Courses in the Graduate Certificate in I‑BEAM: Intelligent Battery Engineering and Automated Manufacturing are taught by UW faculty alongside industry experts and distinguished professors from other leading universities who are experts in the field.
I‑BEAM Instructors
Alejandro Franco
Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV), France
Professor Alejandro A. Franco is a Full Professor (Exceptional Class) at Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV), France, and a researcher at the CNRS-affiliated Laboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie des Solides (LRCS). He is an ERC Consolidator Grantee, an Editor of the Journal of Power Sources, and the 2025 recipient of the Electrochemical Society Battery Division M. Stanley Whittingham Mid-Career Award.
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Prof. Franco is a pioneer in the development of physics-based and machine-learning models to simulate, predict, and optimize the influence of manufacturing parameters on the properties of rechargeable battery electrodes and cells. He was the first scientist to introduce the concept of inverse design in battery manufacturing by developing a software platform capable of predicting the manufacturing parameter values required to achieve targeted electrode and cell performance.
He is the coordinator of the Erasmus+ i-MESC international master’s program and a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Aikemics, a startup commercializing digital solutions for accelerated battery manufacturing optimization. Prof. Franco has authored over 170 peer-reviewed journal publications, leads multiple European and national research initiatives, and is actively engaged in international education, industry collaboration, and innovation in battery science and engineering.
Alvaro Videla
Associate Professor, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) School of Engineering
Currently Professor Videla is Director of the Energy Research Center at PUC, and Board Director of the National Center for Testing of Mining Technologies, Chile. His research interests are focused in Copper and Lithium Sustainable Production Methods, Electrochemical Energy Storage, and Advanced Metal Production Technologies. More than 20 years of experience, 3 patents and more than 30 master and doctorate graduated students. Beyond his research activities, Professor Videla has extensive experience as technical consultant for companies in the public and private sector such as SQM-Lithium, Albermarle, and BHP among others.
Arunachala Mada Kannan
Professor, the Arizona State University Polytechnic School of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering
A.M. Kannan is a Professor in the Polytechnic School of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, USA (since August 2005), specializing in fuel cells, H2 Technologies, and large-scale energy storage in batteries, and chairing the graduate program on Clean Energy Systems, after 15 years of experience in energy R&D and manufacturing.
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He was a Fulbright Specialist at Tampere University of Technology, Finland, Principal Scientist at the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland in 2011, and a “Distinguished Chair” awardee through Fulbright Fellowship at the Aalto University, Finland in 2018. He was also a visiting professor at the LUT University, Finland in the summers of 2024 and 2025. He possesses strong academic and professional experience, having also worked as Chief Scientist at Hoku Scientific Inc., Hawaii. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Int. Journal of H2 Energy, handling Manuscripts on H2 economy and fuel cells. He earned his M.S. from Madurai Kamaraj University in 1985, Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Science in 1990, and MBA from Madras University in 1999.
Chi-Hao Chang
Associate Research Scientist, Dow
Chi-Hao Chang joined Dow in 2019 and worked on conductive product development and battery fire protection product development for various applications including electrical vehicles and consumer electronics. Currently, he is leading the silicone foam product development for EV battery fire protection applications. He also leads Battery Material application team to investigate the battery market and progress, work with multiple businesses to determine investment and new technology opportunities.
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His effort on product development and scouting helps Dow realize ambition in vehicle electrification. He has commercialized multiple products for thermal management and battery fire protection to improve performance and safety of EV battery packs. Before joining Dow, he went to The University of Texas at Austin for Ph.D. degree, working on lithium-ion battery and next-generation lithium battery developments and scaleup. He has published >40 peer-reviewed papers and filed >15 patent applications.
Congrui Grace Jin
Assistant Professor, the Texas A&M University Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution
Dr. Congrui Grace Jin joined the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University as an assistant professor since the fall semester of 2023. She received her Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor degree in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University. She was then a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University.
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Her research contribution is documented in more than 65 peer-reviewed journal publications, 4 book chapters, and 2 books. Her research interest is in the broad area of mechanics and materials motivated by practical applications in energy storage, additive manufacturing, and sustainability. Her research has been supported by U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Transportation, National Science Foundation, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Gao Liu
Senior Scientist and Group Leader, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Applied Energy Materials Group
Dr. Gao Liu is a Senior Scientist and Group Leader of the Applied Energy Materials Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. An expert in energy storage systems with over 25 years of experience, Dr. Liu specializes in the rational design of functional electrode binders, ion conductors, and advanced manufacturing processes for next-generation batteries.
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He is particularly renowned for his pioneering work in multifunctional conductive polymer adhesives. Dr. Liu is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (ECS) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). His prolific contributions to the field include over 200 publications, 28 patents, and three R&D 100 Awards. He is also the distinguished recipient of the 2025 ECS Battery Division Technology Award and the 2025 Michigan State University Natural Science Outstanding Alumni Award.
Hohyun Sun
Assistant Professor, the University of Alabama Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Dr. H. Hohyun is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Alabama. He received his BS from Northwestern University in 2015 and his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020, with both degrees in chemical engineering. Afterwards, he joined the Army Research Laboratory as a Harry Diamond Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow where he studied energy materials. His research interest is at the intersection of chemical engineering and materials science with a focus on battery materials as a medium to establish a renewable energy landscape.
Jie Xiao
Boeing Martin Professor, the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Jie Xiao is currently a Boeing Martin Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington. She also holds a joint appointment with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Battelle Fellow. Dr. Xiao has been leading research in both fundamental and applied research in energy storage materials, systems, and manufacturing.
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Her work has been widely reported by many media including a featured story on the Office of Science website, C&EN, R&D magazine, U.S. Department of State, Scientific American etc. She has been named as the top 1% highly cited research by Clarivate Analytics in the field of materials chemistry many times. Dr. Xiao holds 27 patents and 3 copyrights in the field of energy storage. Dr. Xiao is the recipient of a few awards such as the U.S. Department of Energy’s E. O. Lawrence Award, Battelle Distinguished Inventor, and more.
Julia Lamb
Head of Cathode R&D, Bedrock Materials
After her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin and sometime scaling cathode materials in industry, Dr. Lamb developed a simplified cost and performance model at Bedrock Materials in the effort to prove that sodium-ion batteries could be cheaper than lithium-ion at-scale. The result of her model caused the sodium-ion battery startup to give their funding back to investors and they have since released the model for free to the public. The model is called CellVision. Dr. Lamb now works as a freelance consultant helping companies model their own technology.
Jun Liu
Washington Research Foundation Innovation Chair in Clean Energy, Campbell Chair of Materials Science & Engineering, Professor of Chemical Engineering
Dr. Jun Liu is the Washington Research Foundation Innovation Chair in Clean Energy, Campbell Chair of Materials Science & Engineering, Professor of Chemical Engineering, and a Battelle Fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). He also serves as the Director for Innovation Center for the Battery500 Consortium, a multi-institute program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the goal of developing next generation batteries.
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In the past, he has served as senior researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Bell Laboratories and Sandia National Laboratories. He also served as the Department Manager for Chemical Synthesis and Nanomaterials at Sandia, the Thrust Leader for the Complex Materials for the Integrated Center for Nanotechnologies (CINT), Lead Scientist for Cross-Cutting Sciences for the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), Laboratory Fellow and Division Director for Energy Processes and Materials Division at PNNL.
Jun is the recipient of the Battery Division Technology Award from The Electrochemical Society (ECS), two R&D100 Awards and the DOE EERE Exceptional Achievement Award. He is an elected member of Washington Academy of Science, a Materials Research Society Fellow, and an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow. He has been ranked in the top one percent of highly cited researchers since 2014 (Clarivate Analytics). He was named a Distinguished Inventor of Battelle in 2007 and was selected as PNNL's Inventor of the Year in 2012 and again in 2017.
Katharina Gerber
Portfolio Development Executive, Siemens Digital Industries Software
Dr. Katharina Gerber has spent over 15 years working in the battery industry, with a focus on advancing sustainable technologies. She holds a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of Bonn, Germany, where her research centered on transition metal lithium phosphates.
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In her current role as Portfolio Development Executive at Siemens Digital Industries Software, she helps translate complex battery manufacturing technologies into practical solutions. She works with battery startups and leading OEMs helping them to apply smart manufacturing and digital twin approaches to accelerate innovation.
Earlier in her career, Katharina specialized in areas such as direct lithium extraction and dry battery electrode processing, gaining valuable experience across upstream and midstream parts of the battery supply chain.
She also serves as Vice President of NAATBatt International and co-chairs the Electrode Materials Committee, supporting the growth and resilience of the domestic battery ecosystem.
Nick Grundish
Vice President of Battery Technology, EnergyX
Dr. Nicholas Grundish is the Vice President of Battery Technology at EnergyX, where he leads R&D and commercialization efforts for next-generation lithium battery materials and manufacturing processes. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin under Dr. John B. Goodenough, co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery. Nicholas’s expertise spans lithium metal anodes, solid and liquid electrolytes, cathode materials, and direct lithium extraction. He is passionate about bridging the gap between laboratory breakthroughs and scalable industrial solutions in the energy storage space.
Yijin Liu
Associate Professor, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT Austin
Dr. Yijin Liu received his B.S. (2004) and Ph.D. (2009) degrees from the Physics Department at the University of Science & Technology of China. He joined Stanford University as a postdoctoral scholar in 2009 and became an Associate Staff Scientist at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in 2012, a Staff Scientist in 2015, and a Lead Scientist in 2020. In August 2023, Dr. Liu joined the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT Austin as an Associate Professor.
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In his previous role as a National Lab Scientist, Dr. Liu led technical developments and scientific applications for the Transmission X-ray Microscopy program at SLAC/Stanford. With over 15 years of experience in this field, Dr. Liu has developed and applied X-ray characterization methods for a broad range of research fields. In more recent years, Dr. Liu’s research focused on studying energy storage materials using high-throughput experimental methods as well as machine learning-assisted statistical analysis. Specific areas of focus include battery manufacturing, safety, degradation, and failure analysis.
Zhao Liu
Senior Market Development Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Zhao Liu is a Senior Market Development Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, based in Oregon, USA, specializing in the battery market. He earned his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University and joined Thermo Fisher in 2019. In 2025, he was appointed Affiliated Professor in the Materials Science & Engineering Department at the University of Washington to strengthen academia–industry collaboration. His work focuses on advancing battery characterization metrology across R&D and manufacturing, addressing analytical challenges, and driving practical solutions through strategic partnerships with academic and industrial stakeholders.