Proven Commercial Leader with over 20 years of leadership and technical excellence in the Lithium, Battery Materials, Water Treatment, Pulp & Paper, Basic Chemical Operations and Specialty Chemicals markets. Proven track record in the planning and delivery of sales results. Expertise includes:

- B2B sales through direct field sales channels and through indirect distribution channels.
- Extensive marketplace knowledge of Battery, Chemical and Pulp &amp; Paper industries.
- Maximizing revenue through organic growth and new channel development.
- Strategic and Consultative selling skills for Large Account Management.
- Recruitment, training and development of sales teams

As the business of recycling lithium batteries matures, so do we, and Tom brings diverse experience working closely with the leading Electric Vehicle innovator, Tesla Motors, and Amphenol, one of the world’s largest providers of high-technology interconnect, sensor, and antenna solutions. He is also a proud veteran of the United States Navy. Tom will drive our lithium business and push Ecobat, using our decades-long history in battery recycling, towards continued breakthrough innovation and momentum across the United States.
With the rising adoption of electric vehicles and their reliance on lithium batteries, we are excited to have Tom lead the continuous expansion of our lithium collection and recycling management services.

Fearghal Kearney is the VP of Sales EMEA at Circulor, whose mission is delivering Traceability-as-a-Service for raw materials and commodities, tracking supply chain data and embedded carbon at each stage of production, recycling, and end-of-life, helping companies verify responsible sourcing and address ESG objectives. Fearghal is an experienced senior finance and commercial professional with over 25 years of experience in advising and managing businesses across several industries focusing on providing visibility into financial, procurement and supply chain processes.

Nitin Tyagi is the VP of supply chain at Our Next Energy (O.N.E). 
Prior to ONE, he was the director of battery supply chain at Rivian Automotive where he scale-up 4 EV programs (R1T, R1S, EDV NCM, EDV LFP) from pre-production to launch. In particular, he drove the iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry adoption on Amazon Electric Delivery Vans (EDV) resulting in significant cost savings. He also led Rivian’s battery recycling strategy and execution.
Previously, he was part of Apple’s supply chain team and ramped 20+ Apple products. He acted as the commercial lead to incentivizing and increase recycled cobalt content in Apple’s batteries as well as ensure compliance with responsible sourcing standards. This goal was fully achieved in 2023 when Apple reached 100% recycled Cobalt content in all its products. 
He also advises Ather Energy, India’s leading premium e-scooter maker as well as serves on the board of Ionic Rare Earths (ASX: IXR), a rare earth recycling and mining company. 

Shailesh Upreti is an IIT Delhi Alumni and former team member of Professor Stan Whittingham, Nobel Laureate, the inventor of Li-ion battery. With 23+ years of experience in developing strategies to advance technologies, his scientific and entrepreneurial work has triggered and influenced many projects in academia as well as in industry. Mr. Upreti is well known in the industry for establishing and stabilizing an ex-Asia supply chain that includes 200+ global brands. Mr. Upreti is currently the CEO of C4V and Founder of iM3NY, the largest home grown Gigafactory in New York. Mr. Upreti’s expertise lies in bridging the gap between meaningful findings from early stage development and commercialization. Mr. Upreti has received Entrepreneur of the Year award from the New York State Government for his leadership in establishing a Li-ion battery-manufacturing ecosystem. He has won several other awards including a $500,000.00 cash prize in one of the largest clean tech business competitions and 50 most influential entrepreneurs in the Energy space.

Astrid is an expert in responsible mineral supply chains and responsible sourcing. With 15 years of experience in international development (primarily at GIZ, The German Agency for International Cooperation) she has advised governments on different continents and worked globally on ESG issues in the mining sector. She has collaborated with international NGOs as well as at the interface of government and private sector. Her experience with multiple stakeholders and certification schemes in the responsible sourcing and ESG space will be of great value to ILiA and its members. 
Astrid holds a master’s degree in Global Studies and an MBA. She is fluent in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. She has strong analytical skills with a strategic mindset and likes to be continuously challenged. Astrid is based in Lisbon, Portugal. 

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.

Robert Hess is a Practice Leader and Senior Principal for Newmark’s Global Consulting and Strategy Solutions Group, responsible for strategy development, business development, market outreach and client service. Hess is a preeminent, sought after service provider and respected leader in corporate location strategy, site selection and incentive negotiations. He has conducted approximately 300 assignments globally, across a variety of industries and asset types, including mega-facility projects in Asia, Europe and Mexico.
Hess has led over 30 major economic development strategy development initiatives, including states, regions, utilities and private sector developers. He has led the strategic placement and boardroom level business case support of over 100M SF of operations (all asset types) across the U.S. and many global markets and helped secure over $3.08 in bottom line cost reduction and financial incentives to support these efforts.

Peter Gibson leads LG Energy Solution Vertech’s sales & marketing activities. His responsibilities include managing a team of dedicated sales professionals focused on large grid-scale battery storage projects. Since 2013 when Peter joined the company, LG has delivered approaching 500 energy storage systems for front-of-the-meter or behind-the-meter installations, including some of the largest (by GWh) battery systems installed in the United States.
Peter is a former member of the Energy Storage Association’s Leadership Circle and is actively engaged with the American Clean Power Association.
Professional experience includes assignments focused on traditional and emerging energy technologies in Europe, SE Asia and North America.  He earned a first-class honors degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK.

Frank McCleary is a Partner responsible for Automotive and Financial Services in the North American market at Porsche Consulting, a leading management consulting company (and subsidiary of Porsche AG), with more than 200 clients both within and outside of Volkswagen Group.
In the battery sector, he supports clients in topics such as battery strategy, factory planning, supply chain readiness and production ramp.  In addition, Frank supports client more broadly in topics such as corporate strategy and organizational efficiency.

Kristin Hengstebeck leads TMC’s business development and U.S. government affairs. Her responsibilities include relationship management across customers, partners, and using her educational background in both electrochemistry and business administration to own an internal view on metal and battery markets. Kristin is a seasoned business development strategist with combined expertise in materials research and renewable energy. Prior to joining TMC, Kristin served as Director of Business Development for Edison Energy helping commercial and industrial clients build decarbonization strategies across distributed generation and efficiency projects, power purchase agreements, global renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets. Kristin’s previous positions spans both solar project development at Engie North America and technical sales to manufacturing multinationals, startups, national laboratories, and universities.

Mickael Havel is the NA Battery Sales & Market Manager at Arkema’s High Performance Polymers division. He oversees the development of Kynar® PVDF used as an electrode binder and separator coating, as well as LiFSI electrolyte salts. He obtained his Ph.D. in physics and chemistry from Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris, France. He joined Arkema in 2007 where he held multiple positions in R&D and business development.

Ray Saka is an expert in inverters and inverter-based resources with years of experience in renewable energy. He is currently the Vice President Business Strategy and Services at IHI Terrasun Solutions (IHI Terrasun), a system integrator of energy storage projects. Saka has worked extensively on building cross company partnerships to advance the development of renewable energy and speed up technology innovation. He has written several articles on inverter reliability, solar & energy storage coupling, and presented solar project technology at utility conferences across North America.  He is also a member of the P2800.2 working group to define testing standards for the new IEEE2800 Grid-Interconnected Inverter Based Resources. 

Chris Nevers is Rivian’s Senior Director of Public Policy.  Prior to his 4 years at Rivian, Chris’ experiences include Vice President of Energy and Environment for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality, and Chrysler.  Chris is also a founding Board Member of ZETA, a member of the Michigan Council on Future Mobility and Electrification, and on the SAE International Office of Energy Strategic Advisory Council.

Ryan Kelley was elected to represent District #4 (Brawley, Bombay Beach, Calipatria, Desert Shores, Niland, Salton City, Salton Sea Beach, Vista Del Mar, and Westmoreland) in 2012.  He is a lifelong and third generation resident of Imperial Valley.  His civic commitment began as an Eagle Scout with Troop 22, Boy Scouts of America, and continued as Exalted Ruler of the Brawley Elk’s Lodge #1420.  It was his desire to make a positive change that prompted him to become involved in local government; and today, he strives to make decisions that benefit our communities. 
Beyond attending Brawley Union High School, Ryan holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Long Beach State University and an Associate’s of Science degree from Miramar College, as well as, a Paramedic Certificate from Imperial Valley College.  Education and educational opportunities are important to Ryan, as he wants to build upon the options available to our youth.   
As an Imperial County and Brawley Firefighter, he fought fires across Imperial County.  As a Paramedic, he treated and cared for patients from Bombay Beach to Salton City.  As an Imperial Valley College Instructor, he taught fire science and emergency medical services to the next generation of firefighters and EMTs.  As the Imperial County Emergency Medical Services Administrator, he developed and enhanced the Emergency Medical Services system and capabilities. 
In addition to being the Imperial County Supervisor, Ryan is a past president and current member of the Salton Sea Authority, member of the Imperial County Local Health Authority, member of the Local Area Formation Commission, and Vice Chair of the California Lithium Valley Commission. 
Supervisor Ryan E. Kelley lives in Brawley with his wife Robyn. 

Jesus Eduardo Escobar attended local schools; Our Lady of Guadalupe Academy and Vincent Memorial High School in Calexico, CA. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego in San Diego, CA.  
Mr. Escobar also graduated from Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington; a graduate level program focused on the financial services industry.
Mr. Escobar was employed by the former Valley Independent Bank currently Mechanic’s Bank and enjoyed a successful 16-year banking career that included multiple senior level management positions and the corporate titles of Senior Vice President and Regional President.
Currently, Mr. Escobar is a licensed U.S. Customs Broker, managing offices in Calexico, CA  and San Diego, CA. 
Mr. Escobar was a member of the Calexico City Council (2016-2019).
Mr. Escobar’s civic and community involvement includes being, board member of Border Communities Capital Company; a company that re-invests new market tax credits in low to moderate-income communities, past president of the Calexico Rotary Club and the Calexico Noontimer’s Lion’s Club. Mr. Escobar has also taught business and finance courses at Imperial Valley College and San Diego State University. 
Mr. Escobar is married to his wife, Perla Lizeth and has three beautiful daughters, Paulina, Camila and Romina Almadelia.

David Hudson is an expert in the recycling, sustainability, and decarbonization space with over 15 years of experience in senior leadership roles in finance, operations, and commercial roles. Most recently, David served as CSO of Circulus Holdings, PBLLC, a company he founded in 2019 focused on recycling post-consumer plastics at scale. Prior to joining Circulus, David served as an operating partner at Houston, Texas based Ara Partners, an investment firm focused on sustainability and decarbonization strategies. Before Ara, David was Vice President of Commercial Business at Avangard Innovative, where he led all revenue-generating activities for the global waste and recycling optimization firm. Previously he was Director of Sales & Marketing at Recology, where he was charged with growing the revenues of a $1.2billion fully integrated waste and recycling company. David also served as both Vice President & Regional Manager and Vice President of Government Affairs & Business Development at Strategic Materials, Inc., where he had full P&L responsibility for the company’s facilities in the Midwestern and North eastern U.S. David also spent seven years at Owens Corning, holding leadership roles in sales, government, and industry affairs and in various senior operational roles. Earlier in his career, he worked in the financial services industry, including roles at AIM/INVESCO, UBS, and Prudential.

David earned an MBA with honors from Tulane University and a BBA from Southwest Texas State University. He also holds a certificate from The University of California, Berkley in design thinking and innovation.

Ryan Melsert brings twenty years of multidisciplinary expertise to his positions as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the American Battery Technology Company (ABTC).  Since becoming ABTC’s CEO, he has accelerated the company’s transition to commercialization leading efforts to fully reconstitute the company’s independent Board of Directors, strategically realign and integrate the companies’ three business units, restructured financial, accounting and cost control practices, establish a new Reno-based headquarters, engage top-level strategic partners, and acquire top talent.   
Melsert previously served as R&D Manager for Tesla’s Gigafactory Battery Materials Processing group. He founded and led a cross-functional team of mechanical and chemical engineers who implemented first principles design to develop novel first-of-kind systems for the extraction, purification, and synthesis of precursor and active battery materials. This development scope included the fundamental conceptual design, rigorous thermodynamic and process modeling, design and fabrication of bench-scale prototypes, construction and operation of integrated pilot systems, and implementation of commercial scale systems for the processing of battery materials. 
Other roles include R&D Manager (Advanced Energy & Transportation Technologies) for Southern Research and Energy Systems Consultant for the Advanced Technology Development Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He has a variety of publications and patents in his name and has served as the Principal Investigator for several US DOE supported renewable energy projects, including 4 grants while at ABTC. Melsert has also won innovation competitions, including the BASF Circularity Challenge in 2019 hosted to identify the most promising lithium-ion battery recycling technologies in the world. He recently was invited to join President Joe Biden and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in awarding ABTC with a portion of the $2.8 billion in grants from the U.S. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for projects to expand U.S. manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and domestic mineral production.
Melsert was acknowledged as Waste360’s 40 under 40 Innovator of the Year 2022. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering science and a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Penn State University, a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Master of Business (MBA) from the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. 
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-melsert/ 


Tony DiCenso, American Battery Technology Company's Director of Corporate Development and Strategy, brings over 15 years of industry experience in global commodities markets. He joins ABTC from Apple, where he was most recently responsible for global battery metals and cathode procurement, as well as long-term strategy development in support of Apple’s recycled battery materials initiatives.
Prior to Apple, he was a vice president in base metals trading at Goldman Sachs, responsible for trading and analysis of physical and derivative metals markets. Over the course of his career, he has gained experience and transacted in a broad range of primary and secondary materials, and occupied the seat of a consumer, trader, analyst, and now producer. DiCenso began his commodities journey in the aluminum department of Glencore Ltd.
DiCenso received his bachelor of science degree in economics with a minor in business administration from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Carolina Ferreira's practice focuses on lithium industry. She has professional experience in international, multilateral organizations and public agencies in Chile. Ms. Ferreira has directed the lithium office at the Ministry of Mining in Chile and has several years of hands-on experience in mineral supply chain management, leading the Responsible Lithium Partnership, a mineral supply chain responsibility project at the Salar de Atacama, funded by Volkswagen group, BMW group, Mercedes Benz A.G, Fairphone and BASF, building effective relationships and working successfully with a variety of stakeholders, such as government, the mining industry and community organizations, creating alliances and obtaining commitments for action. Ms. Ferreira has participated in international conferences on critical minerals and energy transition in Latin America, supply chains, and teaches a course on lithium for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean . She is currently working as a full-time consultant on lithium and critical minerals for the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC., where she provides her expertise in policy, regulation, development projects and planning in the mining sector.

Robert Pell PhD is the Founder & CEO of Minviro, a technology and consultancy company that supports mining, metals, and low-carbon technology companies to measure and mitigate their environmental impacts. Minviro uses life cycle assessment approaches, highlighting environmental hotspots and opportunities for improvements during the development and operational stages of projects. Robert completed his PhD at Camborne School of Mines (University of Exeter) and Tsinghua University. Robert also sits on the Board of the Rare Earth Industry Association and the Critical Minerals Association.

Camilo Aladro is the Director of Product Management & Software at Tekscan.  He spent over 10 years as a Product Manager, leveraging application experience to help researchers & engineers gain valuable insights with tactile pressure measurement.  Prior to this role, he spent 7 years with Rockwell Automation as a Product Manager with the Sensing, Safety and Connectivity Business.  Camilo holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ronnie Tao serves as the Vice President of Business Development at Amprius Technologies, where he plays a pivotal role in introducing their pioneering lithium-ion batteries. With a strong background in the battery industry spanning 14 years, Ronnie has cultivated a deep expertise in guiding business development efforts across Asia, Europe, and North America. His diverse experience encompasses a range of applications, from small cell wearables to large-scale automotive cells.


With over 15 years of experience in the lithium-ion battery industry, Evan Sanders serves as the Chief Commercial Officer at LeydenJar Technologies. He has expertise across key sectors within the field, including consumer electronics, aerospace, and EV applications. His primary focus will be advancing consumer electronic applications and fostering the ecosystem for cell production, that uses the company's innovative 100% silicon anode products.  
 
Evan started his career (as many of us did) at A123Systems where he was Vice President of Global Sales and led the commercial team, growing revenue, and eventually leading to an IPO. Prior to LeydenJar Evan worked at Sion Power, where his main focus was introduction of their lithium metal anode cells to the aerospace and automotive market segments.  
 
Evan also has experience in the charging sector managing Delta-Q Technologies growth in the e-mobility and industrial charger space.  Gaining end-to-end experience of the electric power train brought many insights into the use cases and challenges encountered when embarking on an electrification journey.

An accomplished automotive professional with 20 years of experience in product development and management consulting across USA, Japan, China & India. I have worked extensively in the engineering domain with hands on experience designing and developing control algorithms & embedded software for automatic transmissions across two major passenger vehicle manufacturers. Successfully combining deep industry and technology know-how with management consulting I have delivered 50+ assignments of strategic importance to C-suite & Boards of passenger & commercial vehicle manufacturers, two-wheeler manufacturers, automotive suppliers & private equity players. I pride myself in thinking outside the box and challenging the status quo. My leadership style can be characterised as servant leader with emphasis on Intellectual authority, Collaboration, Integrity, Trust, Result Oriented & Humility. Being solutions orientated, working across organisation levels & leading by example have been my mantra for professional success. 

Chris Wright is the SVP of Project Technology here at Spearmint Energy.  Chris’ background includes over 14 years of engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) and operations experience in solar, wind and battery storage technologies.  Prior to joining Spearmint Energy, Chris spent the last 4 years leading the Independent Engineering teams at Clean Energy Associates and E3 Consulting for lithium-ion battery storage technologies.  Previous to his Independent Engineering experience, Chris spent 10 years overseeing various phases of EPC for distributed generation and utility-scale solar, wind and battery storage projects at NextEra Energy Resources, Florida Power and Light, Origis Energy and Black & McDonald.  He holds a B.S in Electrical Engineering Technology from the University of West Florida and M.S. in Engineering from the University of Toledo.

David Anonychuk is the Global VP Metallurgy and Consulting for SGS, a global leader in mineralogy, metallurgical and pilot plant testing, engineering studies and process plant optimization.
Mr. Anonychuk has over 30 years of international mining and metallurgical experience, working in consulting, strategy, and operations with senior management positions at major metals producers Glencore, Xstrata and Newmont and mining consultancies. 
Mr. Anonychuk is an expert in critical minerals and battery supply chain, proving valuable insight on BNN Bloomberg, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence events, Quebec Mines + Energy Conference, EU-Canada Business Day – Raw Materials & Sustainability, Rho Motion - EV & Battery Seminar and CIM Annual Convention. 
He is a member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce - Critical Mineral Council, the Canadian Critical Minerals & Materials Alliance (C2M2A), and Critical Mineral Expert Advisory Group - International Energy Agency (IEA). 

Dr. Simon Engelke is the Founder & Chair of Battery Associates. Simon completed his Ph.D. on Lithium-ion batteries at the University of Cambridge. He has been invited to speak at various events, including the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25), IAA Mobility, FT Future of the Car Summit, and the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. Simon served as Co-Curator of the WEF Strategic Intelligence for Future of Energy and Batteries and as a Fellow of the WEF Global Future Council on Energy Technologies.

Bill,Global Director of Business Development of EV Battery. 
For the past 25 years Bill has held executive positions, specifically in the electric vehicle industry. He has worked with commercial transportation electric drivetrains and battery technologies for several years. s the Director Commercial Sales at Proterra, Inc. - He was responsible for growing Proterra’s airport business from 1 to 13 airport partners including deployments at JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, as well as SFO, San Diego, Sacramento, & San Jose airports.
Prior to joining Proterra, he spent 6 years, working on EV infrastructure, battery and drivetrains for trucks and buses. Bill convinced Elon & the SpaceX team to install 30 level 1 chargers in their parking structure for employees. He has presented at the Pentagon, Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Energy. Bill continues to be a passionate and knowledgeable, (“EVangelist”), spokesperson for the EV Industry. 

Ernst van Nierop is a Director of Strategy at Sila. In this role he leads Strategy Development & Planning, supported by market research and competitive intelligence. Prior to Sila, Ernst was VP of Scaling at GitLab where he built teams and organizational processes to help the company scale rapidly and globally. Ernst has also held the roles of Process Engineer with Akzo Nobel and VP of Engineering at C12 Energy. Ernst has a MSc degree in Applied Physics from the University of Twente, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University.

Barclays is a British universal bank. We are diversified by business, by different types of customers and clients, and by geography. Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group.
With over 325 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 40 countries and employs approximately 83,500 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide.
Barclays is a trading name of Barclays Bank PLC and its subsidiaries. Barclays Bank PLC is registered in England and is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. 

Mr Hoffman leads McKinsey’s global battery value chain work, and strategy on sourcing, battery technology, and recycling. Ken has been Executive director of projects that help upstream battery component companies successfully enter the battery value chain, with notable work in lithium (a major JV for a LiOH facility, largest LCA pricing contract ever completed, strategy work for both providers and buyers), nickel, manganese (both for NCM and LMFP players), electrolytes, performance powders, recycling technologies, etc. He has worked with several private equity companies on over 100 due diligences throughout the battery value chain, especially new lithium technologies (DLE, DLP, Lithium metal), recycling technologies, CAM producers, separators, cell providers, and new refining technologies. Ken has worked with nearly a dozen OEM's on the long-term sourcing strategies and how to think of the continuous change in battery technologies to their procurement needs. His team developed frameworks for ranking more than 40 battery technologies for a large technology company. 

Previously, Ken was global head of metals and mining research for Bloomberg Intelligence, while at Bloomberg, I advised Peter Grauer when he was on the BOD for Glencore. I was also the director of research and Partner for the European investment fund MarCap Investors LP, a fund backed by Reservoir Capital. Marcap often took board seats and worked with boards and CEO's for the improvement of company results and goals.

As a co-founding partner of the company, Sunny brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in navigating the complexities of the American market. With an unparalleled understanding of the industry's intricacies, Sunny has been instrumental in forging and maintaining robust relationships with key upstream clients. His strategic vision and relentless dedication have significantly contributed to the company's expansion and steadfast presence in the market, consistently driving success and fostering growth through dynamic partnerships. Sunny had more than 28 years of experience in various industry.
Sunny worked at IBM as global competitive sales executive, Discover Financial services as product owner and IT senior manager. Graduated with two master’s degree in Applied Math and Applied Statistics.

Advancing battery technology through superior material processing and next-generation battery chemistries. I received my PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin advised by John Goodenough where I performed extensive work on various energy storage systems, such as sodium-ion, solid-state and lithium metal, and Li-S batteries. I have also worked in alternative areas of electrochemistry, such as heterogeneous catalysis for carbon dioxide reduction, hydrogen reduction, and oxygen evolution and reduction. I am now an executive at EnergyX Inc., a lithium supply-chain startup, where I started and lead the Battery Innovation Laboratory and large cell prototyping line as the Vice President of Battery Technology. I am passionate about working at the interface of electrochemistry, materials science, and energy storage. I believe leveraging these three critical areas holds the key towards a sustainable future for everyone and leaving the world a better place than I found it.

MBA from Fudan University, over 20 years of experience in senior positions at multinational companies and engaged in operational, manufacturing, supply chain, commercial, and financial leadership. He used to serve as General Manager of China operations in Li-Cycle and Great China Commercial Manager in Eastman. Throughout his career Bill has developed and driven business growth strategies in the highly competitive China market, including expanding brand awareness, market impact, account development and strategic relationships.

Gildas Dupouy is the VP Supply Chain Operations, Americas for Fluence Energy, leader in the Energy Storage Solutions. In this role, he develops strategies to enable Americas business objectives and oversees execution of all aspects of Supply Chain.
Gildas has 25 years' experience in global manufacturing & supply chain with a track record for accelerating transformation, delivering operational excellence, and driving profitable growth. He also has a passion for leading and fostering a culture of excellence, engagement, and inclusion.
Gildas holds a master’s in Engineering from ECAM Lyon, France and an executive MBA from Arizona State University.

Keith Beers is a consultant with Exponent focusing on the safety and reliability of Li-ion battery systems. He has over a decade of industrial battery experience supporting clients ranging from startups to device OEM’s, traditional battery suppliers, and attorneys. He supports clients across the product life cycle, ranging from the initial design ideation, qualification, reliability testing, and risk assessments to supporting issues later in life related to failure analysis, field actions (e.g., product recalls), and providing technical support on litigation matters. Prior to Exponent, Keith obtained a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley investigating novel polymer materials for use in fuel cells and batteries. 

Abdellah Cherkaoui is the Co-founder and Chief Commercialization Officer of AquaLith Advanced Materials, Inc. Abdellah’s active role in the electrification of transport began in 2009. He is a member of the original founding teams that grew Volta Charging (acquired by Shell in 2023) and ChargePoint, two leading EV charging networks born and scaled out of Silicon Valley. 
Dr. Cherkaoui advised and partnered with global automakers and energy companies. He also works with state and federal governments developing and advocating for effective policies to accelerate decarbonization. Abdellah is co-founder and several-term president of the Sacramento-based US EV Charging Association.
Abdellah holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle and a master’s in engineering from the Rabat School of Mines in Morocco. Abdellah is a Fulbright Doctoral Fellow and a NASA International Fellow.

After having spent the early part of his energy career driving aftermarket service sales of large turbines and generators at Siemens Energy, EthosEnergy, and Toshiba America Energy Systems, Chad then joined the renewable energy sector in 2017 at SMA America managing strategic accounts in the PV and energy storage inverter industry.  After establishing broad industry relationships with major developers, IPPs, EPCs, and utilities, Chad transitioned to a non-lithium nickel-hydrogen battery start-up company, EnerVenue, in 2021 as the first commercial sales hire for the company where he led the initial strategy and market penetration efforts leading to numerous early-phase customer pilot deployments, 1.4 GWh in MOU commitments, and assisted in $125M Series A funding round.  Chad recently joined Prevalon as Vice President of Sales with the mission of accelerating deployment of Prevalon’s advanced, integrated, turnkey LFP solutions to the grid-scale energy storage market.  

With about fourteen years in the lithium industry, Ashish Patki currently leads business development and market intelligence at Arcadium Lithium and previously worked in several commercial roles. In the past six years, Ashish was part of the core team involved in spinning off Livent Corp from FMC Corp, and recently in creating the merger of equals to form Arcadium Lithium. Ashish previously worked in biofuels and solar industries in engineering and commercial roles. Ashish holds a BS, chemical engineering from University of Pune, India, and MBA from Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. He lives in Charlotte, NC.

Anthony Tse is the founder of NEO Capital and an active investor in the global battery value chain - having deployed capital in numerous companies across the value chain, including positive, negative, next-generation battery materials, battery manufacturing and battery recycling companies.

Anthony has 15 years of experience in the field of energy transition covering the battery value chain. He is the former Managing Director and CEO of Galaxy Resources, where he served on the board for more than a decade and was responsible for managing the global lithium business and project development portfolio in Australia, China, Argentina and Canada. During his tenure, he created Allkem and merged with Orocobre in 2021, growing the company from a junior mining development company to one of the top 5 lithium producers in the world. Allkem recently merged with Livent to create Arcadium.

He currently serves as a director of Li-Cycle Corp. (NYSE: LICY), a leading battery recycling and resource recovery company in North America and Europe, as well as anode technology for next-generation lithium solid-state batteries, lithium Metal, and lithium Metal developer Li-Metal (CSE: LIM). In addition, he is a Senior Advisor to Sicona Battery Technologies, a developer of silicon composites for advanced lithium battery anode technology, and Critical Resources (ASX: CRR, a natural resources company focused on the development of lithium and other key metals, is a strategic consultant to Canada and Novalith Technologies, a developer of lithium extraction technology.

In addition to his industry, Anthony has held positions as an institutional investor. He is a senior advisor at EMR Capital, a global natural resources private equity firm, and previously served as an operating partner in the global Private equity group at Franklin Templeton (NYSE: BEN), a global asset manager.

Wang Cong is an industry research GM at Shanghai Metals Market. She majored in new energy and battery materials when she was a post-graduate student in East China University of Science and Technology and obtained her Master's degree in Chemistry afterwards. She has engaged in the nickel industry chain research for years, and has a deep insight into the production, operation and trading process of the stainless steel and new energy industry chains (involving nickel ore, refined nickel,NPI，FeNi stainless steel nickel sulphate, manganese sulphate, precursors, cathode materials, batteries, etc.). She is adept at analysing information and data to provide corporate customers with well-grounded suggestions for procurement and acquisitions, and marketing,strategic mergers medium and long-term forecast.

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