Leadership

Dr. Thomas A. Campbell, leader of LEAP Manufacturing, a battery industry consortium, and a distinguished technology expert and advisor in government, academia, and industry. As the first National Intelligence Officer for Technology with the National Intelligence Council (NIC) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), he has informed senior policymakers and is a steward of significant research and development efforts. With a background in semiconductor materials manufacturing at Saint-Gobain Crystals, Dr. Campbell holds numerous patents and publications. He is a Senior Fellow with the Council on Competitiveness, a Special Advisor to BootstrapLabs, and a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship. Dr. Campbell obtained his PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a BE in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

Dr. KJ Cho is a professor in the Department of Materials Science at UT Dallas, has had an illustrious career in academia, with experience at renowned institutions such as MIT, Harvard University, Stanford University, and UT Dallas. His research expertise spans physics and materials science, including nanomaterials and clean energy technologies. Dr. Cho has received numerous accolades, such as the Frederich E. Terman Award, and was elected as a Fellow in the Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society. With a significant publication record and several patents, Dr. Cho continues to make major contributions to his field. Notably, his doctoral research was highlighted in a White House Report on National Science Policy, and his nanomaterials R&D at his startup company, Nanostellar, was featured in a report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) on clean energy. Dr. Cho received his bachelor’s degree (1986) and Master’s degree (1988) in Physics from the Seoul National University, and PhD (1994) in Physics from MIT.

Dr. Bruce Gnade has held positions at Texas Instruments, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), SMU’s Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, and served as the Vice President for Research and the Distinguished Chair in Microelectronics at UT Dallas from 2006-2016. He also serves as the Chief Scientist at Mustang Optics, LLC. Dr. Gnade’s research interests include electronics for harsh environments and optical techniques for problem-solving. He is a Fellow of APS, IEEE, and National Academy of Inventors, and has received numerous accolades, including the 2021 IEEE J.J. Ebers award. Dr. Gnade received his BA in Chemistry from St. Louis University in 1976 and his PhD in Nuclear Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1982.

Dr. Joseph J. Pancrazio has a 30+ year career in academia and federal government, focusing on biosensors and neural engineering. Currently, he serves as Vice President for Research and Innovation and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Texas at Dallas. Prior to joining UT Dallas, Dr. Pancrazio held positions at George Mason University, the US Naval Research Laboratory, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He was elected to the College of Fellows in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2011. Dr. Pancrazio earned a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois and a MS and PhD in biomedical engineering from the University of Virginia.

John Stibal, J.D., leader of LEAP Manufacturing, a battery industry consortium, and an accomplished investor with significant international experience. He works on investing to innovate next-generation batteries within DoD critical supply chains to accelerate production in the United States. Formerly, Mr. Stibal was the chief operations officer of a high growth startup company and company founder – bringing AI and improved safety to the food supply chain. Before this, he worked in the telecommunications industry with Orange PLC, the largest global telecom company, and he has 20+ years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, large-scale IT, and smart city projects. He holds a JD from Emory University.

Dr. Yue Zhou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT Dallas. Dr. Zhou received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, his M.S. and B.S. in Physics both from Nanjing University. He has been working as a Postdoctoral Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for two years. He received several prestigious awards such as the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program Award, and the Assistant Professor Research Award of Jonsson School of Engineering. His areas of interest include advanced materials and their application in energy storage such as lithium metal batteries, solid-state electrolytes, sodium-ion batteries, aqueous zinc metal batteries, etc.