Leadership

David Bradwell, co-inventor of the Liquid Metal™ battery and co-founder of Ambri, assumed the role of CEO in August 2024. With over fifteen years of experience in Ambri’s innovative technology and as the longest tenured employee, David has expansive company experience and knowledge, from day-to-day operations to strategic planning, across most of the company’s functions. In addition to leading the technology development team as CTO since the company’s inception, he has played an instrumental role in fundraising, helping the company raise more than $200M in equity funding.

David earned his undergraduate degree in Engineering Physics from Queen’s University before receiving a Master of Engineering and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a proud inventor on more than 40 U.S. patents and patent filings and is an author on numerous publications in top tier peer-reviewed scientific journals with thousands of citations.

David is enthusiastic about Ambri’s future and eager to contribute to a cleaner energy future.

Steve has over 40 years of global experience in manufacturing & supply chain operations, strategic sourcing, new product delivery, and business process improvement.  He has held leadership positions in several industries, including Aerospace & Defense, Chemicals & Coatings, Consumer Products, and Industrial Manufacturing.

Steve has served as President & CEO of Berkshire Manufacturing Products, a producer of precision aerospace components, General Manager of ATI Flowform Products, a contract manufacturing supporting the defense industry, and SVP of Operations for Polaroid Corporation.  He has led sales and integration processes for acquisitions by strategic and private buyers.

Steve enjoys leveraging his experience to eliminate gaps between financial expectations and operational capabilities, with a focus on rapid performance turnaround, manufacturing cost reduction, new product launch and scale-up.

Adam’s career has spanned over three decades advancing new battery and fuel cell products for energy storage, consumer electronics, military and industrial markets.  Adam led Duracell’s OEM sales and consulting group.  He was president of Millennium Cell and CEO of Acumentrics, fuel cell technology developers and manufacturers.  Most recently as the Chief Commercial Officer of NEC Energy Solutions, he led the capture of grid scale energy storage projects for that leading energy storage integrator for a four year period.

Adam’s experience in the introduction of new battery products has been instrumental in guiding Ambri towards energy storage markets and partnerships.

As one of Ambri’s first three employees, Alex has served in a wide range of technical and operational roles during his tenure with the company.

He is presently responsible for leading the teams responsible for developing Ambri’s core cell technology and ensuring effective progress along the product roadmap towards low-cost, high-performance, and long-lasting energy storage solutions.

Alex has a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Doctorate in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Oxford as a Clarendon Scholar.

Alex joined Ambri in 2012, taking on roles of increasing complexity and impact. Over the years, his work has encompassed a wide range of areas, including cell and system design, manufacturing processes, and equipment design.

Prior to Ambri, Alex performed R&D on lab-scale lithium-ion cells and spearheaded the creation of a pilot manufacturing line for prismatic 60Ah lithium-ion cells. His responsibilities at the pilot plant included designing and constructing custom production equipment, battery management systems, and “End of Line” cell test cyclers. Alex enjoys mentoring team members and thrives while continuously learning alongside them.

As the Executive Vice President of Engineering, Alex now leads initiatives in seal engineering, manufacturing equipment, and system engineering.

Jianyi Cui is an accomplished senior leader with over 20 years of experience in industrial research and development. As the VP of Technical Services and Senior Principal Scientist, she focuses on building and improving essential infrastructure support in high-tech startups. She has expertise in material science and stationary energy storage batteries.

Jianyi has a BE in Materials Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University, a MS in Materials from Pennsylvania State College, and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dan Leff has experience building, leading, and restructuring global energy services, industrial automation/manufacturing, technology, and software companies. Dan is currently an investor, advisor, and board member in growth companies, and advisor to PE/VC funds involved in climate tech and the energy transition.

Formerly, Dan was COO of Invensys Energy Management & co-COO of its London-based parent, Invensys plc. Earlier, Dan was chairman & CEO of Enron Energy Services post-Enron’s bankruptcy filing, and COO of Enron Energy Services pre-filing. Formerly, Dan co-founded a nationwide energy services company, was CEO of a NYC-based energy services company, and worked for United Technologies Carrier domestically and internationally.

Marcelo Kim is a Partner at Paulson & Co. Inc., where he covers the firm’s macro-economic and natural resource investments across public and private markets. He is a graduate of Yale University and is also the Chairman of Perpetua Resources and International Tower Hill Mines

Lewis “Lou” Von Thaer became President and CEO of Battelle on October 1, 2017. Lou began his technology career with AT&T Bell Laboratories, spent a number of years at General Dynamics, then joined Leidos, Inc. as President of the company’s National Security Sector. Before joining Battelle, Lou served as CEO of DynCorp International. Lou holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Rutgers University.

He serves as board chair of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, co-chair for UT-Battelle (operator of Oak Ridge National Laboratory), and on the boards of the Defense Science Board, the National Defense Industrial Association, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, National Veterans Memorial and Museum and TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors). Lou is a member of the Ohio State University Board of Trustees where he serves on three committees: Audit and Compliance, Finance, and the Talent and Compensation Committee. He also serves as a trustee of the Kansas State University Foundation. He also is a member of the Ohio Business Roundtable and the Columbus Partnership Executive Committee.

Donald Sadoway, PhD, has been a professor in the department of Materials Science at MIT for over 40 years.  His GroupSadoway lab has pioneered battery technology for Ambri as well as mobile and automobile applications. He is recognized as the world leader in battery technology.

After teaching freshman chemistry for over 25 years, he now lectures in classes on energy and other subjects.   He is author of over 170 scientific papers and holder of 30+ U.S. patents. Sadoway pioneered the development of MOE (molten oxide electrolysis), and co-founded the company Boston Metal that is producing metals with no CO2 emissions.

He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Toronto.  In 2012 he was recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential People of the year by Time Magazine for his work on the Liquid Metal Battery. His TED talk has been viewed over 2,000,000 times.

Dr. Sadoway’s TED talk      donaldsadoway.com