Speakers

Dr. Richard Ahlfeld is CEO and Founder of Monolith, a no-code AI platform used by the world’s leading automotive, aerospace and industrial engineering teams from Siemens and Honeywell to Rolls-Royce and BMW. Dr. Ahlfeld received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering and Data Science from Imperial College. He has been recognised across academia and industry including being named to MIT Technology Review’s Top 10 Innovators under 35, invited as a Research Engineer to NASA where he worked on the Mars rocket, and recognised as an Automotive News Europe ‘Rising Star’.

Through his leadership, Monolith received Series A funding in 2021 and was named one of the UK’s top 100 start-ups. The company was named by Gartner as a Cool Vendor in AI in Automotive, has been featured in Forbes magazine and won the coveted Automotive Testing Technology International ‘Crash Test Innovation of the Year’ award.

Naseer Ahmed became Business Development Manager with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) in June 2021 before becoming Commercial Director in May 2023, he has responsibility for business development, sales, and customer projects and is also part of UKBIC’s Executive Team.

Naseer, who joined UKBIC as Business Development Manager in June 2021, has worked in research, development and manufacturing organisations for various telecommunications, space and battery companies, including Ericsson, Fujitsu, Airbus Defence and Space and ABSL.

As Business Development Director, Nas is responsible for UKBIC’s key customers.

UKBIC is a key part of the UK government-funded Faraday Battery Challenge, which has been delivered by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, to build a high-tech, high-value, high-skill battery industry in the UK.

Lauren is a highly experienced Principal Consultant specialising in Battery Cell Manufacturing. She works with a diverse range of global companies, from start-ups to cell manufacturers in the Electric Vehicle and Battery Energy Storage space. Lauren recruits for a variety of technical and commercial roles to senior level, including VPs, Directors and C-suite. “I love working in an industry where I am constantly networking and collaborating with individuals who are making a significant positive impact on our planet. It’s exciting to work in such a progressive sector and one which will make a difference for the future of our children.” Lauren is also a Project Director for the Volta Foundation, working on the Battery Career Fair Program which provides a platform to further elevate, advance, and connect the global battery community

Sebastián Arias has been a Senior Energy Storage Modelling Engineer at MathWorks since 2021. His academic background is in Chemical Engineering and his main area of expertise is in battery characterization and modelling in the automotive sector. He holds an MSc. in Advanced Process Design for Energy from the University of Manchester and, before joining MathWorks, worked for three and a half years in the Advanced Battery Engineering department in Jaguar Land Rover.  

Roger has over 30 years’ experience within the automotive arena – including Audi, Virgin, Volvo, Ricardo, Modec ZEV, Gibbs HSA, and London Taxis.

From salesman to regional manager to sales director to EV Industry consultant – for over a decade now Roger has been involved with hybrids and EV’s. Inevitably perhaps, renewable energy is now forming a ‘nexus’ with it.

Roger has been very active on LinkedIn since 2004 and enjoys engaging on a daily basis with a rich network of like-minded people all around the world.

Thomas joined Innovate UK in 2020 and is now the Deputy Challenge Director for the £610 million Faraday Battery Challenge (FBC), the UK government’s flagship battery innovation programme. The FBC is working to develop a resilient and globally competitive battery industry in the UK by supporting cutting edge research & innovation, world-class battery facilities, and unlocking the skills and private investment needed to rapidly scale technologies to market. Prior to joining Innovate UK, Thomas gained a DPhil in nano-electrochemistry from Oxford University before working on industrial next generation battery research and scale-up programmes spanning lithium-ion, solid state and lithium sulfur batteries.

Lukasz Bednarski is a Principal Research Analyst at S&P Global. He covers battery materials market with particular focus on lithium, graphite, manganese, cathodes, and anodes materials. Lukasz has worked in the commodity sector spanning physical trading, training, product management, and research. Prior to joining, his interest in battery materials led to the development of an independent industry portal covering the sector. In addition to his degree in economics and business administration from Aalborg University, Lukasz has studied financial topics in China, Russia, Germany, and Liechtenstein. He is the author of popular non-fiction book “Lithium: The Global Race for Battery Dominance and the New Energy Revolution.

Maria Bengtsson is a Partner in EY’s Strategy and Transactions team and the eMobility lead for EY in the UK. With a background in automotive and almost two decades of experience as an energy and automotive consultant, Maria advises organisations across the eMobility value chain, including automotive manufacturers, charge point operators and fleet operators. EY’s areas of focus within eMobility include asset and business valuations, business case evaluations, M&A and fundraising, strategy advice, tax advice and regulatory advice.

As the iNetic Traction Leader, I lead the product development of the iNetic traction product range including the sEV, iEV, rEV and Electric Drive Unit (EDU), which are cutting-edge solutions for various market segments, including automotive, aerospace, and marine. I oversee the business development, marketing along with the design, testing, and manufacturing of the Traction range, ensuring the highest quality and performance standards.

Jim O’Boyle is Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change at Coventry City Council and was a CWLEP board member.

He was born and raised in Coventry and left school to work in a factory which made fibre glass roofing, lasting seven months before getting a job in the Peugeot factory in Ryton in 1988.

It was here that Jim joined the Transport and General Workers Union – rising to become Convenor of the plant in 2004. This experience gave Jim both the skills and motivation to do the job he now does. He later worked for the Union and also for two Coventry MPs.

He has been a member of the Labour Party for many years holding lots of different positions.

Jim was elected to Coventry City Council in 2007 and is committed to creating an environment where business can succeed in order to create jobs and spread wealth evenly across the city and wider region.

Kevin Campbell, the former Germany CEO of Digatron Power Electronics GmbH, now positioned within Digatron Group headquarters in Aachen, is now responsible for of all the worldwide Digatron Group of companies as the Global Head of Strategy and Market Development. Digatron Group is a global manufacturer of Battery Lifecycle Testers, Lithium Cell assembly, and Formation, Ageing & Testing (FA&T) Production Formation equipment. Over his 30 years in the battery testing business, Kevin has provided testing solutions to battery industry customers achieving this whilst living across various continents and countries including UK, Germany, France, USA and Australia. 

Tiago is a Lead Consultant in E-Mobility and Infrastructure Electrification, working with the Markets and Risk team at DNV Energy Systems based in London. He is responsible for consulting on projects related to Electric Vehicles, in particular Charging Infrastructure and Chargepoint Operators.

With over a decade of experience in the Clean Energy Sector, Tiago has a Master’s in Energy and Environmental Engineering and, prior to joining DNV, worked in Operations, Project Management and Engineering at 2 different UK Chargepoint Operators.

He was also part of a smart energy storage start-up based in the UK in the initial stages, having managed a wide variety of innovation projects in the energy sector, in particular Virtual Power Plants, load balancing mechanisms and EV charging infrastructure, in particular real-world pilots for the V2G technology, throughout the 4 years of employment.

Dr Jennifer Channell is recognised as a leader in the battery industry. Jennifer is Commercial and Partnerships Lead for Anaphite Ltd where she leads the commercial and marketing functions to bring Anaphite’s dry battery electrode process technology to market. Jennifer is known in particular for her work with UK Government’s Faraday Battery Battery Challenge. Jennifer worked with the Faraday Institution to put the UK at the forefront of electrochemical and battery materials research and solidified this position in her role as Innovation Lead for Batteries during which she helped to grow the UK’s battery supply chain through investing in innovative R&D projects. She has also supported battery manufacturing skills development in the UK awarding funding to support upskilling and reskilling as well as new skills initiatives. Jennifer is also Project Director for Europe for the Volta Foundation, a not-for-profit dedicated to advancing the global battery ecosystem through community. Jennifer is a thought leader and a strong advocate for the power of collaboration and innovation and regularly features during panel discussions at global battery events. Jennifer is also a Battery Ambassador for the Battery Associates and is a professional Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and IOM3.

Jonty Deeley-Williamson joined the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) as Head of Learning and Development (L&D) in December 2021.

Previously a science teacher, he worked in L&D for over a decade in the rail construction, high-speed rail, food manufacturing and battery manufacturing sectors.

Working on various projects, including the Elizabeth line, HS2 skill development, installation of a new food manufacturing line, and supporting skills from operatives to directors, his role at UKBIC is to develop battery manufacturing skills and training courses at all levels for the UK.

UKBIC is a key part of the UK government-funded Faraday Battery Challenge, which has been delivered by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation to build a high-tech, high-value, high-skill battery industry in the UK.

For 20 years Martin has been at the forefront of the electrification revolution in the automotive industry developing the first hybrids, plug-in hybrids and production BEVs in the UK.

Since moving to academia, he has worked as the Chief Engineer for electrification at WMG, Warwick University helping industry exploit academic innovation with the growth in electrification across sectors, from micro mobility through to aerospace.

Most recently he has taken up the role of Director Electrification HVM Catapult with the aim of securing the electrification supply chain in the UK, developing a coherent battery scale up eco-system across HVM Catapults, linked to the Faraday Battery Challenge and their investment in UKBIC.

In addition, he supports several industry steering & advisory groups on battery strategy, safety, and technology road-mapping, including The Faraday Battery Challenge, Auto-Council / APC, Aerospace Technology Institute, The Faraday Institution, & Defence.

Dr Carmen M. López is a Senior Scientist in the Electrochemistry Group at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) with more than 25 years of professional experience including 13+ years in Lithium-based batteries and electrochemistry. She specialises in post-mortem/post-test analysis of commercial cells and the development of in-situ/in-operando methods for battery metrology.

She has a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Purdue University, USA, where she specialized in non-aqueous electrochemistry and photocatalysis; had post-doctoral appointments from Argonne National Laboratory, USA, where she initiated the research in metallic lithium electrodes for Advanced Batteries for Transportation, and at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, ZSW, Germany, where she worked on post-mortem analysis of commercial Li-ion batteries. Additionally, she was part of the team in charge of lab commissioning and program development at CICEnergingune, Spain, where she led the Metal-Air Battery Program, and has contributed to lab commissioning and research program initiation in Li-Ion and Li-S batteries, as a Senior Scientist, in the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute, QEERI, Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar.

In her spare time, Dr. López is a freelance technical writer who also writes fiction and blogs.

Chris, over the years, has developed a thorough knowledge of engineering, with his specialism covering Building Services in an industrial context.  This has been invaluable when providing strategic and feasibility advice for a wealth of high-profile clients, including Aston Martin, BMW, ACC and JLR.

With the MEP costs for a Gigafactory usually exceeding 50% of the building’s budget, Chris’s specialism in Building Services, including Clean and Dry Rooms, has stood him in good stead to aid his clients on these complex projects.

Chris’s Gigafactory experience includes working with numerous international clients whose projects cover the UK, Europe, and the Nordics, providing advice from the feasibility stage through the design process whilst also inputting into their energy and ESG strategies for these challenging projects.

Gery has nearly a decade of experience in the field of modelling and simulation across a broad range of engineering disciplines, working for OEM and automotive consultancy. These include Jaguar Land Rover and MAHLE Powertrain before joining Cosworth just over 2 years ago. He started his career as a project engineer, where he focused on researching, developing, and delivering thermal systems. After this time, Gery focused specifically on the modelling of thermal systems and expanded his modelling expertise to include vehicle, powertrain, and battery systems. Gery joined Cosworth as a battery modelling and simulation engineer, where his experience of modelling techniques and understanding of battery systems will be pivotal in planning future High-Performance Battery Systems for Cosworth.

James Gaade joined the Faraday Institution as Research Programme Director in April 2021, focusing on research portfolio delivery and working with the Expert Panel, industry and the wider team on the organisation’s research priorities and direction.

James has led an independent consultancy, working with clients across electrified propulsion systems in research and technology delivery. He previously worked for Jaguar Land Rover for 20 years on vehicle propulsion systems in various leadership roles in product engineering, research and technology and commercially in product marketing, with his last role as the Head of Powertrain Research and Technology.

James is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and a member of the Department for Transport Science Advisory Council that provides strategic level scientific advice and challenge to the DfT. He graduated from De Montfort University with a B.Eng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and from Loughborough University with an MSc in Automotive Systems Engineering.

Robert (Bob) L. Galyen, age 65, is recognized as one of the top executives in the battery energy storage world and science/engineering-based communities. He is a highly sought-after public speaker as a subject matter expert. His positions as CTO of CATL (the world’s largest battery manufacturer), Chairman of SAE International Battery Standards Steering Committee, SAE Fellow, Chairman Emeritus and CTO of NAATbatt International, provides him a unique leadership perspective in the global battery industry. His degrees in chemistry and biology, along with decades of engineering experience and executive roles, provides him a unique view in a leadership or consulting role in cross functional technology areas. He has patents, publications and participates on multiple BOD’s and TAB’s. The 44 years’ international work experience has given him a visionary perspective on worldwide business, making him uniquely qualified as a global energy storage and scientific/engineering community thought leader. Bob is married with 3 children and 7 grandchildren.

Bio coming soon…

For more than 14 years, Alex has served as a research and innovation consultant in the automotive industry, collaborating with a wide array of renowned car brands spanning mainstream, premium, and luxury sectors. Having worked in the automative industry as a design engineer, he has a strong passion for NPD and as well as target customer work.

Luke Mr. Hu co-founded Electroder, a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer that focuses on battery cell design and development. He is currently focusing on building and operating the company’s global business.

Mr. Hu has been leading his team in completing cell design projects, developing advanced design tools for global users, and advising the company’s clients in the cell development process. In 2022, Mr. Hu led his company, joining the Global Battery Alliance as its first member, focusing on battery design and development. Before founding Electroder, he had a decade of experience in manufacturing and technology and held a variety of management roles globally.

Mr. Hu graduated with an MBA degree from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Beijing University of Technology.

David started his automotive industry career in 1975 with Jaguar Cars in Coventry as a sponsored student-apprentice with the company while studying for mechanical Engineering degree at Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University). He joined the Vehicle Research department of Product Engineering after graduation in 1979 and went on to develop the team that was responsible for the noise and vibration refinement of the all-new AJ6 engine and the XJ40 car – Jaguar’s first all-new vehicle in 30 years.

Subsequently David spent significant time working in Far East and USA in technical and managerial consulting roles before joining Tata Motors European Technical Centre in 2008, David spent 3 years based in Pune, India running the NVH team, later taking lead role as Programme Chief Engineer for several new vehicle projects delivered for Tata Motors based from the European Technical Centre at University of Warwick.

David Hudson is EV Product Manager for ePropelled, a Massachusetts-based technology company offering electric propulsion systems for a range of applications. He leads the development and execution of its EV strategy for global eMobility markets. 

Morag founded oomph when she saw the impact of EV growth but saw the challenges in DC charging infrastructure. Developing off-grid DC BES equipment, allowing flexible and instantly deployable DC charging to help transition fleets and enable CaaS operators. While supporting a Netzero future.

Morag’s background in innovation and product development, has resulted in oomph being a ‘home grown’ and dev and manufacturing company.

Dr. Padmeya P. Indurkar is a Modelling and Simulation Industry Consultant at Dassault Systèmes. Padmeya’s current role is aimed at transforming clients’ product development workflows by enabling simulation-driven design through advanced capabilities such as generative design, parametric and topology optimisation, additive manufacturing, and ML/AI-driven modelling for a range of industries, from automotive to aerospace, and from energy to life sciences. His recent work focuses on multi-physics simulation-driven battery engineering for cells, modules and packs through integration of CAD and emerging electro-chemo-mechanics CAE capabilities. Prior to this, Padmeya worked as a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge on computational fracture mechanics and developed data-driven deep learning techniques for lattice architected materials. Padmeya holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the National University of Singapore (NUS) where he developed numerical methods for modelling microstructure informed plasticity and damage in emerging lightweight metallic alloys using ABAQUS coupled with non-linear optimization algorithms. Research conducted by Padmeya has been published in leading computational engineering journals and conferences worldwide.

With over a decade of experience in electromobility and battery product engineering, Dr Quirin Kellner has a passion for innovation combined with technical expertise and leadership experience.
In his current role as Chief Engineer for Electromobility at FEV UK he is leading a talented team working on the development of innovative battery solutions and electric vehicle technology.
As former Global Product Engineering Manager for Battery Energy Storage Systems at Aggreko be brought together cross-functional teams in the development of MW-scale battery products, driving product lifecycle management, product robustness and quality, and strategic planning for new product developments.

His career journey also includes a Senior Battery Engineer role at Jaguar Land Rover and a PhD in Li-ion batteries from the University of Warwick bringing together both theoretical understanding, and practical experience.

Dylan is an Industry Analyst at ABI Research in Electric Vehicles, Smart Mobility, & Automotive services. His research covers the entire EV ecosystem, including batteries, OEMS, software solutions, and charging. ABI Research is a global technology intelligence firm delivering actionable research and strategic guidance to technology leaders, innovators, and decision-makers around the world.

Stephen is the Chief Manufacturing Officer at IONETIC. IONEIC are a company focused on delivering a design and manufacturing capability for the electrification of Low volume niche vehicles, who are currently financially challenged in transiting from ICE. Stephen joined IONETIC to develop the manufacturing capability to deliver manufacturing solutions that are both cost effective but offer all the controls and traceability of fully automated assembly processes. Stephen has over 28 years’ experience in automotive manufacturing including Mahle Powertrain, and JLR. For the last 8 years he has been building battery module and pack manufacturing systems, delivering a $250Mn, multi-GWh battery module and pack manufacturing line for JLR and working on EVTOL applications in the aerospace sector. Stephen holds an MBA from Warwick Business school as well as a MSc from Brunel University.

Graduated from University of Sheffield with a MEng in Aerospace Engineering and entered the Automotive industry for 5 years. Most of my experience is within Powertrain, developing and innovating testing methodologies for Powertrain-in-loop and Vehicle-in-loop test beds to left shift tests from road to rig to promote efficiency. In the past 2 years, I have shifted my focus and moved into Software-in-loop testing and development of Digital Twins to further left shift rigs to virtual testing. I am now the Subject Matter Expert for Propulsion SiL Design in JLR driving testing on virtual environment to derisk physical rigs and vehicle prototypes.

I have a degree in electronics from the FH Muenster University of Applied Science in Germany.

Spend 25 years at Continental. Since 2013 I was within the central advanced engineering organization responsible for the Vehicle E/E Architecture.

Joined Tata Motors in January 2023 as Head and Leader of Electrical Engineering Architecture Solutions.

Stefan Louis is the director of SIMMOL, a company specialising in battery cell & pack development and production. Before that, he was CEO of the Joint Venture between Europe’s leading lithium-ion battery manufacturer Leclanché and India’s largest battery manufacturer, Exide Industries. In his earlier executive positions, he built international experience in the transportation, utility, and industrial battery markets. He holds an MSc in Electronics and has devoted his career to helping customers with the best available energy storage, conversion and management solutions in a B2B environment since his parents started a battery company in 1981.

Angus has over 20 years of experience within the automotive and motorsport industries.  Working for Land Rover, BMW, Prodrive and championship winning F1 teams Honda/Brawn and Renault, Angus gained a strong and in-depth understanding of all areas of active vehicle systems from suspension to engine and transmissions.  

In the last 6 years Angus has developed electric motors and EV systems for Protean and Drayson Technologies including the world land speed record holding Drayson B12 EV race car.    In 2013, Angus setup Rockfort Engineering Ltd, a vehicle systems and safety consultancy specialising in EV/HEV technologies for both road and race applications.

Bio coming soon…

Hannah Melia has a degree in Materials Science from the University of Cambridge, and has worked in the area of Materials software for 15 years. First at Granta Design working closely with Professor Mike Ashby on materials education as product manager for the internationally renowned CES EduPack, and for the last 5 years in the area of Machine Learning for Materials, Chemicals and CPG. She is now Product Marketing Lead at Citrine Informatics who have ten years experience successfully rolling out AI to materials and chemicals enterprises.

Dr. Christian Miesner is the VP of Battery & Cell Testing within AVL’s test instruments division. He is passionate about electrification as a big leaver to decarbonization.

Given that the battery is the most expensive part of an electrified powertrain and at the same time has the greatest potential for improvement in terms of both cost and performance, gaining insights out of the testing of battery is a key pillar for a quick development of EVs.

Christian has worked in battery testing for over ten years. Prior to batteries, he worked on power semiconductors for almost ten years, focusing on the use of wide bandgap semiconductors in power applications.

He holds a Ph.D. in Semiconductor Physics from the Walter Schottky Institute of the Technical University of Munich.

Bio coming soon…

Dr Peter Miller joined Millbrook as Chief Engineer, Battery in June 2018.

Previously he worked for Johnson Matthey Battery Systems for 6 years as Chief Electronics Technologist and prior to this he was Director – Electrical/Electronic Engineering at Ricardo a large automotive consultancy where he specialised in batteries.

Before that Peter was European Director of Technology at Motorola AIEG a major automotive Tier 1.

He has worked with a large number of battery chemistries including all the main lithium-ion chemistries. Peter has extensive knowledge of testing, modelling and control of batteries, for function, life and safety.

Dr Moghimi Ardekani is currently working as an Associate Professor of Clean Energy Technologies at Staffordshire University. He has secured more than £2 million in research grants combined and published over 80 articles in top peer-reviewed journals, Conference proceedings, two books, two book chapters and a webinar in collaboration with different research institutes and companies around the world.

His scientific activities earned him the international Green Talent Award from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which rated him as a Promising Young Researcher. He is a Chartered Engineer, a fellow and a member of various professional institutes and societies, including IMechE and HEA.

Sarah Montgomery is the CEO and Co-founder of Infyos. The digital platform that helps automotive and battery players manage and improve their company and supply chain sustainability. Sarah is a leading expert in battery sustainability and supply chains. She is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Battery Alliance and IRMA’s Working Group on Circular Economy. Sarah has been recognised as a one of the world’s most impactful leaders on Forbes 30 Under 30 and has been featured in publications including Financial Times, Sifted and Business Insider. Sarah speaks Chinese and has previously built the China expansion at the supply chain technology scale-up Everledger backed by Tencent.

Dr Hadi Moztarzadeh is a technology innovation specialist, with over 20 years’ experience in both academia and industry. As the Head to Technology Trends at the APC UK, Hadi oversees the technology strategy and a portfolio of insights and foresight analysis as well as automotive system- level and technology roadmaps, working closely with the Automotive Council UK, industry and research and innovation ecosystem.

Prior to joining the APC, he was the Associate Dean (& Director) for Research, Innovation and Enterprise at the University of Salford, and before that, he had a 9-year career at WMG, University of Warwick and High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, most recently led WMG’s cross-Catapult portfolio.

Hadi is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), and the vice-chair of the IMechE Midland region.

At Elysia, Nick leads the implementation and usage of the Embedded Algorithms, utilizing State Of Energy (SOE) based balancing and Model-based State Of Power (SOP) estimation for optimal performance in prestigious races such as Le Mans 24 hours and the Rolex Daytona 24 hours. Nick firmly believes that the lessons and learnings of motorsport can unlock higher performance and increased lifetime for e-mobility and automotive industries, by considering more carefully the battery software used on their embedded systems.

Before joining Elysia, Nick graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a Master’s Degree in Automotive Engineering, with a speciality in Electric Vehicles. He led the Oxford Brookes Formula Student Racing team, in a technical lead capacity, to win the international engineering design event in 2022 with their electric race car.

Jacqui is a specialist in materials engineering, regulation and transformational change. Spending the early part of her career as a mechanical property and galvanising specialist in the Steel industry. Following her C.Eng, M.Eng. and MBA, she moved into industrial environmental regulation policy for the Environment Agency and Welsh Government. She was the lead official for Pembroke Power Station environmental permit and led the contentious merger of three Internal Drainage Boards (flood authorities) into the newly formed Natural Resources Wales (NRW) public body in 2015. Jacqui credits these experiences as teaching her how to untangle problems, policies and legislation that inhibit successful outcomes in business, Government and Regulators.

For the past few years, she has been the Deputy Challenge Director for the £274 million Faraday Battery Challenge Programme, kicking off the programme to transform the UK world-leading in automotive battery technology by 2027. Jacqui is now employed as Chief Operating Officer at National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.

Outside of work, she is Formula 1 fan, a mum of two, Member of the Welsh Government’s WISTEM Board, Chair of the Industry Subgroup and an active STEM Ambassador. This year she worked with RMA Sandhurst and delivered a WISE STEM event to 2000 teenagers and HRH Princess Anne.

Jacqui is a Chartered Engineer and Environmentalist, Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers and Freeman of the City of London.

Tyler J. Myers is the Product Marketing Manager at materials science company, Forge Nano. He is an expert in Atomic Layer Deposition technology, founder of The ALDepartment YouTube channel and the former host of the ALD Stories podcast. Tyler holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder and has experience bringing specialty ALD solutions to market in the battery, optics and semiconductor industries.

Bio coming soon…

George has over 24 years’ experience in the field of lithium battery systems, working in Engineering, Commercial and Product Management roles for various battery and BMS manufacturers. These include Axeon, Johnson Matthey Battery Systems, Dukosi, Exide and Turntide Technologies before joining Cosworth late last year. He has worked on batteries systems ranging from mobile phones and handheld devices for Alcatel, Motorola, Philips and Ericsson up to large battery systems for AGV’s, sports and luxury cars, heavy duty construction and material handling equipment for companies such as Sandvik, Iveco, JCB, Kalmar, Rolls Royce, McLaren, Jaguar Land Rover. George joined Cosworth as their Product Development Director where his experience in both technical and commercial aspects of the lithium battery business will be pivotal in planning future High Performance Battery Systems for Cosworth.

Kevin Porter is the UK Director at Tecman Group, where he first started in 1999. Tecman is an advanced material converter and end-to-end manufacturing partner for bonding, surface protection, acoustic insulation, and thermal and electrical management applications.

Kevin’s technical background and track record of introducing innovation have given him an exceptional understanding of industry challenges, which he has used to grow Tecman into a leading innovator in battery cell thermal management. Kevin has established relationships with major automotive OEMs and suppliers, which has helped Tecman become recognised as a trusted engineering and manufacturing partner. The company specialises in the development of advanced thermal management solutions that improve performance and extend cell life, making Kevin an authority on the nexus of thermal management, materials innovation and high-volume manufacturing.

Dr. Nessa Fereshteh Saniee, a senior scientist at Agratas, brings over a decade of experience, having previously worked at Warwick Manufacturing Group on collaborative industry projects within the automotive sector. She specialises in Li-ion battery testing, focusing on battery safety and thermal management. With BSc, MPhil, and PhD degrees in Physics and Materials Science and Engineering, Nessa leverages her interdisciplinary expertise to develop and implement comprehensive testing protocols to ensure the safety, reliability, and optimal performance of Li-ion batteries.

Ekaterina Sergeeva, PhD, is the Functional Safety Manager in Accelera by Cummins and is responsible for the delivery of battery products compliant with ISO 26262. Ekaterina’s expertise also includes designing and implementing advanced battery management systems algorithms and developing and integrating BMS functional safety concepts for different EV architectures.

Starting as a BMS SW developer, she went the whole way from software components implementation to managing the whole battery management and charging systems development, supporting systems through in-vehicle integration and validation.

With years of experience in the industry, Ekaterina has developed a deep understanding of the complex interplay between various software and electronics components, implementing key industry approaches to create efficient, safe, and reliable systems to drive the future of transportation.

Shazan Siddiqi is a Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx, working primarily on Electric Vehicles and Energy Storage topics. His background lies in the automotive industry after working in the corporate strategy and advanced manufacturing teams at Tata Motors on the company’s industry 4.0 plans. At IDTechEx, Shazan has written several reports across topics like EV charging infrastructure, micro-mobility markets, electric & fuel cell trucks, and sodium-ion batteries. He regularly profiles companies, presents at global industry events, delivers strategic briefings and contributes insights from his research to various media outlets like Forbes and CNBC.

Shazan actively keeps up with trends in the mobility space and provides in-depth research on the technologies, companies, policies, and business models found globally. Shazan has helped clients across sectors better understand the market and the intersections between the transport and electricity industries. Shazan holds a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering with first-class honours from the University of Manchester.

Dr Lucy Smith, Head of Transformation at the Materials Processing Institute, is responsible for the optimisation and delivery of business processes across the Institute and drives new and existing company initiatives and strategic opportunities. Lucy is the Co-Chair of the Critical Minerals Association Circular Economy Working Group and has a background in material sustainability, life cycle assessment and environmental management.

Bio coming soon…

Bio coming soon…

Dr. Ulderico Ulissi is a Technology Assessment and Research Strategy manager at 21C Lab, part of CATL. Before that, he worked in consulting and market research. He held technical roles as a Battery Research Engineer at Nissan Motor, where he was the European technical lead for research in energy storage technologies, and as a Senior Scientist at OXIS Energy Ltd., where he managed the design of a pre-A-sample cell for customer delivery. He was awarded his doctorate in chemistry in 2017 from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and he holds both a BSc and an MSc in industrial chemistry from Sapienza, University of Rome. He has authored 19 scientific publications, 5 patents, and 1 book on energy storage technologies. 

Bio coming soon…

Jochen Di Vincenzo is Senior Consultant and Project Lead at P3. His projects encompass market evaluations, operational benchmarking, industrialization excellence and technical due diligences for battery cell and material manufacturers. Within P3, he is an expert for E-Mobility with focus on Li-ion and next-generation battery cell industrialization and collaborated in several project setups with national and international automotive OEMs, cell manufacturers and material suppliers along the whole battery value chain (focus on EU, NA and Asia). Before working for P3, Jochen has gained his Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Aaron leads CRU’s battery cost modelling, forecasting production costs of current and next-generation battery technologies and understanding when and how new technologies will affect the battery market. Prior to joining CRU, Aaron completed his PhD in lithium-ion battery degradation with the Faraday Institution at UCL. During this time, he interned at Exawatt part-time for the duration of his studies. Aaron is a project director of “Battery Pub”, an online networking event for the battery community. 

As Commercial Director, Tom leads the Commercial team in EMEA with the focus on battery feed into Li-Cycle’s European Spoke network. He is also engaged with defining and executing Li-Cycle commercial strategy within EMEA, growing and establishing new battery supply customer relationships, and marketing the various products produced throughout Li-Cycle’s Spoke and Hub network.

A former Aerospace Manufacturing Engineer, Rosa has been delivering employer responsive training for the engineering sector for over a decade. More recently, she has been appointed as FE Principal & Dean for STEM at University College Birmingham (UCB) and has taken leadership of the DEBUT-WM battery skills project, funded by Innovate UK to support skills development for battery manufacturing. Rosa has also been appointed as Vice-Chair for the National Network of Institutes of Technology and Deputy Chair on the Education and Skills Advisory Panel for the Engineering Council.

Markus Welte joined Weiss Technik in 2016, managing technical sales in the EMEA region together with a team of dedicated engineers. Over many years, Markus has built up deep technical experience in the field of e-mobility testing, focusing on battery test technologies

Bio coming soon…

Serena Xiao is a dynamic automotive consumer insight researcher at Simpson Carpenter Insights, where her passion for sustainability and innovation shines. Her expertise stems from extensive experience in concept testing, car clinics, and in-depth interviews, which have provided her with a deep understanding of car buyer preferences and automotive trends. Her specialized knowledge of the Chinese automotive landscape also brings vital perspectives to discussions on vehicle electrification, making her a valued speaker in industry dialogues.

Jie(Jessie) Xu is a research analyst focusing on global battery recycling research at Rho Motion. Jessie also leads research on the Chinese battery recycling market. Her work covers Battery Recycling Quarterly Outlook, Monthly Battery Recycling Assessment, and battery recycling consulting projects. Besides battery recycling, she gets involved in electric vehicles, battery, charging, and energy storage market analysis. She graduated from the University College London with a MSc degree in Geoscience.

Bob started at Hewlett-Packard in 1984.  During his 39 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, test systems and test software.  Now, as a solution architect, Bob is responsible to create Keysight’s EV 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.