Speaker Biographies - Cambridge Enertech

2018 Archived Content

Speaker Biographies

Post-Incident Forensics & Investigations

Battery Safety

Philipp Berg, MSc, Research Associate, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Philipp Berg received a Bachelor and Master degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2010 and 2013 respectively. During his studies, he worked on various topics related to lithium-ion batteries, namely characterization method development, cell testing and cell modeling. During a research stay in Japan in 2012 he worked in the area of material synthesis and testing of solid electrolytes. After his studies, he started his PhD and currently works as a research associate at the Institute for Electrical Energy Storage Technology of Prof. Jossen at the Technical University of Munich since December 2013. The focus of his PhD study is on the investigation of the reliability of lithium-ion batteries with special emphasis on the impact of vibrations. He uses characterization and testing methods to increase the understanding of vibrational induced damages in lithium-ion cells and batteries.

Rohit Bhagat, PhD, FIMMM, Associate Professor, Head, Electrochemical Engineering Group, International Automotive Research Centre, WMG, University of Warwick

Rohit joined the University of Warwick in 2008 from Imperial College London. His research expertise lies within improving the manufacturability of devices and technology through a combination of electrochemical techniques and materials/manufacturing knowledge. At WMG, Rohit has collaborated extensively with industry and has worked with SMEs to address electrochemical-based challenges to working with large automotive companies to characterize battery safety.

Joe Boswell, CEO and Co-Founder, ThermAvant Technologies

Joe Boswell is co-founder and CEO of ThermAvant Technologies Mr. Boswell is an experienced engineer and entrepreneur who leads ThermAvant’s financial and business development efforts and contributes to technology, product and process development. At ThermAvant, Mr. Boswell has worked with colleagues to raise more than $9million of external research and development funding as well as more than $3million of private party investment as the firm matured from a two-person R&D business to the world’s first AS9100D supplier of micro-channel Oscillating Heat Pipe (OHP) thermal management systems for aero-defense and other advanced technology customers. Prior to ThermAvant, he was the founding CFO of InsideTrack, Inc. where he helped build the company from five employees to over 160 and raise its first two rounds of institutional financing. Before that he was an M&A banker at JPMorgan (formerly Hambrecht & Quist). He has authored or co-authored a half dozen journal publications related to OHPs; been the Principal Investigator on nine R&D efforts since 2009; and is the named inventor on four of ThermAvant’s patents (granted or pending). Mr. Boswell graduated from The University of Pennsylvania’s Management & Technology program with degrees from the Wharton School of Business and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Amy Brinson, Customer Service Representative, Soteria Battery Innovation Group

Amy Brinson is the Customer Service Representative at Soteria Battery Innovation Group. She studied the arts at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities and the University of New Hampshire, where she earned her BA Her career has focused heavily on customer service and management. She is certified in preparing lithium batteries for transportation.

Stefan Doose, MSc, Research Associate, Battery Process Engineering, Technische Universität Braunschweig

Scientific Background: 2012-2017, Studies of “Biotechnology” (Process Engineering) at Technische Universität Braunschweig; 2017, Master Thesis “Cell free and fermentative E. coli-based production of biopolymers”; since August 2017, Research Associate at the Technische Universität Brauschweig, Institute for Particle Technology, Battery Process Engineering. Current Research Topics: Safety studies of lithium-ion batteries.

Nancy Dudney, PhD, Group Leader and Corporate Fellow, Material Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Nancy J. Dudney received a BS degree in chemistry from the College of William and Mary, and a PhD in ceramics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While a student, she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and became a member of Sigma Xi. Also while a student, she was awarded the American Institute of Chemists Outstanding Senior Award. She began her career at ORNL in 1979 as a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow and is now a distinguished research staff member in the Materials Science and Technology Division. Dr. Dudney is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of energy storage. Her research has inspired major new areas of battery research and has led to development of commercial energy storage systems that have unprecedented safety, power density, and compact size. She has been a principal investigator and a leader in both basic and applied science and has published fundamental research and has translated her discoveries into technology used by industry. Her deep understanding of the fundamentals of materials combined with her drive to find practical applications for her discoveries continues to inspire her colleagues around the world and helps to cultivate the identity of ORNL as a translational research institution. Dr. Dudney is most widely known for her leadership in the development of the lithium phosphorus oxynitride (lipon) solid-state electrolyte, which makes it possible to build thin-film batteries into integrated circuits on commercial fabrication lines. Dr. Dudney continues her iterative exploration of materials for battery components and their interactions in an effort to improve battery energy density. Dr. Dudney is a UT-Battelle Distinguished Inventor and holds more than 14 issued patents and has more than 8 patents pending. She is the author or co-author of more than 150 publications and was the lead editor of the second edition of the Handbook of Solid State Batteries. Dr. Dudney is a fellow of the Electrochemical Society, where she serves on the Ways and Means Committee and the Battery Division Executive Committee, and she has been an associate editor of the Journal of the American Ceramic Society for more than 30 years. She has won a number of awards, among them four R&D 100 Awards, three Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards for Excellence in Technology Transfer, a YWCA Tribute to Women Award in the area of science and technology, and a Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Association of Women in Science. During her career, Dr. Dudney has mentored numerous postdoctoral researchers and graduate students and has become a role model for energy-storage researchers around the world. She was named a corporate fellow in 2015.

Saeid Habibi, PhD, PEng, FASME, Professor and Senior NSERC Industrial Research Chair; Director, Centre for Mechatronics and Hybrid Technologies, McMaster University

Saeid Habibi is a Senior NSERC Industrial Research Chair and a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University. He obtained his PhD in Control Engineering from the University of Cambridge, UK. His academic background includes research into intelligent control, state and parameter estimation, fault diagnosis and prediction, Variable Structure Systems, actuation systems, mechatronics and fluid power. The application areas for his research have included automotive, aerospace, and robotics. He has developed his own theory related to estimation referred to as the Smooth Variable Structure Filter (SVSF). He has a number of patents and has co-authored close to 200 refereed papers. Dr. Habibi has held a number of managerial and industrial positions. He is presently the Director of the Centre for Mechatronics and Hybrid Technologies (CMHT) at McMaster University. He was the Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2008 to 2013. He also spent a number of years in industry as a Project Manager and Senior Consultant for Cambridge Control Ltd, UK, where he was involved in automotive and aerospace related projects. He then moved to AlliedSignal Aerospace Canada (presently part of Honeywell) where managed their Systems Engineering Department. Dr. Habibi has been the recipient of a number of awards including the 2012 Best Paper Prize from IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference, 2 corporate awards for his contributions to the AlliedSignal Systems Engineering, and the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) F.C. Williams best paper award for his contribution to the Variable Structure Systems theory. He is a Professional Engineer and a Fellow of ASME and CSME.

Carl Hu, CTO, Soteria Battery Innovation Group

Carl is Co-Founder and CTO of the Soteria Battery Innovation Group, a growth company that is dedicated to eliminating self-ignition events in lithium-ion batteries, and has formed a consortium of interested companies and licensees to that end. Carl started his career at General Motors electronics division, Delco, and progressed through RCA and Motorola and then into lithium-ion Batteries with Enerdel and International Battery where he served both companies as Director of Engineering. He has a BS-EE from University of Illinois and a MS-EE from Michigan Technological University. Mr. Hu is the holder of 2 patents and several publications including a book on electric vehicles.

Judith Jeevarajan, PhD, Research Director, Electrochemical Safety, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

Dr. Judy Jeevarajan works at Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., as a Research Director for Electrochemical Safety with battery safety as her area of specialization. She has worked in the area of batteries for more than 22 years with a primary focus on the lithium-ion chemistry. She had worked on-site at NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, since 1998. At NASA, she was the Group Lead for Battery Safety and Advanced Technology. At Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., Dr. Jeevarajan continues to work on battery safety research and her recent work includes safety trends in aged li-ion cells and modules, thermal runaway propagation prevention, fire suppressants for li-ion battery fires, consumer battery and stationary energy storage system safety, etc. Dr. Jeevarajan serves in the Technical Working Group for standards organizations such as Underwriter’s Laboratories, SAE, ICAO/SAE, RTCA and IEC/ANSI (USNC Technical Advisor) and is currently leading an effort under AIAA in writing a space safety standard for battery systems. She has written three book chapters, one on battery safety that was published in 2009 and a second one on commercial li-ion cell safety, published in January 2014 and a third one on managing the risk by manufacturers of consumer equipment batteries which is to be published in 2018. Dr. Jeevarajan supported the Boeing 787 Investigation as a member of a Non-Advocate Review panel as well as an advisory member to the FAA and also supported an NTSB informational forum on li-ion batteries. Dr. Jeevarajan is also Co-Chairing a Battery Safety Council with the NTSB that meets twice a year on an invitation-only basis and brings together several sectors that includes battery experts and users to understand the safety issues facing the battery industry. Dr. Jeevarajan has made more than 100 presentations at conferences and has won numerous NASA awards with the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the NASA-NESC Engineering Excellence Award, being of noteworthy mention.

Alexej Jerschow, PhD, Professor, Department of Chemistry, New York University

Alexej is Professor of Chemistry at NYU with over 20 years of experience in magnetic resonance and its applications in fields ranging from the health to the materials fields. Alexej led a team that produced the first Lithium MRI images from intact Li-ion cells, which allowed unprecedented visualization and characterization of Li-dendrites in situ. Similar techniques were also used in assessing the performance of supercapacitors. The laboratory has further pioneered developments of techniques for studying the characteristics of commercial and custom cells.

Joshua Lamb, PhD, Principal Member, Technical Staff, Advanced Power Sources R&D, Sandia National Laboratories

Dr. Joshua Lamb is currently a research staff member with the Advanced Power Sources R&D organization at Sandia National Laboratories where he oversees the Battery Safety and Abuse Testing Laboratory (BATLab) team. The team focuses on the development of inherently safe lithium-ion batteries by understanding the consequences and mechanisms of failure, developing cradle-to-grave battery testing, and developing new materials for use in battery systems. Joshua earned his PhD in Metallurgical Engineering in 2008 and his BS in Chemical Engineering in 2002 from the University of Nevada. Since joining Sandia in 2011, Joshua’s research has focused on understanding both the causes and effects of catastrophic battery failure.

Boryann Liaw, PhD, Department Manager, Energy Storage and Advanced Vehicles, Idaho National Laboratory

Dr. Boryann Liaw is manager of the Energy Storage and Advanced Vehicles Department at Idaho National Laboratory. Before joining INL, Dr. Liaw was a specialist and tenured faculty member at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. At HNEI, he focused on advanced power source systems for vehicle and energy storage applications. He received his bachelor’s in chemistry from the National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, his master’s in chemistry from the University of Georgia, and his doctorate in materials science and engineering from Stanford University. He conducted his post-doctoral fellowship research at the Max-Plank Institute of Solid State Research in Stuttgart, Germany. For the past three decades, Dr. Liaw has been involved in R&D projects related to electric and hybrid vehicle evaluation and advanced battery diagnostics and prognostics. His major research activities comprise laboratory and real-life battery and vehicle testing, data collection and analysis, battery modeling and simulation, battery performance and life prediction, battery rapid charging technology development, and battery diagnoses and prognoses. He also expanded his endeavors to bio-fuel cells, including sugar-air alkaline battery development, and transforming ambient energy resources into useful power sources for portable or stationary applications. Dr. Liaw has co-authored more than 150 technical papers, seven book chapters, and eight patents and patent applications. He is currently an associate editor for the Journal of Electrochemical Society and a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society.

Kem M. Obasih, PhD, PE, Technical Leader - Thermal, Engineering Modeling & Simulation, Johnson Controls Advanced Power Solutions

Kem Obasih came to study mechanical engineering at Ohio University, Athens OH from Nigeria in 1976. He proceeded to University of Iowa to obtain a Master’s and PhD in mechanical engineering. Upon graduating from Iowa, Kem worked as a thermal Engineer for Maytag Refrigeration business unit and proceeded to work for GE Medical systems as a Cryogenic Engineer for superconducting magnetics for MRI application. In 1998, Kem became a Consultant providing Mechanical Engineering services in product development and obtained his Professional Engineering License. Kem joined Johnson Controls Advanced Power Solutions in October 2008 as a Senior Thermal Engineer designing thermal systems for high and low voltage Li-Ion Batteries for automotive application. Kem has four college-aged children and enjoys family life with them. Kem enjoys volunteering in mentorship of middle and high school kids in STEM programs as well as supports and volunteers in United Way member programs.

Yu Qiao, PhD, Professor, Program of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego

Professor Qiao obtained his PhD degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 2002, and is currently a professor of materials science and structural engineering in University of California, San Diego. He is an expert on safety of engineering structures and materials. In 2017, his group invented the functional current collector (FCC) for lithium-ion battery, which can drastically improve the system robustness without increasing mass or volume.

Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago

Reza Shahbazian-Yassar is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to this position, he was an assistant and then associate professor at Michigan Technological University from 2007-2015. He received his PhD in Materials Science from Washington State University in Pullman, WA, in Dec 2005. Prior to joining Michigan Tech, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State University. He also conducted research at the Division of Materials Research at Alcoa Technical Center in Pittsburgh, PA. He has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Science, Nature Energy, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, etc. His research is mainly focused on (1) in situ TEM of functional nanomaterials, (2) material design and discovery for safe and high-energy density batteries, and (3) advanced manufacturing for batteries.

Alpesh Khushalchand Shukla, PhD, Senior Scientific Engineering Associate, National Center of Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dr. Shukla is a materials scientist and his current interests include study of structure and phase transformations in lithium-ion battery materials using electron probe-based materials characterization techniques such as aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (EELS). He collaborates with several chemists and electrochemists in the energy storage industry and national laboratories and complements the research in electrochemistry and synthesis with his expertise in electron microscopy, crystallography and materials science. More recently, he has collaborated with companies such as Envia Systems, Bosch and Seeo. Before entering the field of energy materials in 2008, his research was mostly focused on physical metallurgy of alloys such as aluminum and steel using electron microscopy. Dr. Shukla obtained his PhD degree in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY in 2007. He also holds a visiting scientist position at SuperSTEM Laboratory, Daresbury, United Kingdom, a facility for aberration-corrected scanning electron microscopy that he often utilizes for his research.

Daniel Steingart, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University

Research in the Steingart group primarily focuses on energy storage; metallurgical process efficiency; low-cost long cycle life batteries; discrete power electronics; printed, flexible, stretchable batteries; in situ electrochemistry; power - energy control circuits and hybrid design.

Kazuhiro Suzuki, PhD, Engineer, Evaluation and Analysis Technology Center, Toshiba Nanoanalysis Corporation

Kazuhiro Suzuki is currently an engineer at Toshiba Nanoanalysis Corporation, where he has been conducting failure analysis of a wide variety of industrial products including lithium ion batteries and semiconductor devices with non-destructive methods such as magnetic field microscopy and three-dimensional X-ray microscopy. In addition, his work includes developing methods to measure morphological properties of materials from data obtained by three-dimensional X-ray microscopy. His interest is also in reliability testing of semiconductor devices. Prior to joining Toshiba Nanoanalysis Corporation, he studied solvation structures and electrical double layers formed at interfaces between liquid and solid surfaces by atomic force microscopy in liquid environments at Kyoto University, from which he received a PhD in electronic engineering.

William Q. Walker, PhD, Aerospace Technologist, Engineering Directorate (EA), Structural Engineering Division (ES), Thermal Design Branch (ES3), NASA Johnson Space Center

Dr. William Q. Walker received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from West Texas A&M University and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Houston. William ‘Will’ has been employed with NASA Johnson Space Center for nearly 10 years during which his career has primarily focused on the design of safe of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery assemblies for human spaceflight applications. Most recently, Dr. Walker has been involved with and supported the development of Fractional Thermal Runaway Calorimetry (FTRC) techniques which provide the capability to discern the fraction of thermal runaway energy ejected away from the Li-ion cell versus that which remains with the cell. Recognized with a NASA Trailblazer award for his early career contributions to Li-ion battery thermal analysis and calorimetry methods, Dr. Walker continues to be engaged in the academic and professional communities focused on battery safety.

Chunsheng Wang, PhD, Professor, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Maryland

Education: PhD, Zhejiang University, China, 1995. Research Interests: Li-ion batteries, electric energy storage, fuel cells, electroanalytical technologies, nanostructured materials. Current Research Projects: Professor Wang's research interests are advanced materials for fuel cells, rechargeable batteries, and supercapacitors. He has published over 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals. His research has been cited more than 1850 times and has an H-index of 24. His work on solvent-free composite PEO-ceramic fiber/mat electrolytes for lithium batteries was featured as a promising battery technology in the November 2006 edition of the NASA Tech Brief. He is collaborating with Professor James Culver at the Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research and Prof. Reza Ghodssi in the ECE Department to develop a novel, three-dimensional tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) assembled electrodes for Li-ion batteries. The Virus enabled electrodes have been highlighted on the US News, the DOE website, USNBC, Discovery, and many other news outlets in the U.S. and Europe in 2011. For more information about current research projects in novel electroanalytical techniques for phase transformation electrodes, virus-enabled anodes for lithium-ion batteries, scaffold silicon-based anodes for Li-ion batteries, high energy density Li-S, Na-S, and Li-air batteries, and the synthesis of alkaline anion exchange membranes (AAEMs) for fuel cell and metal-air battery applications, please visit Professor Wang's website: http://cswang.umd.edu/. Honors and Awards: Sigma Xi (Tennessee Technological University Chapter) Research Award, 2006; NASA Technology Brief Patent Application and Software Release Award, 2004.

Peng Zhao, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Oakland University

Peng Zhao is an assistant professor of Mechanical Engineering at Oakland University, working on combustion and power systems. He obtained his PhD from Princeton University in 2015 and his work focused on advanced combustion strategies, chemical reaction network analysis and reduction, and reacting flow science. He has published 25 articles on leading combustion, engine and chemical kinetic journals so far and he currently has projects supported by both federal and industry sponsors. The goal of his research is to develop and understand advanced power and propulsion systems utilizing reacting flow science.

Lithium Battery Materials & Chemistries

Jan L. Allen, PhD, Research Chemist, Lithium Ion Battery Research & Development, US Army Research Laboratory

Jan L. Allen is a research chemist at the US Army Research Laboratory. He studies Li-ion battery materials with focus on solid state electrodes and electrolytes. He has co-authored more than 80 papers, patents and book chapters on these topics.
He received his BS in chemistry from Truman State University in 1989 and his PhD in inorganic chemistry at Northwestern University in 1993. After postdoctoral appointments at the University of Caen working with Bernard Raveau and the University of Kentucky with Peter Eklund, he started a position at the Gillette Research Institute in Gaithersburg, MD. He joined the US Army Research Laboratory in 2000.

Venkat Anandan, Research Scientist, Energy Storage Research Department, Ford Motor Company

Venkat Anandan is a Battery Research Scientist at Ford Motor Company since 2010. He received BS degree in chemical and electrochemical engineering from Central Electrochemical Research Institute, India, in 2000 and PhD degree from the University of Georgia, Athens, in 2008. After his graduation, he worked as a Senior Materials Engineer at IBM’s TJ Watson Research Center, NY, focusing on the development of chemical mechanical polishing processes for various silicon devices. His work at Ford focuses on the various advanced lithium battery technologies including solid state batteries, Li-air, Li-S, and Li-ion. Currently, he is leading the solid-state battery development efforts at Ford. Over the years, he has delivered several invited presentations at renowned conferences, has over 20 US patents (pending/issued) and published several journal articles.

Scott A. Barnett, PhD, Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, Northwestern University

Scott A. Barnett is a Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering department at Northwestern University. He has been active in the Electrochemical Society, the American Ceramic Society, and the AVS, and has earned a number of awards, including Electrochemical Society Fellow, AVS Fellow, and Office of Naval Research Young Investigator, Fulbright Guest Professor at Centro Atomico Bariloche, Otto Mønsted Guest Professor at the Danish Technical University, Cheng Tsang Man Endowed Professor at Nanyang Technological University. His research focuses on oxide materials with energy applications, including Li-ion battery electrodes, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), and reversible solid oxide cells (ReSOCs). He has worked extensively on three-dimensional tomography of electrode microstructure for understanding electrochemical processes and degradation phenomena in both fuel cells and Li-ion batteries.

Paul Braun, PhD, CTO and Ivan Racheff Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Paul Braun is the CTO of Xerion Advanced Battery Corporation and the Ivan Racheff Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prof. Braun received his BS degree with distinction from Cornell University, and his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois. Following a postdoctoral appointment at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois. Prof. Braun has co-authored a book, about 250 peer-reviewed publications, been awarded multiple patents, and has co-founded three companies. Among his awards and honors, most recently he was elected a Fellow of the Materials Research Society.

Miaofang Chi, PhD, Senior Staff Scientist, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Miaofang Chi currently is a senior staff scientist at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). She received her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from University of California, Davis in 2008. Her primary research interest lies in the development and application of novel electron microscopy techniques for energy materials, especially on analytical functional imaging and atomic-scale in situ microscopy for battery materials and fuel cell catalysts. She was awarded the Lawrence Graduate Research Fellowship in 2006, the Distinguished Scholar Award by the Microanalysis Society in 2007, and the significant event awards at ORNL (2014, 2016). She received the ORNL Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology (2015) and the ORNL’s Early Career Research Award (2015). She was recently awarded the Burton Metal by the Microscopy Society of America (2016).

Jason Croy, PhD, Materials Scientist, Electrochemical Energy Storage, Argonne National Laboratory

Jason Croy received a PhD in Physics from the University of Central Florida, USA, in 2010. He joined Argonne National Laboratory (Chicago, IL), shortly thereafter, as a Materials Scientist working on the development of high-energy cathode materials for lithium-ion battery applications. His main interests are related to the design, synthesis, and atomic-scale degradation mechanisms of high-energy cathode materials. Dr. Croy is the principle investigator of four Department of Energy programs focused on lithium-ion cathode development and is currently the lead PI of DOE’s multi-lab, Deep-Dive program on “Enabling High-Voltage Cells for Transportation Applications”.

Mark C. Hersam, PhD, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Director, Northwestern University Materials Research Center, Materials Science and Engineering, University

Mark C. Hersam is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of the Materials Research Center at Northwestern University. He also holds faculty appointments in the Departments of Chemistry, Applied Physics, Medicine, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1996, M.Phil. in Physics from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 1997, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from UIUC in 2000. His research interests include nanofabrication, scanning probe microscopy, semiconductor surfaces, and nanoelectronic materials. Dr. Hersam has received several honors including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, TMS Robert Lansing Hardy Award, AVS Peter Mark Award, MRS Outstanding Young Investigator, U.S. Science Envoy, MacArthur Fellowship, and seven Teacher of the Year Awards. Dr. Hersam is the co-founder of NanoIntegris, which is a commercial supplier of nanoelectronic materials, and an elected member of the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Hersam is a Fellow of MRS, AVS, APS, AAAS, SPIE, and IEEE, and also serves as an Associate Editor of ACS Nano.

Liangbing Hu, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park

Liangbing Hu received his BS in physics from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2002, where he worked with Prof Yuheng Zhang on colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) materials for three years. He did his PhD in at UCLA (with George Gruner), focusing on carbon nanotube based nanoelectronics (2002-2007). In 2006, he joined Unidym Inc (www.unidym.com) as a co-founding scientist. At Unidym, Liangbing’s role was the development of roll-to-roll printed carbon nanotube transparent electrodes and device integrations into touch screens, LCDs, flexible OLEDs and solar cells. He worked at Stanford University (with Yi Cui) from 2009-2011, where he work on various energy devices based on nanomaterials and nanostructures. Currently, he is an associate professor at University of Maryland College Park. His research interests include nanomaterials and nanostructures, roll-to-roll nanomanufacturing, energy storage focusing on solid-state batteries and Na ion batteries, and printed electronics. He has published over 250 research papers (including Science and Nature in 2018) and given more than 80 invited talks. He received many awards, including: the Nano Letters Young Investigator Lectureship (2017), Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2016), ACS Division of Energy and Fuel Emerging Investigator Award (2016), SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2016), University of Maryland Junior Faculty Award (School of Engineering, 2015), 3M Non-tenured Faculty Award (2015), Maryland Outstanding Young Engineer (2014), University of Maryland Invention of Year (2014 Physical Science), Campus Star of the American Society for Engineering Education (2014), Air Force Young Investigator Award (AFOSR YIP, 2013). For more info, please visit www.bingnano.umd.edu. Dr. Hu is the (founding) director of the Center for Advanced Center for Advanced Renewable Biomaterials (CRAB) at the University of Maryland College Park (www.crab.umd.edu). He is also the Co-founder of Inventwood Inc. (www.inventwood.com) with efforts to further commercialize the aforementioned cellulose nanotechnologies.

Yoon Hwa, PhD, Chemical Engineering Postdoctoral Fellow, Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Hakim Iddir, PhD, Physicist, Material Science, Argonne National Laboratory

Jianlin Li, PhD, Research Scientists, Energy & Transportation Science, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Jianlin Li is a R&D Staff at Energy Transportation Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a recipient of numerous awards including 2 R&D 100 awards and 1 FLC Excellence in Technology Transfer Award. Dr. Li holds 5 US patent with 4 pending and has co-authored 70+ peer reviewed articles. His research interest includes materials processing, electrode formulation, engineering and architecture, cell manufacturing, testing and characterization, Roll-to-Roll manufacturing, and quality control for energy storage and conversion.

Brett Lucht, PhD, Professor, Chemistry, University of Rhode Island

Brett Lucht obtained a PhD in Chemistry in 1996 from Cornell University and then moved to the University of California for post-doctoral research. He arrived at the University of Rhode Island in 1998, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2002 and Professor in 2006. He is currently an Associate Editor for the Journal of Electrochemical Society and is the Treasurer for the Battery Division of the Electrochemical Society. His research is focused on novel electrolytes and electrolyte electrode interfaces for Lithium-Ion batteries for electric vehicle applications which includes extending the calendar life of lithium ion batteries, improving the performance of novel high capacity or high voltage electrode materials, and developing non-flammable electrolytes. He has numerous awards for research and intellectual property at URI, including the 2016 URI Foundation Scholarly Excellence Award. He has published over 120 manuscripts in peer reviewed journals, manuscripts have been referenced over 6,200 times, and an h-index of 46. He has also published two book chapters and has five patents. He has been an invited or keynote speaker at over 100 companies, universities, national laboratories, and national or international conferences.

Matthew T. McDowell, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Matthew McDowell is an assistant professor at Georgia Tech with appointments in the G. W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering. He received his PhD from Stanford University in 2013. He is the director of a research group focused on understanding and controlling dynamic materials processes within electrochemical and electronic systems. McDowell has 56 publications, and he has received numerous awards, including the NSF CAREER Award, the AFOSR YIP Award, the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award, and a Scialog Fellowship. For more information, see http://mtmcdowell.gatech.edu.

Alpesh Khushalchand Shukla, PhD, Senior Scientific Engineering Associate, National Center of Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Min-Kyu Song, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mechanical & Materials Engineering, Washington State University

Min-Kyu Song is an Assistant Professor at Washington State University (WSU). He received his PhD degree (2011) in Materials Science & Engineering with a minor in Electrochemistry from Georgia Tech, where he performed the research focused on the design, synthesis and characterization of novel/nano materials (electrodes, catalysts and membranes) for batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells. Prior to joining WSU in 2015, he conducted postdoctoral research (2012-2014) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He also worked at Hyundai Motors Company for six years (2001-2006) as a research staff member on the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Central to his efforts is the design of functional materials and manipulation of their electro-chemical and physical properties, with a current emphasis on advanced energy storage systems for electric transport technologies.

Huolin Xin, PhD, Assosicate Scientist, Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory

Huolin Xin graduated from the Physics Department of Cornell University in 2011 and joined Brookhaven National Laboratory in 2013. He is currently a scientist in the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is also an adjunct faculty member at SUNY Stony Brook University. His primary field of expertise lies in developing novel 3-D, atomic-resolution, and in situ spectroscopic and imaging tools to probe the structural, chemical, and bonding changes of energy materials during chemical reactions or under external stimuli.

Post-Incident Forensics & Investigations

Christopher Egloff, Vice President, Sales, Americase, Inc.

Chris Egloff has extensive experience with regard to specialized testing and packaging design for lithium batteries. Chris Egloff is VP Sales for Americase and a principal partner in Fulcrum Labs. As the Hazardous Materials Packaging Specialist at Americase, Chris has been active in the research and development of fire/heat mitigating containers and packaging for over 13 years. For the past 9 years, he has concentrated his efforts in testing lithium ion and lithium metal batteries pushed into thermal runaway. These efforts have subsequently allowed Americase to design several packaging solutions for damaged and defective recall batteries. These solutions have been utilized by the vast majority of companies issuing recalls over the past several years. Chris became a co-founder of Fulcrum Testing labs in 2016, which specializes in the destructive testing of both lithium ion and lithium metal batteries. Fulcrum Testing is one of very few labs in the country with the ability and equipment to perform the difficult testing requirements for SAE-G27. He has had the honor to instruct private classes for regulatory members of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and has consulted companies like Apple, NASA, United, SATAIR, B/E Aerospace, and AVOX Systems on fire and heat mitigating packaging. In addition he has presented as an expert in his field for multiple ICAO DGP’s, LabelMaster’ s Dangerous Goods Instructors Symposium (DGIS), and IATA’s Lithium Battery Workshops.

Kevin Fok, Director, Operations, LG Chem

Kevin Fok, Senior Project Manager, leads the LG Chem project management and execution in North America for electric grid energy storage systems. He is responsible for end-to-end project management, which includes onsite project execution, installation, commissioning, field deployment, and ongoing deployment support. He has over 20 years of sales, business development, marketing, engineering, and project management experience in renewable and alternative energy, including lithium-ion batteries, solar photovoltaics (PV), nickel-metal hydride batteries, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage. His customers have included the military, state governments, systems integrators, and utilities. Mr. Fok has presented at numerous conferences and moderated and served on several conference panels. Mr. Fok is a co-inventor of 13 U.S. patents. He has Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and Master of Business Administration degrees, both from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Robert Foster, JD, Marketing Manager, Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc.

George A. Kerchner, Executive Director, PRBA – The Rechargeable Battery Association

Mr. Kerchner has served as the Executive Director of PRBA – The Rechargeable Battery Association (www.prba.org) since 2006. He represents PRBA at domestic and international transportation forums such as the United Nations Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Dangerous Goods Panel. He is also a Senior Regulatory Analyst with the law firm of Wiley Rein in Washington, DC. He provides dangerous goods consulting services and regularly conduct dangerous goods training programs for shippers of lithium batteries, EVs, and other dangerous goods.

Janet McLaughlin, Director, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Ms. McLaughlin is the Director of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Hazardous Materials Safety Program (HMSP). As the director, she is responsible for the implementation of strategic safety initiatives within the three (3) divisions in the HMSP: 100-Safety Risk Management & Policy; 200-Standards & Stakeholders; and 300-Systems Oversight. Ms. McLaughlin is responsible for initiating efforts to establish and advance a Safety Management Systems (SMS) culture and risk-based decision-making (RBDM) within the HMSP for oversight of operators and entities involved in the safety of transporting hazardous materials by air. Ms. McLaughlin was critical in having the HMSP sponsor Lithium Battery testing at the FAA Technical Center, Fire Safety Branch, and participating in joint projects on the risks and mitigation measures associated with battery fires on aircraft. She has been involved in the development of the lithium battery regulations in the US and Internationally since 2000.

Kevin L. McNesby, PhD, Team Leader, Detonation Science Team, Energetics Technology Branch, Lethality Division, Weapons and Materials Research Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory

Dr. McNesby received a BS in Chemistry from Washington College (1981) and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Georgetown University in 1987. Following a year as an instructor in General Chemistry at the US Naval Academy, Dr. McNesby was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL). He joined the permanent technical staff of the BRL (now ARL) in 1989. From 1998-1999, Dr. McNesby was a Visiting Researcher at the University of California at Davis. From 2005-2006 he was an interim program manager (Propulsion and Energetics) within the Mechanical Sciences Division at the Army Research Office (ARO) in Durham, NC. Since 2010 he has been Team Leader, Detonation Science, ETB/LD/WMRD.

Tim Michaels, Managing Director, Operations, Call2Recycle, Inc.

With more than 15 years’ experience, Michaels is known for his expertise for domestic and international work in logistics, process improvement and operations management. Michaels has an extensive background in the sustainability and distribution sector, having previously managed operations at BlueLinx Corporation, GE Polymershapes and GE Supply. He has also served as the director of logistics at Ogin Energy, Inc., a wind turbine manufacturer, as well as Manager of Global Logistics for wind turbine and water purification projects at GE Power & Water. During his 10 years of service with the US Marine Corp, Michaels achieved the rank of Major. He earned a BA in Business from Iowa State University and holds two advanced degrees: an MA in Managerial Economics and an executive MA in International Logistics from Georgia Tech.

Joe Nowikowski, Division Manager, Rimkus Consulting Group, Inc.

With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Nowikowski has a diverse background in electrical engineering, construction and management in the private sector and also in the public sector where he served as an Officer in the United States Air Force. He is a Professional Engineer in 15 states as well as a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator and a Certified Vehicle Fire Investigator. He is also a part time college Instructor where he serves as the Lead Faculty Area Chair of the Mathematics Department. Mr. Nowikowski’s forensic engineering experience includes building and underground wiring, electric substations, residential and commercial appliances, battery-operated vehicles and devices, traffic signals, lighting, aquarium components, power taps, printed circuit boards, generators, variable-frequency drives, batteries, HVAC units, and service entrance sections. He has experience in industrial, commercial and residential fire and explosion scene examinations and fire analysis on recreational vehicles, boats, farm equipment, forklifts, and passenger cars.

Tom O’Hara, Global Business Manager, Energy Storage / Advisory Services, Intertek Semco, AB

Tom O’Hara is the global business manager / advisory services for Intertek’s energy storage programs. As a 35+ year veteran of the battery technology field, Tom has worked with a wide variety of battery chemistries, sizes, and shapes. Tom’s lithium experience dates back to June 1980, working with primary lithium metal batteries (21 years battery R&D at Energizer). Tom also has considerable consulting experience working with a number of startup battery and medical device companies.

Bob Richard, President, Hazmat Safety Consulting

As president of Hazmat Safety Consulting, Bob provides dangerous goods regulatory assistance to customers worldwide by drawing on his vast experience, knowledge of the hazardous materials (dangerous goods) regulations and extensive network of dangerous goods professionals worldwide. From 2006-2010, Bob served as the deputy associate administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where he was responsible for directing approximately 150 hazardous materials transportation specialists and the day-to-day operation of the U.S. Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Program, including overseeing the regulatory development, technical review and classification, international standards, outreach, special permits and approvals and enforcement offices. In this position, Bob was involved in the development of domestic and international regulations and gained not only an understanding of the regulations, but the intent and meaning behind the words. Bob has been involved in the development and implementation of hazardous materials safety regulations for more than 28 years and has been responsible for a broad range of domestic and international hazardous materials safety efforts. Bob served as the chairman of the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods that has responsibility for publishing the United Nations Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. Bob also served as the chairman and vice chairman of the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel which has responsibility for developing and publishing the International Civil Aviation Regulations which govern the transport of dangerous goods by air. Bob was the Panel member nominated by the United States to the ICAO Dangerous Goods Panel for a number of years. He also led US delegations to the International Maritime Organization Dangerous Goods, Solid Cargoes and Containers Sub-Committee and coordinated with the US Coast Guard in developing technical proposals and responding to sea transport incidents involving hazardous materials. He played a major role in developing the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code into the revised format that exists today.

Dirk Spiers, President, Spiers New Technologies

Dirk Spiers is the founder and CEO of Spiers New Technologies. He is a pioneer and leader in the repair, remanufacturing and refurbishment of advanced battery packs as well as the manufacturing of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with new or second life battery modules and cells. His experience in reman, battery, solar and wind technologies puts him at the forefront of developing programs to manage the life cycle battery packs and using battery storage systems with renewable energy sources. He has developed and established Advanced Battery Pack programs with some of the leading EV OEM’s. Spiers New Technologies specializes in the manufacturing, refurbishment and repair of high voltage powertrain systems and Energy Storage Systems. Their state-of-the-art, energy neutral, battery center is based in Oklahoma City where they work on the battery packs of all the leading OEM’s. SNT is in the process of opening up facilities in Europe and China in Q1 2018.

Stanislav I. Stoliarov, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Fire Protection Engineering, University of Maryland

Stanislav Stoliarov is an Associate Professor at the Fire Protection Engineering Department of the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. His research interests include polymer flammability, pyrolysis and smoldering mechanisms, and fire safety of electrical and electronic devices.

Tanya Topka, Fire, Electrical, and Mechanical Hazards Team Lead, Defects Investigation Division, Office of Compliance and Field Operations, US Consumer Product Safety Commission

Tanya Topka is the Fire, Electrical, and Mechanical Hazards Team Lead in the Defects Investigation division of the Office of Compliance and Field Operations at the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Tanya has been in the Office of Compliance and Field Operations for seventeen years conducting investigations into a wide variety of consumer products. As Team Lead, Tanya coordinates investigations on her team and helps determine if corrective actions are necessary for particular consumer products. Prior to her current role, she was the Fast Track Team Lead in the Defects Investigation division. As part of this role, she coordinated recalls with other federal agencies and foreign governments fostering partnerships that benefited the public. She reviewed all Fast Track recalls to ensure consistency and efficiency. Tanya started her employment at CPSC as a Product Safety Investigator working in Wisconsin, Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland. Tanya holds bachelor’s degrees in Criminology and Psychology. She is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Yinjiao Laura Xing, PhD, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE), University of Maryland