American Battery Technology Company – an American critical battery materials company that is commercializing both its primary minerals manufacturing and secondary minerals lithium-ion battery recycling technologies – has hired and onboarded key leadership members of its facility operations team to support the commissioning of the company’s lithium-ion battery recycling facility. With experiences from industry leaders such as Tesla and Panasonic, these new ABTC team members will provide key leadership for the commissioning and ramp up of operations at ABTC facilities.
Previously serving as the General Manager of Electrode Manufacturing at the Battery Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada for Panasonic Energy North America, Kevin Gagnon has joined ABTC as its Battery Recycling Plant Manager. In his previous role, he managed a headcount of over 1,200 employees and over one million square feet of manufacturing operations with an operating budget of over $175 million per month. Gagnon has extensive experience in commissioning and ramping first of kind manufacturing operations, building technical and operations teams, and operating world class battery manufacturing facilities. He has over 30 years of experience in lead operations roles for companies including Honeywell, Majilite, Catalina Graphic Films, and Ashland Chemical. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics from Worchester State University and is Certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
After spending the previous five years working at Tesla leading Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) operations at the Battery Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, Dan Lieber has joined ABTC as its Senior Manager of EHS. Lieber is a seasoned safety leader with significant experience building teams and establishing operations for first of kind facilities at both Tesla and Georgia Pacific over the past 10 years. He holds a Master of Science focused on Safety Sciences from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Bachelor of Science focused in Fire Protection and Safety Engineering from Oklahoma State University, and is a Certified Safety Professional.
Mike Banks, who recently worked as a Production Engineering Supervisor and Associate Manager for Tesla at the Battery Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada, has joined ABTC as its Operations Maintenance Manager. Banks has extensive experience in the management of maintenance teams, and has worked throughout the controls, instrumentation, equipment troubleshooting, and maintenance fields. He has held leadership roles in organizations including Lyons Magnus, Coca-Cola, and Seattle Tacoma Box Company.
“We are excited to have such a talented and experienced set of operations leaders join us as we progress through the commissioning and ramp up of our first of kind facilities,” stated ABTC CEO Ryan Melsert. “In a highly competitive talent recruitment environment, it is a testament to our current team and to our corporate mission and culture that we are able to continue to attract such high caliber individuals.”
ABTC’s Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Pilot Plant uses its internally developed integrated first-of-kind technology and is designed to process 20,000 metric tonnes per year of feedstock to manufacture battery grade metals to be returned to the domestic battery manufacturing supply chain. The company’s universal lithium-ion battery recycling system separates and recovers each individual elemental metal, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, from end-of-life batteries from the consumer electronics, stationary storage applications, and electric vehicle fields, as well as from defects and waste from battery manufacturing facilities.