Experience

Group1

• United States
• Appliances, Electrical, and Electronics Manufacturing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Executive Director, CEO, and Co-Founder

  • Sep 2021 - Present

  United States The world's 1st battery material and technology company focused on the rapid commercialization of critical mineral-free Potassium-ion batteries. Continuing the lineage of innovation from the pioneering co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery and 2019 Chemistry Nobel laureate UT-Austin Professor JB Goodenough.



Energy Institute, The University of Texas at Austin

• United States
• Higher Education
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Energy Transition Fellow

  • Jun 2022 - Present

  Austin, Texas, United States Senior Research Fellow at the Energy Institute, University of Texas at Austin.



Pioneer Fund

• United States
• Investment Management

• Senior Venture Partner

  • Nov 2017 - Jan 2022

  San Francisco Bay Area $30M VC fund. Funding the next batch of YC alumni.



ADVANO

• United States
• Renewable Energy Power Generation
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Executive Chairman, CEO, & Founder

  • Apr 2017 - Mar 2021

  New Orleans, Louisiana "Practical and scalable solutions to accelerate the renewable revolution." The first coin-cell was made in April 2017. Highlights: -Successfully, guided the company during COVID-19 global pandemic; turning into period of most rapid, measurable growth in company's history. -Established company from concept and grew Operations from a 2,000 sqft facility to a 40,000 sqft facility which included pilot-scale material production, R&D laboratories, and cell assembly and… Show more "Practical and scalable solutions to accelerate the renewable revolution." The first coin-cell was made in April 2017. Highlights: -Successfully, guided the company during COVID-19 global pandemic; turning into period of most rapid, measurable growth in company's history. -Established company from concept and grew Operations from a 2,000 sqft facility to a 40,000 sqft facility which included pilot-scale material production, R&D laboratories, and cell assembly and testing. -Raised over $21M in VC financings -Key contributor in the development of initial material platform technology (SiC nanofiber reinforced nanoSi composites) solely owned by Advano. Resulting in 10+ patents. -Established all back-office operations (accounting, HR, onboarding, legal, financial, etc) and built a hyper-growth operations team. -Manage all investor relations as well as corporate governance and board integration -Recruited initial 40 employees, including sponsored 3 internationals for work visa (HB-1), and 2 green card (EB-1). -Portfolio of 30+ patents in various stages of prosecution -Principle architect responsible for the repositioning Advano for future of data/Ai integration into core operations (via "Project Save Money"). -Strategically led vertical integration, going from raw material to anode material + battery technology company. -Established international supply-chain spanning 3 continents of vendors to produce high-performing battery materials -Established partnerships with 10+ non-profit contract manufacturers, federal funded national laboratories, and multinational conglomerates

• Founder

  • Mar 2013 - Mar 2021

  New Orleans, Louisiana, United States Big things start from humble beginnings. From one person start-up spinning out my Ph.D. tech from Tulane University into a shell company, "AG-TU Technologies" (Alex Girau, Tulane University). Then changed from AG-TU Technologies to Advano (Advancing Nanotechnology).



Tulane University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Visiting Research Scientist

  • Dec 2016 - Mar 2021

  Greater New Orleans Area The beginning of battery operations at Advano was here. After a year of market discovery, I joined Tulane University as a Visiting Research Scientist. I built Advano's first prototypes/materials and led a pre-seed funded new interdisciplinary effort focused on battery material technology in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Dr. Brian Mitchell), Department of Chemistry (Dr. Mark Fink), and Department of Physics and Engineering Physics (Dr. Doug Chrisey) as a… Show more The beginning of battery operations at Advano was here. After a year of market discovery, I joined Tulane University as a Visiting Research Scientist. I built Advano's first prototypes/materials and led a pre-seed funded new interdisciplinary effort focused on battery material technology in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (Dr. Brian Mitchell), Department of Chemistry (Dr. Mark Fink), and Department of Physics and Engineering Physics (Dr. Doug Chrisey) as a Visiting Research Scientist and built Advano's first prototypes. This is also where my Co-Founder/CTO (Dr. Shiva Adireddy) and I began working in unison. Specifically, I focused on the manufacturing and optimization of functional carbon & silicon-based nanomaterials as well as novel processing technologies (photonic curing) that dramatically boost the performance of advanced energy storage systems. The effort is streamlined to commercialize novel technologies through Advano, and is the genesis of a university-wide collaboration on lithium-ion battery technology between research groups in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, and Department of Chemistry. I also led/wrote and submitted three grants, two of which were funded for a total ~$500K: U.S. D.O.E. Small Business Voucher, and Louisiana Board of Regents Industrial Ties Research Program. • Skills: Spectroscopy (FT-IR, Raman, UV-Vis, NMR, GCMS), Material Characterization (TEM, SEM, EDX, XRD, TGA, DSC), Material and chemical synthesis, Electrochemical characterization (CV, battery testing,/cycling) • Project (1): Surface functionalized silicon-based electrodes for lithium-ion batteries. • Project (2): Production of pre-lithiated silicon nanoparticles as substitutes for lithium metal. • Project (3): Novel silicon-carbon (sp2) electrode processing utilizing high-intensity UV photonic curing. Show less



Keystone Engineering Inc

• United States
• Engineering Services
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Chemical Engineer III

  • May 2012 - Dec 2013

  Greater New Orleans Area Engineering consultant for the oil/gas and chemical manufacturing industry on assets valued over $1B for Fortune 500 companies (Shell Exploration and Production Company, Marathon Oil Company, Valero Energy, etc.) and also an early-stage venture backed by Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures (KiOR). Managed client relationships and delivered 100% of projects on time and under budget. • Skills: chemical process development, equipment and instrumentation design, chemical process/plant scaling… Show more Engineering consultant for the oil/gas and chemical manufacturing industry on assets valued over $1B for Fortune 500 companies (Shell Exploration and Production Company, Marathon Oil Company, Valero Energy, etc.) and also an early-stage venture backed by Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures (KiOR). Managed client relationships and delivered 100% of projects on time and under budget. • Skills: chemical process development, equipment and instrumentation design, chemical process/plant scaling, dense chemical process modeling, chemical process optimization, chemical process safety, and plant/facility startup. • Project (1): Shell Exploration and Production Co.– process engineering and design team of subsea tieback from Deep Troika field to Brutus Platform (60,000 bbl & 400MMSCF per day) – designed over 100 miles of process piping, 100+ pressure safety valves and other instrumentation, and computational PFD and P&ID design; • Project (2) KiOR – Plant-wide start-up of an advanced biofuels plant specializing in the Hydrocracker unit and Fluidized Catalytic Cracking; provided over 80 hour/week on-site engineering support • Project (3): ALON USA – On-site optimization of Isomer Hydrotreating Unit and Catalytic Reforming Unit to change LVO, naptha, and diesel into high octane products; required extensive process simulation, modeling, and economic analysis • Project (4): Westlake Chemical – process simulation and design of a commercial scale polypropylene production plant; • Project (5): Marathon Eagle Ford Shale – computationally designed, optimized, and lead the implementation of new process relief system for four different LNG facilities – designed over 200+ multi-phase flow pressure safety valves, 5 flares, and several pressurized vessels Show less

• PhD Candidate & Graduate Researcher, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

  • May 2010 - May 2012

  Greater New Orleans Area Specialized in the manufacturing, processing and characterization of nanostructure materials, specifically silicon nanoparticles. I passed the PhD Qualifying Examination and left early to found startup company based on silicon nanotechnology manufacturing process developed at Tulane during doctoral research. I acquired $70,000 in grant funding to go towards silicon quantum dot based thin-film technology. I also developed non-viral transfection agents using surface functionalized silicon… Show more Specialized in the manufacturing, processing and characterization of nanostructure materials, specifically silicon nanoparticles. I passed the PhD Qualifying Examination and left early to found startup company based on silicon nanotechnology manufacturing process developed at Tulane during doctoral research. I acquired $70,000 in grant funding to go towards silicon quantum dot based thin-film technology. I also developed non-viral transfection agents using surface functionalized silicon quantum dots for gene therapy applications. Show less



SODI-CAN (Start-Up)

• Founder, CEO

  • Oct 2011 - Apr 2012

  Greater New Orleans Area A collaborative with medical students at Tulane School of Medicine, SODI-CAN is a jerry can with a unique nanoparticle enhanced polymer that promoted the disinfection of fouled water utilizing solar energy. Highlights include: 1 patent pending, 1st Place at Tulane Medical Science Innovation Business Plan Competition 2011, Finalist at $50K Tulane Business Plan Competition 2012



Loyola University New Orleans

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Undergraduate Researcher, Department of Chemistry

  • Aug 2006 - Aug 2010

  Greater New Orleans Area I specialized in analytical chemistry and chemical thermodynamics. Specifically, I investigated the physical chemistry of aerosolized nanostructures by designing and constructing tailored apparatus, designing analytical programming, and optimizing computer-instrument interface to establish real-time analysis. I lead several projects (1): Developed and constructed a mobile condensed particle counter with data acquisition software to analyze atmospheric aerosols from Deep Horizon Oil Spill… Show more I specialized in analytical chemistry and chemical thermodynamics. Specifically, I investigated the physical chemistry of aerosolized nanostructures by designing and constructing tailored apparatus, designing analytical programming, and optimizing computer-instrument interface to establish real-time analysis. I lead several projects (1): Developed and constructed a mobile condensed particle counter with data acquisition software to analyze atmospheric aerosols from Deep Horizon Oil Spill (required LabView, R, and Igor); (2) Analysis of the deliquescence of various salt nanoparticles via condensed particle counter (required LabView and Igor). This work resulted in an honors thesis, two posters and a publication. Show less