Speakers 2021

Ross works as a Senior Applications Engineer at COMSOL UK. He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2010 with a MEng in Chemical Engineering and then went on to carry out his PhD investigating carbon oxide hydrogenation reactions.

John is an Engineering degree qualified, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certified, Chartered Mechanical engineer and currently undertaking an Executive MBA. He has over 20 years of international experience in senior management in SMEs and sales with large organizations. His area of engineering experience are Technical Ceramics, Thermal management, Passive Fire Protection for Oil & Gas, Pumps and Mechanical Seals.

John is currently working as the 3M Business Development Manager for the Advanced Ceramics Northern Europe with a portfolio which includes:

• Boron Nitride cooling fillers
• Nextel Ceramic Fibres
• Friction shims
• High hardness materials such as Boron Carbide

All Materials which can be used across a vast range of applications including Automotive, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Energy, Oil & Gas, Defence and Chemical processing sectors.

Jeff is a project manager representing the 3M product range relevant to automotive electrification. Over 15 years at 3M he has performed roles within the automotive and aerospace sectors, having previously worked for a number of automotive brands where he was focussed on launching new materials technology. With masters degrees in Materials Engineering and Engineering Quality, Jeff has applied his knowledge to specialise in adhesive bonding, light weighting and is now enjoying the challenges presented by electrification in its many forms.

Brian’s background is in engines, having worked at Ricardo for 16 years then moved to JLR to lead the Combustion and Emissions Advanced Engineering section. From 2017 he built an Electrification Advanced Engineering team, delivering projects in energy storage, power electronics and Electric Drive Units. During 2020 he transferred to the Battery Department to develop the new EMA battery concepts which are critical to the JLR Reimagine transformation. He is also leading the ASTIR APC project developing an 800V battery system for a future Range Rover.

Margot James is the Executive Chair of WMG at University of Warwick. She has had a wide-ranging career which has spanned working for the UK Government and as a business woman. Both in business and Government, Margot has championed the need to expand opportunities for diverse groups of young people.

Margot served as Minister of State for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with responsibility for Digital, Telecoms and the Creative Industries, piloting the Data Protection Bill through Parliament, incorporating GDPR into UK law. Previously she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with responsibility for small businesses, consumers and corporate governance, including labour markets.

Margot co-founded Shire Health Group and led its growth to over 100 staff, having created a market for industry sponsored public health campaigns. She led the successful transitioning of Shire Health Group to the multinational WPP in 2000.

She served on the Europe, Middle East and Africa Board of Ogilvy Mather, leading European healthcare programmes.

David has been active in transport technology and innovation for more than 20 years. David is Head of Innovation and Strategy at Life Charging EV, has worked on Autonomous and Connected vehicle development and deployment, Franchise Bids in Rail and Maritime, Supplier Assessments and Assurance for Projects and Program delivery. David is focused on Transport Environmental interventions, Customer Services and charging systems.

He was CIO for Transport for Greater Manchester including managing the Highways activity for Greater Manchester. David led the programs for High Speed Broadband rollout across Greater Manchester, Wi-Fi on the tram fleet, installation of Electric Vehicle charging points across GM, Smart Ticketing and the development of Passenger and operational information systems.

David ahs been an advocate for Innovation and people development to increase the availability of skill and capabilities for the future. Recent projects have included researching the challenges of mobile signals in railway rolling stock and in Tunnels.

George Hull became the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre’s Director of Manufacturing Operations in June 2021. He joined UKBIC in Autumn 2018 as module lead for Cell assembly before progressing to the role of Head of Manufacturing Engineering, in this position George oversaw the installation & commissioning of all process equipment at UKBIC.

Before joining UKBIC, George previously worked for Jaguar Land Rover as Principal Process Engineer in Electrification Assembly and prior to that, as Principal Engineer for Machining.

The £130 million facility, which was opened by the Rt Hon Boris Johnson, Prime Minister in July 2021, provides the missing link between battery technology, which has proved promising at laboratory or prototype scale, and successful mass production.

Talk title will be “Bridging the gap from Pilot to Giga” and will be an introduction to the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre and the role it will play in industrialising battery manufacturing in the UK.

Michelle Lynch is a PhD in Chemicals and Catalysis and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Her 24 years of post-doctoral experience span catalyst R&D, catalyst and precious metals market research, patent analysis and consulting. She is currently the Director and Owner of Enabled Future Limited (EFL). Prior to setting up EFL, Michelle worked with IHSMarkit, Nexant and Johnson Matthey. She is a regular speaker at conferences and contributor to industry magazines. Her publications to date have included features in IHS Chemical Bulletin, IHS Quarterly, The Catalyst Review, Recycling & Waste World and The Catalyst Group Intelligence Report. She lives and runs her consultancy in the West Midlands, UK. She is passionate about sustainability, pollution abatement and helping to create high impact solutions to tackle climate change.

Enabled Future Limited (EFL) helps its clients to accelerate the profitable deployment of Circular Carbon Pathways in support of Climate Adaptation and future Net Zero manufacturing. It does so by Optimizing Technology Portfolios in line with market trends and environmental targets. The company has several areas of activity organized through separate Market Verticals:

• EnabledCatalysts which covers the production, use and recycling of catalysts
• EnabledPower which includes projects for the production, use and recycling of fuel cells, electrolysers, batteries, sustainable energy storage chemicals and renewable power systems
• EnabledMetals which covers the production, use and recycling of platinum group metals (PGM), battery metals, rare earth elements (REE) and other industrially valuable metals
• EnabledCircular which covers projects aimed at achieving polymer and plastics product circularity

Paul has a background of a bachelor in chemistry and further gained an executive MBA. He has an extensive knowlede in adhesive and especially adhesive tape business for 15 years. He is R&D leader and Business development manager within ATP adhesive systems AG. The company ATP is market leader of solvent free adhesive tapes.

The need to provide proven, energy efficient, clean air solutions for battery research, development, testing and manufacturing facilities is critical to their success. Facilities need to produce the highest quality products with the highest manufacturing yield whilst protecting employees and the environment from release of particulate and molecular contamination. Camfils’ more than 55 years of global knowledge, experience and capability has allowed us to apply tried and tested solutions used in other critical environments such as Semiconductor, Biopharma, Biological Containment and Nuclear, to the battery sector in order that it can achieve the goals of efficiency, safety and sustainability. With an ever increasing portfolio of key customers in this sector across the US, Europe and Asia, Camfil brings unrivalled experience, expertise and assurance to each and every project.

Peter joined what is now UTAC in 2018 as the Chief Engineer for Battery. Based at UTAC’s site in Millbrook UK, Peter provides expert knowledge and experience in the technical and practical aspects of battery technology.
Previously he worked for Johnson Matthey Battery Systems for 6 years as Chief Electronics Technologist, prior to this he was Director - Electrical/Electronic Engineering at Ricardo a large automotive consultancy where he specialised in batteries.

A passionate advocate for electric vehicles, Matt leads JustPark's EV Marketing team, having worked within the EV industry since 2014. From leading Tesla's UK marketing to heading up Groupe Renault's Northern Territories electrification projects, Matt has worked within the biggest names in the industry. Now, he leads JustPark's growth to become the UK's largest charging network, and helps fleets transition to EV years earlier than planned.

Pirmin Ulmann is co-founder and CEO of b-science.net, an information service for Li-ion battery researchers. He obtained a diploma in chemistry from ETH Zurich (Switzerland) in 2004 and a PhD from Northwestern University (USA) in 2009. Thereafter, he was a JSPS Foreign Fellow at the University of Tokyo (Japan). From 2010 to 2016, while working at a major battery materials manufacturer in Switzerland, he was a co-inventor of 7 patent families related to lithium-ion batteries. He holds the credential Stanford Certified Project Manager (SCPM) and has co-authored scientific publications with more than 1,700 citations.

Dr.-Ing. Alexander Gitis received a PhD from RWTH Aachen University in the field of lithium-ion batteries. Subsequently, he worked as a post-doc and area coordinator at a DFG research group. During his career he managed numerous academic and industrial development projects.

In early 2019, he co-founded SAFION, which he has led as CEO since incorporation. Dr. Gitis has been working in the battery technology for more than 10 years and is an experienced speaker as well as an expert for diagnosis and quality assurance of lithium-ion batteries.

Dr. Daniel Frese received his PhD in Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Göttingen, Germany, in 2013. Since 2014 he is Application Specialist at KRÜSS GmbH, Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Frese has been working together with key companies and research centers in the field of automotive, aviation and electronics, just to name a few, building solid experience in surface and interface science. Since 2020, he is Application Market Manager and responsible for BI/MI with a strong focus on battery and EV topics, supporting key customers in this field with know how.

Teague Egan is the Founder and CEO of EnergyX, responsible for all aspects of building the company into the world leader in renewable energy technologies. Teague’s background is one of serial entrepreneurship, investing, inventing, and philanthropy and he has been investing in public sector energy assets and sustainable technologies since 2013.

Presentation title:

EnergyX: The future of lithium production and next generation of battery technology

Alex Yu is a Founder and President of Factorial Energy, a breakthrough solid-state battery technology company. Led by Yu and Siyu Huang, Factorial has pioneered a new solid-state electrolyte material battery technology, FEST (Factorial Electrolyte System Technology), empowering a more sustainable future with highest performance and safest batteries for electric vehicles, homes, and critical applications. Alex earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell University and holds several patents in advanced battery technology. Alex believes battery technology is the key to unlocking reliable, safe, and affordable EVs worldwide.

Presentation Title
Developing 20Ah solid-state battery for large-scale EV application

Abstract
Dr. Yu of Factorial Inc. will discuss the company's efforts to transform battery technology to enable safe, affordable, and manufacturable products for e-Mobility, including the development and performance of the company's segment-leading polymer-based solid-state FEST™ electrolyte.

Jon Regnart has experience in policy and research within the sustainable energy sector, combined with a keen interest in the environment and public policy.

He has a BA in International Relations and at the APC Jon supports the Technology Trend Manager in updating the industry consensus technology road maps and capability studies.

Dr Fergusson is the Founder and CEO of FAC Technology and a Lecturer in Composite Materials at Imperial College. FAC Technology is a scale-up that develops novel adhesives and composites which have tailored microstructures starting from nanometres up. The company started out developing highly damage and UV resistant resins for producing composite foams and composite sandwich panels; these are used in Nordisk Aviation’s Airline Freight containers. Since then the company has developed nanocomposite systems designed to impart additional functionality beyond damage resistance such as very high thermal conductivity adhesives for Allison Transmission and non-combustible foams for use in building cladding. Some of FACT’s composite foams and panels can also pass test methods under development that aim to emulate the effect of lithium cells in thermal runaway on materials used in air cargo containers; aluminium alloys fail this test.

At Imperial College, Dr Fergusson writes and delivers half the course on composite materials taught to undergraduates and postgraduates in the Mechanical Engineering Department and supervises a number of PhD students. His BEng, MSc and PhD are all from Imperial College and he sits on the Strategic Advisory Board for the Mechanical Engineering Department there too.

Niall Johanson’s extensive experience in the Motorsport, high-performance engineering and automotive sectors spans over 4 decades. After a hugely successful career in F1 and WRC hydraulics and engine preparation, Niall now applies his expertise to develop new automotive technologies using thermoformed plastics.

This has particular relevance to engineers involved in power electronics, traction battery pack production and other fragile or critical components, especially when using robotised manipulation for all-round protection and fast assembly.

Supported by a team of technical design engineers the Charpak Automotive Division individually designs and manufactures product specific packaging on its state-of-the-art thermoforming machines. These technologies mean packaging is precision-engineered and manufactured to the same tolerances and accuracy as the components themselves. This breakthrough in precision-thermoformed packaging allows robotic manipulation to be carried out, without disturbing the end packaging, thus greatly improving efficiency. Ranging from improvements in line-speed, and reduced manual handling this ensures significant cost saving and hygienic benefits.

Charpak tailor-made protective packaging solutions include easy-pick and place components that are fully integrated into the supply chain dunnage and stillage. Designed to fit into standardised re-usable shipping containers this also optimises transport and distribution efficiencies.

The super-cleaned and recycled plastics are highly versatile to work within supply chain automated processes and existing outer packaging. Designed to reduce waste and increase efficiency, the lightweight protective packaging offers the benefits of multiple reuse and can be recycled at the end of its useful life, ready for re-manufacture into new products or packaging. Full traceability, accidental, atmospheric and corrosion protection is a given.

Creating circular and sustainable economies for the automotive, advanced engineering and electronics sectors, Niall can advise on the development of circular and closed-loop solutions, and the subsequent unique benefits in lowering environmental impacts, reducing costs, efficient stock handling, increasing manufacturing process efficiencies and greatly improved end-product reliability.

Dr. William Q. Walker received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from West Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Houston. William is employed by NASA Johnson Space Center where his career primarily focuses on the safe design and optimization of lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery assemblies for human spaceflight applications. Specifically, William focuses on the thermal management of Li-ion battery assemblies, battery safety in general, and the development of new calorimetric techniques for thermal runaway characterization. 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. Recently recognized with a NASA Trailblazer award and with the RNASA Stellar 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.

Dr Jack Gabzdyl is Industry Manager at TRUMPF where he has worked in numerous roles over the past 14 years primarily with SPI Lasers. Jack has 35 years laser processing experience with over 60 technical publications. Jack has a PhD from Imperial College London in laser materials processing. Jack has been actively involved in the wider promotion of laser technology having been chair of the UK ‘Make it With Laser’ programme, UK delegate to the IIW and a committee member of AILU. His contribution has recently been recognised by election as a Fellow of the Laser Institute of America (LIA).

Mike Valentine is Projects Lead for Tri-Wall UK, a leading manufacturer of technical packaging solutions. Mike was previously Director of ROV services & Sea-Urchin UK, developing advanced electrical propulsion systems for hostile environments.

He has spent the last two years working in collaboration with JLR, 3M, HSE, Denchi, Potenza, WMG & Lifeline on the LIBRIS project, to research and develop our understanding of safety around lithium-ion battery hazards and mitigation methods.

His experience within automotive, marine and aviation, along with his knowledge of electrical power systems has been developed through working with market leading organisations and has influenced business change in major manufacturers.

Mike has been instrumental in improving our understanding of lithium-ion battery hazards to inform future transportation standards, as well as energy storage and transport best practice.

Charles Bentley is a research analyst at Credit Suisse in London covering European Chemicals, with a primary focus on battery materials and the EV supply chain.

He joined Credit Suisse from Sanford C. Bernstein, where he covered the sector as an associate for two years. Charles is a CFA Charterholder and a qualified accountant.

Sachiya Inagaki, MBA, Senior Exucutive Manager/Seoul Branch Office Manager, Industrial Technology Unit/Seoul Branch Office, Yano Research Institute, ltd.

Sachiya Inagaki has been working with Yano Research Institute since August 2000. Since 2009, he has been focusing primarily on market research for xEVs, LiB cells and it's materials. He also has been publishing market reports as to LiB and material annually and conducting a lot of custermised research so far.

Since August 2011, he had been in a position of General Manager of Seoul branch office for three years and he has been in a position of Senior Executive Manager of Industrial Technology Unit at headquarter in Tokyo, Japan.

He has acquired MBA from Tsukuba University in 2007.

John Weir highly entrepreneurial professional with extensive experience of running businesses both large and small, including launching The Wearable Technology Show in the UK and USA - the largest events for emerging technology.

This year sees him and CEO Lisa Doerr launching The Battery Technology Show for its inaugural event in London.

Tim has over 35 years experience exclusively working in the light and heavy commercial vehicle sector on a global scale, helping many of the household names from OEM’s, Tier 1 and Finance institutions His consultancy and training company operates around the world offering insights into the various aspects of the commercial vehicle sector, particularly looking at the autonomy, connectivity and zero emission vehicles. Tim holds Galileo Master Certificate in Electric Vehicles from the European Energy Centre. Speeches and moderator engagements in the last 12 months include Urban Freight Alexandra Palace London, CV Show Chennai India, Green Truck Show Indianapolis USA, CV Forum Pune India and FTA Future Van Conference Coventry. He has had a home in the US for 17 years and travels around the world reviewing the advances in alternative fuels and connectivity for the commercial vehicle market including countries such as India, China, Japan, South America, Australia, Russia as well as Europe and the US.

Adam Chase leads E4tech’s work on energy policy and low carbon vehicles and has degrees in Economics, Engineering, Energy & Environmental Technology. Adam has been a Director of E4tech since joining in 2001. His project work often relates to corporate or national strategy and involves an understanding of how energy systems operate, rather than technologies in isolation. Adam’s particular interest is low carbon innovation in the energy and automotive sectors. He also has operational responsibility for the London office. Adam was previously a manager with the global management consulting firm A.T.Kearney, where he took part in and led teams engaged in a wide range of strategic and operational projects across the international energy and chemicals sectors. Prior to this, Adam worked for seven years in the upstream and downstream oil and gas industry and also spent time as a journalist with the Financial Times organisation, focusing on energy, environment and automotive issues.

Paul is an innovative and experienced powertrain engineer, with over 20 years' experience in developing high efficiency internal combustion engines and energy management systems, leading programmes from initial concept demonstration through production development and on to post-production support.

Always seeking to find creative and elegant solutions, and to develop and build knowledge and understanding further.

Chris is a true engineer at heart, able to realise complete solutions from physical systems through to multi-complex software platforms and algorithms. In 2001 he gained PhD from University of Bath in Digital Signal Processing on Internal Combustion Engines where he developed non-intrusive sensors to gain knowledge of physical processes within a cylinder head using advanced wavelet analysis and adaptive neural networks. From 2003 to 2013, he spent 10 years helping to build a successful engineering consultancy and technology business which was sold to EDIF/ERA. Chris was the TD and responsible for cyber-security, video processing systems, electronic signature management systems to various government programs. He started Blueskytec in 2013 to build upon the cyber-physical knowledge he has in Automotive, Industrial Control Systems and Industrial IoT. He has a special interest in the cyber-physical aspects of Batteries-Control-Drive-MGU power train of personal transport and renewable energy systems.

Bob started at Hewlett-Packard in 1984. During his 35 years with HP, Agilent, and now Keysight, Bob has been part of the company’s marketing and R&D organizations for power supplies, electronic loads, power analysers, data acquisition equipment, and test systems. Now, as a solution architect, Bob is responsible to create Keysight’s battery testing solutions roadmap by researching customer and industry trends and developing plans to meet emerging customer needs.

He was product manager for several generations of power supplies, including the first modular power system introduced by HP in 1989. He has also managed Agilent’s power supply test systems business, wireless power business, and battery test systems business.

Bob holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA.

Techmet is building projects to secure the supply of the key metals critical to the future growth of electric vehicles, battery storage, renewable energy and other disruptive technologies.  It has both producing and development assets involved in the mining, processing and recycling of these metals.

Simon is a geologist by training but has spent the last 15 years in the world of mining finance: analysing, researching and investing in various sectors of the natural resource space.  Having completed a M.Sc. at the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College), he spent time as an exploration geologist in Europe.  After this, he moved into mergers and acquisitions in the metals and mining sector before spending time as a Mining Analyst for two stockbrokers, and a stint as part of a team manging multi-billion dollar natural resource funds at Investec Asset Management.  He believes that the move to electrification of transportation will be transformative for the metals and mining space and is excited to be part of a team that is creating the supply chain to feed it.