He received his bachelor's in chemistry from Reed College in 1990, and his doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University in 1996. He specializes in multi-disciplinary problem solving in the physical sciences and their corresponding engineering disciplines. Over his 22-year research and development (R&D) career, he has developed expertise in physical chemistry, chemical kinetics, atmospheric chemistry, instrumentation, electronics (digital, analog, power, and RF), spectroscopic sensing, lasers, fiber optics and wave guides, classical optics, electro-optics, electromagnetics, electromechanical systems, heat transfer, materials science, mechanical engineering, manufacturing processes, and renewable energy technologies.
He has won four R&D 100 Awards, holds numerous patents, has 10 active licenses on his inventions, and given many invited talks on the subject of serial innovation. In 2015, he was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy as its Inaugural SunShot Innovator in Residence. He invented the Radical-Ion Flow Battery under the SunShot Innovator in Residence Program to address the need for low-cost, highly scalable electrochemical grid storage, and the performance limitations of prior art battery chemistries in this demanding application. His current research portfolio is focused on electrochemical grid storage, the elimination of rare-earth magnets in wind turbines, and semiconductor thermal management (power electronics, CPUs, GPUs).
He is currently a senior chemist and group leader at Argonne National Laboratory specializing in the testing and post-test analysis of cells and complete battery systems with over 34 years of experience. He is known worldwide for his work in battery testing and life modeling. He has a bachelor’s in chemistry from Brown University and a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from University of Chicago. He is active in the battery materials and testing fields and has more than 120 publications and eight patents. He received an IR-100 Award in 1987 for a micro-membrane sensor to measure sodium-ion concentrations at elevated temperature. He participated in the creation of international recommended practices (one step before a standard) in battery testing. His work in battery life estimation led to the creation of software, which became the recognized standard for life estimation for battery development projects funded by U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium and the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2011, he established the post-test facility for the elucidation of the physical and chemical changes that cause battery performance decline.
He is a mechanical design engineer in the Experiment Design and Analysis Department at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). In this capacity, he designs temperature-controlled experiments and experiments for the Hydraulic Shuttle Irradiation System (HSIS). He has been with INL for more than 25 years and has extensive experience in reactor experiment design, chemical process equipment design, piping systems, and pressure vessels. He holds a master’s in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University and a professional engineering license in Idaho.
Fill out the information below to ask your energy technology question. Our target response time is 14 business days; however, any individual may not be available to meet this target though we strive to provide a timely response.