Our team

Dr. Li is the primary inventor of the sustainable lithium-ion battery materials production technology. He has more than 18 years of experience in battery materials R&D and commercialization. Dr. Li has been the first inventor and led the prototype design of several game-changing battery technologies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech. These inventions have attracted hundreds million dollar funding rounds from state and federal government, and institutional investors.

Dr. Whittingham is the 2019 Nobel Laureate and Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Director of the NorthEast Center for Chemical Energy Storage at Binghamton University. He is the founding father of lithium-ion batteries and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering.

Mr. Clark has been an executive across a range of industrial and renewable energy companies where he has led commercial teams, grown a $300M+ global P&L and negotiated large, complex agreements in energy, recycling, petrochemical and related industries.  His experience includes Schneider Electric, First Solar and other leading companies.  Mr. Clark started his career as a nuclear submariner in the US Navy.

Prior to joining Li Industries, Mr. Young led a 14-business unit, $600M division at Inteplast Group, a manufacturer of polymer products for healthcare, consumer goods, and construction industries. An MIT graduate with an SM in materials science and engineering, he has worked and published in the areas of energy storage and biologically-derived nanoparticles.

Dr. Han has more than 10 years of research and teaching experience on entrepreneurship, strategy, and entrepreneurial financing at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has won both research and teaching awards in the field of entrepreneurship and management.

Mr. Mistretta brings 30 years of operations experience in clean technologies, semiconductor, specialty materials, and chemicals industries, He has led a $1.0 billion division as VP of Global Operations at Entegris, managed critical operations at BASF,  DuPont, EKC and directed 9-figure annual CAPEX budgets.  Mr. Mistretta earned his MBA from Colorado State University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Tulane University.

Mr. Smith is the President Emeritus and former CEO of Call2Recycle, the first and largest consumer battery stewardship and recycling program in United States. Mr. Smith has served as CEO of Call2Recycle from 2008-2020, as well as other various key managerial roles in both the private and public sectors.

Prior to joining Li Industries, he was Vice President of BAE Systems Platform Solutions, a manufacturer of vehicles for both military and civilian applications, and was responsible for a $1.3B division that designed and produced electrically-powered vehicles. Mr. Schmidt also has over 20 years of leadership in the US defense sector.

Dr. Ellis has 25 years of experience in engineering design, research, and education related to the development and application of advanced energy systems. His work has been funded by DOE, NSF, major industry and small business organizations.