Invited Speakers

Prof. Dr. Maximilian Fichtner is Chemist and Executive Director of the Helmholtz-Institute Ulm for Electrochemical Energy Storage (HIU), where he is leading the “Solid State Chemistry” Department. At the Institute for Nanotechnology of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) he is head of the Research Unit “Energy Storage Systems”. Fichtner is also full professor (W3) for Solid State Chemistry at the Ulm University and Honorary Professor at the University of Wales in Swansea, UK.

He has a series of coordinator functions in R&D platforms and large-scale research projects such as the German Cluster of Excellence “Energy Storage Beyond Lithium” (POLiS), one of the largest international efforts on new ways to replace lithium by more sustainable elements in batteries. His research interests are new principles for energy storage and the synthesis and investigation of related materials. Fichtner is author and co-author of approx. 450 refereed publications, conference- and book contributions, 24 patents and editor of a book on magnesium batteries. In 2024 he has been awarded by the Science Award of the City of Ulm and the International Magnesium Science & Technology Award for Distinguished Scientists.
His h index is 74 (SCOPUS). Publications at https://www.int.kit.edu/982.php

Stephen J. Paddison is currently the Gibson Endowed Professor of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He received a B.Sc.(Honours) in Chemical Physics and a Ph.D. in Physical/Theoretical Chemistry (1996) from the University of Calgary, Canada. He was, subsequently, a postdoctoral fellow and staff member in the Materials Science Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He joined the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Tennessee in 2007. His research work has focused on elucidating fundamental molecular-level understanding of polymer electrolyte membranes and electrocatalysts. He employs a multiscale approach to materials modeling with methodologies including high level (DFT) electronic structure calculations, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), classical molecular dynamics, quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM), dissipative particle dynamics, and equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. Dr. Paddison has a long standing interest in proton transport in soft materials, liquids, and mixed systems.

Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Irvine Director, National Fuel Cell Research Center, University of California Irvine

Professor Zenyuk holds a B.S. (2008) in mechanical engineering from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. She continued her studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where she earned M.S. (2011) and Ph.D. (2013) in mechanical engineering. Zenyuk did her postdoctoral fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Electrochemical Technologies Group.

She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award (2017), Interpore society Fraunhofer Award for Young Researchers (2017), Research Corporation for Science Advancement, Scialog Fellow in Advanced Energy Storage (2017-2019), Electrochemical Society (ECS) Toyota Young Investigator Award (2018), UCI Samueli School of Engineering Early Career Faculty Excellence in Research Award (2019) and ECS Energy Technology Division Srinivasan Young Investigator Award (2021), UCI Beal Applied Innovations Early Career Innovator of the Year (2021), UCI Samueli School of Engineering Mid Career Faculty Excellence in Research Award (2022). Prof. Zenyuk published over 100 journal publications and delivered more than 100 invited presentations on topics of energy conversion and storage.

Twitter handle: @muziolog

Webpage: https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/zenyuklab/

Francesca De Giorgio is a researcher at the National Research Council (CNR) - Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials (ISMN) in Bologna, Italy. Since 2009, she has been working in the field of sustainable electrochemical energy conversion and storage systems, earning her PhD at the Laboratory of Electrochemistry of Materials for Energy (LEME) of the Department of Chemistry «Giacomo Ciamician» (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Italy). Her research focuses on integrating biomaterials, secondary raw materials, and green processes into next-generation batteries, supercapacitors, and solar cells. In 2018, she co-founded the Italian Startup BETTERY Srl which was awarded by the President of the Senate of the Italian Republic with the “Premio Nazionale per l'Innovazione - Premio dei Premi” (COTEC-Fondazione per l’innovazione), and in 2019 she collaborated with Manz Italy Srl as Associate Battery Researcher. She is a member of the Management Board of the GISEL Association (Italian Group for Electrochemical Energy Storage) for the 2024-2025 term, as well as a member of the Technical-Scientific Committee overseeing the re-industrialization plan of the ex GKN Factory (Campi Bisenzio, Italy).

Contacts:
E-mail: francesca.degiorgio@cnr.it       |       LinkedIn

Livia Giordano is a Full Professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy. Prior to this position she was an Associate Professor in the same university (2021-2024), she led the computational chemistry research in the Electrochemical Energy Laboratory at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2013-2021) and served as program manager of the Low Carbon Energy Center for Energy Storage for the MIT Energy Initiative (2019-2021). She obtained her PhD in Material Science from the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy and joined the faculty there in 2007. Her research applies fundamental understanding in reaction mechanisms and reactivity trends to design new materials for energy storage and conversion, with a focus on electrode/electrolytes interfaces in Li-ion batteries, novel electrolytes, and oxygen electrocatalysis. Her work has contributed to the discovery of new catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction and electrolyte design in Li-ion and Li-air batteries.

Andrea Idili is an Associate Professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in the Department of Chemical Science and Technologies. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences with Excellent cum laude under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Ricci at the University of Rome Tor Vergata in 2016, with research focused on DNA nanotechnology. Following approximately one year of postdoctoral research in the group of Prof. Ricci, Dr. Idili held postdoctoral positions in the group of Prof. Kevin Plaxco (UCSB, USA – from 2017 to 2019), focusing on in-vivo biosensing, and Prof. Arben Merkoci (ICN2, Spain – from 2019 to 2021), working on paper-based and electrochemical sensors for point-of-care applications. His current research group focuses on developing novel DNA-based electrochemical and optical sensors that can support the real-time, continuous monitoring of diagnostically relevant molecules in vitro and in vivo. The importance of his research is reflected in 43 peer-reviewed papers published in high-impact factor journals (h-index 26), 1 patent, and 4 book chapters. He has received several international and national awards and fellowships in recognition of his work, including the Marie Skłodowska-Curie individual fellowship (MSCA-IF 2020, REA), the “ISSNAF Awards For Young Investigators 2019” (ISSNAF, USA), the “PROBIST postdoctoral fellowship 2019”, an “Honor mention 2014 Primo Levi award” (Italian Chemical Society), and the “Canada-Italy Innovation Award 2013” (Embassy of Canada to Italy). His research is significantly supported by the prestigious “My First AIRC” Grant 2024 (€500,000), awarded by the AIRC Cancer Research Foundation, for which he serves as Coordinator of the project.

Nagore Ortiz-Vitoriano is a Senior Researcher, Ikerbasque Research Associate Professor, and Ramón y Cajal Fellow, currently leading the Transport and Interfaces team and the Metal-Air research line at CIC energiGUNE (Spain). She earned her PhD in 2011 from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) for her work on solid oxide fuel cells, for which she received the Doctoral Special Prize. Dr. Ortiz-Vitoriano has been awarded prestigious fellowships, including a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship at MIT (USA), as well as Ikerbasque and Ramón y Cajal Fellowships. Her research focuses on metal-air batteries, biopolymer-based electrolytes, and sustainable energy storage materials, combining fundamental insights with practical applications. She has authored over 70 publications, delivered 25 invited talks, and raised over €3M in public and private funding in recent years, leading to significant research achievements, including a patent application for a Zn-air battery electrolyte.

Antonio Ranieri obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy) in 2003 working under the supervision of Prof. M. Borsari on molecular and protein electrochemistry. After a period in the laboratory of Prof. H. A. O. Hill at the University of Oxford and in the laboratory of Prof. C. Amatore at École Normale Supérieure of Paris, he held a post-doctoral position at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia where was appointed Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry in 2005. He was visiting scientist in 2006, 2007 and 2013 at Vrije University of Amsterdam (Netherland) working with combined Electrochemical/Raman techniques on protein modified metal surfaces. In 2015 was appointed Associate Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy). His main research activity is involved in the field of molecular electrochemistry, bioelectrochemistry, and bioelectrocatalysis.

Lorenzo Stievano is Full Professor at the University of Montpellier and a researcher at the Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM). His research focuses on batteries and battery materials, with particular expertise in the Operando characterization of electrochemical systems using advanced optical and X-Ray spectroscopies. His work aims to understand the structural and chemical evolution of materials during operation, supporting the development of more efficient and sustainable energy storage technologies. Prof. Stievano is actively involved in national and European collaborative projects, and he is active member of international research networks in the field of energy materials. He has authored numerous publications in leading scientific journals, promoting interdisciplinary approaches to address the challenges of the energy transition.

Dr. Federico Tasca, studied Industrial Biotechnology at the University of Padua, Italy and his PhD in analytical chemistry at the University of Lund, Sweden, in 2010, under the supervision of Dr. Lo Gorton. Dr. Tasca realized a post-doc at the University of Stanford, CA, US, and finally started a tenure position at the University of Santiago of Chile in 2013. The researcher has 20 years of experience working with electrochemical and electrocatalysis related projects and has published more than 70 papers in the topic of energy transformation, biofuel cells and fuel cells and electrocatalysis in general, H index 31.