Joined: August 2023

Hometown: Sandnes, Rogaland, Norway

Eva Kvalvik Talgø is developing new analytical chemical methodologies for the study and improvement of sodium-ion batteries. Her work is targeted at improving chemical understanding of existing systems on a full-cell level – for the development of better lifetime predictions – and the exploration of new cell chemistries for long-lasting batteries that may meaningfully contribute to practical and sustainable energy storage technologies.

Eva completed her M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry in the Bioanalytic Chemistry Group at the University of Oslo under the supervision of Prof. Hanne Røberg-Larsen. During this time, she researched method development for the study of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease using high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray-ionisation mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-MS). 

Eva has previously studied molecular biology at the University of Bergen and completed a combined natural science/teaching bachelor's and master's programme in chemistry and biology at the University of Oslo.

Joined: November 2023

Hometown: Gouda, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Matthijs joined the group as a Research Council of Norway (Norges forskningsrådet) industrial PhD student, joint with Beyonder AS. He aims to design artificial solid-electrolyte interphases (SEI) for lithium and sodium ion batteries by studying their formation, composition, and morphology, and how these affect the battery performance.

Matthijs studied chemistry at Avans University of Applied Sciences (‘s‑ Hertogenbosch, Netherlands), where he specialized in organic polymer chemistry. He completed his M.Sc. in Nanomaterials Science at Utrecht University (Utrecht, Netherlands), where he studied Shell-Isolated Nanoparticle-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SHINERS). After his M.Sc. he worked on developing polymer electrolytes in lithium metal batteries, which sparked his interest in sustainable energy storage.

Joined: January 2025

Hometown: Prince Edward Island, Canada

James is researching sodium-ion battery anode materials, and their implementation potential for full-cell chemistries. Working to understand structural changes and electrochemical compatibility for a more efficient cell design using sustainable, widely available materials.

James attended Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering from the Process Engineering and Applied Sciences department. Working in the Advanced Tribology Laboratory, focusing on surface engineering, metallurgy, and characterization of materials.

James has previously worked at Elcora Advanced Materials, fabricating and performing applications testing on carbon allotropes including nano carbons, expanded graphite, and lithium-ion anode material. More recently he worked on Tesla’s cell materials engineering team, performing electrolyte design and validation for dry processed electrodes in the 4680 cell, along with working on test method development of cell components at the material level.

Joined: October 2024

Hometown: Lahore, Pakistan

Bakar began his academic journey with a Bachelor's degree in Physics, where he delved into the mysterious world of Quantum Information Science, with a particular focus on the quantum optics of light-matter interactions. Think Schrödinger’s cat, but with lasers and a bit more math.  

For his master’s degree, he decided to swap theoretical elegance for the messy but exciting world of experiments. Under the guidance of David Hall, he now works on sodium-ion batteries —because lithium is so last decade. Bakar's current research focuses on alternative anode materials, investigating compatibility with sodium and developing methods for both synthesis and characterisation. Essentially, Bakar is trying to figure out how to make the Beyoncé of electrode materials.  

When Bakar is not in the lab, you can find him wondering if quantum mechanics can explain why my experiments don't work the first time (or the second...or third).

Joined: Founding Member

Hometown: Egersund, Rogaland, Norway