Argus Batteries in Automotives

Joseph Beretta has a master’s degree in energy from France’s INSA Lyon engineering school. He has 20 years’ automotive industry experience at PSA Peugeot Citroën, leading research and innovation in electric vehicles. Joseph is now President of Avere-France and Vice President of Avere-Europe. Avere-France distributes information and facilitates the exchange of expertise between all parts of the electric mobility ecosystem. The association also seeks to act as a bridge between the sector and France’s public authorities. Read less

Francisco is currently Managing Director of Nissan Energy, he is in charge of products and services related to the electric vehicle grid integration (vehicle to grid, smart charging) and also the portfolio of products in the renewable energy generation and storage leveraging Nissan know how and expertise in lithium batteries and customer focus. He has been in Nissan since 2008 where he had responsibilities in the External Affairs, Corporate Planning and Program Management teams. Francisco has two engineering degrees (Sevilla Engineering School and IFP School) and two MBA degrees (EM Lyon and Cranfield School of Management). Read less

Catherine Girard is Expert Leader in Energy and Raw Materials at Renault Group, in charge of medium and long-term outlooks. Catherine became Corporate Economist in the corporate and strategic planning department at Renault in 2009, having previously worked as an Economist at Nissan Europe from 2007. Prior to that, Catherine worked at a consulting agency for 10 years, as a project manager covering the automotive sector, with responsibility for short-term and medium-term European market forecasts. Read less

Bjarni Freyr is a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Fenris Motorcycles. Bjarni has more than eight years’ experience with electric powertrain technology. Before his work on motorcycle technology, Bjarni designed high-voltage systems for geothermal power plants, and pioneered best practice methods for electric arc safety assessment and procedure for the Icelandic national grid. Bjarni has an MSc in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark. Read less

Dr Yuan Gao has more than 20 years’ experience covering the complete supply chain of the lithium-ion battery industry. One of his inventions, Ti/Mg technology, enables the manufacture of high-voltage lithium-ion batteries and is incorporated within the vast majority of lithium-ion batteries for small portable electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Dr Gao joined Pulead Technology in May 2014, and has been its President and Chief Executive since January 2015. He previously served as a Corporate Vice-President at Molycorp (US), and as a Global Marketing Director and Technology Manager at Molycorp, as well as holding other management positions at FMC Corporation (US). Dr Gao has a BSc from the University of Science and Technology of China, and a PhD in physics from the University of British Columbia in Canada. Read less

Manfred Limbrunner worked for five years in the pulp and paper plant engineering business before joining German fuel cell manufacturer Proton Motor. His main duties and responsibilities were in the design of complex plant sub assembly groups, supervising their mounting through external suppliers, plant engineering, customer support, supervising the mounting team as well as project management. Manfred studied mechanical engineering with a focus on design at Kempten University of Applied Sciences in Germany and started his career at German firm Hoerbiger Fluidtechnik in 1995. Read less

Nicole is editor of Argus Metals International, a global service providing independent price assessments, news and analysis for the non-ferrous metals markets. In her role as editor, Nicole is responsible for overseeing Argus’ global coverage of primary minor metals, base metals, ferro alloys and rare earths. Nicole is based in London and joined Argus in 2008. Prior to her current role she was a senior market reporter on the Argus European Electricity team, specialising in the UK market. Before Argus she worked as a journalist covering the telecom and electronics industries. Read less

Morten Rynning is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Norwegian start-up company CityQ. The firm has designed a smart e-bike with the benefits of a small electric vehicle, to assist in cities where cars are hard to use and access. Morten has for the past 25 years managed and invested in several Scandinavian start-ups, including travel technology firm Aisport, market intelligence software provider CyberWatcher, digital agency Solid Media Group, e-commerce firm VVSkupp and smart home company PCTVnet. Read less

Katharina Winbeck is an environmental and social scientist specialising in developing major public initiatives. She has worked in the health, housing, environment and transport sectors. For the past 10 years, she has been involved in developing sustainability, environment, transport and infrastructure policy. She has worked for the UK’s National Health Service, three of London’s boroughs, Transport for London, the Audit Commission and now for London Councils. Katharina is passionate about environmental sustainability. Read less

Mark Seddon is Senior Manager (Metals), Consulting Services, based in London. He is responsible for Argus’ rare earths and tungsten monthly outlooks and for developing metals consulting services. With over 25 years’ experience in the commodities industry as a trader, researcher, consultant and company executive, Mark has a wealth of experience in the metals sector. After gaining a BA (Hons) Degree in European Business Administration, as well as a Diplôme d’Études Supérieures Européennes de Management, Mark spent three years as a sugar trader with Louis Dreyfus, a leading global soft commodities company. The next 20 years were spent at Roskill Information Services, a leader in international metals and minerals research. In January 2001, Mark was appointed a director at Roskill and in December 2010 became the Managing Director of the company. Prior to joining Argus, he ran his own metals consulting company, Tungsten Market Research. Read less

Alison heads the global battery raw materials business at Argus. She started her career as a business journalist focusing on the mining industry and has experience in a wide range of metal and mineral commodities. Alison has an undergraduate degree from Oxford University, and an Executive MBA from INSEAD. Read less

Oscar Wehtje is the Head of Product Development at the London Metal Exchange. He is leading the new product and service initiatives undertaken by the exchange, including the new contracts focussed on the EV battery metals industry. Oscar joined the LME in October 2013, having previously worked in the Financial Institutions Group at UBS. He started his career in the Financial Services practice of management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Read less

Bert Witkamp is the owner of Valuad Ltd, a Belgium consultancy specialising in Sustainable Transport and Alternative Fuels for Transport. Bert was until recently Secretary General of AVERE, The European Association for Electromobility. As CEO, he has previously run businesses in wind energy, biomass, solar energy, sustainable housing and sustainable waste management. Current project activities include the EU Commission (DG MOVE) project EAFO (European Alternative Fuels Observatory, special focus on “Biofuels” and “Shipping”; SEEV4City (InterReg), a V2X project and REE4EU (H2020), a rare earth recycle project. Bert is also Operating Agent for the IEA HEV Task 40 CRM4EV (Critical Raw Materials for Electric Vehicles). Read less