Science, Technology and Industry Advisory Committee

The Science, Technology and Industry Advisory Committee provides the ESRA directors with strategic guidance and advises on scientific programs.

Harry Atwater
Dr. Atwater is the Otis Booth Leadership Chair, Division of Engineering and Applied Science, Howard Hughes Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, and Director, Liquid Sunlight Alliance at the California Institute of Technology. His scientific interests span light-matter interactions from quantum nanophotonics, two-dimensional materials, and metasurfaces to solar photovoltaics and artificial photosynthesis. Dr. Atwater is an early pioneer in nanophotonics and plasmonics.

Elizabeth Endler
Dr. Endler is the chief scientist for Energy Storage and Integration at Shell, where she provides strategic leadership in the development of technologies and business opportunities for the energy transition, especially in the areas of electrification, system integration, and energy storage. With nearly 20 years of experience in industrial R&D, she is passionate about collaborating across topics and disciplines to deliver innovative technology and products.

Cynthia Friend
Dr. Friend is Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science, Emerita at Harvard University and president of the Kavli Foundation that supports the advancement of science and the increase of public understanding and support for scientists and their work. Under a DOE BES grant, she established the Integrated Mesoscale Architectures for Sustainable Catalysis Center that conducts ground-breaking research at the intersection of surface chemistry and physics, transforming how catalysts are designed.

Dieter Hofmann
Dr. Hofman is Sr. Director/General Manager, Batteries, Materials Science at ThermoFisher Scientific, an international corporation. The company’s systems touch every part of the battery value chain, from extraction and processing.

Bruce Jones
Dr. Jones advises on the development, execution, and performance of the ESRA Promoting Inclusive and Equitable Research (PIER) Plan, including a yearly evaluation of the plan for the ESRA Director. He is a professor and VP for Research at Howard University, with nearly three decades of experience in higher education and the nonprofit sector. He also served as the Ewing Marion Kauffman Endowed Chair for Teaching and Leadership at the University of Missouri, where he engaged in statewide research on best leadership practices in education reform.

Stan Whittingham
Dr. Whittingham was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019 for the development of lithium-ion batteries. He holds the original patents on the concept of the use of intercalation chemistry in high power-density, highly reversible lithium-ion batteries. He also invented the first rechargeable lithium-metal battery patented in 1977. Commonly referred to as the founding father of lithium-ion batteries, Dr. Whittingham is Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

Martin Winter
Dr. Martin Winter holds a professorship for Materials Science, Energy and Electrochemistry at Institute of Physical Chemistry at University of Münster, Germany. He is founder and scientific director of MEET Battery Research Center at Münster University and of Helmholtz-Institute Münster (HI MS) “Ionics in Energy Storage”, a division of Forschungszentrum Jülich (a National Lab in Germany).