Appointment of Prof. Jeff Dahn as Chief Scientific Advisor
Brisbane, Jan 19, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - NOVONIX Limited (
ASX:NVX) (GC3:FRA) (NVNXF:OTCMKTS) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Prof. Jeff Dahn as Chief Scientific Advisor, effective July 1, 2021. In this capacity, Prof. Dahn will provide advice with respect to Novonix initiatives across its battery materials and research businesses as well as key customer and business development projects.
Prof. Dahn and the Dalhousie University research team in Halifax, Nova Scotia will continue to work alongside Tesla.
Prof. Dahn is a leading researcher in the field of lithium-ion batteries and materials and currently holds the title of NSERC/Tesla Canada Industrial Research Chair with Dalhousie University. Having a long career across both industry and academia, he has spent the last 25 years as a professor at Dalhousie University, with support from 3M Company and most recently, from Tesla. Prof. Dahn has co-authored 730 papers and has 73 inventions with patents issued or filed, including some of the early patents related to Li[NiMnCo]O2 (NMC) cathode material in 2001.
"We are extremely excited to have Prof. Dahn join the Novonix team and become involved in our initiatives to develop and supply world-leading materials to the lithium-ion battery sector. I am personally pleased to have the opportunity to work together with Prof. Dahn again as his insights, industry contacts and experience will be a huge asset for our business," said Novonix Chief Executive Dr. Chris Burns.
Novonix Battery Technology Solutions (BTS) was spun out of Prof. Dahn's research group in 2013 by Dr. Burns while completing his PhD under Prof. Dahn's supervision. The two scientists collaborated during 2016-2017 when Dr. Burns worked at Tesla and began the relationship with Prof. Dahn's research group. Prof. Dahn and his research group have had an exclusive research partnership with Tesla since 2016.
Dalhousie University recently announced that two professors, Prof. Chongyin Yang and Prof. Michael Metzger, have joined the Dalhousie research group and the Tesla partnership starting January 4 this year. This additional leadership will enable Prof. Dahn to spend some of his time working with Novonix's team.
Prof. Dahn said: "I have always wanted to be able to help local Nova Scotian businesses in the battery space and I'm happy to be taking on this advisory role. The Novonix team is comprised of creative scientists and engineers who are doing exciting and novel work. I am thrilled to have this opportunity."
Novonix BTS currently employs five people who spent time under Prof. Dahn's supervision. The Chief Scientific Advisor role is a multi-year agreement for Prof. Dahn's involvement in key programs within Novonix's business units.
Novonix BTS continues developing innovative materials and solutions for advancing the performance and lowering the cost of lithium-ion batteries including filing recent patent applications on dry particle microgranulation (DPMG) technology and electrolyte systems. DPMG can be used to lower the cost and increase the efficiency of manufacturing of both anode and cathode materials. This includes the ability to synthesize state of the art cathode materials through a new, low-cost process. Novonix BTS is scaling development of this material including the installation of its cathode pilot processing facility.
In addition to its Canadian operations, Novonix operates the PUREgraphite anode material plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is ramping up capacity to 2,000 tons/year of synthetic graphite. Included in this increased output will be the supply of an initial 500 tons to Samsung SDI, one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery makers for EVs. As the only US supplier of synthetic graphite to tier-one EV battery producers, Novonix also has a non-binding agreement with Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation of Japan) to assess production materials from this plant.
ABOUT DR. DAHN
Jeff Dahn was born in Bridgeport, Conn. in 1957 and emigrated with his family to Nova Scotia, Canada in 1970. He obtained his B.Sc. in Physics from Dalhousie University (1978) and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1982. Dahn then worked at the National Research Council of Canada (82-85) and at Moli Energy Limited (85-90) before taking up a faculty position in the Physics Department at Simon Fraser University in 1990. He returned to Dalhousie University in 1996.
During his years at Simon Fraser University (90-96) he collaborated strongly with the R+D team at NEC/Moli Energy Canada (Now E-One/Moli Energy Canada). Dahn then became the NSERC/3M Canada Industrial Research Chair in Materials for Advanced Batteries at Dalhousie University in 1996. In 2016, Dahn began a 5-year partnership with Tesla which will be extended till 2026. Dahn is the co-author of over 730 refereed journal papers and 73 inventions with patents issued or filed.
Dahn has received National and International awards including: Battery Division Research Award (The Electrochemical Society - 1996); Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2001); the "Technology Award" from the ECS Battery Division in 2011, the Governor General's Innovation Award (2016) and the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal in Science and Engineering (Canada's top science award) in 2017. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020.
About NOVONIX Limited
NOVONIX Limited (ASX:NVX) (FRA:GC3) (OTCMKTS:NVNXF) is an integrated developer and supplier of high-performance materials, equipment and services for the global lithium-ion battery industry with operations in the USA and Canada and sales in more than 14 countries. NOVONIX's mission is to support the global deployment of lithium-ion battery technologies for a cleaner energy future.
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