Employee Spotlight: Dr Loubna El Ouatani, Echion’s Chief Product Officer

The process of developing a new battery cell; understanding end-user needs, translating them into downstream requirements, selecting (or developing new) battery materials and proving they can deliver against these needs requires significant know-how and experience.  Echion’s role as an active materials innovator spans this entire process. To date, the company has generated significant interest from cell manufacturers globally to utilise its Mixed Niobium Oxide (XNO) anode products in their future battery cells.

In this interview, we cast a spotlight on Dr Loubna El Ouatani, Echion’s Chief Product Officer, to showcase the vast experience and knowledge she brings to the company which has been instrumental in Echion’s successes to date.

Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Echion?

I’m originally from Morocco and prior to joining Echion just under two years ago, I completed my university studies, from undergraduate, Masters, PhD and MBA, and developed my career in France. So I’m a Research Engineer and Scientist at heart, with over 15 years’ experience working with all aspects of lithium ion batteries.  This ties in nicely with my role at Echion, where I am responsible for designing our anode active material products and working with customers to validate these products to their needs.

Can you shed more light on your work prior to Echion?

Yes, immediately prior to Echion I spent 11 years at SAFT in Bordeaux, where I was a Research Scientist and manager of a small technical team, including PhD’s from CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research).  I was responsible for the competitive benchmarking of li-ion cells, and designing cells to meet new customer requirements.  This involved evaluating new active materials and electrolytes, and I was the research representative for clients during urgent projects for detection of anomalies and their resolution, for high-value applications. I also advised on process industrialisation activities in both France and the United States, engaging in innovation activities.  This built upon my initial PhD research work on lithium-ion batteries, their modes of degradation and ageing, and understanding of what goes on at the interface between electrodes and electrolytes.  

Were there any specific applications you were working on?

Mainly cells for space applications, energy storage systems (ESS) and high-power applications.  These are applications which demanded a lot from lithium-ion technology in terms of cell life, safety and energy/power performance. In many ways, things like long cell life and safety were intrinsic characteristics of SAFT designed batteries.

That sounds like very interesting work! I’m interested then, in what made you take the leap from France to Cambridge?

When I first heard of the opportunity at Echion, I was very excited, as I felt my experience working on evaluating new battery active materials could be harnessed to help Echion better understand what is required by cell manufacturers and so on, and thus I would be very well placed to steer such interactions.  It was really the opportunity to work at an exciting start-up in a space which I have built my career, which really sold the idea of moving from the south of France to Cambridge – not so much the weather! 

Did you face any challenges in making the move?

Of course! It was not only me who had to make the move, but my family too!  Luckily, once I was able to accept the offer to start at Echion, all the pieces of the puzzle came together, and it ended up being a smooth transition.  I think the place being Cambridge helped a lot, as it is a place that is used to people moving there from all over the world.

So having been at Echion for nearly two years, how would you best describe the culture?

Culture-wise, it’s definitely a start-up!

What do you mean by that?!

In a good way! Coming from a large company, I was really impressed by the company culture and how everyone works with each other collaboratively, quickly going from lab to commercial engagement.  Also, it is a big melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds, which makes it very exciting, especially as there is a true culture of everyone listening to each other.  This means there’s always plenty to learn and opportunities to contribute.  Finally, I like the culture of accountability – I think it’s one of the reasons why we have been so fast in our technology development and company growth.

What do you hope to achieve in the near term at Echion?

Ultimately, I look forward to seeing our technology being offered in commercially available cells, following on any of the promising interactions we have in progress today.  As the company grows, I also want to keep translating a lot of my know-how and experience, into company processes such that we can continue scaling to meet future demand.  Beyond this, as we continue to gain visibility of new customer needs, I really look forward to working with our research team and academic collaborations to rapidly grow our product portfolio to meet the needs of new applications. 

Finally, is there anything else that we haven’t discussed, which you would like people to know?

We’re actually recruiting right now (at time of interview), as part of our post-Series A growth plan! I’m looking to grow my team, so keep an eye out for our job ads on LinkedIn!

Thank you Loubna!

About Echion Technologies Ltd

Spun-out from The University of Cambridge in 2017, Echion is a world-leading developer of advanced lithium-ion battery materials, whose products enable cell manufacturers to deliver cost-effective, fast-charging, high-energy density and long-life power cells for a wide range of markets including automotive, premium consumer electronics, and grid-storage applications.

Echion provides materials and battery cell manufacturers with packages of protected intellectual property, customisation options, materials synthesis and cell integration know-how and for different end-user markets.