Sicona Battery Technologies – Energising the Illawarra’s Future
Welcome to the world of energy and technology! Join us as we delve into the groundbreaking advancement pioneered by Dr Andrew Minnet, CTO and Co-founder of Sicona Battery Technologies. With their headquarters and pilot plant located in the Wollongong area, Sicona is revolutionising the battery industry by producing low-cost, scalable materials for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. These cutting-edge technologies are set to transform electric mobility and storage for renewable energy, making this event a hot topic in the field.
About Dr Minett
Born and bred on the South Coast of NSW, Dr Andrew Minett is a materials scientist and device engineer with more than 20 years experience since graduating with a PhD in Materials Chemistry from the University of Wollongong.
After years of studying and teaching abroad, Dr Minett has returned home as the cofounder and Chief Technical Officer of Sicona Battery Technologies. Sicona is a Wollongong-based startup producing low cost, scalable next generation battery materials technology used in lithium-ion batteries for electric mobility and storage of renewable energy. As well as having its headquarters and pilot in plant in Wollongong, Sicona is working towards establishing a materials manufacturing based in the US in 2023-24 and has tabled plans with the NSW Government for an Australian first cell production plant in Shellharbour.
During his career as a prominent academic, Dr Minett held prestigious fellowships at the Max-Planck Institute fuer Festkoerperforschung in Stuttgart, Germany, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, an Australian QEII Research Fellowship, and most recently spent seven years as Director of the Laboratory for Sustainable Technology at the University of Sydney and two years as the Energy Theme Leader and Deputy Director of the Energy Storage Flagship at the Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology.
Leveraging his strong commercial acumen, Andrew left academia to extend his career in providing technical, innovation, scale-up and techno-economic advisory services to ASX listed businesses, investment funds and private enterprise. This commercial acumen has led Andrew to involvement in various start-up enterprises and roles at accelerators and incubators around Sydney and now most notably with Sicona.