80+ Speakers live on stage
November 5-6, 2024 | ECC Berlin + online
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Richard Ahlfeld
CEO and Founder, Monolith
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 recognized 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 recognized as an Automotive News Europe 'Rising Star'.
Siyamend Al Barazi
Head of Unit Mineral Economics, Deutsche Rohstoffagentur @ BGR
Siyamend Al Barazi holds a degree in geology and has been working for DERA since 2011. Since 2021, he is head of the unit mineral economics and is responsible for DERA's raw materials monitoring, which includes screening of supply, demand and prices as well as market analyses of individual commodities. DERA provides information and analyses on potential price and supply risks for selected raw materials. The main goal is to increase market transparency for the German industry.
Roman Alberti
CEO, Voltfang GmbH
Roman Alberti is the CEO and Co-founder of Voltfang. In his younger years, he was able to gain experience in the automotive industry and worked at Maybach and e.GO. Through the small electric car company e.GO, he came into touch with the start-up sector for the first time. After that, he was able to work as an energy consultant, which also fitted in with his studies in renewable energies, which he completed at RWTH Aachen University. The combination of the two fields of electromobility and renewable energies also gave rise to the idea for his start-up Voltfang.
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Dr. Holger Becker
Process and Application Engineer, Ystral
Dr. Holger Becker is a process and application engineer with the focus on "production of battery slurries" at YSTRAL, which offers solutions for a wide spectrum of mixing processes on an industrial scale (solid-liquid and liquid-liquid).
As a native of Leipzig, he also advises on these processes in the region of Eastern Germany.
He also graduated his PhD in Leipzig in 2021 with a focus on process engineering design in heterogeneous catalysis. So he knows how important sustainable and resource-efficient processes are for our future.
Christin-Marie Boudgoust
Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Morrow Batteries GmbH
After her studies in Karlsruhe, Germany and the position as General Manager in Shanghai, Christin-Marie Boudgoust worked as a Key Account Manager at Samsung SDI before she joined Webasto in 2017 to support the battery business. Since April 2021 she was responsible for the global Business Development for the business unit Battery Systems. In January 2024 Christin-Marie joined Morrow Batteries as Chief Commercial Officer to develop and implement the commercial strategy, improve customer experience and expand the organization’s market presence.
Richard Bouveret
CEO and Chairman, Blue Solutions
Richard Bouveret, CEO & Chairman of Blue Solutions and Bluebus since September 2022, is an expert in vehicle life cycles, mechatronics, electrification, and technologies. His mission is to transform Blue Solutions, a leader in solid-state batteries and electric buses. Bouveret's background includes roles at Valeo & ZF Group, leading development strategies, transformations, and M&A. An alumnus of École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Nancy, he has a track record in international business development. With a deep understanding of the automotive sector and keen business acumen, Bouveret is set to drive innovation and growth.
Bernhard Bruhn
Vice President Global BU LIB, Dürr Systems AG
Bernhard Bruhn is a seasoned professional with a strong background in electrical engineering and business management. With extensive experience at The Boston Consulting Group, Bosch, Syntegon, and Fujiseal, he has honed his skills in strategy consulting, product management, and business leadership within the industrial goods and technology sectors. Currently leading the global business unit LIB at Dürr, Bernhard specializes in developing and producing equipment for electrode manufacturing in the lithium-ion battery industry.
Rica Bühner
Employer Branding Expert, PowerCo
Rica Bühner works as Employer Branding Expert at PowerCo SE. She graduated from Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, where she developed a strong foundation in human resources and marketing. At PowerCo, Rica is responsible for organizing events and managing university marketing initiatives.
Maarten Buysse
Innovation Consultant, Bax
Maarten is an innovation consultant working at Bax for more than 6 years. Driven to solve today's sustainability challenges, he is focusing on sustainable material and product value chains, specifically in the battery field. Convinced that solutions can be found in an interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder environment, he has built and facilitated collaboration initiatives such as COBRA, a project on the development of cobalt-free EV batteries, and BatteReverse, a project on the circularity of EV battery reverse logistics. He also has co-authored 20 battery market intelligence reports on battery research, industrial and policy developments.
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Guillaume Clement
Vice President e-Marine, Leclanché
Over 20 years of experience across the globe at the service of Marine decarbonisation.
Proud advocate of Leclanche, a true European battery maker manufacturing high performant, long lasting batteries with a unique water based process.
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Dr. Xi Dou
Co-Founder & CEO, Hytzer Energy Co., Ltd.
Dr. Xi DOU is the CEO & Co-founder of Hytzer Energy, a start-up to commercialize next-generation solid-state battery technology developed over 15 years from QIBEBT, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He envisions Hytzer Energy bringing high-performance and highly safe energy storage solutions to daily life, facilitating the “Net-0“ energy transition. Prior to founding Hytzer Energy, he overlooked various emerging technologies for energy transition at BP, specializing in digital energy, future grid systems, various battery storage technologies, etc. He also has multi-year R&D experience in material innovation at BASF, DSM, and Bayer.
He holds a master‘s degree in Chemistry of Materials and a Doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Johannes-Gutenberg University at Mainz and Max Planck Institute, as well as an MBA degree from INSEAD.
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Dr. Ulrich Ehmes
CEO, theion
Dr. Ulrich Ehmes holds a PhD in Electronics from TU Darmstadt and has an impressive 14-year tenure at Leica Camera AG. With 14 years of experience in the battery industry, he has served as the CEO of Leclanché and Managing Director of SETA Consulting, leading international battery projects. Since February 2022, he has been the CEO of theion GmbH, a Berlin-based company specializing in Lithium Sulfur battery technology.
Terje U. Eiken
CRO & EVP Sales and Solutions, Beyonder AS
Terje is a seasoned C-suite leader with a proven track record in managing P&L, driving operational excellence, and leading large-scale projects within the renewable energy, oil & gas, and maritime sectors. His expertise spans diverse range of functions, incl. sales, operations, and business transformation.
With extensive leadership experience in both global corporations and innovative start-ups, Terje has been at the forefront of change management, technology development, and people-centric leadership. His focus on cutting-edge solutions has consistently aligned with the industry's shift towards sustainability and future-focused technologies.
Dr. Simon Engelke
Founder & Chair, Battery Associates
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 is the recipient of multiple awards including the Trinity Bradfield Prize and Cambridge University Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Simon has been invited to speak at various events including the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) and Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. He served as Co-Curator of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Strategic Intelligence for Future of Energy and Batteries and as Fellow of the WEF Global Future Council on Energy Technologies.
Alex Jan Erdmann
External Affairs, MAHLE Aftermarket
2015-2016 at Volkswagen AG Public Affairs Department.
2016-2023 German Association for Motor Trades and Repairs - Public Affairs Berlin/Brussels with all regulatory topics concering the sales and repair of motor vehicles.
Since 2023 with automotive tier-1 supplier MAHLE, in charge of the external and regulatory affairs for the aftermarket department.
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Dr. Christoph Falk
COO, Customcells
Dr. Christoph Falk is Chief Operating Officer (COO) at CustomCells and is responsible for the development, industrialization and marketing of high-quality high-performance battery cells. Christoph joined the CustomCells group on October 1st, 2023. The doctor of mechatronics engineer held senior positions at Bosch, Valeo, MBtech and Alten and worked as managing director at Continental Engineering Services. In addition, he is now on the board of CustomCells and a member of the renowned Senate of Economics, where he is also involved in the Senate Commission for Mobility.
Benedicte Fasmer Waaler
Innovation Manager, Innovation Norway
Working for the Norwegian investment and trade promotion agency Innovation Norway, with our Nordic Battery Collaboration-partners Business Sweden and Business Finland, to facilitate strategic alliances and investments within the value chain for battery production in the Nordics.
Rob Faulhammer
VP of Sales, eMobility & Specialty Automation, ATS Industrial Automation
Rob Faulhammer is the VP of Sales, eMobility & Specialty Automation, ATS Industrial Automation. Mr. Faulhammer has more than 35 years of experience and expertise in the automation sector, specializing in the Energy Grid Storage, Battery, and Industry markets over the last decade. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University (Ontario, Canada).
Benjamin Ferstad
CEO, ZNL Energy
Strong management professional with solid interpersonal skills. Proven experience with P&L management in an international corporate environment. Highly skilled in financial data and process analysis. Master of Science (MSc) focused in Industrial Economics from the University of Stavanger (UiS) and Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Subsea Technology from Bergen University College.
Daniel Fischer
Head of Strategic Business Unit Battery Separators, Delfortgroup AG
Daniel Fischer held a Master of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Processes, with over 15 years experiences in several positions within the specialty paper business.
After several positions in Operations for fine-grammaged specialty papers and converting solutions, Daniel was working for 2 ½ years as CTO for a Medical Device Company leading the whole innovation and R&D teams. In his current position as Head of SBU Battery Separators, Daniel Fischer is the “Playing Captain” for the business development establishing Delfort´s sustainable and performance-oriented fiber based IonPort® Battery Separators.
Prof. Antoni Forner-Cuenca
Associate Professor, Eindhoven University of Technology
Antoni is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry at Eindhoven University of Technology, where we leads the Electrochemical Materials and Systems group. His ultimate aim is to accelerate the deployment of transformative energy technologies into the real world. Antoni was a postdoc at MIT and obtained his PhD from ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute.
Dr. Rahul Fotedar
CTO, Morrow Batteries
Dr. Rahul Fotedar is the Chief Technology Officer and one of the co-founders of Morrow Batteries ASA. Rahul holds a master’s degree in Industrial Chemistry from Technical University of München and a PhD degree specializing on battery materials from ETH Zürich.
He has previously worked as staff scientist in Institute of Energy Technology near Oslo where he pioneered their research activities in the field of secondary batteries. In 2013, he co-founded Graphene Batteries AS, a startup focused on developing technologies primarily for heavy metal free batteries. Prior to joining Morrow in 2020, he was working for many years as an expert in adv
Dr. Linus Froböse
Dr. Linus Froböse is currently holding the position of CTO & Managing Director of Skeleton Technologies. He has a strong automotive background as former Global Head of Operations Battery leading the industrialization and production of battery products for Vitesco Technologies and Continental, and has previously been the Deputy Head of Battery Process Engineering at the Battery LabFactory Braunschweig. Dr. Linus Froboese obtained his PhD from the Technical University of Braunschweig, where he specialized in scalable production technologies for solid-state batteries.
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Dr. Franz Geyer
Head of Technologies Zero Emission, BMW AG
Franz joined BMW in 2004 and held various management positions. In 2018 he became the Head of Strategy Zero Emissions Mobility and R&D Collaboration. From 2024, he took the position of Head of Technologies Zero Emission at BMW AG.
He has a strong background in zero emission mobility, decarbonization, and related supply chains, with a commitment to driving political and industry initiatives in these areas.
He was appointed Executive Board Member of BEPA, at e-Motive representing the automotive industry, and at KLiB. In further roles, he is Industry-Chair at Batteries Europe, leading the ACEA Task Force on Digital Product Passport and more.
André Gronke
Head of Overseas Product Development, Farasis Energy Europe
André Gronke leads the global engineering team at Farasis Energy, a leading developer and producer of high-performance battery technology.
He has more than ten years of experience and has overseen several battery development projects through the entire project lifecycle to series production. Gronke began his career in battery technology at Deutsche ACCUmotive, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler, and held various technical management positions internally over a period of eight years. Since 2021, Gronke has been Head of Overseas Product Development at Farasis Energy Europe.
Dr. Hartmut Gross
Director New Business and Technology, Schunk Group
As Director New Business & Technology, Dr. Hartmut Gross and his team make a significant contribution to the development of new solutions for Schunk. One focus of his work is on energy storage systems. Hartmut Gross earned his doctorate in physics. Since then, he has been implementing his vision of generating business from new technologies, especially in the field of renewable energies
Christine Große Lembeck
Vice President Business Management Battery Recycling, BASF Battery Materials and Recycling GmbH
Christine Große Lembeck is Vice President of Global Business Management Battery Recycling at BASF Battery Materials. She holds a diploma in Business Administration with a focus on project management and international marketing from PHWT in Vechta (Germany), graduating in 2009. Since joining BASF in 2012, Christine has held various leadership roles in South Africa, the USA, and Germany. In April 2024, she became Vice President, overseeing BASF's global battery recycling business, with the aim of expanding sustainable solutions across the battery recycling value chain.
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Dr. Tilo Hauke
EVP Down Stream Operations, NextSourceMaterials
Dr. Hauke is Executive Vice President Downstream Operations at NextSource materials, where he oversees the Company’s strategy to construct multiple Battery Anode Facilities (BAFs). Before he worked at FREYR Battery, where he was Executive Vice President Supply Chain Management.
Prior to FREYR Battery, Dr. Hauke spent 20 years at SGL Carbon SE, a European company that is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon & graphite products. At SGL Carbon, he held various senior leadership positions including Senior Vice President, Business Line Fuel Cell Components and Group Vice President, Technology and Innovation.
Dr. Michael Hein
Head of Product Line Battery Components, Hoerbiger Antriebstechnik
Dr. Michael Hein completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich from 2007 to 2012. From 2012 to 2018, he pursued a PhD at the same university, focusing on lifetime calculation of gearboxes. Between 2018 and 2021, he served as a PostDoc and department head, specializing in bevel and worm gears. From 2021 to 2023, he led the Validation Center at Hoerbiger and now heads the Product Line Battery Components at Hoerbiger.
Iola Hughes
Head of Research, Rho Motion
Iola is Head of Research at Rho Motion working across the EV & Battery research team and has been with the company since its inception. Her work spans across the battery demand sectors, from electric vehicle to stationary storage forecasting, managing the team’s view of battery demand and chemistry, and considering the influence of key variables from legislation to OEM strategy and technology roadmaps.
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Dr. Christoph Jaschinski
Senior Vice President Global Business Development, Leadec Holding
Dr. Christoph Jaschinski is Senior Vice President Global Business Development at Leadec. He is responsible for the development of Leadec's key accounts worldwide and the growth of industrial services in new markets such as e-mobility. He studied mechanical engineering and business management at RWTH Aachen University and started his career at the Research Institute of Rationalization in Aachen. After working in mechanical and plant engineering, he has held senior positions in industrial services companies in Germany and internationally since 2002. In addition, he is currently Chairman of Leadec India.
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Prof. Dr. Achim Kampker
Chair Management, PEM RWTH Aachen University
Professor Achim Kampker was born in Moers on January 2nd, 1976. He studied mechanical engineering with a focus on production engineering at RWTH Aachen University and is the founder and holder of today’s RWTH Chair of “Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components” (PEM). In ten research groups, he and his team there are dedicated to the production, development, and recycling of battery systems and their components as well as fuel cells, the production of the electric powertrain, and entire vehicle concepts. Kampker also has many years of experience in the management of start-ups and established companies.
Michael Kellner
Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
Born in Gera on 8 May 1977, married, two children.
Study of political sciences in Potsdam, Canterbury (UK) & East Lansing (US).
From October 2013 to January 2022 Political Managing Director of ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS at federal level, member of the federal board. Since 2021 Member of the German Bundestag, since December 2021 also Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and since January 2022 Federal Government Commissioner for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Since October 2022, Michael Kellner has also been the Federal Government’s contact person for the cultural & creative industries.
Dr. Frank Kindermann
Head of Battery System Europe, NIO
Dr. Frank Kindermann is Head of Battery System Europe for NIO, based in Munich. He and his team act as boots on the ground in Europe with a range of activities from software development to technology scouting. While the main focus is on battery monitoring and BMS function development, he and his team also cover topics from cell analysis to recycling.
Frank has a background in electrical engineering from Technical University of Munich, where he spent his entire academic career. Prior to joining NIO, Frank was working in cell development and application at a German premium OEM. His focus on batteries started more than 13 years ago.
Marius Koestler
VP of Battery Growth, Monolith
Koestler has a decade of experience applying data-driven solutions for large enterprises facing complex exploration and optimisation challenges. His expertise includes supporting renewable energy asset owners, such as U.S. utility Dominion Energy, and industrial conglomerates like Norsk Hydro, in applying AI/ML to maximise profits in battery applications. This gives him hands-on experience with field deployments and a deep understanding of financing the next major growth area for batteries: BESS and electric commercial vehicles. At Monolith AI, he oversees the market expansion of battery applications for their B2B SaaS AI platform.
Dr. Stefan Kreiling
Vice President Innovation, Henkel
Stefan holds a PhD in Polymer Chemistry and joined Henkel in 2004. Since then he was holding several R&D positions in the Business Unit Adhesives Technologies. Stefan has more than 15 years experience in Automotive. Since 2019 he is globally responsible for Innovation for Henkel´s Automotive Business. Today he is Vice President Innovation with strong focus on E-Mobility and Auto Electronics.
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Dr. Michael Lang
Head of Cell Design, PowerCo SE
Dr. Michael Lang finished his PhD at KIT on degradation mechanisms of commercial lithium ion cells in 2017.
After working for almost two years in project management for ACTIA I+ME in Braunschweig, managing several bus, train and heavy duty vehicle battery projects, he joined the Volkswagen Group in January 2019.
Beside being part owner for the developed cells, he cared about the topic of cell design mainly. After PowerCo SE was founded in July 2022, his responsibilities stayed the same.
In October 2023, he took over the lead of the cell design team, taking care of the development of the cells within the LFP department.
Karolin Langfeldt
Business Development Director, Circulor
Karolin Langfeldt is a senior business expert with 12+ years of experience in Business Development and New Technologies in managerial positions. She has dedicated her career to advocating for a more sustainable and just future by applying new technologies.
Since she started at Circulor her main focus lies on complex, industrial supply chains of critical raw materials. Circulor provides end-to-end supply chain transparency, enabling customers to meet their responsible sourcing agendas and climate neutrality objectives.
Dr. Lukas Lutz
Co-Founder, Battery Sphere GmbH
Lukas studied at ETH Zurich and the University of Oxford, gaining a strong foundation in cutting-edge technologies. With several years of experience in the software and battery industry, they have played key roles in developing innovative solutions. As the co-founder of Sphere Energy, they are driving the company’s mission to harness AI for reducing costs and accelerating development in sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and power tools, contributing to the future of sustainable energy solutions.
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Dr. Naoki Matsuoka
General Manager, Research & Development Center, Asahi Kasei Europe
Naoki Matsuoka studied chemistry at Keio University in Japan and obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Magnetism. He began his career with Asahi Kasei in 2000, where he was responsible for developing catalysts for a wide variety of petrochemicals. Since 2010, he has focused his career on developing materials for advanced lithium-ion batteries, under the guidance of Dr. Akira Yoshino, who made pioneering contributions to the development of the lithium-ion battery. Naoki Matsuoka is currently the General Manager of the Research & Development Center at Asahi Kasei Europe, and is also responsible for leading the advanced electrolyte development
Dr. Ksenija Milicevic Neumann
Co-founder and Managing Director, tozero GmbH
Ksenija is a co-founder and managing director of Munich based startup tozero doing battery recycling. Beforehand she worked as Senior Research Advisor & Startup Scout at the IME Institute for Metallurgy and Metal Recycling at RWTH Aachen University.
Prior to her Post-Doc position at the IME, she was the R&D Manager and Safety Officer at startup
Maana Electric, where she created the intellectual property for the production of solar cells on the moon. Ksenija holds PhD from RWTH Aachen University in electrometallurgy and has deep
technical knowledge and experience in STEM.
Fabrizio Moltoni
VP and General Manager, Clean Energy, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Fabrizio Moltoni is a Chemist by education and has been with Thermo Fisher Scientific since 1987, holding a number of commercial, service and commercial operations positions before taking on the General Manager position for various groups within the Chromatography & Mass Spectrometry division. He has been in his current role as VP and General Manager for Clean Energy since the end of 2022, focusing on global strategy and business development of Clean Energy applications.
Gilles Moreau
Chief Sustainability Officer, Verkor
Gilles Moreau, co-founder and head of sustainable development and open innovation at Verkor, has been a battery expert for almost 20 years. Having worked as a fuel cell expert at 3M and Renault, then as a project manager at CEA on lithium-ion battery projects, Gilles Moreau was part of the co-founding team that decided to create Verkor in 2020. Since then, the company has been working on the construction of a lithium-ion battery gigafactory at its Dunkirk site.
Cris Moreno
Managing Director and CEO, Vulcan Energy Resources
Cris brings over 20 years of global experience in successfully delivering major and challenging projects, including in the lithium chemicals, cathode and LNG sectors. In the LNG sector, he held leadership roles with Santos, Woodside, and Shell, including working on the Browse, Gorgon, and Prelude LNG projects. Before joining Vulcan, Cris worked in the lithium chemicals and battery cathode sector in Europe. He served as the Senior Director Programs for Northvolt's Cathode Active Material Business Unit and held the position of Vice President - Engineering and Development for Aurora Lithium, Northvolt's lithium hydroxide refinery in Europe.
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Dr. Rolf-Günther Nieberding
CEO, thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering GmbH
Dr. Rolf-Günther Nieberding studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Dr. Nieberding has held various management positions, including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Restructuring Officer, Chief Financial Officer and consultant for global automotive suppliers. Most recently, Dr. Rolf-Günther Nieberding worked as a consultant for thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology. For Automation Engineering, Dr. Rolf-Günther Nieberding takes on the role of Chairman of the Management Board.
Dr. Niklas Niemann
Partner, Systemiq
Niklas Niemann is a Partner with Systemiq´s Materials Platform, with a focus on mobility and with strong links to the Energy Platform as enabler for the mobility transition. As a sustainability professional with 15 years of industry and consulting experience, he has deep expertise in renewable energy, grid infrastructure and electric vehicle transitions. His career spans the European energy, utility, and automotive sectors, including roles at HSE/Entega, RWE, McKinsey, and Volkswagen Consulting, where he led sustainability initiatives and the CEO Alliance for Europe. Niklas holds a PhD in Mathematics from the Technical University of Darmstadt.
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Dr. Nikolas Oehl-Schalla
Consultant, VDI VDE - IT
Nikolas is dedicated professional with a 12-year focus on lithium-ion batteries. Since 2020, he has been serving as a Funding Management Consultant at VDI/VDE-IT. The IPCEI EuBatIn was approved by the EU Commission in January 2021 and is coordinated by Germany, through its Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) with the support of the project management agency VDI/VDE-IT. The agency acts under contract of the BMWK and offering its proficient support to the IPCEI battery eco-system in Europe, both by managing the programme and the projects on behalf of the BMWK and by providing accompanying scientific guidance.
Olamilekan Olugbayila
Innovation Consultant, Bax
Ola is an innovation consultant working at Bax within the Battery and circularity focus area. With a commitment towards developing sustainable energy solutions, he is focused on sustainable materials and innovative business case development for the battery value chain. He is involved with european-level battery projects and collaboration initiatives such as COBRA, a project on the development of cobalt-free EV batteries, and BatteReverse, a project on the circularity of EV battery reverse logistics. He has also co-authored multiple battery market intelligence reports with analysis on battery research, industrial and policy developments.
Naoki Ota
President and CEO, 24M Technologies
Mr. Ota is a recognized global expert in lithium-ion batteries, having been present at the birth of the technology in Japan more than 30 years ago. He joined 24M as CTO in 2012. He co-founded Quallion, the first lithium-ion manufacturer in the US, serving the medical and aerospace industries. Subsequently, as CTO & COO of Ener1/Enerdel, he led the company to publicly listed in 2009. Naoki is a recipient of Electrochemical Society of Japan and the Tanahashi Award (2024) and RD 100 awards (2008).
Dr. Roderich Otte
Head of Cell Development Labs, PowerCo SE
1991 Mercedes-Benz Car Workshop, 1993 Technical Univ. Braunschweig Mechanical Eng., 1999 TUBS PhD,
2005 Bosch Diesel Research PJL, 2009 VW SI-engine R&D PJL, 2013 VW Head of QS Analytical Lab,
2015 VW Head of Drivetrain Mechanics, 2020 VW CoE Battery Head of Cell Dev. labs, 2022 PowerCo SE
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Daniel Palme
CEO, HalioGen
Daniel Palme, CEO of HalioGen, is at the forefront of breakthrough battery technology aiding the green energy transition and addressing challenges in Long-Duration Energy Storage (LDES) and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). He pioneers innovative solutions that empower clients to achieve sustainable energy goals. Based in London, Daniel specializes in ESG and sustainability transformations for private equity funds through comprehensive decarbonization strategies. Previously, he led the Metals, Mining & Advanced Materials advisory desk at a German bank and has experience at Schneider Electric, AlixPartners, UBS, and Morgan Stanley.
Josepha Pfeiffer
Solution Consultant, Bosch Connected Industry
Josepha Pfeiffer is a Bosch Semantic Stack Consultant. She supports both internal and external clients in the development of customer-centric products and solutions, bringing several years of experience in software development to the table. She already brought numerous projects for the collection and evaluation of vehicle data to a successful close in her role as requirements engineer and product owner.
Tim Polley
Senior Application Engineer, HNP Mikrosysteme GmbH
Tim Polley studied mechanical engineering with a focus on fluid mechanics and microfluidics. After 6 years in research & development at HNPM, he has switched to technical sales and uses his expertise to find the best possible solution for microfluidic applications.
As application engineer, he specializes in the challenges of battery production, particularly the sub-process of filling battery cells with electrolytes. Good quality advice and open discussions with the customer are his top priority.
Graeme Purdy
CEO, Illika
Graeme is the founding CEO of Ilika and a pioneer in the field of solid state batteries. Building from a program of high throughput materials development collaborations with Toyota on solid state electrolytes in the late 2000s, Ilika has progressed to developing two solid state battery product lines, both demonstrated on production-intent equipment: miniature Stereax batteries for med tech (now licensed to Cirtec Medical for manufacture) and large format Goliath batteries for electric vehicles and consumer appliances. Graeme is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and has an MBA from INSEAD business school in France.
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Bastian Ruther
Managing Director, LIMATICA GmbH
Bastian Ruther is a German professional with track-record in automotive, i.e. through his time at Capgemini Invent. As Head of Business Development at Polestar, he was mainly responsible for scaling operations as well as the sales organization in Germany. Beginning 2024, Bastian joined Limatica as additional managing director to accelerate the vision of reducing cell aging time to minutes and support root-causing of micro-defects. At Limatica (est. 05/2023), he works with Dr.-Ing. Paul Büschel and Thomas Günther, both with >15 years battery cell diagnosis experience from TU Chemnitz and ThyssenKrupp.
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Christina Sauter
CTO, 8inks
Christina is the CTO and one of the co-founders of 8inks. She holds a Master's degree in Physics and a PhD degree in battery technology from the Material and Device Engineering Group at ETH Zurich.
At 8inks, Christina leads efforts to enhance battery performance and reduce production costs, addressing critical challenges in the rapidly evolving energy landscape.
Selena Schwarm
Head of Business Innovation, Basler
Selena Schwarm, Head of Business Innovation at Basler, holds a Master of Science Degree in Innovation Management & Business Development from Copenhagen Business School. Prior to joining Basler in 2019, Selena gained experience in the medical sector as part of the innovation & business development teams at Dräger and Philips, and in strategic consulting at Ramboll Management Consulting. Until May 2024, Selena held the position of Senior Product Market Manager at Basler, where she was responsible for driving the company’s business development activities for the battery market in EMEA before taking up the position as Head of Business Innovation.
Uwe Seidel
Programm Manager Battery, VDIVDE Innovation + Technik GmbH
Uwe Seidel, is a Senior Consultant at VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik in Berlin and Project Manager of the Battery IPCEI EuBatIn. EuBatIn was approved by the EU Commission in January 2021 and is coordinated by Germany, through its Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) with the support of the project management agency VDI/VDE-IT. The agency acts under contract of the BMWK and offering its proficient support to the IPCEI battery eco-system in Europe, both by managing the programme and the projects on behalf of the BMWK and by providing accompanying scientific guidance.
Thore Sekkenes
EBA Programme Director, EIT InnoEnergy - European Battery Alliance
Thore Sekkenes has 30 years of experience at management positions in system business related to electric power conversion within ABB and Bombardier Transportation. He has consistently been working with technologies enabling the transformation to sustainability in the power and transport sectors.
Thore joined EIT InnoEnergy in February 2019 to lead the EBA250, the industrial development programme of the European Battery Alliance, driving the development of the European battery industry.
Claudio Spadacini
Founder and CEO, Energy Dome
Claudio Spadacini is the founder and CEO of Energy Dome, a leading long-duration energy storage solutions provider. The company developed the CO2 Battery, a breakthrough technology capable of storing a large quantity of energy cost-effectively and efficiently. Energy Dome’s mission is to unlock renewable energy and make solar and wind power dispatchable 24/7. An engineer by education, but most importantly, an innovator and entrepreneur by nature and experience, Claudio has founded multiple successful technology ventures in the energy sector, taking them from germinal concepts to tangible market leadership.
Dr. Ionel Stefan
CTO, Amprius Technologies
Ionel Stefan, Ph.D, is Amprius’ Chief Technology Officer. He joined Amprius in its very early days in 2009 as a Senior Scientist, initially to lead electrochemistry for silicon nanowire anode-based lithium-ion batteries. Dr. Stefan now leads Amprius' development of silicon nanowire electrochemistry, cell technology -- including material design, cell design and engineering -- and product development. At Amprius, he has served as Principal Investigator on multiple projects, including NASA, Army, DOE and USABC-funded research and development efforts.
Nicolas F. Steinbacher
Program Lead Germany, Northvolt
Nicolas Steinbacher has been working for Northvolt since July 2020. The industrial engineer was one of the first employees at Northvolt Germany and has been driving Northvolt's market establishment in Germany ever since. In his role as Senior Director Strategy he leads the Northvolt Drei Program. He is responsible for setting up the Northvolt Drei battery cell factory near Heide. Previously, Nicolas Steinbacher held various positions, his latest being Senior Consultant at the strategy and management consultancy Porsche Consulting.
Jonas Steinrkauß
Project Manager, bbw gGmbH
Jonas Steinkrauß is project manager in the B³ Batterie Bildungsnetzwerk Bayern. The project focuses on the education and training of specialists in the field of battery technology in order to meet the increasing demand for qualified employees. It aims to equip specialists with the necessary skills for battery production in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the economy in the field of energy storage technologies.
Odd Strømsnes
CEO, Bergen Carbon Solutions
35 years’ experience from oil service, solar and offshore wind energy companies in various management, technical and operative positions. Strong industrial profile, holding different CEO roles the last 15 years. From January 2023 CEO of Bergen Carbon Solutions.
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Shawn Tanagho
MS ChE, MBA, Honeywell
Shawn's work at Micron, BASF, Albemarle, and Honeywell spans operations, technical, product and pricing management, supply chain and business development across 8 industries in 11 countries. Currently, Shawn leads innovations: Honeywell CFX™, an advanced, proven and ready-now technology for complete mineralization of organic fluorine for responsible and sustainable waste management. Shawn earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Ohio State University, an MS in Chemical Engineering with focus on Environmental Engineering from Howard University, and an MBA from Jack Welch Management Institute as well as 15 varied licenses/certificates.
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Tilmann Vahle
Director Sustainable Mobility and Batteries, Systemiq
Tilmann is Director for Sustainable Mobility and Batteries at Systemiq, a globally operating consultancy and think tank whose 400 colleagues are dedicated entirely to high ambition environmental sustainability action. Having studied and worked in clean mobility topics for over a decade, Tilmann led the Circular Economy Initiative’s batteries work stream and founded the Battery Pass consortium. He previously held positions at EY sustainability and Volkswagen Corporate Foresight.
Jonathan Vanherberghen
Director External Affairs Europe, Rio Tinto
Jonathan has been with Rio Tinto since 2020 and is leading the External Affairs work in Europe. He started his career in procurement at the European HQ of Toyota in 2006, after which he joined BASF in 2009 to lead their raw materials procurement in the Benelux. In 2013, he moved into Government Relations for BASF, focusing on Trade policy and sanctions. In 2017 he joined Essent, the Belgian-Dutch subsidiary of RWE, where he managed government relations in the Benelux. Jonathan has a degree in International Politics from the University of Antwerp and a Master in Global Management from UAMS.
Yann Vincent
CEO, Automotive Cells Company
Automotive Cells Company (ACC), a JV from Saft, Stellantis & Mercedes-Benz created in 2020, strives to transform the EV landscape. In a context of high dependency towards players outside Europe, ACC contributes to making Europe sovereign and autonomous in the field of batteries R&D & manufacturing.
Ilka von Dalwigk
Director General, RECHARGE
Ilka von Dalwigk is the newly appointed Director General of Recharge, the European industry association for advanced rechargeable and lithium battery manufacturers and the entire related value chain. In her previous role she supported the European Batteries Alliance (EBA) since its creation with a strong focus on sustainability and supply chain topics. Ilka has recently been awarded the Battery Star Award 2024 by the BEPA for her longstanding contribution to the battery sector.
Simon Voss
Founder and CEO, BETTERE GmbH
Simon is the Founder and CEO of BETTERE, an engineering and consulting firm supporting the acceleration of battery developments.
Besides he hosts the BETTERE Innovation Podcast and is exploring our battery landscape with the driving podcast studio. Herein, he invites leading figures from the field, sharing insights on-site.
Simon is the former Managing Director of eLab RWTH Aachen and has successfully build, initialized and operated a battery pilot production line, called CELLFAB at eLab and PEM of RWTH Aachen
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Dr. Maximilian Weinhold
Chief Product Owner Battery Passport, Siemens AG
Maximilian has built several products in the sustainability arena from the drawing board to successful market launch. Additionally, he grew ecosystems with market leaders allowing them to achieve industrial circularity and decarbonization at scale. Maximilian holds a PhD from WHU on the topic of Innovation Ecosystem Governance.
Dr. Hannes Weinmann
Head of Pre-Sales and New Technology Exploration, Lead Intelligent Equipment GmbH
Dr.-Ing Hannes Weinmann, Head of Pre-Sales and New Technology Exploration at Lead Intelligent Equipment GmbH, specializes in manufacturing processes and industrial machinery for lithium-ion battery production. With previous experience working as a Business Development Manager at Lead Intelligent Equipment GmbH, he has leveraged his experience and expertise to accelerate and facilitate the transition towards electric mobility. Hannes is passionate about optimizing existing and developing new manufacturing processes to reduce costs, increase flexibility, and improve efficiency in the production of lithium-ion batteries. He has experience in the development of various tools for production line planning, tolerance modeling, and cost accounting for battery production.
Prof. Dr. Martin Winter
Director IEK-12, Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH, Scientific Director, MEET Battery Research Center, University of Münster
Martin Winter has been researching in the field of electrochemical energy storage and conversion for more than 30 years. His focus is on the development of new materials, components and cell designs for lithium-ion, lithium-metal and alternative battery systems. Martin Winter currently holds a professorship for “Materials Science, Energy and Electrochemistry” at the Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Münster, Germany. He is founder and scientific director of MEET Battery Research Center at the University of Münster and of Helmholtz Institute Münster (HI MS) “Ionics in Energy Storage”, a branch of Forschungszentrum Jülich.
Sebastian Wolf
COO, PowerCo
As Chief Operations Officer, Sebastian Wolf is responsible for PowerCo’s global battery manufacturing network. This includes planning, construction and operation of the planned cell factories, among other things. Wolf was born in 1990 in Oelsnitz in the Vogtland region of Germany. After earning his diploma from a college-preparatory high school in Istanbul, Wolf attended the universities Aachen, Bath and Tsinghua in Beijing.
The production engineer later held management positions at Bosch and Boston Consulting, among other places, before becoming European CEO of the Chinese battery manufacturer Farasis Energy. Wolf has been Head of Operation.
Dr. Veronika Wright
CEO, Electrified Veronika LLC
Dr. Veronika Wright is an expert in battery technology and E-mobility, leading her own consulting practice where she offers technical and strategic guidance, educational support, and mentoring. She earned her PhD in Technical Physics from Graz University of Technology in Austria and began her career in the automotive industry at AVL List GmbH. As a thought leader and content creator, Dr. Wright collaborates with Fortune 500 companies to drive forward-thinking discussions on the future of mobility, innovative transportation, and alternative energy solutions.
Wilhelm Wunder
Vice President Engineering, KACO
Wilhelm Wunder, Vice President of KACO, is responsible for all development activities at the company. The company has been focusing on the development of new battery components and venting systems within the battery technologies for several years. Wilhelm W. was born in 1987 and completed a dual study degree specializing in mechanical from 2008 to 2011. Then, he began his career at KACO in the product development department. 2017 he took over the management of product advance development and since May 2023 he is Vice President of Engineering in the company and has been involved in the development of battery components from the beginning.
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Silvia-Luna Yzaguirre Sánchez
Director Battery Cell Development, PowerCo
After graduating from a double degree in mechanical and industrial engineering and an MBA, my process analytics and problem solving skills drove me to the Electrical Vehicles and Energy Storage sector.
Since 2010 I have been involved into building 3 newly formed Startups or business areas from Daimler and Volkswagen as early stage management member. I’m specialized in Product Management and development and I’ve worked in the development and manufacturing of the largest lithium ion cell production in Europe till 2015.
Are you interested in contributing as a speaker? Feel free to reach out:
Lucas Meik, Project Manager, Phone +49 511 473147-96, l.m@ipm.ag
