As Chief Manufacturing Officer, Celina Mikolajczak leads teams spanning the battery development process — from materials sourcing and cell engineering to automation equipment design and EH&S — and is responsible for bringing QuantumScape solid-state technology into mass production.
Celina has held several leadership roles in her more than 20 years of working in Li-ion batteries. Prior to joining QuantumScape, she was Vice President of Engineering and Battery Technology at Panasonic Energy of North America, which produces Li-ion cells for Tesla at the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Celina worked at Uber as Director of Battery Engineering, leading the design of battery packs for micro-mobility and urban air mobility applications. Before that, she led Cell Quality and Materials Engineering at Tesla as the company launched its Model S, Model X, Model 3, Powerwall and Powerpack products.
Celina has a particular passion for battery safety; she frequently publishes and speaks on the topic and has served on various Li-ion battery safety standards committees. Earlier in her career, she helped found battery consulting group Exponent and developed battery failure analysis techniques and safety standards related to consumer electronics devices.