講演者

Alex Bates is a mechanical engineer by training with a background in fuel cell and flow battery research. As a part of the Energy Storage team at Sandia National Laboratories, he is currently focused on solid-state and advanced Li-ion battery safety and reliability. This research seeks to understand battery failure pathways, severity, and associated risks with the aim of failure prediction, mitigation, and/or elimination. Alex’s skill set includes battery fabrication, electrochemical and materials characterization, calorimetry, abuse testing, and modeling.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Connor Brown received his master’s degree in mining engineering from Virginia Tech. He has been a junior industrial consultant in the coal prep plant industry and a mining engineer with NIOSH PMRD for the last nine years. His research efforts have focused on coal dust explosions and their mitigation, and he has recently transitioned to research in lithium-ion battery safety as mines become more electrified.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Kevin Brown is the Senior Electrolyte Development Engineer at Sionic Energy. Brown has 9 years of experience working on electrolyte design projects focused on various performance needs. These range from Hi Voltage motorsport applications to material compatibility/synergy studies with chemical manufacturers to delayed thermal propagation in conformal wearables. It was also during this time that he began training in the application of statistical methods and designs of experiment, especially the use of Taguchi design principles. During the last 4 years he’s been leveraging that experience to help develop stable electrolyte systems for high energy density high Si battery systems.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dr. Edward R. Buiel completed his PhD in Physics at Dalhousie University. His PhD focused on the development of Hard Carbon Anode Materials for LIBs. Dr. Buiel served at CTO of Axion Power International and Ioxus before founding Coulometrics in 2008. Coulometrics provides state-of-the-art cell assembly and testing services and facilities are located in Chattanooga, TN.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Vidyu Challa brings 20 years of industry experience with 10 years in the battery space. She has been involved in different levels of the battery supply chain including cell manufacturing, testing, root cause analysis, safety and battery risk mitigation. She has broad based expertise that includes engineering technology start-up experience, consulting, product development, R & D, and various roles in marketing and business development. Dr. Challa has led battery training courses at major conferences and for leading companies in consumer, medical, and automotive verticals. She has consulted for leading companies on Battery quality and safety and has developed battery qualification programs. Dr. Challa obtained a PhD from the University of Maryland, where her work was focused on electronics reliability.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dr. Chen is an outstanding materials scientist with a focus on electrochemical energy storage and conversion for both transportation and stationary applications. He holds more than 50 patents/applications and research papers in lithium-ion and next-generation energy storage systems. He serves as a principal investigator in multiple government contracts as well as a subject matter expert for internal and external technical development programs.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Adam Cohn is a materials scientist specializing in battery technology. At Exponent, he supports clients across a wide range of battery-related projects, including failure analysis, cell and pack quality evaluations, intellectual property litigation, cycling studies, customized abuse testing, product recalls, and technology due diligence. Prior to joining Exponent, his research was focused on material selection, synthesis, and characterization for new battery chemistries, including sodium-ion and sodium metal systems, as an NSF fellow at Vanderbilt University.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Eric C. Darcy, PhD, has spent his 36-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.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Bill Davidson is the COO of Amionx. Davidson has more than 38 years of experience in leading technical sales, marketing, operations and general management roles in the telecommunications and semiconductor industries. Previously, Davidson was Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of GLOBALFOUNDRIES and also spent 12 years at Qualcomm where his final role was Senior Vice President, Strategy and Operations and Senior Vice President of Investor Relations. He also served as SVP of Global Marketing at Qualcomm for six years. Davidson spent 13 years at Bell Atlantic where he gained substantial experience in the wireline business at New Jersey Bell, as well as serving as Vice President of Wireless Data Sales and Marketing for Bell Atlantic Mobile, now Verizon. Davidson also served as Vice President of Commercial Sales Operations for GE Capital’s Telecommunications Financial Services Division.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

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.

• TUT1: Battery Safety and Abuse Tolerance Validation

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.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Donal Finegan is a senior scientist at the US DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). 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).

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dr. Fitzhugh is a Co-Founder and the CEO of Adden Energy, a Harvard University spin-off commercializing new solid-state battery technology. He earned his PhD in Applied Physics from Professor Xin Li’s group at Harvard University’s John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. During his graduate work, he was a co-inventor of the technology later licensed by Adden Energy, which focuses on critical market segments ranging from electric vehicles and power tools to consumer electronics. Before joining Adden Energy, Dr. Fitzhugh was an Entrepreneurial Fellow in the DOE’s Innovation Crossroads program housed at Oak Ridge National Lab.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Kevin Fok is Director of Compliance and leads the company in product compliance strategy and requirements for product architecture and design. He serves on multiple codes and standards committees for UL, NFPA, ICC, and CSA. He has extensive experience in renewable energy with roles in sales, business development, marketing, engineering, project management, and operations & maintenance spanning lithium-ion batteries, solar photovoltaics (PV), nickel-metal hydride batteries, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage. He is a co-inventor of 13 U.S. patents. He has been a presenter, panelist, moderator, and session chair at over 100 conferences and events. He serves on the University of Michigan Engineering Alumni Board. He has a Master of Business Administration (MBA), Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, and a Michigan Ross Distinguished Leader Executive Certificate, all from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dr. Iddir is a Physicist in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Dr. Iddir holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Master of Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Dr. Iddir joined Argonne National Laboratory in 2006. His research interests are in the area of materials science, with a focus on developing experimental and theoretical approaches for investigating structure-property relationships at the atomic scale, defects, surfaces, interfaces in materials, chemical and physical properties of catalytic, non-catalytic and energy materials. His approach involves the use of ab-initio thermodynamics and materials modeling tools along with electron microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. Dr. Iddir published several scientific papers and patents, and serves as a reviewer for several scientific journals, the National Science Foundation, The European FNRS agency, and the Vehicle Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Sam Jaffe is the principal at 1019 Technologies. He has been in the battery industry for two decades as an analyst, a consultant, and an executive. He was previously the founder and managing director of Cairn ERA, a company acquired by E Source in 2021. Prior to that he worked at Navigant and before that at IDC Energy Insights. He was also the founder and CEO of Panea Energy and Cygnus Energy. He is the author of two books, Jewish Wisdom for Business Success and The New Korea, and lives in Boulder, Colorado.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

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).

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dr. Nathan B. Johnson completed his Doctorate in Chemical Engineering under Dr. Paul Albertus at University of Maryland, College Park in Spring 2023. Since then, he has worked as a postdoctoral appointee at Sandia National Labs in the Power Sources R&D organization under Dr. Loraine Torres-Castro and Dr. Alex M. Bates. For the last 6 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.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

He Li is an expert on the Li-ion battery. He got his Ph.D. at Polytechnique Montreal. He has 11 years of experience in the Li-ion battery, such as: spodumene mining, lithium salt extraction, cathode material manufacturing, anode material manufacturing, separator manufacturing, and cell assembly.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Dr. Weikang Li is the Chief Technology Officer of ExPost Technology Inc., with extensive experience in the battery recycling field. He completed a Postdoctoral fellowship for 5 years at the University of California, San Diego. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology. He also has a dual bachelor's degree in business administration. His research focuses on cathode synthesis, modification, degradation mechanism, and direct recycling. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in well-recognized journals. He oversees several advanced battery recycling projects to enhance profitability and safety.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Dr. Ya-Ting T. Liao is an associate professor and the faculty director of the UL Fire and Combustion Laboratories at Case Western Reserve University. She also leads the Computational Fire Dynamics Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at CWRU. Dr. Liao’s research projects range from basic fire science (e.g., material flammability, solid pyrolysis, ignition, microgravity combustion, flame spread) to understanding fire behavior in specific situations (e.g., structures, wildland fires, spacecraft, battery fires). Dr. Liao’s work has been supported by NSF, NASA, CASIS, and UL. Dr. Liao currently serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Fire Science, the Board of the United State Section of the Combustion Institute, the Board of Advisors of the Central States Section of the Combustion Institute, and the ASME K11-Fire and Combustion Technical Committee (FCTC). Prior to joining the faculty at CWRU, Dr. Liao worked for two-years in the petroleum industry. From 2013-2014, she worked on thermal fluids and two-phase flow problems as a consultant and later as a thermo-fluids specialist at FMC Technologies. In 2011-2012, Dr. Liao worked at Bloomberg LP as a software developer. Dr. Liao obtained her PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2011. She double majored in Mechanical Engineering and Physics at National Taiwan University in 2004.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Tongchao Liu is currently an assistant chemist in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He received his PhD degree from Peking University. His research interests are focused on the interface of electrochemistry, cathode materials, and materials characterization, in particular, concentration gradient cathode design and fundamental understanding of failure chemistries through in situ synchrotron-based X-ray techniques. He is currently serving as editor in the high-impact journals of Nano Energy and Materials Today Energy.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Dr. Meda is a distinguished professor of chemistry and materials science at Xavier University of Louisiana, where he also serves as the Director of the Materials and Interfaces Center for High Energy Storage and Sensing (MICHESS). With over 20 years of experience in energy storage research, Dr. Meda specializes in the synthesis and development of advanced materials for solid-state batteries. His expertise lies in crafting composite solid polymer electrolytes designed to enhance the efficiency, stability, and safety of both lithium and sodium-based batteries. Dr. Meda’s current work centers on understanding the critical interfacial reactions that occur within battery systems. This insight is crucial for improving energy storage solutions, as interfacial stability is key to the performance and longevity of next-generation batteries. Through MICHESS, Dr. Meda and his team are pioneering breakthroughs in sustainable energy, aiming to create batteries with superior energy density and faster charging capabilities. His research is contributing to a cleaner energy future, addressing critical needs in industries ranging from electronics to electric vehicles.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Scientist at Batteries – Calorimetry and Safety, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dr. Brian Morin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Soteria Battery Innovation Group, having formerly founded Dreamweaver International and Innegrity. He is inventor on over 300 international patents and applications, and as part of Soteria founded the Soteria BIG Consortium, which is dedicated to battery safety. HIs commercial innovations range from textiles, cleanroom products, plastics additives, ballistic and composite fibers and battery materials. He leads a young men's group at his church, has served as a Guardian ad Litem for children and volunteers at a Salvation Army homeless shelter.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

After obtaining a master’s degree at Kyoto University, Nishino joined Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (now Panasonic Energy Corporation) in 1994. He conducted analysis and technology development related to the safety of lithium-ion batteries and obtained a certification of Professional Engineer in 2004. Subsequently, he engaged troubleshooting for various battery systems and, in 2022, he was appointed Senior Engineer. Currently, he is working for simulation technology development of lithium-ion battery safety.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dr. Glenn Pastel is a materials engineer at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory working in the Battery Sciences branch under the guidance of his team lead, Dr. Kang Xu. He earned his PhD in 2019, under the direction of Prof. Liangbing Hu at the University of Maryland, with a dissertation focused on advanced anodes for lithium-ion batteries. Following graduation, he co-founded HighT-Tech LLC to commercialize high-entropy alloy catalysts for ammonia oxidation. His active areas of interest are energy storage technologies with an emphasis on transitioning emerging concepts from the lab to real-world applications.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Tanveer Pathan is an electrochemical engineer with nearing a decade of R&D experience in the field of electrochemistry, electrochemical power devices, and surface engineering. The last six years of his career have been focussed on lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to study the capacity retention in LIBs. In the past, he has worked on fuel cells, electrochemistry of corrosion and corrosion analysis, functional coatings for corrosion protection, and development of metal and graphene-based electrodes for fuel cells. Currently, he is the technical lead within the Forensic Analysis of Batteries Group at WMG, University of Warwick; covering both academic and industrial projects focusing on battery forensics and understanding the degradation mechanisms in lithium-ion batteries.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

After receiving his Ph.D. from UCLA, Ahmad has been working at NREL on energy efficient technologies including electrified vehicles. Until 2017, Ahmad was the Manager of the Energy Storage Group researching science and engineering of high energy anodes and cathodes, battery thermal management, 3D electrochemical-thermal modeling, safety and thermal runaway modeling, battery second use, techno-economic analysis of batteries for EVs; he led the Computer-Aided Engineering for Electric Drive Vehicle Batteries for Department of Energy (DOE).Between 2016 and 2018 he was detailed at the DOE's Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) as technical advisor to the Battery program supporting battery processing, extreme fast charging and recycling. He was the Administrator for the first Phase of the DOE Battery Recycling Prize.Currently, Ahmad is pursuing energy storage business development activities for NREL and supports VTO with battery processing, manufacturing, solid electrolyte, and low-cobalt cathode projects.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

David Petrushenko is a second year PhD student in chemical engineering. He is broadly interested in energy storage systems as well as renewable sources of energy. His current research focuses on structural batteries and developing multifunctional materials for energy storage. David holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Prior to joining the University of South Carolina, he worked with the Battery Group at NASA Johnson Space Center as a co-op student to characterize heat output of large-format lithium-ion cells undergoing thermal runaway. In addition to academic research, he has contributed to various battery designs in his current role as a NASA Graduate Pathways Student.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Dhevathi Rajan R Kannan is a Research Scientist in the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at UL Research Institutes (ULRI). Dr. Kannan has more than six years of experience in battery research on battery cell testing and battery safety.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Jim Salvador has worked at General Motors Research and Development for 16 years. During that time, he has led projects focused on solid state energy conversion technology for waste heat recuperation, solid state hydrogen storge materials fuel cell vehicles, low-cost permanent magnetic materials development. More recently he has worked on solid state batteries as well as fundamental understandings of thermal runaway initiation.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

No bio available.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Dr. Joseph Sunstrom IV, Daikin America, Inc. (U.S.A.) - sunstrom@daikin-america.com Dr. Sunstrom is a Senior Applications Development Chemist for Daikin America. For the past 25 years, Dr. Sunstrom has worked in the battery field for Duracell/Gillette/P&G, Eagle Picher, and Boston Scientific primarily in a technical lead or senior/principal scientist role. Dr. Sunstrom has authored 25 publications and holds 15 US patents. His area of focus has been the study of novel active materials for batteries and fuel cells. Dr. Sunstrom holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in Solid State Chemistry from the University of California, Davis.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Tanvir R. Tanim is an R&D engineer and the group lead for the Energy Storage Technology Group in the Energy Storage and Advanced Transportation Department at the Idaho National Laboratory. His research focuses on enabling next-generation high-energy and power lithium-ion batteries, developing advanced algorithms for reliable life estimation, and expanding and/or verifying advanced diagnostics and prognostics of these high energy and power batteries for electric vehicle applications. Between 2014 and 2021, he authored or co-authored 25 peer-reviewed scientific articles and patents. Tanim can be reached by email at tanvir.tanim@inl.gov

• Battery Engineering for Safety

Loraine Torres-Castro is the battery safety lead for vehicle electrification and grid energy storage at Sandia National Labs. The research that Loraine oversees focuses on evaluating batteries well outside of manufacturer recommended specifications and the severity of any catastrophic thermal runaway. In the Battery Abuse Testing Laboratory, her efforts are focused on understanding the mechanisms that lead to energy storage system safety incidents, and developing mitigation strategies for single-cell and system failures. Loraine has innovated abuse testing by targeting problems using a predictive approach (early detection for intervention) to eliminate failure rather than reacting to it. Her work has led to developments in advanced abuse testing, including a fundamental understanding of cell failure, to facilitate the design of safer energy storage systems. Her expertise and commitment to safety science have led to multiple cross-collaborations among sponsoring organizations, including the Department of Energy (Office of Electricity, the Vehicle Technologies Office, Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy), Department of Transportation, and NASA. On behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office, she authored and maintains the US Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) Battery Abuse Testing Manual, widely used by car manufacturers to evaluate new technologies. Loraine is also a member of the USABC, for which she provides technical advice and recommendations.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

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.

• Battery Engineering for Safety
• Battery Chemistry for Safety

As the Chief Technology Officer at KULR Technology Group, Inc., Dr. William Q Walker leads a team of engineers and scientists dedicated to the development and implementation of cutting-edge thermal management solutions for energy storage applications that are utilized in aerospace, space, and by the DoD. With over 12 years of experience in design, test, and analysis of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, Dr. Walker specializes in the areas of battery safety, thermal runaway, and passive propagation resistant design methodologies. Dr. William Q Walker's professional and research focus revolves around the design of battery assemblies capable of safely mitigating the effects of thermal runaway and preventing cell-to-cell propagation. Dr. Walker has garnered multiple awards and recognition for significant contributions to Li-ion battery thermal analysis and calorimetry methods, including the NASA Trailblazer Award and the RNASA Stellar award. His continued involvement in academic and professional communities dedicated to battery safety reflects a commitment to advancing the field. Driven by a mission to enhance global safety standards, Dr. Walker aims to propel battery safety solutions to new heights, contributing to a safer world through innovative advancements.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

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.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Dr. James Wu is a Sr. Research Scientist at NASA Glenn Research Center. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Master’s degree in Chemistry from Rutgers University at New Brunswick, New Jersey. He holds another Master’s degree in Electrochemistry and a B. Eng. degree in Chemical Engineering. Prior to working for NASA, he held positions in industry with various battery development companies that include: Scientist with Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Sr. Electrochemical Engineer with PowerGenix, and Staff Technology Engineer with Energizer Battery Company. He has many years of combined postdoctoral, industrial and government R&D experiences on developing electrocatalysts, environmental catalysts, energy storage materials and electrochemical systems. He possesses varied experiences and different technical skills to address various aspects of fundamental electrochemical system concepts. He is currently working on developing safe and advanced battery technologies for NASA future missions.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Xin is a full professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCI. He is an expert in studying structure-property relationships for a range of battery materials. His in-depth diagnostic work has helped enable the development of several battery materials. His work on battery materials has been selected as a 2014 Top-10 Scientific Achievement by Brookhaven Lab. His research has resulted in more than 190 peer-reviewed publications and 1 patent. He has coauthored 18 publications in Science/Nature sister journals (corresponding author on 6).

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Dr. Gui-Liang Xu is currently a chemist under the division of Chemical Sciences and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory. He received his Bachelor (2009) and PhD (2014) in the Department of Chemistry at Xiamen University. He has over 15 years' research experience in the development of advanced batteries including lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur and solid-state batteries for electric vehicles and stationary application. He is interested in cutting-edge synchrotron characterization techniques to elucidate in-depth mechanistic understanding on the relationship between structures and the performance, and to provide guidance and approaches to design and synthesize new battery materials with higher energy and better safety. He has published 120+ peer-reviewed papers in Nature, Nat. Energy, Nat. Nanotechnol., Nat. Commun., JACS, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Energy Environ. Sci., Adv. Energy Mater., Nano Letters, Nano Energy, and etc. He also holds 4 granted patents and 4 pending patent applications.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Dr. Zhengrui "Ray" Xu is the Co-founder and CTO at Fermi Energy, Inc, a startup company focusing on developing and scaling up low-cost and sustainable cathodes production for high-energy automobile batteries. Xu has over a decade of expertise in battery research. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Virginia Tech, followed by a prestigious Presidential Postdoc Research Associate position. He worked in the Cell Materials Engineering team at Tesla in 2021. As Fermi Energy's CTO, Dr. Xu leads multiple projects funded by DOE EERE, DOE ARPA-E, NSF, and DOD.

• Battery Chemistry for Safety

Chuanbo Yang is a Senior Energy Storage Engineer at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). His research interests focus on Li-ion battery safety, battery pack life modeling, battery thermal management, and battery packaging technique. Prior to joining NREL in 2012, he worked in an electric vehicle company as a Battery Modeling Scientist.

• Battery Engineering for Safety

John is the CTO/CSO of Polypore International (Celgard)/Asahi Kasei. He received IBA (International Battery Association) Technology Award 2024 for his invention of Ceramic Coated Separator and Outstanding Contribution in Understanding of Internal Shorts Events of Li-ion Cells that lead the broad application of Ceramic Coated Separator (CCS). This technology has made a significant contribution to the evolution of humanity (SVP/CTO Panasonic). He is recognized as the leading authority on lithium-ion battery safety and separators. Through IEEE, he leads in establishing lithium-ion battery industry standards (P1625, P1725). John pioneered the Sulfide SSE with ~ 40 papers (1984-1991). He has chaired and/or organized more than 60 international conferences and delivered more than 120 invited keynote or plenary speeches at various international conferences. John has published more than 300 patents, papers, and books. John received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also attended Sloan School of MIT.

• Battery Engineering for Safety