Battery Materials: Intellectual Property Assessment and Licensing Consultant

Technical Consultant #1300

Development of new battery materials.
Development and manufacturing lithium-ion polymer batteries.
Technology and intellectual property assessments.
Technical intellectual property development strategy for external and internal clients.
Contract product development services..
Marketing and licensing internally developed intellectual property.

Independent Consultant 2003 - Present

Conducts technology and intellectual property assessments for clients. Develops technical intellectual property strategy for clients and internal projects.
Provides contract product development services to clients
Markets and licenses internally developed intellectual property.

Valence Technology Corporation 1996 - 2003

Development and manufactue if lithium-ion polymer batteries.

Vice President of Research and Development / Site Manager 2000 - 2003

Managed directly a department of 26 scientists, engineers and technicians in the United States and a site of 88 employees.
Set strategy for IP portfolio of over 820 US and foreign patents group filed 120 patent applications. Initiated collaboration with MIT theoreticians that was pivotal in developing new battery materials.
Responsible for fundamental material research to provide new technologies for future generations of batteries as well as ramping technologies to product launch.
Built pilot and laboratory battery and material production capabilities with 1 ton per day capacity.
Launched first three mass produced product lines.

Vice President of Process Engineering and Development 1998 - 2000

Responsible in the Northern Ireland plant for all design, construction, and installation of all battery and electrode manufacturing and related equipment with an ultimate capacity of 3.4 megawatt hours per day of raw material in a 150,000 square foot facility.
Implemented cost reduction, yield improvement, ISO-9000 certification and manufacturing capacity improvement programs.

Director of Product Development 1997 - 1998

Oversaw day to day operations of United States wet and dry mixing, tape casting and lamination pilot lines, capable of producing 8000 square feet of battery component films per day. Implemented process improvements and new equipment design, installation and commissioning.
Conductesd test runs of experimental battery components for the Research Department and various joint venture partners.

Project Manager 1996 - 1997

Responsible for developing and testing cell formulations based on customer requirements.
Installed processing laboratory for wet and dry mixing, casting and extraction.
Developed processing procedures for battery components and finished cells.

Zinc Air Power Corporation Senior Research Scientist 1994-1996

Start-up company developing a commercial electric vehicle battery.

Directed an electrochemical research and catalyst testing program to develop a commercial bifunctional air cathode.
Collaborated with Manufacturing to develop a streamlined material handling procedure and instituted raw material qualification and quality control testing programs, reducing raw material finishing time by 75%.
Analyzed electrode performance variability orthogonal experimental design techniques and improved production equipment and procedures, reducing performance variability by 70%.
Responsible for zinc anode formulation and cell design as part of development team, resulting in a 60% raw material cost saving while preserving performance.
Implemented an inexpensive, safe synthesis for cathode catalytic material, realizing a 100 fold decrease in air electrode catalytic material costs.

3 U.S. Patents; several patent applications

Numerous publications

Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

B.S., Chemistry, University of California