About
How to navigate diverse career paths  available outside of the traditional scope (i.e., academia, national laboratory) isn’t always clear for early career scientists. The speakers will share their personal experiences, insight, and journeys within their respective fields. Following brief presentations for each panelist, attendees will have the opportunity to engage with the speakers in a live Q&A. This Zoom webinar is free and open to the public.
Speakers
Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud is renowned for her pioneering work in developing and commercializing Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for portable electronics, electric vehicles and utilities.
She currently serves as CEO of Cadenza Innovation, Inc., a startup she founded in 2012 to bring higher energy density, lower cost, safer and environmentally sustainable batteries to the EV, grid storage and industrial markets. The firm’s patented ‘supercell’ platform is available for license to global manufacturers.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud founded and served as CEO and International Chairman of Boston-Power, an innovative battery company providing products to the consumer electronics, transportation and other end markets. In her time there, she took the firm from a startup to a global organization backed by more than $400 million in investment with technology centers in Beijing and Boston as well as multiple Asia-based Six-Sigma manufacturing locations. She transitioned from the company to assume an executive position at Bridgewater Associates.
Prior to Boston-Power, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud was a partner with Arthur D. Little, where she led the world’s largest non-captive battery lab and related practice. In that role, she advised market leaders on technology and go-to-market strategies. Dr. Lampe-Onnerud has previously served as a Board Director for Syrah Resources from 2016 through 2019 and FuelCell Energy from November of 2018 through March of 2019.
A member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud’s work has earned her numerous awards. These include recognition as a two-time Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, an organization for which she serves as the co-chair of its Global Futures Council on Energy and advises on energy and innovation, renewable transport and finance. Honored as an Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year for the New England region, she is active in EY’s Entrepreneurial Winning Women annual competition program and executive education program. An advocate for women entrepreneurs, she is featured among Inc.’s inaugural list of Top 100 Female Founders.
A sought-after keynote speaker, Dr. Lampe-Onnerud has shared her insights about batteries, energy storage, climate change and cleantech worldwide at events hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The United Nations, TED, The International Battery Conference, the US Department of Energy, MIT and many others. She holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Uppsala University, Sweden, and conducted post-doctoral work at MIT.
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Dr. Irene Peterson is a Principal Research Scientist at Corning Research and Development Corporation, in the Process Research group. She studies the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase reactions in ceramic materials, and also provides technical support to glass production plants in the United States, Europe and Asia. Among the many different products she has worked on are glasses for display and pharmaceutical applications, ceramic filters for exhaust filtration,  optical filter components and optical fiber. She received the President’s Outstanding Belt Award for Innovation.
Before joining Corning, Irene was a post-doc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where she worked with Dr. Brian Lawn on fracture mechanics. She earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan under Professor T.Y. Tien in the area of microstructure design for silicon nitride ceramics.
Irene is an active member of the American Ceramic Society, and serves as the Secretary of the Glass and Optical Materials Division. She frequently organizes sessions and gives invited lectures at international conferences. She is also a member of the University of Michigan Materials Science and Engineering Department’s External Advisory Board.
Dr. Brian Kraft is the Assistant Vice President for Innovation and Research Engagement (IREO) within the Office of Research at Washington State University (WSU). In this role, he is focused on building research partnerships with public and private sector interests that serve to translate innovative research at WSU into meaningful societal impacts. Brian has a long track record of building successful collaborations in areas, ranging from research focused on research translation to the development of student training programs to the implementation of organizational change initiatives. Specific WSU initiatives Kraft is currently leading include: Implementation of the recommendations of the External Review of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, an effort to support and incentivize students and faculty to embrace a culture focused on impacts and outreach; The Entrepreneurial Faculty Ambassadors (EFA) Program, a faculty networking group to disseminate best practices and connect experienced and aspirational faculty focused on public engagement; The WSU I-Corps site, an NSF-funded training focused on helping scientists and engineers evaluate product-market fit; The Small Business Development Center, which represents a statewide network of 30 small business advisors funded by the SBA; The Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiative to better integrate technology focused economic development with undergraduate training in entrepreneurship. He holds undergraduate degrees in Biology and Chemistry, a PhD in Chemistry and has served WSU in roles ranging from technology evaluation to programmatic development over the last sixteen years.
Organizers
- Megan Phelan, PTL EFRC (chair)
- Emily Nienhuis, IDREAM EFRC (co-chair)
- Diana Lutz, m2M/t EFRC
- Krystal Lee, NECCES EFRC
- Viktoriya Semeykina, MUSE EFRC
- Ashini Jayasinghe, CAST EFRC