Training and Diversity Panel

Dr Billy Wu is a Reader at Imperial College London. His research focuses at the interface between fundamental science and engineering application of electrochemical devices with cross cutting activities including energy materials, continuum modelling, thermal management and battery pack engineering. He is also a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, with a post-graduate certificate in teaching and learning support.

Rowena leads a team of scientists in the development and understanding of materials and systems core to Nyobolt’s fast-charging technology. She oversees the Materials R&D activities and works closely with cell engineering and manufacturing, powder production, and applications engineering teams, working to deliver on current and future applications for high-rate lithium-ion batteries.

With a background in chemistry and material science, Rowena completed a PhD at Imperial College London on oxide electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries after previously working as a development technician in industry. She joined Nyobolt as a Scientist in 2021, initially part-time alongside a role as a postdoctoral researcher at Cambridge University. Since 2021, the company has grown from less than 50 to over 100 people and Rowena successfully navigated her team in moving to a new custom-designed lab. She has led several UKRI-funded collaborative R&I projects, working with university, industry, and national facilities.

Rowena is part of the 2025-26 cohort of mentors for STEMAZING x Innovate Business Connect for the UK Battery Sector, a training and mentoring programme for women and allies in the battery industries.

Fiona is currently the Research & Development Programme Manager at Echion Technologies. She is responsible for guiding the development of the company’s battery anode materials. She manages the effectiveness of the Echion R&D team and is part of strategic decision making on future product advancement. She completed her MSci & MA(Cantab), in Natural Sciences (Chemistry) at Cambridge University and gained her doctorate in Materials Chemistry (Magnetic Materials) at the University of Edinburgh.

Throughout her career Fiona has demonstrated a strong commitment to training and development both in education, including teaching roles at Reading University and the supervision of PhD students, and in the commercial arena, with the support and mentoring of team members and colleagues. She was also part of a Global Diversity & Inclusion Taskforce when working for a major battery materials company.

Fiona has a successful track record in the battery industry. Most recently in the Product Innovation Team at Johnson Matthey Battery Materials, leading the team in the development of novel high nickelate cathode materials by surface modification and the advanced characterisation and physicochemical understanding of Johnson Matthey’s high nickel cathode material portfolio.

James is a Reader in Energy Materials in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at Newcastle University. His research utilises state-of-the-art modelling techniques, including density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulation and machine learning methods, to investigate ion transport and interfaces in battery materials. James has received several early-career awards, including the 2023 Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Serena is currently the Principal Scientist at Agratas. She was previously in charge of characterisation of battery materials at Jaguar Land Rover. She is also one of the primary stakeholders in the Catapult initiatives, as well as being active in student supervision.

Serena established significant abilities in electrodeposition and material characterisation during her PhD in physical and analytical chemistry and during her career. In 2014, she received the International Society of Electrochemistry's Poster Presentation Prize, and in 2015, she was a finalist in the Sorbonne University's selection for the CNRS contest "My PhD thesis in 180 seconds," which aims to bring technical material to a wider audience.

Serena gathered 10 years of experience in teaching both at Bachelor and Master degree levels during her PhD and her previous role as Assistant Professor. Serena volunteers for Zero Waste Europe and France in her spare time, where she gives scientific presentations to the wider public about domestic waste reduction.

Dominic Grantley-Smith joined the Faraday Institution in October 2022 as the Training Manager and leads in the delivery of the PhD training and the Faraday Undergraduate Summer Experience (FUSE) internship programmes. Dominic’s aim is to support the diversity and dynamic pool of talent going into the battery sector.  

Dominic is passionate about sustainability and believes to solve the climate crisis we need to reduce barriers and provide opportunities for everyone wanting a STEM career. Dominic believes batteries and energy storage will play a key part in getting to net zero.  

Before this role, Dominic led a botanic garden education team internationally, through public engagement and online training. He designed behaviour change activities to make the public more environmentally friendly. His work led him to speak at COP 26 and many global educational conferences. Before that Dominic worked in science communication in the museum sector and holds a degree in biology.  

Ivana is Associate Professor of Electrochemical Materials at the University of Warwick (WMG). Her research activities are directed toward the understanding of the processes governing the chemistry of the next generation sustainable battery technologies. Design of technically relevant materials and the investigation of their structure-property correlation and electrochemical behavior are the core of her research interest. At the Energy Innovation Centre, she is also working toward the development and scale up of new battery chemistries from concept to full proven cell prototypes.

Since 2012 her work on electrochemical energy storage systems developed among Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), Helmholtz Institute Ulm (Germany), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (California, USA), and University of Warwick (UK) has led to several peer-reviewed publications, invited talks at international conferences, and a spot award in recognition of pioneering work performed at LBNL. Her recent work was highlighted in the themed collection “Emerging Investigators 2023” in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

Ivana is currently serving as Elected Technical Advisor of Working Group 1 “New Emerging Technologies” within the European Technology and Innovation Platform (ETIP) BatteRies Europe and is a member of the Early Career Advisory Board of Batteries & Supercaps. Ivana is also the academic lead for the WMG Battery School for Faraday Institution course that brings together fundamental and applied research into battery technology.

Dr Tom Heenan is the CEO and co-founder of Gaussion, a London-based start-up that develops magnetic systems to improve battery performance. He is the lead inventor of MagLiB technology, and a Faraday Entrepreneurial Fellow. Throughout his career he has accumulated numerous awards and published several high-impact publications; Nature (DOI:10.1038/s41586-023-05913-z). He is an internationally recognised engineer & entrepreneur, and has previously acted as: Visiting Foreign National at NASA; the co-creator of an open-source battery database (DoE, USA); a consultant for various companies; and has acted as an expert-witness on high-profile court-cases.

Harini is currently an Energy & Power Systems Researcher in the Sustainability Lab at Hitachi Europe Research & Development. Her research focuses on potential energy-as-a-service products and solutions for the European electricity distribution market, as well as battery technology including the investigation of second-life opportunities. After gaining a PhD in Energy Storage from Imperial College, Harini acted as Battery Research Lead at M-KOPA Solar which provided solar home systems to people without energy access in sub-Saharan Africa. She oversaw the development of lifecycle management systems and processes including the development of lithium-ion battery manufacturing auditing tools for procurement, as well as leading energy storage research projects for the organisation. Subsequently she worked as a free-lance energy storage consultant working with businesses and non-profits globally before starting in her current role at Hitachi.’

Rhodri is an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at UCL whose research focuses on the characterisation of energy materials and devices using x-rays. Since 2018 he has been the project lead for the Faraday Institution battery Degradation programme and is involved in several other projects across the battery research space. At UCL, he is the Year in Industry Tutor and Careers liaison and is a chartered Scientist. He is a frequent user of large scale facilities and sits on the STFC Physical Sciences Advisory Board and Diamond review panel (spectroscopy). He is the academic lead for outreach group UCell who educate and inform a variety of audiences in electrochemical technologies and promote STEM access for all.

Tom Maull is the Technical Strategy Manager for Elysia Battery Intelligence. Prior to his current role, he led battery modelling activities and algorithm development for several high-profile battery programmes ranging from large Haul Trucks to top-tier motorsport, including Formula E Gen 3 and LMDh.

In his current role, Tom develops the R&D strategy for Elysia Battery Intelligence, working in close collaboration with academic and technical partners.

Before joining Elysia, Tom worked as a mechanical engineering consultant and expert witness, serving clients in the automotive and offroad industry.

Dorota Matras is currently a Materials Scientist at UKBIC. She joined the Electrochemistry team in 2023, where she supports customer projects focused on benchmarking battery cell technologies and forensic analysis of novel cell technologies. Additionally, she serves as a technical expert in tomography and data analysis.

Prior to this, she spent 3.5 years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faraday Institution and Diamond Light Source, focusing on the development of multi-modal imaging and tomography of functional materials at the nanoscale. Her research primarily focused on the characterisation of novel cathode materials for Li‑ion batteries.

Ilaria is a chemical scientist by background and is the Senior Programme Manager for Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).

In her current role, Ilaria leads the efforts of the RSC I&D team to increase the diversity of people choosing and fulfilling their potential in the chemical sciences. Areas of focus of the team include disability and accessibility, gender parity, socioeconomic inclusion, race and ethnicity and LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Before this role, Ilaria spent several years working closely with the chemical sciences community, to enable collaborations across researchers, industry representatives, policymakers and funding bodies on areas such as sustainability and air quality.

Saneeya leads a portfolio of UK and European research talent development activities that are lauded as gold standards for inclusivity and accessibility. She is the University of Liverpool’s operational lead for the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and a peer reviewer for the European HR Excellence in Research Award. As convener for the European Educational Research Association’s early career research enhancement activities, she also contributes to shaping European policy, creating and implementing effective research talent development frameworks.