Speakers 2026

Domien Schatteman is a high-calibre Sales and Business Development Specialist with a Master of Science in Bioscience Engineering and 10+ years of international experience in the chemical and metals industries, currently serving as Strategic Sales Manager at Indaver, driving sustainable solutions in the solvents sector.

Dr. Stefan Permien is the CEO and co-founder of UniverCell GmbH, a german cell and electrode production company focusing on special application markets. With a background in chemistry from the University of Kiel and a PhD focused on lithium-ion battery materials, Dr. Permien is a recognized expert in the battery industry. He also holds an MBA, which has complemented his technical expertise with strong business acumen. Before founding UniverCell in 2019, Dr. Permien served as Chief Technology Officer at Customcells Itzehoe. His ambition to scale beyond research and into full-scale battery production led him to create UniverCell. Today, the company aims [...]

Thomas has more than fifteen years of experience in materials chemistry and ten years in the Li-ion battery market - holds a MSc in Inorganic Chemistry and a PhD in Materials Science and Energy. Thomas conducted several studies as Process lead for refining virgin material (i.e. from mining) and recycling materials from used Li-ion batteries. He also led multiple technical studies on battery recycling companies and scouted the battery recycling landscape from technical and market standpoint. He was also involved in various projects with reputable clients from the pCAM/CAM industry, as well as AutoOEM. Thomas participated to several Advisory studies for [...]

John is the CTO/CSO of Polypore International (Celgard)/Asahi Kasei. He received IBA (International Battery Association) Technology Award 2024 for his invention of Ceramic Coated Separator and Outstanding Contribution in Understanding of Internal Shorts Events of Li-ion Cells that lead the broad application of Ceramic Coated Separator (CCS). This technology has made a significant contribution to the evolution of humanity (SVP/CTO Panasonic). He is recognized as the leading authority on lithium-ion battery safety and separators. Through IEEE, he leads in establishing lithium-ion battery industry standards (P1625, P1725). John pioneered the Sulfide SSE with ~ 40 papers (1984-1991). He has chaired and/or organized [...]

Bill Williams is Commercial Sales Director at Proterra, Inc. For the past 5 years he has been a leader in the Electric Vehicle Charging Industry. Bill is connected to many of the Clean Cities Coalitions, as well as the Smart Cities Challenge, and the recent VW Settlement proposals. He is Co-Chairperson of the San Joaquin Valley Electric Vehicle Partnership, as well as a board member of Project Clean Air. He has been helping to propel the electric transportation movement in the United States since 1995. For the past twenty years he has held executive positions such as Vice President of Electric [...]

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 [...]

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.

Mr. Luke Hu co-founded Electroder, a World Economic Forum Global Innovator specializing in enabling battery design and manufacturing. He is a steering committee member of Global Battery Alliance’s Battery Passport and Circularity Critical Material. Mr. Hu has been leading his team completing various cell development projects, developing advanced software tools, and building new manufacturing capacities. He has two decades of experience in manufacturing and technology, and held a variety of engineering and management roles in China, USA and Europe. Mr. Hu graduated from Cornell University and Beijing University of Technology.

A world renowned inventor, Dr Yuan Gao has 30 years of experience in the complete supply chain of lithium-ion battery industry, from lithium extraction to batteries. One of his inventions, the Ti/Mg technology, enables high voltage lithium-ion batteries and is being practiced today in a vast majority of lithium-ion batteries for small portable electronics such as smart phones and tablets. Dr Yuan Gao joined Pulead Technology in May 2014 and had served as its President and CEO until Sept 2019. Currently he is serving on the Board of Directors of Lithium Americas Corporation, as well as the Boards of Advisors of [...]