Directors & Leadership Team
Gelion’s team is comprised of incredibly talented business and scientific leaders. They’re guided by a Board that shares a single-focus: to create a better tomorrow through next-generation energy-storage solutions.
The Board
Dr Steve Mahon
PhD in Geo and Planetary Physics
Non-Executive Chair
Dr Steve Mahon has been a Director of the Company since April 2016. He Chairs the Board’s ESG Committee and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Remuneration Committee. Dr Mahon is the founder and now Chairman of Armstrong Capital Management Limited which is an asset manager specialising in the ESG sector. Armstrong has managed over £300m of investment into the UK renewable energy sector over the last 10 years with a focus on the development, construction and operation of ground and rooftop solar. During this period Armstrong has successfully provided profitable exits for the investors in these assets including sales of solar investments to institutional investors such as Next Energy and Blackrock.
Dr Mahon has had a successful career in commercialising low-carbon technologies with more than 15 years in the sector and a track record in selecting and managing high-growth, low carbon companies, both in the private and public markets. He is the co-founder and CEO of Mura Technology Limited (“Mura”), which is an advanced recycling technology business formed to recycle mixed waste plastic that would otherwise go to incineration or landfill. Mura is deploying its solution globally with partners such as Dow Chemicals, KBR Inc and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation.
Before establishing Armstrong, Dr Mahon co-founded Low Carbon Investors Limited, a Guernsey-based fund management company and created the UK’s first dedicated feed-in-tariff fund with Downing LLP, the Downing Low Carbon EIS and went on to advise Downing on the investment of more than £45 million in feed-in-tariff projects in solar and wind assets.
Dr Mahon has a first-class degree and PhD in Geophysics and Planetary Physics.
Prof. Thomas Maschmeyer AO
HonDSc FAA FTSE MAE
Founder, Principal Technology Advisor and Non-Executive Director
Thomas has developed some of the core technologies at the heart of Gelion’s commercial solutions through his work at the University of Sydney. He is Founder and Principal Technology Advisor at Gelion Technologies (2015), Co-Founder and Principle Technology Advisor of Licella Holdings Ltd (2007) and one of the inventors of its Cat-HTR™ technology. He has been a Director of Gelion since March 2015. He is also the Principal Technology Advisor for Cat-HTR™ licensee’s Mura Technology Ltd. In 2001 he was one of the founding professors of Avantium (2000), a listed Dutch high-tech company.
He is an Officer of the Order of Australia (2024), Fellow of four Academies and ranked #15 globally among chemists (2010-2020)¹ with more than 350 papers and 25 patents. Recent prizes include the “Academy of Science Medal for Chemistry” (2021), the “International Falling Walls Prizes for Engineering and Technology Breakthrough of the Year” in Berlin (2021), the “Prime Minister’s Prize for Innovation” (2020), the “Australian Financial Review Sustainability Prize” (2020) and the “Eureka Prize for Innovation and Science” (2018).
He was named as one of the “Top Ten International People of the Year: who mattered in higher education” in 2020 by the Times Higher Education.
¹AcademicInfluence.com
Michael Davie
Non-Executive Director
Michael Davie joined the Board of Gelion as an independent Non-Executive Director in November 2021. He Chairs the Board’s Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the ESG Committee.
Mr. Davie has more than 25 years’ experience working in financial services, most recently as Global Head of Rates at LCH Ltd, a company mostly owned by the London Stock Exchange Group. Before this, Mr. Davie was Head of Rate Services at the London Stock Exchange Group between 2015 and 2017.
He has also held various executive positions at LCH Clearnet, latterly as CEO, and has previously been a Managing Director in JP Morgan’s Rates division.
Mr. Davie holds a degree in Zoology from the University of Oxford.
Joycelyn Morton
BEc, FCA, FCPA, FIPA, FAICD
Non-Executive Director
Joycelyn Morton has been on the Board of Gelion as an independent, Non-Executive Director from November 2021. Ms Morton Chairs the Board’s Audit and Risk Committee and is a member of the Remuneration Committee.
A qualified accountant with expertise in taxation, Ms Morton had a successful executive career in chartered accounting and senior management roles at Woolworths Ltd and Shell, including Vice President of Accounting Services, Shell International . She completed a senior executive program at INSEAD and holds various government and advisory positions, currently chairing the Salvation Army Red Shield Doorknock Appeal for Greater Sydney.
Ms Morton is an experienced Board member of ASX listed companies ABx Group Ltd and Felix Holdings Group Ltd, also non-listed entities Epic Energy Group and SEC Victoria Pty Ltd. She previously was a Non-Executive Director of Argo Investments Ltd, Argo Global Listed Infrastructure Ltd, ASC Pty Ltd, Snowy Hydro Ltd, Beach Energy Ltd and Chaired Noni B Ltd and Thorn Group Ltd.
Dr Graham Cooley
Non-Executive Director
Dr Graham Cooley brings a wealth of relevant experience and knowledge to the Gelion Board through his background in the power, energy storage and hydrogen sectors over more than 35 years.
He was previously Business Development Manager at National Power plc, the UK’s largest power generator, and CEO of ITM Power plc, the first hydrogen related company quoted on AIM. Graham has been involved in a wide range of corporate transactions and has raised over £600m for UK cleantech SMEs.
Graham is currently a Non-Executive Director of Cadent Gas, Non-Executive Chairman of Light Science Technologies and Non-Executive Director of Cap-XX.
John Wood
Chief Executive Officer
John Wood brings more than 30 years’ experience as a CEO of various private and public companies within the technology and energy industries.
John also maintains a personal commitment to the energy transition through his private investment vehicle NOAB.Ventures which has supported 15 deep technology cleantech innovators on their impact and commercial journey.
As CEO of Gelion John is helping the team establish global presence for its high-performance Sulfur and Zinc based battery technologies aimed at unlocking the enormous potential of these abundant materials.
Amit Gupta
Chief Financial Officer
Amit is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of experience in accounting and finance roles. Amit is responsible for the financial strategy of the Gelion Group, including financial reporting, corporate development, treasury, forecasting, transformation and M&A.
Prior to joining Gelion in August 2021, Amit worked for KPMG and Deloitte providing advice, predominantly for M&A and IPOs.
Amit holds a Bachelor of Commerce from St Xavier’s College, India and a Master of Finance and Master of Accounting from Bond University, Australia.
Board Committees
The Board comprises of seven Directors, of whom two are executive and five are non-executive.
The Board considers Michael Davie and Joycelyn Morton to be independent for the purposes of the QCA Code. With effect from Admission, the Board established an Audit and Risk Committee, Remuneration Committee.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations have been integrated into day-to-day decision-making process and other board discussions, reducing the need for dedicated committee meetings. This integration shows a commitment to ESG that is continuous rather than confined to formal meetings.
The Audit and Risk Committee comprises of Joycelyn Morton (as chair), Steve Mahon, Michael Davie and Graham Cooley. The Audit and Risk Committee meets at least three times a year at appropriate times in the reporting and audit cycle and otherwise as required. The Audit and Risk Committee also meets regularly with the Company’s external auditors. The Remuneration Committee comprises of Michael Davie (as chair), Joycelyn Morton, Steve Mahon and Graham Cooley. The Remuneration Committee meets at least twice a year and otherwise as required.
The Leadership Team
John Wood
Chief Executive Officer
John Wood brings more than 30 years’ experience as a CEO of various private and public companies within the technology and energy industries.
John also maintains a personal commitment to the energy transition through his private investment vehicle NOAB.Ventures which has supported 15 deep technology cleantech innovators on their impact and commercial journey.
As CEO of Gelion John is helping the team establish global presence for its high-performance Sulfur and Zinc based battery technologies aimed at unlocking the enormous potential of these abundant materials.
Amit Gupta
Chief Financial Officer
Amit is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of experience in accounting and finance roles. Amit is responsible for the financial strategy of the Gelion Group, including financial reporting, corporate development, treasury, forecasting, transformation and M&A.
Prior to joining Gelion in August 2021, Amit worked for KPMG and Deloitte providing advice, predominantly for M&A and IPOs.
Amit holds a Bachelor of Commerce from St Xavier’s College, India and a Master of Finance and Master of Accounting from Bond University, Australia.
Louis Adriaenssens
Chief Technology Officer
Louis has 20 years of experience in synthesis, characterization and electrochemistry of small-molecules and materials. He has worked at leading companies, and research institutes across continental Europe and in the UK where he held the position of Assistant Professor with a focus on electrochemically-active self-assembled materials.
Most recently, Louis worked in manufacturing as the Supervisor of Chemistry for Panasonic at the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada, USA. Here Louis’ team oversaw the chemical considerations of a process that produces 5.5 million batteries per day (a staggering 60 batteries per second). Louis’ strategy towards successful commercial and manufacturing initiatives is to work through all scales, from the molecular-level all the way to giga-scale manufacture.
Adrien Amigues
President – Gelion UK & Europe
Adrien graduated in Chemistry with first class honours from the University of Bordeaux (France) in 2010. Passionate about contributing to the shift towards a greener society, he completed a European Masters degree in energy storage and conversion, studying at leading academic energy institutions in France, Poland, Spain and the UK. He then completed his academic journey with a PhD on the discovery of new electrode materials for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries at the University of Cambridge.
Adrien specialised in high energy battery technologies when he joined OXIS Energy Ltd as a Research Scientist in 2016 and later Head of Intellectual Property in 2018. He has since co-authored 12 patent families on solid-state and lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery technologies.
He then founded and became the CEO of OXLiD Ltd in 2021 to accelerate the development and commercialisation of Li-S batteries. He led on the establishment of industrial Research Collaborations, securing over £2m in grant and private funding to support OXLiD’s activities. In 2023, he sold OXLiD to Gelion plc to create a world leading Li-S battery platform. Adrien has now become the President of Gelion UK/Europe.
Dr Gareth Hartley
Head of Lithium
Gareth is an accomplished leader in energy storage and battery technology. As the Head of Lithium, he drives Gelion’s research and development efforts on Li-S batteries. Gareth’s expertise lies in translating scientific advancements into practical solutions, ensuring innovation and sustainability.
Previously, Gareth served as the Principal Scientist at OXLiD Ltd, a company that was acquired by Gelion in 2023. In this capacity, he guided the product development team, connecting technical expertise with business insight.
Before joining OXLiD, Gareth worked as a Business Intelligence Manager at the Faraday Institution, where he established strong networks across the battery sector and shaped commercialisation strategies for early-stage battery research.
Gareth’s prior academic journey included work at the cutting edge of solid-state battery research. He pursued a DPhil in Materials from the University of Oxford, working under the renowned Prof. Peter G. Bruce FRS, FRSE. Additionally, Gareth holds a First-Class Master’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield.
Emma Dyer
General Manager People & Culture
Emma has over twenty five years, operational, commercial and human resources experience, including senior management, executive and HR Director appointments across a number of industries including FMCG, Healthcare and Retail in the UK, Europe and Australia.
Prior to joining Licella Holdings in 2013, Emma provided HR consultancy services to entrepreneurial start-ups and small businesses.
Emma is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Chartered FCIPD) equivalent to a Fellow of AHRI (Australia Human Resources Institute).
Michael Lanfranconi
General Manager Research & Innovation
Michael is a chemical engineer with a background in electrochemistry, organic and analytical chemistry. He has an extensive experience in various energy storage technologies, such as PEM fuel cells, metal-air batteries, various types of flow batteries and coating techniques for Lithium-Ion electrodes and has been engaged in the field for the last 15 years.
Michael is an experienced leader of product and process focused research and development teams for various battery technologies. He holds a PhD in Electrochemistry from TU Claustal, Germany, a Master’s degree in Micro- and Nanotechnology from the University of Applied Science in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the University of Applied Science in Basel, Switzerland. He has started his career at Novartis Pharma, as a chemical laboratory technician and thoroughly understands the entire process of product development.
Nick Batt
General Manager Engineering & Operations
Nick Batt has two decades’ experience in the energy generation, energy storage and electricity distribution industries. He is a highly experienced engineer working on energy storage projects of varying scales, from start-ups to grid-scale. Nick has experience working directly for a battery company (Ecoult); a global developer and system integrator (RES); and an electricity network service provider (Ausgrid).
This gives him a great understanding of projects from a range of perspectives in power systems, energy storage, smart grid, micro-grid and control systems design, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. Nick is a proven program and project management professional with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in French, both from the University of Newcastle in Australia.
Stuart Rayner
Commercial Director
Stuart’s focus at Gelion is to commercialise the technology platform by raising capital from industry and government organisations and working with key stakeholders and customers to grow Gelion’s product sales in the market.
Stuart brings to Gelion over twenty years of technology solution and professional services sales experience gained from IBM, Computer Associates (CA) and Ernst & Young. Stuart worked with Ignite Energy Resources and Licella for 6 years commercialising novel waste to energy technologies, which resulted in successful, significant projects with joint venture partners based in the UK and Canada.
