About

Johnson Energy Storage

Mission

To transform the way the world generates and stores energy;

To more safely and efficiently store energy;

To leave a softer footprint where we tread.

OUR TECHNOLOGY


WORLD MAP

Our Story

Former NASA Engineer Dr. Lonnie Johnson, best known as the inventor of the Super Soaker, is the founder of Johnson Energy Storage.

Dr. Lonnie Johnson has dedicated the past 25 years to investigating new energy conversion and storage technologies through his research company, Johnson R&D. He holds over 100 patents, many of them related to energy storage. After years of extensive research, he created a glass electrolyte separator that is stable with both lithium metal anode and cathode materials, enabling the construction of a true all-solid-state battery.  Johnson Energy Storage (JES) was spun out of Johnson R&D to commercialize this technology.

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Our Founder - Dr. Lonnie Johnson

Team


JES TEAM

Dr. Lonnie Johnson • Founder

Dr. Lonnie G. Johnson

Founder / Chairman of the Board

Dr. Lonnie Johnson is an engineer and inventor who holds more than 140 patents and whose technologies have been listed as world-class by media such as CNN, Popular Mechanics and TIME.

Dr. Johnson is most well known as the inventor of the Super Soaker squirt gun, which became one of the most popular toys in the world and has generated billions of dollars in retail revenue.

Dr. Johnson holds an honorary doctorate in science, a M.S. in Nuclear Engineering and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tuskegee University.


Bert Ellis • CEO

Bert Ellis

Chief Executive Officer

Bert Ellis serves as the CEO of Johnson Energy Storage, as well as CEO and Chairman of Ellis Capital, a consulting and investment firm primarily focused on the media, technology, healthcare, and Fintech industries.

Bert previously founded and served as CEO of Act III Broadcasting, Ellis Communications, and iXL, and was a founding investor and board member in WebMD. He is also a founding investor and board member of Vivex Biologics, NOWaccount Network Corporation, Brightwell Payments, MAXEX, Semantic-AI, Pensare, and VoAPPs.

Bert holds an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia (UVA), and a BA in Economics from UVA.


Matt Lawn • CFO

Matt Lawn

Chief Financial/Administrative Officer

Matt has worked with Dr. Johnson for over 20 years as his Controller and, more recently, as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Johnson Energy Storage (JES). He also serves as Secretary and Treasurer for JES. Matt has extensive experience in budgeting, financial modeling, government grant administration and human resource management. Matt received a B.S. in Management and Finance and an MBA in Management of Technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Scheller College of Business.




Lazbourne Allie

Lazbourne Allie, Ph.D.,

Co-Chief Science Officer

Laz is responsible for overseeing all research, development and commercialization of our solid state battery technology. He has previously directed research efforts on our solid state battery development for the past 12 years. He has over 15 years’ experience in polymer synthesis, nanocomposites, including formulation of solid glass/glass-ceramic electrolytes and cathodes formulations/designs for solid state batteries. He has co-authored 12 publications and is listed as inventor on 8 patents. Laz received a M.S. and PhD in Material Science from Tuskegee University.

Adrian Grant

Adrian Grant

Co-Chief Science Officer

Adrian is responsible for overseeing the R&D and commercialization of our solid state battery technology. He has over 10 years of experience developing energy storage and energy conversion technologies. He has coauthored 3 publications and is listed as inventor on 2 patents. Adrian received a B.S. in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee University.

Bill Rauch

William (Bill) Rauch, Ph.D.,

VP – Research

Bill is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of solid-state battery development. He previously worked in the glass and metals industry and has 9 years working with Dr. Johnson, where he headed a number of government funded research programs in energy storage devices. He has co-authored more than 20 publications and is listed as inventor on 8 patents. Bill received a M.S. in Ceramic Engineering and a PhD in Materials Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Ian Campbell

Ian Campbell

VP – Engineering

Ian is responsible for overall laboratory management and engineering services. He spent six years in the Air Force maintaining technological and cryptographic systems. He spent 12 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a Senior Technician and also worked for Oak Ridge National Laboratory providing engineering and process control/data acquisition support to research physicists. Ian received an AAS EE, Electrical Engineering Technology degree from Alfred State College – SUNY College of Technology.

Kene Francis Nwabufoh

Kene Nwabufoh

Research Scientist

Kene is responsible for glass electrolyte/separator formulation and process control. He joined Johnson Energy Storage in 2015 as a Research Scientist. Kene received a M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Tuskegee University.

Eleston Maxie Jr.

Eleston Maxie Jr.

Research Engineer

Eleston is responsible for lithium anode deposition on our solid state battery. He has a depth of knowledge in battery testing which carries across the various technologies from thin-film micro-batteries to half cells, lithium plating and the current solid state battery. Eleston received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee University.

Jaimison Smith

Jaimison Smith

Research Engineer

Jaimison is responsible for battery construction and developing packaging designs for our solid state battery cells. Prior to joining JES, Jaimison worked in production engineering at ZF Industries to qualify tooling. Jaimison received a B.S. in Mechatronics Engineering from Southern Polytechnic State University.

Kenya Johnson

Kenya Johnson

Research Engineer

Kenya is responsible for solid state battery construction. He is also responsible for the design and fabrication of battery test fixtures. He joined Johnson Energy Storage in 2013 as a Research Engineer. Kenya received a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Tuskegee University.

Benjamin Estrella

Benjamin Estrella

Research Engineer

Benjamin is responsible for the preparation and application of our glass electrolyte/separator system. Prior to joining Johnson Energy Storage, he worked at B. Braun Medical, Inc. as a Research and Development Engineer. Benjamin received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University.

Aaron Lando

Aaron Lando

Research Engineer

Aaron is responsible for cathode preparation and process development. He is also Chemical Safety Officer for JES. Prior to joining JES, Aaron worked at Savannah River National Laboratory for the Energy Material Research Group prior to joining the. Responsibilities there included research into Supercapacitors, Hydride Flow Batteries and Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cells. Aaron received a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Zahra Shivji

Zahra Shivji

Research Engineer

Zahra is a Research Engineer at Johnson Energy Storage. Zahra graduated with her BS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Tech in May 2022. Previously, she interned at Argonne National Lab working on a lithium-ion battery supply chain review paper as well as working on a graphene-based lithium-ion battery research project at Georgia Tech.

Carson Barrett

Carson Barrett

Engineering Technician

Carson is responsible for general maintenance and calibration of JES lab systems. Carson is an Army veteran with expertise in measurement and diagnostic equipment. After leaving the Army, he held positions in the areas of instrumentation and machine building. He has worked for GE, Edgewater Automation and Tektronix.


Board of Directors


Dr. Lonnie Johnson

Founder / Chairman, Johnson Energy Storage, Inc.

Bert Ellis

Chief Executive Officer, Johnson Energy Storage, Inc.

Mike McQuary

CEO of JTEC Energy; former President of Mindspring Enterprises

Clyde Tuggle

Co-Founder at Pine Island Capital Partners

Mack Wilbourn

Owner, Mack II, Inc.

Advisory Board


Matt McDowell, Ph.D.

Professor, GA Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering

John Wilson

Managing Director, First Ignition LLC

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