leadership has also been key in developing new company capabilities and cultivating them into high-performance core competencies. He holds a PhD in Materials Science & Engineering and a bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland.

For nearly a decade, Ken Hoffman led McKinsey's global battery value chain work from capital raising and strategy advice to go-to-market work. He has assisted top private equity firms on more than 100 due diligence projects. Today, Ken sits on the Board of NEO Battery Materials, serves as an advisor to the CEOs of Pure Lithium and IBC Advanced Technologies, and is the commodity strategist for Canada's Redcloud Securities. He has been a keynote speaker at PDAC, Future Minerals Forum, FastMarkets, AABC, NAATBATT, LME, SMM, etc., as well as on the advisory Board for "The Battery Show". He was asked by the Chamber of Commerce forum in Washington, DC, to talk about batteries to more than 300 global CEO's. Before McKinsey, Ken had worked in financial markets as a portfolio manager and director of research among other roles.

David Howell, Vice President, has over 40 years of experience successfully executing complex research, development, & manufacturing activities. Dave previously served 20 years at U.S. DOE, most recently as the Principal Deputy Director of the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC). He led DOE efforts to establish multi-billion-dollar programs funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to invest in and secure domestic clean energy supply chains and manufacturing. Prior to his MESC role, Dave served as the Director of the DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and Program Manager for Electric Vehicle R&D, directing a $450 million annual R&D budget. Dave was founding Chair of the U.S. Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries (FCAB) that brings Federal agencies together to coordinate and leverage investments to establish a domestic supply of lithium batteries. Dave also served 12 years as a Research Associate with Oak Ridge National Laboratory focused on polymer composites, and 6 years as a commissioned office in the U.S. Air Force assigned to the Air Force Materials Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB. Dave holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Tennessee.

James Hoxey is a commercial and strategy leader in advanced electrification with 15+ years’ experience delivering battery programmes for BMW, Anglo American and McLaren, as well as advisory roles spanning automotive, aerospace and defence. Formerly Head of Business Development at Williams Advanced Engineering (now Fortescue Zero), he has shaped multi-sector programmes from high-performance automotive to megawatt-scale systems, bridging technology, supply chain, and market adoption.

William leads the Cell Engineering team at Archer Aviation, and is responsible for cell selection, qualification, model development, and testing for all Archer battery programs.

Dr. Samantha Hung is a senior engineer on the Advanced Metal Anode Research (AMAR) team at the 21C Lab, part of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL). Her work centers on advancing fundamental understanding of battery technologies, both for lithium metal and lithium-ion systems. She has published in leading peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from molecular dynamics—primarily stemming from her doctoral research at Stanford University (Ph.D. in Chemistry, 2023)—to applied battery research through collaborative efforts in academia and industry.

Sam Jaffe is the VP of business development and product at Mana Battery. 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 has also worked at 1019 Technologies and Addionics. He is the author of two books, Jewish Wisdom for Business Success and The New Korea, and lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Dr. Golareh (Goli) Jalilvand is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina (USC), and the principal investigator of the Laboratory for Materials Properties and Structures (LMaPS). Her research lies at the intersect of electrochemical engineering and materials science, focusing on advancing the fundamental understanding of dynamic evolution of materials under electrochemical operation. She is particularly interested in conversion redox reactions and investigates the coupling between multiscale material structures and phase evolution—examining how chemical, structural, and mechanical properties of materials change in operando. With a special focus on next-generation battery technologies, Dr. Jalilvand's team investigates lithium–sulfur and lithium-iron-phosphate cathodes, novel separator materials, battery materials recycling, and flexible energy storage systems.

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).

Dr. Meng Jiang is a staff researcher at GM R&D and the chair of the technical advisory committee at USABC. She received her Ph.D in chemistry from Stony Brook University and has 20 years of experience in lithium ion battery research and development.

Dr. Xiaohai Jiang is a Process Modeling Engineer at PPG. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The City College of New York. His technical expertise includes computational fluid dynamics (CFD), multiphase flow, heat transfer, and process modeling. He leverages advanced simulation tools and numerical methods to investigate transport phenomena in coating and manufacturing processes.

Dr. Nathan B. Johnson completed his Doctorate in Chemical Engineering under Dr. Paul Albertus at University of Maryland, College Park in Spring 2023, and his Postdoc at Sandia National Laboratories under Dr. Loraine Torres-Castro and Dr. Alex M. Bates in January 2025. Since then, he has worked as a Senior Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories in the Power Sources R&D organization. For the last 7 years, he has worked on safety, reliability, and diagnostics for a wide variety of primary and rechargeable battery chemistries from the materials-scale up to the pack-level. His primary focus is developing a predictive battery safety testing method through coupling materials-scale tests with numerical modeling.

Jeff Johnson has nearly 25 years of investment, entrepreneurship and corporate experience across climate and technology. Jeff is a General Partner at the global multi-stage investment firm B Capital where he leads the firm’s growing climate investment team. He most recently served as a Managing Director at Temasek leading the sustainable investing team for the global investment firm. Prior to Temasek, Jeff ran a boutique advisory business focused on scaling of sustainable businesses. He also co-founded and was on the Board of Xpansiv, the world's leading provider of market infrastructure for environmental commodities. Jeff worked in innovation business development at ABB between 2012 to 2014, leading growth initiatives for new sustainable products and services. Earlier in his career, he held several leadership and business development roles at various companies, including Better Place, Vendavo, and Intel Corporation. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from University of Florida and a Master of Science in Engineering Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Jungjohann joined NREL in 2021, after starting her career within DOE’s Nanoscale Science Research Centers, including the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials. Her research began with liquid-cell scanning / transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM) of nanoparticle synthesis and catalytic nanoparticles. During her tenure at Sandia National Laboratories, she worked heavily on Li-metal anode characterization using in-situ electrochemical S/TEM and cryogenic electron microscopy methods. Dr. Jungjohann supported research on an array of user projects that required in-situ S/TEM (electrical biasing, electrochemistry, heating, heating in liquids, cryogenic temperatures, straining, and environmental TEM). She now supports her group as a manger in providing advanced multiscale and multimodal microscopy and imaging characterization to NREL and NREL’s collaborators.

Karthik Kadirvel is the Director of Battery Engineering and Technologies at Reality Lab in Meta. His team is responsible for designing, qualifying, and mass producing batteries for AI glasses, mixed reality headsets, controllers, and neural input devices. He is also responsible for defining the battery technology roadmap for new chemistries, form factors, and algorithms.

Niloofar Kamyab is an applications manager at COMSOL, with a specialized focus on electrochemistry, including batteries and fuel cells. She received her PhD in chemical engineering from the University of South Carolina, where her research focused on the mathematical modeling of battery systems.

Sungkwon Kang is a Director with LG Technology Ventures. Sungkwon has held various roles within LG Group, including global business development at LG Chem and open innovation and business development at LG Technology Center of America. Sungkwon was also a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Sungkwon received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Cornell University and B.S. in mechanical engineering and applied computational mathematics from Virginia Tech.

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.

Dr. Brandon Kelly is the Chief Scientist at Peak Energy, leading the scientific strategy and industrialization roadmap for sodium-ion battery systems. With a Ph.D. from Colorado State University and a career defined by leading cell engineering at Solid Power and Peak Energy, Brandon specializes in the transition of lab-scale innovations into industrial-grade products. He currently oversees the long-term technical direction and development systems that ensure the performance, reliability, and manufacturability of Peak Energy’s domestic battery solutions.

Hadi Khani is a Research Assistant Professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and a core faculty member of the Materials Science and Engineering Program at The University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD in Chemistry with a minor in Statistics from Mississippi State University in 2017. Before joining the UT Austin faculty in 2021, he held research appointments at the University of Notre Dame and UT Austin. His research focuses on electrochemical energy storage, solid-state and polymer electrolytes, and the thermal and electrochemical failure mechanisms of emerging battery chemistries. His group investigates heat release, gas evolution, structural changes, and interfacial degradation to understand how electrode and electrolyte chemistry influence battery safety. Current research includes potassium-ion, sodium-ion, and solid-state lithium-metal batteries.

Dr. Jiyoon Kim is a research scientist at SandboxAQ working at the intersection of computational materials science and artificial intelligence for battery development. Her research focuses on data generation with Density Functional Theory, machine-learning interatomic potential development, and novel materials discovery for solid-state batteries. Before joining SandboxAQ, she was advised by Professor Kristin A. Persson at the University of California, Berkeley, researching beyond lithium technologies and multivalent-ion diffusion mechanisms.

Ms. King leads Advanced Battery Strategy for LEAP Manufacturing, supporting government, startups, and academia through the BEACONS project at the University of Texas, Dallas. She is a Chemical Engineer, with over 30 years experience in cell development, and has held leadership roles at Northvolt, Stanley Black & Decker, and Teledyne.

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).

Dr. Simran Kumari is a Senior Research Scientist at Nissan North America, where she leads the development of next-generation cathode materials and advanced algorithms for Battery Management Systems (BMS). With a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UCLA, her work focuses on leveraging AI, simulation, and predictive health modeling to enhance the performance and safety of lithium-based battery technologies. Dr. Kumari has authored numerous publications in top-tier journals and holds several patents related to battery chemistry and electrolyte formulations, bridging the gap between fundamental materials science and practical system-level applications.

Recognized for more than 25 years of developing and commercializing lithium-ion batteries, Dr. Christina Lampe-Önnerud 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-Önnerud 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-Önnerud 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-Önnerud 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-Önnerud 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.

Greg Less is Director of the U-M Battery Lab, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the facility. Greg received a doctorate in Chemistry from U-M. Prior to founding the Battery Lab, he was a UM research scientist and worked at battery companies T/J Technologies and A123 Systems.

Bin’s work focuses on battery safety, and associated vehicle architecture, infrastructure, and regulatory expectations. In recent years, Bin has been leading the development in lithium-ion battery thermal runaway and propagation mitigation strategies and systematic solution approaches for GM electric vehicles. His experience spans battery design, thermal risk management, and the evaluation of safety tradeoffs associated with charging strategies, vehicle integration, storage, and transportation. Bin serves as Chairperson of the SAE Battery Safety Standards Committee and contributing to the development and global alignment of battery safety regulations and best practices.

Dr Guanting Li is a Research Associate in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London, working with Professor Chun (Ann) Huang on advanced electrode manufacturing for next-generation lithium-ion batteries. His research focuses on designing thick, high-loading electrodes with engineered microstructures to improve ion transport, electrochemical performance, and practical energy density. His current research extends these manufacturing concepts to emerging cathode chemistries including NMC and LMFP, together with advanced electrochemical characterisation. His broader interests include scalable battery manufacturing, electrode microstructure engineering, and high-energy-density cell design.

Dr. Paul Lichty is the co-founder and CEO of Forge Nano - a materials science company that optimizes material performance to enable better battery and semiconductor products. Dr. Lichty invented the method of high throughput material surface engineering (atomic layer deposition, or ALD) that enables Forge Nano to coat materials with protective and performance-enhancing layers at the atomic level. Dr. Lichty founded Forge Nano as a spin out from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2011 and has since raised upwards of $100M from Volkswagen, LG, Mitsui Kinzoku, Sumitomo and more. Forge Nano's book of business is expansive with partnerships with leading lithium-ion cell manufacturers, battery material production companies and semiconductor manufacturers. Dr. Lichty has a broad technical background with over half a dozen patents to his name. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering and bachelor’s Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

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

Michael heads thought leadership as Director of Research & Insights at Volta Foundation. Prior to Volta, Michael spent his career in industry specializing in battery cell design, materials development, and high-volume manufacturing. He led technical commercialization efforts of next generation silicon anode materials for Panasonic and accompanying OEMs in his last role at Sila Nanotechnologies. Additionally, Michael draws on his experiences from previous roles in cell engineering at Apple–delivering batteries from clean sheet to multi-million unit production for numerous product lines. Michael holds a BS and MS of Materials Science & Engineering from UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech, respectively, and was advised by Prof. Gleb Yushin.

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.

Dr. Sanjiv Malhotra is the founder and CEO of Spark, a battery manufacturer establishing the lithium battery ecosystem by building large-scale energy storage. Malhotra has been a leader in the energy sector for nearly three decades as a founder, investor and executive. He served as the first director for Energy Investor Center at the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), serving under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Malhotra was recruited to the Department of Energy after a successful exit of Oorja Protonics, the world leader in methanol fuel cells, which he founded and led as CEO for 10 years. Malhotra also led the engineering and product development team at H Power, a pioneer in hydrogen fuel cells. As part of the management team, he managed the successful IPO, which raised more than $100 million in August 2000. He began his career as a post-doctoral fellow at the renowned Lawrence Berkeley National Labs on electrochemical storage systems. Malhotra has authored seven patents and more than 40 publications in various fields of energy storage technology and materials. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering from and an M.B.A from the University of Iowa.

Epica has over 10 years’ experience in the field of Battery, Materials, Electric Vehicle and Renewable energy. During these years, she worked with Manufacturing Companies, Think Tanks, and Government Organizations. She led several projects during past tenure. She is currently Senior Management Consultant and Subject matter expert (Battery) for Worley Insight Team. She is the author for the Global Battery Anode Materials Study. Epica is also a contributing author to Worley Consulting’s flagship publications, the Calcined Petroleum Coke Report.

Alex Manoloff leads up Barclays’ efforts to cover the battery industry, within the Investment Bank’s Energy Transition Group. She covers battery companies across the value chain ranging from materials processing, through active material, cell manufacturing and assembly. Before covering the battery space, Alex covered various aspects of climate technology, healthcare and leveraged finance within investment banking, and prior to that she worked in various government positions including NASA. She holds a Bachelor of Science & Engineering from Princeton University.

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 more than 1,000 journal articles with 144,000 citations and an h-index of 184. He has mentored 300 students and postdoctoral researchers, including the graduation of 81 PhD students. Dr. Manthiram is an elected Fellow of seven profession societies. He is a recipient of University of Texas Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award (one university-wide award per year, 2012), Electrochemical Society Battery Division Research Award (2014), Distinguished Alumnus Award of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (2015), Billy and Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award (2016), Honorary Mechanical Engineer of the ME Academy of Distinguished Alumni Award (2019), Electrochemical Society Henry B. Linford Award for Distinguished Teaching (2020), International Battery Materials Association Research Award (2020), Electrochemical Society Battery Division Technology Award (2021), John B. Goodenough Award of the Electrochemical Society (2023), International Battery Materials Association Yeager Award for Lifetime Achievement (2024), and Electrochemical Society Olin Palladium Award (2025). He delivered the 2019 Chemistry Nobel Prize Lecture in Stockholm on behalf of Professor John Goodenough.

Dr. Masias is a Cell Technology Research Supervisor in Ford Motor Company's Battery Cell Research Department and has worked on the research and development of lithium batteries since 2002. His past research has focused on battery materials, analysis, and safety, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), and various universities. His current research focus is on solid-state lithium metal batteries, with an emphasis on the mechanical, safety, and life properties of lithium metal. Dr. Masias is a member of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) Technical Advisory Committee. He holds engineering degrees from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan.

Naoki Matsumura is a Principal Engineer at Intel Corporation, responsible for battery algorithm development in charging and CPU turbo-boost, and new battery chemistry enabling for mobile devices, datacenters, and Internet-Of-Things (IOT) devices. He is frequently invited to international conferences to speak on battery topics such as machine-learning/deep-learning based battery charging algorithm. He also teaches batteries and AI (machine learning and deep learning) at San Jose State University as an adjunct faculty, where he also serves as a Materials Engineering Industry Advisory Council member. Prior to that, he held battery research and development roles at Panasonic Corporation. He earned his MS in Energy Science from Kyoto University and holds many patents. He is the author of "Practical Battery Design and Control", a peer-reviewed battery book published from Artech House in Feb.'23.

Tom Maull works as the Chief Deployment Strategist - Heavy Industry, Motorsport, and Advanced Engineering — for Elysia Battery Intelligence. Prior to his current role, he lead battery modelling activities and algorithm development for several high-profile battery programmes ranging from large Haul Trucks to top-tier motorsport, including Formula E Gen 3 and LMDh. In his current role, Tom develops the R&D strategy for Elysia Battery Intelligence, working in close collaboration with academic and technical partners. Before joining Elysia, Tom worked as a mechanical engineering consultant, serving clients in the automotive and offroad industry.

Jeff is an aerospace subsystems engineer with 25+ years of experience in military and commercial aviation programs. His expertise spans subsystem architecture development, design, testing and certification in electrical, APU, battery, hydraulics, flight controls, mechanical and landing gear systems.

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).

Xiangbo (Henry) Meng is currently a full professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR, USA). Prior to joining University of Arkansas in 2016, Meng was a Postdoctoral Fellow at both Argonne and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Since 2009, Meng has been focusing on addressing interfacial issues of various battery systems using atomic and molecular layer deposition.

Michael Metzger is the Herzberg-Dahn Chair and Associate Professor of Physics at Dalhousie University. He is one of three principal investigators in the Tesla-Dalhousie research partnership. Metzger co-developed on-line electrochemical mass spectrometry, a gas analysis technique to diagnose battery cells, at TUM in collaboration with BASF and BMW (2013-2017). As a senior research engineer for Robert Bosch (2017-2020), he focused on solid-state batteries. Metzger is one of two co-leads for the Canadian Battery Innovation Center, a $20 million user facility at Dalhousie University for prototyping next-generation batteries. He has 12 patents and over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Materials. Metzger has been awarded the Herbert H. Uhlig Summer Fellowship for 2016 by the Electrochemical Society (ECS), 2016 Evonik Industries Research Prize, and the 2017 PwC “Strategy&” Presidential Award. Recently, he has also been awarded the 2025 ECS Battery Division Early Career Award and the 2025 President’s Research Excellence Award – Emerging Investigator at Dalhousie University. Metzger is also a technical advisor to the German startup, Litona, a spinoff from his lab.

Celina Mikolajczak is a Licensed Mechanical Engineer who has spent 25 years working in the battery industry including senior roles at Exponent, Tesla, Uber, Panasonic, QuantumScape, and Lyten. She has significant experience across the battery industry including in materials development, cell R&D, cell design, pack design, cell & pack manufacturing, failure analysis, factory planning, safety testing & regulatory requirements, especially fire codes related to batteries. Celina is currently on sabbatical and advising companies throughout the battery ecosystem including Voltaiq, Manaflex, VTA Technologies, Battery Associates, Polyplus, Sylvatex, Anthro Energy, and Pranshi Energy.

Ted Miller is Manager of Battery Cell Research and Advanced Engineering at Ford’s Battery Center of Excellence known as Ion Park. Mr. Miller leads the research, development, and implementation of advanced cell, material, and battery recycling for Ford EV applications. His team is building an advanced fabrication pilot laboratory within Ion Park to develop and demonstrate beyond Li-Ion EV cell technology. He manages key collaborations with developers of solid state cell technology and commercialization of battery recycling. Mr. Miller was chairman of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium, the University of Michigan Energy Institute External Advisory Board, and a member of the Idaho National Laboratory Strategic Advisory Committee. He served on the Boeing Non-Advocate Review Committee, the US Navy Independent Expert Review Team, and as an OEM representative to the US Li-Bridge Alliance.

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.

Les Morgret, Ph.D., PMP is Head of Recycling, Commercial at R3 Lithium, where he manages the recycling business unit comprising both the production of black mass and lithium carbonate. With over 15 years of program management experience, Les is inspired when teams of individuals are organized to achieve excellence. He holds a Doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University.

William Mustain is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Director of the Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation. He works in several areas related to electrochemical energy generation and storage, including: high capacity materials for Li-ion batteries, novel electrode structures for Li-S batteries, battery recycling, corrosion and passivation of materials, etc. He has published over 160 peer reviewed articles (h-index 56) and has over 100 invited lectures. He has served as the chair of the Energy Technology Division of the Electrochemical Society and AIChE Area 1E: Electrochemical Fundamentals. He has been the recipient of several awards including the U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award, Electrochemical Society Energy Technology Research Award and Fulbright Scholar Fellowship. Greg Less is the Director of the U-M Battery Lab. He is an expert in battery pilot cell development and manufacturing and he responsible for the day-to-day operations of the U-M Battery Lab facility. Greg received a doctorate in Chemistry from U-M. Prior to founding the Battery Lab, he was a UM research scientist and worked at battery companies T/J Technologies and A123 Systems.

George Navarro is currently the Director of Mission Critical Solutions at MC Dean. A UPS and power electronics subject matter expert with over 30 years of experience, George has developed grid-interactive UPS to perform behind-the-meter grid ancillary services including frequency regulation and demand charge management. A mission critical system expert, George’s battery energy storage knowledge includes lead-acid, Ni Zn, Li Ion, Na Ion, and flow batteries. George has acquired strong knowledge in IEEE1547, UL9540, UL1741SA, NFPA 855 standards governing the application and certification testing of grid interactive inverters and BESS. In the business-technical realm George holds an MBA from Monmouth University and has applied techno-economic analysis using leading industry tools. He also holds a bachelor's in engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. George leads his organization in the pursuit of microgrids and small modular reactors for energy resiliency and mission critical applications.

Johanna Nelson Weker is a senior scientist at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, heads the Hard X-ray Materials Science group at SSRL, and is the deputy director of the Materials Science Division. Johanna uses powerful synchrotron X-rays to uncover how energy storage materials work under real-world conditions, with the goal of advancing clean energy technologies. Her research spans from pioneering studies of batteries in action to developing new 3D imaging techniques that reveal what traditional methods cannot.

Tan Nguyen serves as the Director of the Battery Cell Plant at Packet Digital. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrochemistry from the University of British Columbia and brings over a decade of experience in lithium-ion battery research, product development, and manufacturing. His expertise spans new battery chemistries, cell design, and large-scale production processes. At Packet Digital, Dr. Nguyen leads the establishment of the company’s lithium-ion pouch cell manufacturing facility, overseeing multiple aspects of factory design, equipment selection, and process implementation to ensure the successful launch of a world-class domestic cell production line.

Dr. Hailong Ning is the Co-founder and CEO of VTA Technology. He has 15 years of experience in the battery industry, from battery materials, cell development to large-scale battery manufacturing. Prior to founding VTA, he served as VP of Battery Engineering at NIO and General Manager of Battery Engineering at Panasonic Energy of North America respectively, where he had direct experiences of building gigafactories in both the US and China. He obtained his Ph.D degree in Materials Sciences & Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.

Dr Conor O'Brien is a Principal Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, predominantly concerned with the topic of advanced materials, from novel nanomaterials to the utilisation of emerging materials and technologies in a wide range of applications. Having previously studied at Trinity College Dublin, Conor obtained a PhD from the University of Manchester, working in the National Graphene Institute.

Joe O'Connor is the Director of ESS Solutions at Nuvation Energy with over a decade of experience in renewable energy product development. He holds two solar energy patents and authored the best-selling book 'Off Grid Solar.' Joe has expertise in solar energy, battery manufacturing, and energy storage systems, and he assists organizations in developing advanced battery solutions. He holds a master's in Manufacturing Engineering from NYU.

Alexander Onz is heading the position as Technical Program Manager for Delfort´s IonPort® Separators. In this role, he oversees all technical and product-related topics and acts as the key point of contact for customers. Before taking on this position, Alexander led globally Delfort's Technical Sales for the Tobacco Division as Head of Technical Customer Service for several years. He has an academic background and professional experience in both technical and legal fields, as well as extensive expertise in the specialty paper industry.

Lawrence Pan leads the Battery Engineering Team at Fitbit, which has developed solutions to power millions of smartwatches and trackers. Prior to this, he focused on advanced charging algorithms, battery diagnostics, novel electrode design, and use of nanomaterials for energy storage.

Ryan Paquet is President of HazMat Safety Consulting, co-author of Mastering Lithium-ion Battery Safety, and co-developer of the Battery Safety Lifecycle (TM) framework taught in this session. He previously served as Director of Approvals and Permits at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and as a U.S. delegate to the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and the International Maritime Organization. He currently contributes to SAE G-27 (packaging performance), SAE J3303 (storage containment performance), and UN work on hazard-based classification of lithium batteries.

Dr. Park leads Enevate’s technical team and IP efforts. He founded Enevate more than 20 years ago. He is an expert in battery and surface/bulk chemistries, and novel battery manufacturing techniques. Ben has authored 45+ talks/publications, and has 200+ patents issued/filed. He holds a doctorate in mechanical & aerospace engineering from UC Irvine, MSEE from Purdue University, BSEE from Seoul National University.

Dr. Stefan Permien studied chemistry at the university of Kiel. During his PhD he focused on lithium-ion batteries, especially on research for materials and reaction mechanism. He also completed a master of Business Administration at the university of Lahr. Afterwards he worked 3 years as CTO, responsible for R&D, project management and purchasing. In April 2019 he founded UniverCell Holding GmbH to start his own electrode and cell business. Since then he is CEO, founder and stakeholder of UniverCell. Together with his team he has built up and continues to expand a unique electrode and cell production in and for Europe. With the aim to harness sustainable energy and to develop energy storage systems that challenge the status quo.

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.

Yuliya Preger is a Principal Member of Technical Staff in the Energy Storage Technology and Systems Group at Sandia National Labs. She earned her PhD and BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and MIT, respectively. Her current work is centered on the safety and reliability of batteries for grid-level energy storage applications. Her publications span battery degradation and abuse response, application of power electronics to energy storage safety, and system level energy storage safety analysis. Dr. Preger is co-founder of batteryarchive.org, the first public repository for visualization and comparison of lithium-ion battery degradation data across institutions, which has been used by thousands of individuals in academia and industry in over sixty countries. She is currently leading the revision of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity Energy Storage Safety Strategic Plan and the development of data collection requirements for DOE-funded energy storage projects across the US.

Max joined CRU in 2025 and is Head of Battery Technology and Costs. He started his career as a battery scientist working on novel materials and scaling production techniques. He previously led research and analysis at a leading market intelligence firm, covering full value chain analysts across battery and electric vehicle markets.

Dr. Ashley Ruth is a Senior Engineer at the U.S. Army C5ISR Center and Senior Battery Advisor for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy. Her prior research experience in transparent armor, solid oxide fuel cell electrolytes, and battery cathode materials led to four patents under license for manufacture and more than two dozen public and government publications. These research efforts led to her selection for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. In addition to developing battery solutions for the Soldier in her role with the Army, she is also focused on battery supply chain resiliency. She has provided direct input to Army, Joint service, and multi-agency planning strategies. Dr. Ruth holds Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Maryland.

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.

Dr. Asma Sharafi is a battery technology executive with extensive experience leading the development and commercialization of next-generation energy storage solutions. With a background spanning solid-state, lithium-metal, and lithium-ion batteries, she has built a career at the intersection of deep technical innovation, product strategy, and organizational leadership. She has held leadership roles at Ensurge Micropower, PowerCo/Volkswagen Group, Cuberg, and Rivian, where she has led efforts in cell design, technology roadmap development, industrialization, strategic partnerships, and product validation. Her experience covers a broad range of markets, including automotive, consumer electronics, medical devices, and clean energy. Known for connecting technical depth with business execution, Dr. Sharafi is passionate about helping breakthrough battery technologies move from the lab into real-world products. She is a frequent contributor to industry conversations on battery innovation, commercialization, and the future of electrification.

Grayson Shor is a global leader in battery and critical mineral circularity, with over a decade of experience scaling multi-million-dollar sustainability initiatives across five continents. As the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of BUCKSTOP, Grayson is at the forefront of the urban mining revolution. BUCKSTOP leverages a proprietary AI-driven appraisal engine and agentic workflows to “mine” enterprise asset lists, unlocking the residual value in the trillions of dollars of metals embedded in the U.S. economy. By streamlining industrial disposition, Grayson and the BUCKSTOP team are providing the essential data layer for a truly circular industrial economy. Grayson further supports the energy industry as the Founder and Executive Director of the Pacific Northwest Battery Collaborative, the region’s largest network of battery professionals. Prior to these roles, he led Amazon Worldwide Operations’ circular economy and battery sustainability program, where he developed resource-efficient solutions for a workforce of 1.2 million across more than 20 countries. Grayson’s career is defined by a unique blend of industry, government, and civil society leadership. A former U.S. diplomat and lead environmental intelligence briefer to Secretary John Kerry, he has contributed to over 200 U.S. government sustainability policy documents and managed a $20M+ climate-focused philanthropic grant portfolio. A guest lecturer at Georgetown University on climate security and a former restaurant owner, Grayson brings a rare, “dirt-to-data” perspective to the energy transition. Raised on a ranch in Santa Barbara, he spends his free time wilderness backpacking and playing blues guitar.

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-healingâ„¢, which is a direct method to reintroduce lithium, structure, and performance to scrap electrodes.

Stephanie Spence is a Technology Development Manager on the battery R&D team in the Department of Energy’s Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation Transportation Technologies Office (TTO) and is currently on detail to the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technology Office. Stephanie co-manages TTO and AMMTO's battery recycling R&D portfolio. She previously served as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Fellow in TTO. Stephanie received her PhD in Chemistry from Virginia Tech.

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.

Holder of a PhD in chemistry and an engineering degree in electrochemistry, Mohamed TAGGOUGUI has over 18 years of experience in the development and industrialization of Li-ion battery cells. After heavily contributing to the commissioning of the first Li-ion battery production plant for the automotive sector in the United States, he worked with several innovative startups (LTO, semi-solid electrodes, polymer electrolytes) and built expertise across various cell formats (pouch, prismatic and cylindrical). An expert in Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP), he has been, for more than two years, Electrochemistry and Battery Cell Expert Leader at Ampere, the intelligent EV pure player of Renault group.

Amir Taqieddin is a Principal Materials Informatics Scientist at Solid Power, where he develops frameworks that couple experiments, physics-based simulations, and machine learning (ML) to accelerate solid-state electrolyte design, integration, and manufacturing. His work spans forward and inverse design, molecular modeling, and multiscale simulations with varying levels of physics and process fidelity. He also builds ML and informatics models that convert early-stage data into actionable process recipes and performance predictions. Previously, Amir worked at Nissan North America and IBM Research on battery cell and materials modeling. He earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Northeastern University, specializing in multiscale computation and modeling. His work includes publications on multiscale transport in thermo-fluid and energy storage devices, materials design, and electrochemical systems, as well as several pending patents in energy storage and allied fields.

Dr. Brenna Teigler is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Electrochemistry Foundry. She previously spent nearly a decade developing and scaling an entrepreneurial research fellowship model while serving at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and Activate Global. At Activate, she served as Co-Founder and Chief Fellowship Officer, leading program operations and expanding the fellowship nationwide. Teigler holds a PhD in Biophysics from Harvard and a BS in Physics from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

Seran Thirugnanam is responsible for battery algorithms development and fuel gauge integration at Microsoft with a focus on state estimation, charge management and system integration. He holds a degree in mechatronic systems engineering and has experience developing advanced battery management systems for novel battery cell chemistries.

I have been actively involved in advancing battery technologies, recycling, and end-of-life management strategies throughout my entire career. My work has focused on the sustainable recycling of EV batteries and the development of circular economy strategies. Currently, I am collaborating with the FTA on research related to fire suppression and residual values for electric bus batteries, all while supporting efforts toward sustainable electrification.

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.

Yan-Kai Tzeng is an associate scientist at the SLAC-Stanford Battery Research Center, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He earned his Ph.D. from National Taiwan University in 2014 and completed his postdoctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Steven Chu at Stanford University, where he also served as a research associate. With over 20 years of research experience, he specializes in the optical characterization of quantum and energy materials. Currently, his research focuses on developing novel optical characterization techniques for energy storage systems, including lithium-ion, sodium-ion, lithium-sulfur, and aqueous batteries. His work aims to visualize ion movement and material morphology changes during the charging and discharging processes of these batteries. Additionally, he seeks to provide new technologies for a deeper mechanistic understanding of battery performance.

Throughout his career, Dr Ulderico Ulissi has operated at the intersection of academia and industry. As a Business Fellow at Breakthrough Energy and in his role at the Zero Institute, University of Oxford, he focuses on translating fundamental research into impact. Previously, Dr Ulissi held key leadership roles at CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited), the world's leading battery manufacturer. Serving as Principal, Head of Global Climate Ventures, and Senior Manager in Technology Strategy, he directed investment theses and due diligence to vet next-generation climate technologies for commercial viability. Prior to CATL, his background spanned consulting, market research, and hands-on technical leadership. He served as the European Technical Lead for energy storage research at Nissan Motor, and at OXIS Energy Ltd., he managed the design and customer delivery of lithium-sulfur battery cells and modules. His academic footprint includes a published book, five patents, and over 20 peer-reviewed publications, garnering approximately 1,800 citations and an H-index of 16.

Tom Van Bellinghen founded Lithink in mid 2024 with a clear mission to provide strategic go-to-market advice in the battery field. Tapping into 15 years of experience in the battery field, Lithink’s focus is on supply chains, ESG matters, closed-loop flows, pCAM, CAM & battery quality, cross-border administrative processes involving metal hedging and complex negotiations. Tom Van Bellinghen joined Umicore in 2009 as the Marketing & Sales Director responsible for Umicore’s Rechargeable Battery Materials business. Under his leadership, the business expanded significantly, becoming a multi-billion dollar enterprise. As the industry shifted its focus from portable electronics to automotive applications, Tom pioneered a direct touch model between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and cathode manufacturers. This approach enhanced transparency, cost-efficiency, and sustainability within the battery ecosystem. Starting in 2019, Tom shifted his attention to managing relationships with automotive OEMs, effectively positioning Umicore as the leading cathode supplier. One of his notable achievements was the successful closure of a joint venture contract between Umicore and Volkswagen (Ionway, 3B$ investment).

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 Miñano, 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.

Dragoljub did his chemistry studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina followed by a Master of Science in advanced materials in Grenoble and Darmstadt as part of the ERASMUS Mundus program. At TU Darmstadt Dragoljub finished his Ph.D. in 2018 on silicon-based anode materials and continued his career as a postdoc in the battery field. In 2019 he joined Mercedes-Benz Car Group as an expert in silicon-based anodes and helped establish lab activities for cell development and testing. In 2020 he took responsibility as a project and technical lead for the development of a high energy cell. Dragoljub currently leads the anode expert group responsible for anode development @ Mercedes. Dragoljub successfully established technology partnerships on the subject of new silicon material with two world-leading material suppliers to support his anode development work. Apart from work, Dragoljub enjoys spending his free time with family (two sons and wife) and friends. He enjoys mountains, hiking, and biking. Furthermore, he likes farming (driving a tractor) on his parent’s farm in Bosnia. At Daimler Truck Dragoljub is responsible for the in-house development of Lithium-ion cells.

Scott Walbrun is a principal venture capital investor at BMW i Ventures, the independent venture capital fund managed on behalf of BMW Group based in Silicon Valley, where he focuses on Series A & B investments around the future of mobility, energy, artificial intelligence. In this capacity, Scott has served on the board of eight companies. He also serves as a mentor and workshop leader for hundreds of startups through various accelerator programs across the country. Prior to joining BMW i Ventures, Scott provided M&A and capital markets advisory as a member of Jefferies’ Technology Investment Banking team. Scott joined Jefferies after completing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. While completing his MBA, he worked at Kinzie Capital Partners evaluating private equity investments, as well as at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation supporting the commercialization of science-based and deep tech companies. Prior to business school, Scott managed Strategic Finance and FP&A at Truck Hero (a TA Associates portfolio company) and began his career in Fiat Chrysler’s Finance Leadership Development Program.

Dr. Gordon Waller is a materials engineer working for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He completed his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and began his career working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division supporting fundamental and applied research evaluating the safety of lithium-ion batteries. Since joining the Alternative Energy Section at the NRL, Dr. Waller's focus has been on battery safety, battery supply chains, and DoD centric battery chemistries including Li-primary technologies.

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.

Dr. John Warner is a well-recognized figure in the battery industry. He is an authority on EV batteries, an experienced sales, business development, strategic marketing, and product management executive with more than 35 years of combined automotive and battery industry experience and author of three successful books on EV batteries. Today he serves as one of the co-founders and Chief Customer Officer for American Battery Solutions, a lithium-ion battery pack manufacturer based in Michigan and Ohio where he is focused in on- and off-road mobility battery development. He is Founder and President of Warner Energy Consulting LLC. Previously, he served as Chief Marketing Officer for Ener1, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for XALT Energy, Director of Sales & Marketing for Magna Steyr Battery Systems NA, Director of Product Management at Boston-Power, and nearly 20 years in the auto industry, much of that with General Motors where he served in a wide variety of leadership roles. Dr. Warner published his first book “The Handbook of Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Design” in 2015 with a second edition published in May 2024. His second book, “Lithium-Ion Chemistries: A Primer” was published in 2019. His books focus on simplifying the complex topics around battery chemistries making it easily understandable by a wide audience for both entry level engineers and all non-engineering professionals.

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.

Craig currently serves as the General Manager of Cambridge EnerTech with primary responsibilities for scientific conference organization and program development within energy market sectors with conferences based in the United States, Asia, Australia and Europe. Prior to that and since 2014, Craig served as Executive Director of Conferences for Cambridge Enertech. Previously to joining CII and forming Cambridge EnerTech, 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 technical marketing.

Dr. Wozniak completed his undergraduate training at MIT and graduate work at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where he stayed on as an Assistant Research Professor until 1995. For the past 25 years he has worked for Energizer Power Systems, Compaq/HP and Microsoft prior to forming his own consulting business in 2014. As the President of Energy Storage and Power Consulting, he works closely with key battery cell and pack manufacturers as well as Fortune 500 OEMs manufacturing everything from consumer electronics, EVs , ESS and battery backup systems. Dr. Wozniak’s focus has been on developing quality manufacturing practices and commercialization of promising battery technologies.

Dr. Han Wu is currently the Director of Technology at Renata Batteries US. He has over 30 years of experiences in lithium batteries, including cell design and manufacturing, battery testing, and high efficiency charger designs. At Renata Batteries US, Dr. Wu works to help customers with applications of batteries in a broad range of devices. Before joining Renata Batteries, he worked for Brightvolt, BASF, Dow-Kokam, and other battery development and manufacturing facilities. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, specialized in Electrochemical Engineering.

Vamakshi Yadav, Ph.D., is a Researcher in the Battery Research and Development lab at General Motors R&D. Her current work focuses on developing small-scale testing methods to evaluate battery cell safety for automotive applications. Previously, she conducted research on the design and synthesis of molecularly-precise nanomaterials for applications in electrochemical and thermal catalysis. Vamakshi earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University.

Marina is the Director, R&D and New Business Development at Rio Tinto Lithium. Marina’s expertise is in technology and markets and covers lithium battery supply chain from lithium extraction to future energy storage devices. Marina has inventions in lithium-ion battery materials widely used commercially, including the cathode technology that has become the industry standard and is used in a vast majority of consumer electronics devices. Marina is currently a member-at-large for the ECS Battery Division, member of the advisory boards for the Battery500 consortium and Aichemist Metal Inc. Marina has over 100 patents granted in US and worldwide.

Yan Yao is a Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering and of Climate at Columbia University. A leading researcher in electrochemical energy storage, he is known for designing next-generation batteries and sustainable energy materials that make energy storage safer, lower in cost, and less damaging to the environment. His work bridges fundamental electrochemistry and real-world energy systems, advancing the science of solid-state batteries, organic and sustainable electrode materials, and multivalent battery chemistries, alongside aqueous batteries developed for grid-scale storage.

Hui Ye is a Senior Principal Scientist in the Research and Technology organization within Medtronic’s Electrophysiology Operating Unit. He is a battery science and technology leader with more than 25 years of research and development experience, including 16 years at Medtronic. His work has supported a broad range of implantable and external medical devices, with particular expertise in high-performance lithium-ion and lithium primary battery technologies. Hui holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Rutgers University.

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.

Dr. Yuepeng Zhang is a Senior Principal Materials Scientist and Group Leader at Argonne National Laboratory. She holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from McMaster University in Canada and has expertise in nanomaterials and membrane development. Dr. Zhang’s current research interests include ion- and electron-conductive materials and membranes designed to enable selective mass and charge transport in membrane-based devices, with a particular emphasis on emerging battery technologies including all solid-state batteries, as well as catalyst membranes and selective membranes for critical material extraction and recovery. Based in Argonne’s Materials Engineering and Research Facility, Dr. Zhang’s research also encompasses process scale-up, in-line quality control, and the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches for process autonomy and smart manufacturing. She has published numerous papers and patents and is the recipient of two R&D100 Awards.

Dr. Peng Zhao is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Space Institute of the University of Tennessee. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University in 2015. His research interests primarily focus on fundamental-based and application-oriented problems in the frontier areas of energy conversion, transportation, and fire safety. His current research activities include battery safety and thermal management, multi-physics modeling, alternative fuels and engine combustion. He has published 70+ peer-reviewed articles in leading combustion and energy journals, and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Progress in Engineering Science.