Christina Lampe-Önnerud

Christina Lampe-Önnerud was born in Sweden. Her father, Wolfgang Lampe, was a power engineer. Lampe-Önnerud had an interest in science early on, making fireworks in a basement bathtub and playing with chemistry and electrical kits as a child. She was also trained as an opera singer.[1]

Lampe-Önnerud considered careers in opera singing and medicine and was offered a scholarship for an 8-year program for a medical doctorate degree but turned it down her senior year of high school. After high school, Lampe-Önnerud accepted a Fulbright scholarship to attend Elmira College in New York. At Elmira college she studied English literature, business, and the sciences while working in a chemistry laboratory as a lab assistant.[1]

With encouragement from her father to pursue a career in a STEM field and her growing interest in the sciences, Lampe-Önnerud returned to Sweden and obtained a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in inorganic chemistry from Uppsala University in Sweden. In her masters program at Uppsala, Lampe-Önnerud studied copper deposition on semiconductor wafers, and for her PhD she focused on analyzing cathode materials for lithium-polymer batteries while working with a Denmark battery producer, Danionics, who later patented some of the materials Lampe- Önnerud studied.[1][8]

Lampe-Önnerud then held a postdoctoral appointment at MIT in Cambridge, MA working for Quantum Energy Technologies.[1][8] This was sponsored by the American Chemical Society.

Lampe-Önnerud is married to Per Önnerud, who she met in high school. She has two children, Anna-Maria and Mattias.[1]

Lampe-Önnerud has focused her career on energy storage since her time at Uppsala University, where her father had an interest in power generation.[7] While still a doctoral student, Lampe-Önnerud patented a material to increase the power of lithium batteries. She joined Bell Communications Research in New Jersey in 1995, as a director and senior scientist, working on prototypes for thin-film polymer lithium batteries.[9][10] She later became one of the youngest partners at Arthur D. Little (whose research section was acquired by TIAX), in charge of the company's battery labs.[10][11]

From 2002 until 2020, she served as the Director and Chairman of the non-profit Stardust Show Chorus. She founded the lithium-ion battery company Boston-Power Inc. in 2005 and owned the company until 2012 working as the CEO, executive chairman, and international chairman.[2][11] The company focused on lithium-ion batteries for small personal computing devices.[4]

From 2007 to 2009, Lampe-Önnerud was assigned by Club de Madrid and the United Nations to serve of Road to Copenhagen as Energy Expert and in 2008, she was a member of the United States' State Department's delegation to China, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, PRC, and Chinese Academies of Science.

In 2009, Lampe-Önnerud was a member of the European Union's Presidential delegation to China and Premier Wen Jiabao, dealing with subjects such as clean technology deployment, CSR, and international trade. Additionally, starting in 2009, Lampe-Önnerud was elected Co-Chairman of the Global Future Council on Energy at the World Economic Forum. She serves on multiple working groups and as a speaker at the WEF on topics ranging from global innovation to renewable transport and finance. She is active in multiple forums throughout the United States, China, and the EU.

In 2010, she became a Lifetime Member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Lampe-Önnerud served on the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Advisory Board from 2010 through 2013, the Wall Street Journal Economist Advisory Council from 2011 through 2013, and the United Nations Inter Academy Panel (IAP) and Inter Academy Council from 2011 through 2014.

From 2011 through 2013, Lampe-Önnerud served as the Director of the New England Clean Energy Council.

In 2012, she and her husband Per Önnerud started the company CloTeam,[2] later renamed Cadenza Innovation, based in Oxford, Connecticut.[4][6] Her work aims at developing efficient, safe, lasting, and inexpensive batteries for various technologies, including computers, phones, and cars. [7][11] The lithium ion battery she invented is the first to be considered environmentally friendly while capable of providing long lasting energy safely to various types of technology.[1] She describes Cadenza's 2016 battery design, which involves a ceramic insert in an aluminum container, as "an energy LEGO-brick for engineers".[12] It is intended to be a power source for electric vehicles such as Tesla's cars,[4] but could also be used in electrical grids.[12] Lampe-Önnerud continues to serve as the Founder, chief executive officer, and Director at Cadenza.[7][11]

Lampe-Önnerud became a Lifetime Ambassador of Honor in Dalarna, Sweden in 2013. In 2013–2014, Lampe-Önnerud served as the Senior Manager and Management Committee Advisor in the Core Management Group at Bridgewater Associates in Westport, CT. She worked closely with the CEO and Management Committee members during an extensive transition at this hedge fund, focusing on change in management centering around talent, cost, and efficiency.

From 2016 through 2019, Lampe-Önnerud has served as the non-executive director of Syrah Resources Limited, an Australian-based company focusing on minerals and technology for industrial use.[11][13] Lampe-Önnerud has served as a voice for power and energy issues at government and industrial conferences for over 15 years. Also starting in 2016, Lampe-Önnerud became a board member at the MIT Corporation Visiting Committee for the Department of Chemistry. Since 2016, she has also been a part of the NY-BEST (New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology) Consortium, appointed as Energy Storage Industry Director.

In 2018–2019, she held a board of directors appointment at FuelCell Energy. In 2019, Lampe-Önnerud was appointed to the Livent board of directors and additionally joined the Future Battery Industry Collaborative Research Center advisory board.

In April 2022 Lampe-Önnerud will receive one of Sweden’s most prestigious awards – the King’s Medal. The internationally respected, 25-year battery industry thought leader and entrepreneur is being honored for her outstanding contribution to Swedish business.

Christina Lampe-Önnerud holds 80+ patents on designs, products, devices, components, materials, and processes. She has over 25 technical publications in scientific journals focusing on science and thought-leadership. She has also enjoyed over 30 interviews, on media such as TV, radio, and podcasts with select features on CNBC, WGBH, NECN, and NPR. Lampe-Önnerud is featured in 500+ articles with select features in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Fortune, Nikkei, and China Daily. She has given over 100 keynote presentation with select events such as the World Economic Forum, TED, and CES. Lampe-Önnerud has served as a voice for power and energy issues at government and industrial conferences for over 15 years.