florrent’s team comprises diverse backgrounds, experiences, and approaches—because at florrent, we believe that diverse teams generate more innovative solutions to the world’s greatest challenges—and it is the challenge of realizing a clean energy transition that drives us. At florrent, we are committed to creating the next generation of high-power energy storage materials, all starting with a cross-functional and passionate team.
Jose LaSalle is an engineer and researcher in energy storage technologies, specifically the area of graphene-based supercapacitors. Prior to florrent, Jose spent 6 years in key technical roles at two startups in the Pacific Northwest. Jose created his own lab in Oregon to continue his research and develop what became florrent’s core technological innovation.
Alex Nichols is an electrical engineer by training who has spent the last 13 years at startups in key technical and managerial roles, and the last 3 years directing research, product dev, and manufacturing efforts at florrent. Before co-founding florrent, Alex was Head of Hardware Development at Elemental Machines, where he built and led a cross-functional engineering team.
Joe Hastry comes from a CPA background, with a strong technical financial skillset, extensive experience leading teams, and a passion for improving operational efficiencies. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Before florrent, Joe was a manager within PwC's Private practice, where he held national leadership positions and acted as a trusted business advisor for domestic and international clients for seven years.
Emily’s passion for research has deep roots in analytical chemistry. While a PhD student at UT Austin, she was mesmerized by explicit solvation interactions occurring at electrified interfaces. Before joining florrent, Emily worked on redox flow batteries and other emerging energy storage materials at Argonne National Lab’s Joint Center for Energy Storage Research.
Adam graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Maryland. At Maryland he concentrated on photovoltaics and worked at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel researching perovskite solar cells and spent time at Duracell working on their AA and AAA alkaline cell products. He then matriculated into the realm of polymer and adhesive coating as a product development engineer for Berry Global, Scapa and Iconex where developed new adhesive tape products and their coating process using, comma, slot die, gravure, reverse roll, meyer rod and flexographic coating methods.
Jamie is passionate about sustainable supply chains and ethical engineering. With a background in researching material alternatives derived from hemp, mycelium, and seaweed, Jamie’s interest in activated carbon led him to join the University of Oregon’s Electrochemistry Technology Masters program.
Riddhima is an engineer with a dedication to solving climate-related problems, principally in energy storage. She has previous experience as an engineer in wastewater process treatment design, working on critical projects for Los Angeles County, Orange County (CA), and industrial clients. She earned her Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering, minoring in Chemistry and Materials Science, from Cal Poly Pomona.
Ryan is an experienced R&D Engineering Manager and Senior Process Engineer with a demonstrated history of design, engineering, and improvement of thermochemical, supercritical, flammable, and corrosive fluid systems. He has an established laboratory and process safety background with an extensive familiarity of OSHA and NFPA regulations and codes. Ryan received his Master of Science in Process Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Han was born and raised in China and has been living and studying in the United States for over 12 years. Han earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, as well as an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Tech. He has been doing research in renewable energy, sustainability, and catalysis since 2016.
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Chuck is an experienced engineer and entrepreneur whose storied career has ranged from the invention of audio digital signal processing in the 70’s to scaling up businesses built around advanced manufacturing processing of biomass feedstocks. Chuck is bringing this experience to bear in R&D and scale up of florrent’s activated carbon production.
Ava is passionate about electrochemical applications to renewable and sustainable energy solutions. Motivated by the climate crisis and the need for clean energy solutions, they pursued and received their Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to florrent, they worked as an undergraduate researcher with Dr. Fikile R. Brushett on improving lithium-ion battery performance and safety through innovations in cell design and operation.
Rutuja Ajagekar is pursuing a Master of Science in Engineering Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. With a strong foundation in computer engineering and a passion for optimizing business processes, Rutuja focuses on utilizing data-driven insights to enhance operational performance and drive innovation. Rutuja’s role at florrent allows her to leverage her technical expertise and strategic thinking to support the company's mission of creating innovative, socially impactful solutions for a resilient energy future.
The florrent ecosystem fosters invaluable relationships through collaboration, innovation, and impact.
Interested in working together?
At florrent, we are passionate about bringing the benefits of a decarbonized future to everyone. That passion drives everything we do, and how we do it. We are building a team propelled by ambitious goals, and committed to seeing them come to reality. To reach those goals, we need to stay connected to what motivates us, and always be real about the challenges ahead.
If that sounds like you, let’s talk! Our careers page is always being updated, but if you find yourself drawn to our mission while none of our current postings are quite the right fit, you can always reach out directly to start a conversation.
