San Diego, CA – February 18, 2022
Happy National Battery Day! Held on February 18, the holiday honors the birthday of Alessandro Volta, a 1700s chemist and pioneer of electricity who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery.
Here at Wildcat, we’re celebrating the contributions of our team of chemists, engineers, and innovators who are dedicated to accelerating the advancement of clean energy and developing better batteries. Read below to learn more about why our employees love working at Wildcat and working on next-generation battery materials.
Research Associate Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Perez (CSU San Marcos) chose her Chemistry major because she wanted a career that would allow her to try different things on a day-to-day basis. Though not initially planning to enter the battery field, she says she was drawn to Wildcat during her interview: she liked that ideas to improve the process are always taken into consideration. Working her way up from a lab technician to a research associate, she says there’s always an opportunity to grow in your skills at Wildcat: “I feel so encouraged to continue to learn and grow in my career. It makes me feel great to be part of one of the world’s fastest battery advancements.”
For someone on a quest to work with leading edge technologies and help companies develop & improve products for consumer goods, Battery Engineer Jonathan Boylan (Rose Hulman Institute of Technology) is at the right place. The self-proclaimed Chicago style pizza fanatic studied Chemical Engineering in undergrad, which led him to adventures such as building a pilot plant in Germany for a start-up he worked for! Now at Wildcat, he uses his skills to rapidly advance batteries with our next-generation materials strategy. “When I started NMC111 was a brand new product, and now we have NMC811, NCA, and hopefully soon DR!” His advice to Wildcat recruits? Don’t be afraid to ask questions in your quest to learn more! “Try to understand the reasoning behind why an experiment is designed a certain way. That will help you to get a deeper understanding of what we are doing here, and hopefully a better appreciation for all the hard work you do to help develop these battery products!”
Laboratory Manager Alexander ‘Alex’ Freigang (University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee) majored in Chemistry and always sought an opportunity in energy storage. As a “data-stalker,” he enjoys analyzing the next great result to come through the database. Now at Wildcat, he’s able to advance battery materials and learn more through professional development opportunities, like attending the ECS Conference in New Orleans, LA: “I sat in on many talks, learned a bunch, and was able to meet many people in the industry. Still the highlight of my time at Wildcat.” He know leads the team of laboratory technicians at Wildcat to make it a better and more enjoyable place to work for everyone that has been hired since he started: “The sky’s the limit for you here – with the right attitude, work ethic and quality of work you can blaze your own trail.”
Mechanical Engineer Alec Kochis (University of California, San Diego) grew up building legos and disassembling TV remotes and toys to learn how they function. He’s since gotten to satisfy this inherent curiosity by designing custom machinery and experimental equipment for our team at Wildcat! After working at an aerospace startup designing small rocket engines and spaceflight hardware, he took the jump to the battery industry – and we’re glad he did! He says it’s rewarding when a device he designed contributes to important scientific discoveries. Calling Wildcat a collaborative environment, he encourages new employees to be themselves and to not be afraid to ask for help: “Even though there are many teams, projects, and solo tasks, we all are working together towards battery discoveries!”
Scientist Tanghong Yi (BS University of Science and Technology of China; PhD Chemistry, UC Davis) majored in Material Science and Engineering because of how relevant it was to real-world applications. He joined Wildcat because the job was very R&D oriented and because the work was relevant to applications. He is excited for Wildcat to grow as a company and has had the opportunity to take more leadership/management roles in addition to his technical role as the company expands. Outside of work, he also prioritizes mental and physical health to keep up with his busy schedule and kids. He says that Wildcat is a perfect place for someone to start their career in the battery field: “You get to learn things quickly, get exposed to research for all major components of batteries, and get great experience with the future of battery research platforms – HTP (high throughput).”
We wish you a Happy National Battery Day and thank our amazing Wildcat employees for their incredible work to advance battery materials worldwide.
JOBS AT WILDCAT
We’re hiring in all areas – including scientists, engineers, technicians, research associates, financial analysts, and marketing & business development professionals. If you have an interest in working for Wildcat, share your credentials via email to [email protected]. Perhaps we’ve got your dream job on the horizon – don’t wait for the posting; let us know you’re interested.