Nano One Materials Corp.

Team

The Nano One team consists of individuals seasoned in financing, capital growth, technology management, chemistry, engineering, materials science, batteries, and intellectual property. Each member brings a unique set of skills, experience, and perspective to the team, and will help establish Nano One’s core technology as the leading platform for the global production of a new generation of battery materials.

Please click on the picture for full bio.

Dan Blondal CEO, Director & Founder

Dan has 30+ years of experience as a professional engineer, managing high-growth technology in a career that has spanned materials handling, medical devices, industrial printing, nuclear fusion and materials science. He has led Nano One since 2011 and is recognized as a thought leader in lithium-ion battery materials. Prior to that, Dan honed his skills in a wide range of technology leadership roles at Creo, Kodak and General Fusion, including globally recognized expertise as a 15-year veteran in print quality systems, engineering, marketing and business.

Dr. Stephen Campbell Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Stephen Campbell, PhD, CSci, CChem, MRSC Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Campbell has 25+ years of experience leading industrial automotive research in electrochemical systems. Dr. Campbell served 7 years as Principal Scientist at Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation Corp. and, he held key roles at Ballard Power Systems as Principal Scientist and Senior Scientist between 1994 and 2008. Dr. Campbell has 20+ patents to his name and adds 20 years of hands-on experience in industrial research developing new technologies through to series production for the automotive sector. Dr. Campbell received his Ph.D. in Semiconductor Electrochemistry from the University of Southampton in 1987 and completed his BSc (Hons.) 1st class in Physical Sciences at Coventry Polytechnic in 1984.

Kelli Forster Senior Vice President People and Culture

Kelli Forster also serves as the Chair of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council.

Kelli Forster has spent more than 20 years as a Human Resources professional and over 10 years leading HR (or People and Culture) teams for large and small technology, clean tech and manufacturing companies. Kelli has extensive experience with quickly growing talented teams, facilitating people best practices and supporting positive culture and engagement. Kelli is an active leader in the Tech and People (TAP) Network (formerly the HR Tech Group) as a steering committee member and senior HR group leader. Kelli has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UBC, a certificate of Strategic HR Leadership from Cornell and is a chartered professional in Human Resources (CPHR) in Canada and Certified Senior HR leader in the US (SHRM-SCP).

Denis Geoffroy Chief Commercialization Officer

Executive with more than 25 years of experience in the field of Lithium batteries. Obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Laval University and then joined Argo-Tech Productions, a subsidiary of Hydro-Québec responsible for developing Lithium-Polymer batteries, the first commercial version of solid-state lithium batteries. He then participated in the start-up of the LiFePO4 cathode material (LFP) industry at Phostech Lithium, where he worked for 17 years as Technical Director, Chief Operating Officer or General Manager, under various entities (Phostech Lithium, Sud-Chemie, Clariant and Johnson Matthey). It was under his leadership that the Candiac plant, LFP’s only commercial plant in America, was built. Denis moved in 2019 to support Lithion Recycling in its start-up and he started supporting Nano One in its commercialization efforts since 2021 and became Chief Commercialization Officer with the company on November 1st 2022.

Alex Holmes Chief Operating Officer

Alex has spent more than 15 years as a senior executive with a number of public companies. Most recently, he served as the CEO of Plateau Energy Metals, a public company advancing a world-class hard rock lithium project in tandem with a uranium asset in Peru. Prior to this, Alex co-founded a technology start-up, leading it from prototype to commercialization in a short period of time, and was a partner and co-founder of Oxygen Capital Corp. where he led the business development for all affiliated companies. Alex holds a M.Sc. in Investment Management, graduating with Distinction from The Business School, City University of London.

Adam Johnson Senior Vice President External Affairs

Adam brings over 20 years of experience advising corporate and government leaders. Over his career, he has worked on public policy, government relations and communications for some of Canada’s leading energy, infrastructure and transportation companies as well as key associations. He has helped with large development projects, secured the support of governments and implemented effective community engagement.

Before joining Nano One, he was a senior partner at Earnscliffe Strategies–one of Canada’s leading strategic communications and government relations firms. Adam has worked in the Government of Canada, serving as a Director of Parliamentary Affairs to a Minister of Industry. Selected by his peers, he served as the founding President of the Public Affairs Association of Canada – BC (PAAC-BC).

Dan Martino Chief Financial Officer

Dan has 10+ years of experience in accounting, assurance, and financial reporting. Dan started his career providing assurance services and has now transitioned into a senior position at a firm providing contract CFO and financial reporting consulting to public venture companies.

Russell Barton Principal Engineer

Russell has 40+ years experience in mechanical and electrochemical systems including eighteen years designing parts and systems for fuel cell products. He was instrumental in designing Ballard Power System’s first commercial product, NEXA, taking components of the design from concept to manufactured product. He has worked with Energizer, Poly Fuel, Ballard and Neptune Dynamics and brings a wealth of knowledge to Nano One in energy storage, chemistry and mechanical systems. Russell is known for his innovative solutions and is credited with 40 patents in the US and foreign jurisdictions.

Ian Bernier Director, Capital Projects

Ian has 10+ years’ experience in the Cathode Active Materials (CAM) industry, working in commercial operations for LFP manufacturing and large-scale capital projects for other chemistries. Ian joined Nano One in early 2022 and leads the Capital Project portfolio for the commercialization of various patented CAM chemistries. Ian is building a project team and structure to deliver multiple production plants to support Nano One’s growth. Previously, Ian was Engineering and Maintenance Director at an LFP start-up in Quebec which became part of a global CAM manufacturing company. Ian obtained his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Université de Sherbrooke.

Sébastien Dakin Director, Stakeholder Engagement

Sébastien Dakin is a multilingual government relations, communications and business development professional with over 20 years of international experience. He has held various positions from journalist at the largest TV network in Québec, to managing communications at an intergovernmental organisation in Moscow (for the Canadian Government). He managed a chamber of commerce for Canadian companies active in Eurasian countries, where he advocated for market access and identified business opportunities for members. Prior to joining Nano One, he was Director of Business Development at Montréal’s economic development agency, supporting hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign direct investments in sectors such as manufacturing, agrifood, and technology.

Jasmin Dufour Director, Pilot Plant

Jasmin has been actively developing Battery cathode material for 15years +, leading scale up efforts and manufacturing of different LiFePO4 chemistries. Jasmin started as a research assistant at Phostech lithium (now Nano One) in 2007, helping the development of the first generation LiFePO4-C. He gained expertise in cathode material synthesis, deep knowledge in production process and quality control of such material. Since 2019, he is managing the Manufacturing effort of 25 people at Candiac, leading operators, lab technicians and warehouse technicians into producing high quality LiFePO4-C at industrial scale for the automotive market. At Nano-One, the same team, now including Maintenance, is leading the piloting efforts at the Candiac Plant having the goal of commercializing Nano One’s One-Pot cathode materials. Jasmin holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Sherbrooke University, and a master’s degree in Material Sciences from Trois-Rivières University.

Andrea Goodman Director, Projects & Funding

Andrea has an engineering background, with over a decade of experience in the clean technology sector, most recently managing funding and investment portfolios focused on advancing Canada’s transition to net zero. She spent the beginning of her career working in environmental compliance and process engineering roles. Prior to joining Nano One, she held various roles at Sustainable Development Technology Canada, including Project Manager, Investment Lead, and Director of Business Transformation, managing portfolios of over $60 million. Andrea joined Nano One in 2023 to support business analysis and strategic corporate development, specifically managing market research and analysis activities, as well as government, strategic and project finance initiatives. Andrea holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the Universities of Manitoba and Ottawa, respectively. She resides in Chelsea, QC, with her husband and two young kids. In her free time, she enjoys cross country skiing, hiking, and yoga.

Paul Guedes Director Capital Markets

Mr. Guedes has 20+ years experience as an entrepreneur, fund manager and senior executive with several public companies. He was President of a family owned construction company for over 10 years before moving to the public markets. Mr. Guedes key focus over the last 14+ years has been centered around renewable energy and climate change in industries like wind energy, wave energy, biofuels, hydrogen and carbon credits. Mr. Guedes received his Bachelor of Commerce from the Michael DeGroot School of Business at McMaster University.

Dr. Lida Hadidi Director, Research & Development

Dr. Lida Hadidi, PhD, MSc Director, Research & Development

Dr. Hadidi has 10+ years of experience in materials science and in-depth expertise in nanomaterials and applications. Dr. Hadidi has 12 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact scientific journals as 1st and co-author. Dr. Hadidi has contributed to 4 patents in the field of energy storage, including Nano One’s One-Pot LFP material. Dr. Hadidi is currently R&D Director at Nano One, overseeing internal and external R&D projects and leading a growing scientific team of 30 people. She and the team at the Burnaby innovation centre help foster innovation for anticipated market needs.

Before joining Nano One, Dr. Hadidi was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Montreal, working on low-cost LFP cathode active materials. Before that, she worked as a research scientist in an Edmonton-based start-up in silicon and silica-based nanomaterials for display, lighting, security, and energy applications. Dr. Hadidi received her Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Alberta in 2016 and completed her MSc. in Nanochemistry at the University of Tehran in 2010.

Pamela Kinsman Director, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs

Pamela Kinsman is a member of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council.

Pam has over a decade of mining and public company experience with a focus on corporate governance and shareholder services. Previously, the Corporate Secretary at Plateau Energy Meals from November 2019 until its acquisition in May 2021, and Corporate Secretary and Office Manager of Equinox Gold from August 2016 to November 2018 as the company grew from a single-asset developer to a multi-asset producer. She has assisted with overseeing the implementation of corporate governance, managed shareholder services, private placements, and filings; through the acquisition at Plateau, a share consolidation, two mergers, a spinout and an asset acquisition at Equinox Gold. Prior to joining Equinox Gold, Pamela was Assistant Corporate Secretary and Executive Assistant at Nevsun Resources Ltd. from October 2009 until March 2016, providing support to the Investor Relations program and managing their regulatory filings on both the TSX and NYSE American exchanges.

Simon Lalancette Director, Strategic Supply Chain

Simon has 19+ years of experience in cathode active materials and has been a pillar in the LFP manufacturing in the Candiac operating plant. He has held several key positions throughout the time, such as maintenance, continuous improvement, quality insurance, customer relationship, transport, logistics, procurement and Sales & Operations planning. Simon graduated in mechanical engineering in 2005 and recently graduated in business management from HEC Montreal. Simon is a team player and strives for excellence. In his free time, he practices ice hockey, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, tennis and hiking.

O’Rian Reid Director, Scale-Up

O’Rian Reid, MSc Director, Scale-Up

O’Rian joined Nano One in 2017 and has recently taken over the role of leading the scale-up efforts as the Scale-up Manager. O’Rian started as a research scientist working on the development of Nano One’s One-Pot® LNMO material, and eventually lead a team of scientists to initiate the scale-up of this material.

Prior to Nano One, O’Rian was a Scientist at a materials testing lab where he was the lead Scientist for electron microscope analysis and worked closely with other scientists to determine root causes for industries including pharmaceutical, automotive, aerospace, and medical devices using a variety of physical characterization techniques.

O’Rian holds a Master’s degree in Material Science and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry both from Ontario Tech University in Ontario.

Brigitte Ruel, CRHA Director, People & Culture

Brigitte has over 20 years of experience in Human Resources (HR). She has worked for small, medium and large companies in the manufacturing, construction and pharmaceutical industry. Her roles encompassed organizational development with a focus on Talent Management and Development, Succession planning, Strategic planning, Communication and Coaching.

Throughout her career, she always focused on the team’s wellbeing, continuous improvement, efficiency and change management. Her roles varied from implementing an HR Service to managing all aspects of HR.

Brigitte graduated with a Bachelor in Business Administration – Human Resources Management from UQAM, has succeeded in the Intensive Organizational Development program from HEC, is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR), specifically CRHA in Quebec and holds a Lean Six Sigma green belt from Mouvement Québécois de la Qualité.

Robin Sweeny Director, Programs & NPI

Robin is a Professional Engineer with over 30 years of business-to-business marketing and product management experience in the telecommunications, information technology and material sectors. He has defined, launched and managed the life cycle for several successful products, has prospected and qualified market opportunities, executed marketing campaigns and has been an integral part in all aspects of system sales cycles.

Pierre Thibodeau Sr. Key Account Manager

Pierre has 13+ years of experience in the battery materials industry. Before joining Nano One, Pierre held the position of Customer Service Specialist at Johnson Matthey Battery Materials, overlooking at a wide range of customers supplying to markets: Automotive, Mobility, Electronics, ESS, Health, and Military. Dedicated and respectful, Pierre has solid experience implementing sales & distribution processes, applying automotive standards and industry best practices to support customers multi-million growth. Pierre has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing at HEC University, Montreal.

Wei Weng Director of Finance

Wei has 10+ years of experience in Finance & Accounting with both private and public companies in the telecommunications, engineering, mining, and energy industries. Most recently, he was the Group Controller for Smardt in Dorval, Québec. Wei has also worked abroad in both France and China. Wei received a Master’s degree in accounting at the Université du Québec à Montréal and he is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA). Wei lives in Candiac, Québec with his wife and 2 daughters. When he’s not busy driving them to skating and piano lessons, he enjoys hiking, camping, jogging and a good cup of coffee

Dan Blondal CEO, Director & Founder

Dan has 26 years of experience as a professional engineer, managing high-growth technology in a career that has spanned materials handling, medical devices, industrial printing, nuclear fusion and materials science. He brings significant experience in systems engineering, physics and business. As Product and Technology Manager at Creo and Kodak, he led strategically vital initiatives valued at $20M annually to leverage software, laser and chemical systems for high-quality printing.

Lyle Brown Director and Audit Committee Chair

Committee Member: Audit

Lyle is a CPA, CA and holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia. He has been a partner since 1991 in the accounting firm of Culver & Co. in Vancouver, British Columbia, serving clients in a wide range of industries, and is familiar with the reporting requirements of public companies. Lyle has served on numerous board of directors for both private and public companies.

Dr. Joseph Guy Director

Dr. Joseph Guy is a President of Patent Filing Specialist, Inc. and a Patent Agent focusing on complex technologies including material science, electronic components, pharmaceuticals and medical products. He has more than 23 years of experience prosecuting patents and serving as expert witness on intellectual property matters. Dr. Guy was awarded a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in physical inorganic chemistry with a focus on organometallic complexes. Dr. Guy has authored numerous references in peer-reviewed journals and has written and prosecuted over 1000 U.S. and foreign patent applications, with more than 300 issued U.S. Patents and numerous foreign patents.

Gord Kukec Lead Director

Committee Member: Audit & Compensation, People & Governance Committees

Gord is a former senior executive with decades of experience in overseeing large multi-disciplinary teams in senior officer roles with various public and private Canadian corporations. Throughout his tenure, he was primarily responsible for overseeing the planning, investing and implementation of innovation in corporate, commercial and supporting information technology strategy.

Since 2010, Gord has been an independent advisor and board member focused on how emerging environmental and information technology developments, such as climate change and cybersecurity, impact business transformation, corporate strategy and board governance. Recently, Gord completed his term as Board Director at BC Ferries Corporation as well as Board Chair and President of BC Sustainable Energy Association.

Gord currently sits on the board of Intelligent City, Solshare Energy and Jericho Tennis Club. Mr. Kukec received his BA, Economics from University of Calgary and his MBA from Queen’s University. Gord is certified in Cybersecurity and Governance of Enterprise Information Technology (CGEIT) from Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) , Sustainable Energy Management from BCIT and is a holder of the Institute of Corporate Directors’ ICD.D designation.

Carla Matheson Director

Committee Member: Audit, People, Governance & Compensation (Co-Chair)

Carla is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) with over 10 years of experience in a variety of public and private industries, specializing in business development, mergers and acquisitions and financial reporting. She is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Plank Ventures Ltd., an investment company targeting investments and business opportunities in the technology arena, with a focus on early-stage start-up companies that have developed a customer and revenue base and are seeking funding for expansion. Most recently, she was Chief Financial Officer of Tiny Capital, where she was responsible for the strategic oversight of the technology-heavy portfolio. This oversight included on-boarding new acquisitions, development of core financial and operational processes as the primary point of contact for portfolio CEOs experiencing periods of high growth. Throughout her career, Carla has been on both buy and sell sides, having closed 30+ majority acquisitions, 50+ minority/venture type transactions, raised over $150M in capital via both debt and equity markets and deployed over $60M in capital.

Paul Matysek Chair and Director

Paul Matysek M. SC. Chair and Director

Serial entrepreneur, geochemist and geologist with over 40 years of experience in the mining industry. Since 2004 as CEO or Chair, Paul has primarily focused on the exploration, development and sale of five publicly listed companies, in aggregate worth over $2 billion. Most recently, he was Executive Chairman of Lithium X Energy Corp. which was sold to Nextview New Energy Lion Hong Kong Limited (“Nextview”) for $265 million in cash. He was awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Mining & Resources in September 2018.

Lisa Skakun Director

Committee Member: People, Governance & Compensation (Co-Chair)

Lisa Skakun is a lawyer and executive with over 20 years of experience in a variety of private and public industries. Currently the Chief Legal, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Officer of Coast Capital Savings Federal Credit Union, Lisa is responsible for all legal, mergers and acquisitions, public affairs, compliance, financial crimes risk management and corporate governance functions. Lisa has her LLB from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Laws degree in business law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, and also holds her ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Lisa is the recipient of the Lexpert Zenith Award: Celebrating Women in Law, the Association of Women in Finance’s PEAK award for Rising Star, and the National Post Award for Tomorrow’s Leader at the Western Canada General Counsel Awards and has been named to Canada’s Diversity 50 list by the Canadian Board Diversity Council. Previously, Lisa was the Board Chair of Kwantlen Polytechnic University, a past board member of the Cause We Care Foundation, a previous Chair of the BC Business Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, and was also a member of the Securities Law Advisory Committee for the British Columbia Securities Commission.

Honorable Frank R. Fannon Strategic Advisor

Frank is currently the managing director of Fannon Global Advisors, a strategic advisory focused on geopolitics, the energy transition, and market transformation. He is also a non-resident senior advisor at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and a visiting senior fellow at the Center for Technology Diplomacy at Purdue.

Prior to his time at the State Department, Frank established BHP’s U.S. Corporate Affairs function as a Managing Direction and served as Chief U.S. Advisor to the BHP Foundation, focused on transparency and governance, environmental resilience, and education equity. Prior to BHP, Frank led government affairs for Murphy Oil Corporation where he facilitated new country entry in multiple regions and developed the industry’s first point-of-purchase consumer energy campaign. Previously, he served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, where he drafted, negotiated and helped pass key legislation. Frank also served as counsel to Senators Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) and Pete V. Domenici (R-NM).

Frank holds a J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law, M.A. in International Affairs, Economics & Trade from the University of Denver Korbel School of International Studies, and B.A. from Radford University.

Dr. Yuan Gao Strategic Advisor

Dr. Yuan Gao is an accomplished executive with a successful track record leading businesses throughout the lithium-ion battery supply chain. He is also a globally recognized innovator and expert in lithium-ion battery cathode materials, including LFP, NMC, LCO and LMO with 100+ patents, dozens of publications, and innovations at the core of today’s lithium-ion batteries. He is the Vice-Chair of the board of Pulead Technology, a respected producer of cathodes for lithium-ion batteries, having served as President and CEO from May 2014 to Sept 2019. In addition, Dr. Gao also serves as a member of the board of directors for Lithium Americas Corp. Previously, Dr. Gao served as Vice President at Molycorp Inc., and as Global Marketing Director and Technology Manager at FMC Corporation (USA). He completed a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of British Columbia and did post-doctoral research on lithium metal oxides at Simon Fraser University in Professor Jeff Dahn’s laboratory. He has also completed an executive education program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Byron Gates Strategic Advisor

Dr. Byron Gates collaboratively assists the company in determining correlations between the structure, function, and properties of new lithium-ion battery materials. Dr. Gates is a Tier II Canada Research Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Simon Fraser University, investigating the surface and interface chemistry of nanomaterials and is the Head of the Centre for Soft Materials in 4D LABS, a materials research institute at SFU. Dr. Gates’ work includes a series of analytical and materials studies to prepare and analyze the surface chemistries of nanostructured materials. Dr.Gates received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington working with Professor Younan Xia and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University working with Professor George M. Whitesides.

Joe Lowry Strategic Advisor

Joe Lowry has 20 years of experience in senior roles with leading lithium producers and an extensive network in the global cathode supply chain network. Joe has worked for top lithium producers in the US, Japan and China, and has extensive worldwide market experience, a large contact base and a good pulse on the lithium market. He is widely respected and known as one of the world’s experts in the lithium sector. After a two-decade tenure working in senior positions in leading international lithium companies, Joe formed Global Lithium LLC as an advisory firm in 2012. Global Lithium LLC has been successfully supporting lithium producers, users, investors, hedge funds and governments.

Robert Morris Strategic Advisor

Robert is the Managing Director of Morris Consulting Corporation, a consultancy and advisory firm providing services to the base metals industry. Founded in 2019, the company’s clients include top-tier mining and trading companies. Robert has over 15 years of experience as a senior executive in the mining industry, most recently with Vale, where he was Executive Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Base Metals. Robert was instrumental in developing Vale’s strategic direction relating to the company’s electric vehicle strategy. Specifically, how to position Vale’s vast nickel and cobalt assets towards the production of essential battery materials. While based in Tokyo, he was president of Vale’s Japanese subsidiary Vale Japan Ltd., managing the company’s nickel production assets and leading the sales and business development activities covering nickel and cobalt specialty products. Prior to Vale, Robert was Managing Director at Umicore Greater China responsible for marketing Umicore’s line of cathode battery materials to the China market. Robert is also a non-executive Director at Giga Metals Corporation, a mining company, developing one of the world’s largest undeveloped nickel and cobalt sulphide deposits that is geared toward supplying the future demand for battery metals to fuel the growing electric vehicle industry.

About

Team

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