Ushering Lithium-ion Batteries Toward their Full Potential

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Experts Interviewed

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.

Alan Taub joined the faculty of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan in the Fall of 2012. In this role, Taub is conducting research in advanced materials and processing and is the Director of the newly launched MMRI (Michigan Materials Research Institute). He continues to support the manufacturing innovation institute LIFT (Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow) and is also supporting the university Global CO2 Initiative.

Jie Xiao is currently a Battelle Fellow and leads Battery Materials & System Group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). She is also a PNNL-University of Washington distinguished faculty fellow. Xiao’s research spans from fundamental research, battery materials scaleup and manufacturing, to cell fabrication and engineering for vehicle electrification, sensors, and grid energy storage. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers and been named top 1% Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher since 2017.

Cassidy Anderson is a materials scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She works on battery R&D for different programs such as the Department of Energy Vehicle Technology Office’s Battery500 Consortium, which is focused on addressing the fundamental challenges to enable high energy and affordable lithium-metal anode batteries with energy densities that double those of state-of-art EV batteries. Cassidy also leads an industry-sponsored project for future battery technologies.

Jon Peters graduated from Maryville College with a degree in Chemistry in 1996. Subsequently he has worked in industry as a formulations chemist, QC laboratory manager and validations manager in the pharmaceutical industry. Since 2011, Jon has worked as a product manager and product marketing manager for sample introduction and atomic spectroscopy instrumentation.

As an accomplished energy technology professional, Dr. Vickram Singh has over 10 years of experience in various research functions within private and public sector firms. As the Senior Vice President of Technology and prior Director of Research & Development at Dragonfly Energy Corporation, he has been instrumental in overseeing the development of next-generation lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing processes and optimizing all-solid-state battery chemistries for deep-cycle applications.

Ana Garcia-Gonzalez is an Atomic Spectroscopy Application Scientist at Agilent Technologies, based in Wilmington, Delaware. With a robust background in atomic spectroscopy instruments, Ana boasts international experience in the development and validation of analytical methods tailored for the geochemical industry. Her expertise extends to lithium-ion battery technology, where she has made significant contributions to the comprehensive understanding of lithium brine characterization in South America, as well as the analysis of lithium battery components such as cathodes, anodes, and electrolytes.

Ross is Agilent Technologies Marketing Manager for Optical Atomic Spectroscopy and is based at Agilent’s Spectroscopy Technology Innovation Centre (S.T.I.C.) in Melbourne Australia. He has a Master of Applied Science in Analytical Chemistry from RMIT University Australia and worked as an analytical chemist in consulting and mining labs prior to joining Varian Inc., and then Agilent Technologies.

Jonathan Knapp is a Director of New Business Development for Hitachi High-Technologies America. In this role, he is responsible for developing innovation and new business opportunities in Green Energy, Mining, and Sustainability for the Environmental Business Unit. The role of the Environmental Business Unit is to support and accelerate the green energy transition with innovative products and services, collaborating across Hitachi for sustainable growth. Knapp is passionate about this mission.

Dr. Joerg Koehler studied physics and holds a doctoral degree from the Institute of Biophysics and Physical Biochemistry of the University of Regensburg. After several positions in sales, sales management, and business administration he joined Bruker as Head of Business Unit Industrial. Today Dr. Joerg Koehler is accountable for Bruker’s global activities in magnetic resonance as Sr. Director for Cleantech, Industrial and Applied markets.