Speaker Biographies

Miaofang Chi is a senior staff scientist at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Her research is focused on understanding interfacial ion transport and charge transfer in energy materials. She received her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from University of California, Davis in 2008. Her primary research interests lie in advancing and applying novel electron microscopy techniques in energy and nanotechnology research, especially in developing a better understanding of interfacial charge transfer behavior in energy storage and nanoelectronics systems. She was awarded the Burton Metal by the Microscopy Society of America (2016), and the Kurt Heinrich Award from the Microanalysis Society (2019). She received the ORNL Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology (2015). She was named to the Clarivate’s list of Highly Cited Researchers in both 2018 and 2020.

Educated as a chemical engineer at the University of Cambridge in England, Richard Clark has been with Morgan Advanced Materials for over 30 years, developing and commercializing carbon and ceramic materials and components. He leads Morgan’s work in energy storage, which encompasses all businesses related to lithium-ion batteries and other electrochemical devices such as fuel cells. During his career he has been based in UK, USA, South Korea, and China, and has established two research centers of excellence – one in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, focused on uses for porous carbon materials, particularly bioderived, and the other in collaboration with Penn State University in State College, PA, on carbon materials. His experience in materials and product development covers a wide-range, including three recognized as globally best-in-class: graphite for synthetic diamonds; ablative carbon material for space vehicle propulsion; and anode graphite for lithium-ion batteries for power tool applications. Most recently he has focused on the manufacture and use of carbon and ceramics in and around lithium-ion batteries, for which he has several patent applications (including five granted) as a named inventor.

A materials engineer by training, Dr. Faenza specializes in lithium-ion batteries. He has vast experience synthesizing positive electrode materials and in characterizing them, physically, structurally, and electrochemically. Dr. Faenza uses his diverse technical capabilities to characterize the performance of batteries, particularly in regards to the safety hazards they present (e.g. thermal testing, abuse testing, hazard assessments), and in identifying root cause failure mechanisms. He has extensive experience in a host of physical and structural characterization techniques, as well as in abuse testing of batteries, which he uses to evaluate material and product performance, and in identifying the root causes of failed batteries and devices, focusing on consumer products ranging from wearables to electric vehicles (EV).

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. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 1996, MPhil in Physics from the University of Cambridge (UK) in 1997, and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from UIUC in 2000. His research interests include nanomaterials, nanomanufacturing, scanning probe microscopy, nanoelectronic devices, and renewable energy. 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, US Science Envoy, MacArthur Fellowship, and eight Teacher of the Year Awards. An elected member of the National Academy of Inventors, Dr. Hersam has founded two companies, NanoIntegris and Volexion, which are commercial suppliers of nanoelectronic and battery materials, respectively. Dr. Hersam is a Fellow of MRS, AVS, APS, AAAS, SPIE, and IEEE, and also serves as an Associate Editor of ACS Nano.

Haegyeom Kim is a staff scientist at Materials Sciences Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He received his PhD in 2015, from Seoul National University, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the LBNL until early 2019. His research interest lies in the materials design for energy storage and conversion materials, based on fundamental understanding of synthesis process-structure-property relationship. He published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, 6 patents, and gave around 15 invited talks and seminars. He was selected as a Clarivate Web of Science ‘highly cited researcher’ in 2019 and 2021, and won several awards, including Young Scientist Award from International Society for Solid State Ionics, ECS Battery Division Postdoctoral Associate Research Award, ECS Energy Technology Division Graduate Student Award.

Dr. Karin Kleiner is the head of the focus group “Mechanistic understanding” at MEET (University of Münster) unraveling the physical origin of energy density limitations of state of the art and future battery materials. She was working for the BMW group Munich from 2011 till 2014 and received her PhD from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2014. For the development of analyzing strategies of commercial Li-ion batteries out of automotive field tests she got the GDCh career grant of the Electrochemistry division. Dr. Kleiner joined the Department of Technical Electrochemistry at the Technical University of Munich and the scientific network of BASF in 2015 where she investigated high-energy cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. Later she was working at the Diamond Light Source (UK’s synchrotron facility) where she developed operando techniques to investigate energy storage devices.

Dr. Boryann (Bor Yann) Liaw is a Directorate Fellow at Idaho National Laboratory. He joined INL in May 2016 as Department Manager of Energy Storage and Advanced Vehicles. Since early 1990s, Dr. Liaw has been conducting laboratory and real-life battery and vehicle testing, data collection and analysis, battery modeling and simulation, battery performance and life prediction, battery fast charging technology development, and battery failure mode and effect analyses. Dr. Liaw is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society, actively serving leadership roles in several journal editorial boards, executive boards, and associate editorships. He is a past President of International Battery Materials Association (IBA) and serves as scientific advisors in several international and national programs. His recent achievements include Asian American Engineer of the Year (2019) and IBA Technology Award (2020).

Dr. Feng Lin is a Professor of Chemistry, and the Leo and Melva Harris Faculty Fellow at Virginia Tech. He is also jointly appointed in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and affiliated with the Macromolecules Innovation Institute at Virginia Tech. Prior to joining Virginia Tech in 2016, Dr. Lin worked at QuantumScape Corporation as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff, and at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Dr. Lin’s awards and recognitions include Rising Star in Technology Award, Startup Builder, ECS Battery Division Early Career Award, SLAC Spicer Young Investigator, Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, Journal of Materials Chemistry Emerging Investigator, RCSA Scialog Fellow, ACS-PRF Doctoral New Investigator, Energy Storage Materials Young Scientist Award, National Science Foundation CAREER award, John C. Schug Faculty Research Award, and many Scientific Highlights by national laboratories and DOE. He is a co-founder of Fermi Energy, Inc.

Anil is a Principal Material Science Engineer at applied materials division (AMD), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). 15+ years' R&D experience in thin film nanostructure materials growth especially via ALD/CVD, nanomaterial characterization & materials integration into nano-devices. Anile worked in semiconductor industries and has hand-on expertise with commercial high-volume production of CVD & ALD multi-station wafer processing tools and processes. 75+ peer-reviewed publications, 25+ patents, 4 R&D100 awards (known as the ​"Oscars of Innovation"). He completed the DOE Energy I-Corps Cohort 9 program. His current research interests include: (a) Research and development of next-generation technologically feasible nanostructure materials design, creation and engineering, especially by ALD/CVD techniques. (b) In-situ materials growth study focus on surface/interface chemistry, thorough materials and test devices characterizations and search for near-term emerging applications. (c) Applications: Li-ion batteries, 2D Materials, nanocomposites, functional coatings, MEMS devices, photodetectors, etc.

Graduated 2015: Master of Science, industrial engineering, Technical University of Munich. 2015 - 2018: engineer & team lead at in-tech GmbH, BEV development on behalf of BMW. 2019 - 2021: Product manager for Li-ION batteries at Linde Material Handling. Since 2021: OEM Marketing & Sales Manager Europe for rechargeable battery materials.

A chemist by training, Dr. Sanchez’s background encompasses both materials synthesis and characterization, specializing in the analysis of lithium-ion batteries and renewable energy catalytic processes. During his time at Exponent, Dr. Sanchez has worked on evaluating current and next-generation battery and energy storage technologies via quality analysis, performance and accelerated lifetime testing, cell design/materials evaluation and failure analysis. Dr. Sanchez is also skilled in a variety of both destructive and non-destructive characterization techniques, which he has applied to a variety of industries, including consumer electronics, chemicals, medical devices, transportation and aerospace. Besides his primary foci in high-resolution computed tomography X-ray (CT) scanning and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Dr. Sanchez also has extensive experience in various electrochemical (voltammetry, amperometry), microscopy (SEM/TEM, AFM), material properties (TGA, DSC, BET) and spectroscopic (XPS, XAS/XES, Auger, UV-Vis, Raman, XRD) techniques. On the synthesis side, Dr. Sanchez is knowledgeable in both hydrothermal and solution synthesis of macro, meso and nanostructured materials. Dr. Sanchez is experienced in the synthesis of carbon-metal composite nanomaterials on either graphene or carbon nanotubes for battery and super capacitor applications. Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Sanchez led the first set of surface and chemically-sensitive in operando measurements on a working fuel cell through the use of Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (APXPS). Dr. Sanchez also applied this expertise to study water splitting for artificial photosynthesis as a part of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), a Department of Energy (DOE) Innovations Hub.

Kevin is an analyst in Roskill’s London office, focussing on the Li-ion battery industry and raw materials for electric vehicles. He is responsible for in-house research on cathode precursors and materials as well as battery technology, writing Roskill’s reports and working on related consulting projects across the Battery and Electric Vehicle Materials division. Prior to joining Roskill, Kevin worked at the BBC and Reuters TV, reporting on China-related matters and metal commodities for the broadcaster’s international audience in both Chinese and English. Kevin completed his PhD at University of Manchester, UK in 2017 on the corrosion and protection of automotive materials.

Steve Sloop has pioneered comprehensive methods to improve safety and efficiency in recycling lithium-ion batteries and materials. These include deactivation of lithium-ion batteries to eliminate hazards in transportation and storage; electrolyte extraction; electrode harvesting and separation; and cathode-healingâ„¢, which is a direct method to reintroduce lithium, structure, and performance to scrap electrodes.

Dr. Taggougui has more than 15 years of experience in the design, development, and production launch of Li-ion batteries. Dr. Taggougui was a key member of the team that commissioned the first Li-ion battery production plant in the U.S for automotive application. Holds four published patents, five trade secrets, and 9 published scientific papers in the field of Li-ion batteries. Dr. Taggougui has a PhD in chemistry from the University Francois Rabelais, France.

Feng Wang is a Materials Scientist in the Interdisciplinary Science Department at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. He obtained his PhD in Condensed Matter Physics from the University of Alberta in 2007. His research has been focusing on the development of electron microscopy and X-ray techniques as applied to characterization, design and synthesis/processing of energy materials. He is currently a Principal Investigator leading multiple projects ranging from fundamental research to applied technology development and battery manufacturing for next-generation energy storage.