Dr. Mark McDaniel leads a team of ABTC scientists in the development and implementation of analytical procedures to quantify the quality and performance of materials within the lithium-ion battery recycling and primary lithium hydroxide manufacturing systems. This team is focused on developing and evolving these battery metals extraction technologies that achieve lower environmental impacts, lower costs, and higher domestic US sourced content than conventional recycled and virgin sourced metals.
Dr. McDaniel is a top expert in the field when it comes to development and implementation of the analytical methods required to quantify the performance of these battery grade materials. He will lead the establishment of rigorous processes and controls so that battery metal products can be manufactured to meet the demanding standards set forth in battery grade material specifications.
Meet Mark
Dr. McDaniel has over twenty years of extensive experience as an analytical chemist within the environmental and research fields, dedicated to protecting the environment and ensuring the health and safety of communities throughout Nevada. Most recently, he worked with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) as an environmental scientist in their Bureau of Water Quality Planning. While at NDEP, he worked on the implementation of standards through statewide field monitoring to support water quality and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) under the Clean Water Act, supported Non-Point Source Programs, and conducted statewide monitoring of surface water.
Prior to working at NDEP, McDaniel worked as a staff research scientist for Tesla where he was a founding member of the Gigalab team, the analytical chemistry laboratory within the Tesla Gigafactory which led the development of analytical processes for the assurance of quality within the battery manufacturing operations. Directly related to his role at ABTC, he played a critical role at Tesla in the establishment of the processes within the manufacturing of lithium, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, and copper battery metal products, of high energy density precursor and active cathode materials, and of onsite generated and refined high purity solvents.
McDaniel previously spent over seventeen years at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), an institution recognized as a world leader in basic and applied environmental research, as an assistant research scientist alongside other highly-skilled scientists, engineers, technicians, and students collaboratively focused on understanding and answering critical science questions about global climate change, water quality and availability, air quality, the sustainability of desert lands, life in extreme environments, and science education.
McDaniel received a B.S. in environmental science and health, a M.S. in environmental chemistry, and a Ph.D in atmospheric science from the University of Nevada, Reno. He has published extensively with 11 journal publications and over 100 citations.
