It’s GO TIME for Energy Storage! With stress on the grid continuing to increase, there are predictions that demand will double by 2050 in the USA. As a result, we’re seeing a lot of movement in the energy storage market! This is why we were keen to welcome a true veteran in the field, Christopher Johnson, who clears up some misconceptions, answers our community questions and give us a real insight into the future of energy storage. We hope you enjoy! This podcast is created by global Cleantech t...
Jun 10, 2025•43 min
Welcome to the decoding of the Battery Talent Census delivered by our partners at the Volta Foundation! Our guests today, Wendy Papakostandini and Andrew Weng have done something that’s never been done before by collecting critical data, which is invaluable for both employers and employees in the battery field! Wendy’s full time position is the Principal of Talent at Anzu Partners, whilst Andrew with a rich history at Tesla, is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan, so I ...
May 27, 2025•44 min
Will we ever see batteries that are 100% made in North American? With tariffs and the ever increasing geopolitical tension, comes the increasing pressure to create a robust, domestic supply chain to do so. Battery Materials is naturally a huge element to achieving this, which is why I was proud to welcome NOVONIX to Take Charge, with both their Anode (Harrison Kreafle) and Cathode Mark McArthur) Technology Directors joining me to shine a light on how we can create a domestic materials supply cha...
May 13, 2025•44 min
Over the past year-18 months, it’s fair to say that investment in the battery space has been dynamic to say the least. With the US battery industry facing headwinds due to recent tariffs and more geopolitical issues, we were keen to welcome Foothill Ventures to the podcast, who are arguably the most active seed-round investor in the US battery industry. Eric Rosenblum joins me, who is a true thought leader in the space, as he sheds some light on the industry, giving guidance on investment ration...
Apr 29, 2025•46 min
Half a century of Take Charge episodes, with Penelope Jones, the Founder and CEO of Byterat taking charge for our 50th! We'd like to give Paul Sinclair a special shout out, who is the CCO of Byterat and the EVP of Development at the Volta Foundation, as he’s been a true supporter of Take Charge since day one. He kindly connected us with Penelope to talk all things battery data, analytics and AI. We hope you enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 01, 2025•32 min
It’s March 2020, the world is shook in so many ways, one of those was the working dynamic, with many businesses and employees turning to remote working for the very first time. It quickly became the norm and widely accepted, but fast forward to the present day, and there seems to be a shift back to office. In this episode, we cover this trend, clearing up a lot of myths and facts and talking about employee flexibility versus employee collaboration, and on all of these topics, our guests provides...
Mar 25, 2025•42 min
Women make up 16% of the battery industry… with even fewer in leadership roles. This isn’t something we're particularly proud of. So, to address this and showcase that the battery space is a viable and incredible option for women… Our community lead, Lauren Allanson, hosted a webinar for #InternationalWomensDay: During this ep, you'll discover: 👉 Key barriers preventing gender diversity and how to overcome them. 👉 Successful case studies from companies taking the lead. 👉 Practical actions and...
Mar 14, 2025•52 min
Today, we’re talking about electrolytes... but not the type that hydrates Jamie for his marathon training. Instead, we’re talking about an electrolyte solution in the batteries of our future! David Mackinac, the Co-Founder & CEO of Anthro Energy joins us to clear up many electrolyte myths and facts. He also talks us through their story, their future and their unique drop-in solid electrolyte solution. Finally, as always, he answers a few question from you, our battery community. We hope you ...
Mar 11, 2025•32 min
Developing your own battery cell is hard, it’s not easy! A phrase commonly used for sure, and one that today’s guest highlights. Omkar Nadgauda joins me, who is the Chief Operations Officer of EnPower Inc, which interestingly has the largest cell manufacturing capacity of any US-based startup! Jamie helped Omkar join EnPower Inc last year, so it was a real pleasure to welcome him onto Take Charge! We hope you enjoy. This podcast is created by Strativ Group , experts in the CleanTech talent marke...
Feb 26, 2025•47 min
Get best practices for battery fire prevention & suppression from 3 battery fire experts: - Patrick Durham, Captain & Training Officer | StacheD Training - Wayne Aho, Sr. Product Manager | Seimens - Brian Morin, CEO | Soteria Technologies In this 45-minute session, you’ll: - Get the latest data on the rise or fall of battery fires and what the future holds for this growing issue. - Hear key takeaways from an extensive report on battery safety and fire prevention. - Understand the newest ...
Feb 19, 2025•47 min
Doesn’t everyone deserve a 2nd chance? In this case, we’re talking about EV batteries having a 2nd life through BESS applications. We're proud to welcome Sumreen Rattan in this episode, who is a Co-Founder and the Chief Operations Officer of Moment Energy. It’s fair to say that Moment Energy are the talk of the town right now, or perhaps the company of the Moment in this space, after their recent DOE funding and close of their Series-A funding round. We talk about what this means for their busin...
Jan 28, 2025•28 min
Welcome to 2025, the year when Donald Trump takes over the US… again! What does that mean for the US Battery & Clean Technology market? Today, Jamie welcomes Sham Ramnarain, who is the Founder & CEO of BlackTeal Energy. They’re a business who’ve moved quickly in recent months, taking the administration change into consideration, soon to close their seed round and have established a new entity in Holland, MI. Hear from Sham as he shares his story, strategy and his outlook for the industry...
Jan 14, 2025•37 min
What are Flow Batteries?… Well, the technology has been around for a while, but it’s fair to say it’s never really taken off. Perhaps until now… XL Batteries’ Founder & CEO, Tom Sisto, joins us to educate us on all things Flow Batteries, sharing his story and how their version can be game changing for grid energy storage. We think you’ll find this conversation flowed quite nicely, we hope you enjoy! The Take Charge series is created by Strativ Group , a talent solutions organisation - with a...
Jan 07, 2025•33 min
Myth or Fact, Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper than lithium-ion batteries? What do you think? In today’s episode we clarify several claims or myths around sodium-ion batteries, and to do so, we have a real expert in the field to help. Darren Tan, the CEO of UNIGRID Battery joins me for our last episode of 2024! We cover topics around technology, manufacturing and commercial adoption, taking a deep dive into the history, present capabilities and future scope of sodium-ion batteries. We hope you e...
Dec 17, 2024•50 min
What fate faces today’s EV Batteries at the end of their life? Jamie is joined by Dr Christian Marston, the Co-Founder & COO of Altilium, as we discuss the importance and complexities of battery recycling and decarbonising our supply chains. There’s talk of new batteries eventually being made from old ones and the demand on mining raw materials to be heavily reduced, if not removed in a couple of decades time. We’re here today to run through the statistics and outlook, we hope you enjoy! Tak...
Dec 03, 2024•39 min
Ten… Nine… The clock is ticking for our time on planet earth! Jamie is joined by Ten-Nine Technology’s Founder & CEO, Paige Johnson. To secure our future, it’s so important that the battery industry thrives across the world to achieve electrification. To do so, creating an environment where teams can thrive and innovate to build better batteries is imperative. This is something Paige is very passionate about, as we discuss Paige and Ten-Nine’s inspiring journey over the past 10 years, how sh...
Nov 19, 2024•45 min
Solid-state batteries made with silicon, as opposed to lithium metal… It’s a rare case, which is why we're excited to be joined by Blue Current, who’ve been gathering momentum with this chemistry over many years. Susan Stone, the new CEO of Blue Current joins our host Jamie, as well as Kevin Wujcik, the long-standing CTO, to talk about their journey so far and why this is our chemistry of the future. Given Susan’s background, she also gives us her take on the current investment landscape, as wel...
Nov 05, 2024•43 min
Live from Battery Show North America, we get strategic! Jamie speaks to 3 incredible leaders, about building important partnerships in the batter industry; Vick Singh – SVP of Technology – Dragonfly Energy Dean Miller - Senior Scientist – TESCAN USA Inc. Wesley De Boever – Product Sales Leader - TESCAN USA Inc. Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your insight! For more info about the Take Charge community and podcast feel free to email our host Jamie Sheard at j.sheard@strativgroup.com....
Oct 29, 2024•28 min
Our second recording from the Battery Show US 2024 covers DEI and leadership in the battery industry. Jamie speaks to three incredible female leaders, who all share their own experiences and advice for other women in the space: Barbara Hughes – VP of Energy Storage, Forge Nano Ashley Schaefer – Head of Cell Engineering, Ten-Nine Technologies Celina Mikolajczak – Chief Battery Technical Officer, Lyten Thank you so much for your insight guys, we loved this chat! Take Charge is a community & po...
Oct 22, 2024•37 min
Live from Detroit! Jamie records this ep in the Volta Foundation lounge at The US Battery Show, discussing the future of battery manufacturing with 3 incredible leaders: Johnnie Stoker, CEO – Ultion Technologies Paul Lichty, CEO – Forge Nano & Forge Battery Jay Bellows, President – KORE Power Thank you so much for your insight guys, we loved this chat! Take Charge is a community & podcast series, sponsored by the Volta Foundation and created by the battery talent solutions experts, Strat...
Oct 18, 2024•29 min
Welcome to another Powered by Volta episode. Do you know where your lithium is? This episode could provide a big relief for many battery scientists, as we talk about Laser Ablation Laser Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry and how it can revolutionize material characterization. Hear from Jeff Williams, the Founder & CEO of Exum Instruments as we take a deep dive into what this solution means for our industry. We hope you enjoy! This podcast is hosted by Jamie Sheard , who is Senior C...
Oct 01, 2024•30 min
Welcome to another Powered by Volta Episode of Take Charge! Who said the conversation on dry rooms had to be dry? Keith Hoge joins us today, who is the Director of Bry-Air’s Battery Business. Keith talks us through how dry rooms work and how they will evolve to meet next-gen requirements. We also discuss how the supply of domestic equipment is a major challenge and will continue to be as the battery manufacturing sector grows across the States. Finally, we have a couple of quick fire questions f...
Sep 24, 2024•20 min
Hello everyone! We have a very exciting announcement to make... This the first of many ‘Powered By Volta’ Take Charge episodes. Yen and I share more in this podcast about what that actually means. Can you believe it’s been 5 years since the establishment of The Volta Foundation? There’s no one better to talk us through this journey than the founder himself, Yen Yeh. We talk about highlights, challenges, lessons learned and what the future has in store. We hope you enjoy! If you'd like to be a fu...
Sep 17, 2024•40 min
The Low Down on Lithium-Sulfur… do we smell a chemistry that will be mass-produced in the future? Apologies for the pun… Jake Carpenter, the Commercial Manager at Gelion joins me to talk all things li-sulfur. He provides history of the chemistry, the issues to date, the abundance, price and manufacturability of sulfur and how it could be game changing to many applications. We also discuss battery recycling, especially given Gelion’s future endeavours in this area. Also, for the first time, we as...
Sep 03, 2024•40 min
This is an element sometimes overshadowed... but today, we shine a spotlight on it. Ofer Friedman, the VP of Products at Addionics joins us, as we discuss which geographies dominate current collector production, how geopolitics is playing it’s part how things needs to change if we’re to meet our ambitious battery manufacturing targets, particularly in the US. We discuss the advancements in technology, how current collectors can contribute to reducing the costs and increasing performance of batte...
Aug 21, 2024•30 min
To accelerate battery manufacturing, is data analytics the key? We're joined today by Eli Leland, who is the CTO & Co-Founder of Voltaiq. We've seen a lot of hype around analytics recently, whether that be in R&D or manufacturing, so it was great to speak with a data analytics veteran, whose been in the game since 2012. Hear from Eli on how analytics is currently contributing to battery manufacturing, how it can be the key to tackling our staffing/personnel issue as we aspire to achieve ...
Aug 06, 2024•39 min
Ambitious plans is what we like to see when it comes to US Battery Manufacturing. Hear from Jay Bellows, the President of Kore Power, as we discuss their ambitious plans, his outlook for the industry, our growing reliance on the Grid and how the US can get it right with vertical integration and a strong supply chain. We hope you enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 23, 2024•37 min
Electric boats that ride above the waves! In episode 28, we're joined by Mikael Mahlberg, the Head of Communications at CANDELA. As well as looking really cool, their hydrofoiling technology is game changing for the electrification of boats. It improves efficiency, speed and reduces sea sickness. It’s also great for the buildings in Venice, leisure, commuting, ferrying and so much more. Hear from a company that’s already commercial, making sales whilst not making waves. You’ll see what we mean a...
Jul 09, 2024•35 min
Fast Charge without the heat, but with a dramatically increased cycle life! Today we welcome Dan Alpern, the VP Marketing at Battery Streak. We’ve had several guests on the show talk about fast charge capabilities, so this one is a great follow-on to deepen the conversation. In part one we talk about novel technology, fast charge, their anode and cathode materials and how this can add value to so many applications. As Take Charge is all about adding value to our community, part two of our conver...
Jul 02, 2024•44 min
July 26th 2024, mark your calendars! (Since our podcast recording, the event has now SOLD OUT!) My guest today, Nika Ptushkina is hosting the first in person event for Women In Batteries at Stanford University. It’s in partnership with the Stanford StorageX Initiative and it promises to be an amazing event. They have an incredible panel of speakers lined up, with great food, entertainment and much more. We unfortunately can’t attend and we feel very bad about it, so we wanted to give back and to...
Jun 25, 2024•38 min
