Speakers 2025

Matt is Technical Director of the Goliath programme at Ilika. He holds a materials science PhD and is a chartered chemist and scientist, previously he has worked in various roles developing battery materials and cells.

In his role as Application Technology Manager with LANXESS, Dirk develops new innovative applications and products in the field of battery metals waste water. Prior to joining LANXESS in 2016 Dirk pursued a Post-Doc at Harvard University, with a main focus on resin beads in bio-physics and bio-medicine. Dirk obtained his PhD in 2013 in polymer chemistry, where he developed multifunctional polymers and monomers. He is the author of 25 peer reviewed articles and 10 patents. His work was awarded by the Konrad Adenauer and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Salil Soman is the Chief Commercial Officer at Ensurge Micropower, where he leads the company’s global commercial go-to-market strategy and is focused on accelerating market adoption of its next-generation solid-state microbattery technology. He brings more than 25 years of experience across the battery, energy storage, and electrification industries, spanning technology commercialization, business development, strategic partnerships, product marketing, and engineering. Prior to Ensurge, Salil held senior commercial leadership roles at Feon Energy, Sepion Technologies, BrightVolt, Natron Energy, and ZincFive, and earlier served in engineering and management positions at Robert Bosch Battery Systems and BASF Corporation (formerly Ovonic Battery Company). He holds an [...]

Dr. Mauro Sgroi, has more than 20-years long corporate research experience on electrochemical energy storage systems maturated at Centro Ricerche FIAT (now Stellantis Group). He was involved in more than 8 European projects on battery materials and was the coordinator of an Italian research project. Mauro joined the university of Torino in 2022 and is responsible for the research activities on batteries. In particular he is the principal investigator for the Stellar European project “Safe, sustainable and high-troughput production of reliable lithium metal anodes for GEN 4B/4C/5 batteries” and he is the coordinator of the proof of concept project INES “Idruri [...]

Raune Asen-Hübner, Head of Operations Management, is a seasoned operations strategist with a passion for batteries and engineering. She currently drives operational excellence at PowerCo, where she has been contributing since early 2023. Prior to this, Raune worked in the Operations Practice at Boston Consulting Group, advising global clients on complex operational challenges and transformation initiatives. Her career began at BMW, where she spent four years in engine development, deepening her technical expertise and gaining hands-on experience in automotive innovation.

Christian has nearly 15 years of experience in the battery value chain as M&A and Commercial Director for Johnson Matthey Battery Materials and Business Development Manager Battery Solutions for SGL Carbon. Christian completed two Master studies and holds a degree in Economics from university of Essen and a degree in Industrial Chemistry from university of Münster, where he specialized in Batteries at MEET institute. He also worked at BASF and Evonik for several years during his studies. Beside Chem4Batteries Christian holds a Battery Advisiory role at Roland Berger.

Lukas Ridikas, initially born in France and now living in Austria, is a young passionate about energy production and storage technologies and sustainable development. With an academic background in Materials Science and Energy Engineering from Birmingham and Karlsruhe, he has pursued his professional career, working as a laboratory assistant and engineer in different fields related to the energy industry. He now works for the company KILNTECK, located in Vienna, as internal operations manager.

Enzo’s extensive experience has given him a solid background in finance and political science. He first worked with Verkor as a consultant for a few months to help the company on capital fundraising. He is now Chief of Staff & Head of Financing.

Sriram Ramanoudjame has been serving as the Chief Marketing Officer at Blue Solutions, a subsidiary of the Bolloré Group and the leading global manufacturer and designer of Solid-State Batteries, since 2022. Product marketing, strategic communication and sustainability are at the forefront of his role. With a commitment in crafting a greener blueprint for the future of the automotive industry, Sriram builds and directs teams able to integrate market, customers and technical trends into actionable innovations and marketing strategies while aiming for minimal to neutral impact on the environment. Known for his excellent communication skills, his expertise lies in initiating, piloting and/or [...]

Engineer with 20+ years experience in industry, mainly as R&D manager at automotive OEMs. With focus on powertrain development & light-commercial vehicles customer requirements.