XABC Leadership Team

Raja Parvez

Executive Chairman

Raja joined Xerion as Executive Chairman in 2017. He has more than 35 years of management, engineering, manufacturing and commercialization experience at public and private advanced technology corporations in the United States, Europe, Asia, Mexico and Israel. He has held advisory roles in private equity and venture capital firms, CM Acquisitions, Energy Foundry and KB Partners. Raja was President and CEO of Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN), which he transformed from a distressed venture-backed startup into a profitable public company with $300M enterprise value in 18 months leading to a market capitalization of over $675M within a few years. The company was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as a “FAST FIFTY”. Prior to joining Rubicon, he was Chief Operating Officer of CyOptics, Inc., which was acquired by Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) for $400M, and President of Optigain, Inc., a subsidiary of Furukawa Electric (NIKKEI: TYO). Raja began his career at Bell Laboratories (Lucent Technologies), in a variety of technical roles, including Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (DMTS) and Consulting Member of Technical Staff (CMTS). He was regional finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and recipient of the Outstanding CEO of the Year Award from Cross Atlantic Capital Partners. Raja is an industry advisory board member of NanoGraf Corporation. He holds an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and M.S. in Management Science from New York University, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Peshawar.

Martin Rucidlo

Chief Operating Officer

Martin joined Xerion Advanced Battery Corp in 2017. He has a diverse management and marketing background with a mix of Fortune 500 companies and technology start-ups over his 40 year career. Martin has extensive experience moving technology companies from inception through commercialization to exit. Prior to Xerion, Martin was President of Workhorse Group Inc., a manufacturer of electric delivery vehicles and utility vans. Earlier in his career, Martin held various executive roles at Alcoa, Pocketscript, Mobile Voice Control, Quest Diagnostics, and WS Packaging. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Lordstown Motors, a manufacturer of light-duty electric trucks. Martin holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University.

Jim Thompson

Chief Financial Officer

Jim is an accomplished global leader with extensive fundraising, corporate finance and M&A experience, and has thrived in diverse organizations spanning from established Fortune 500 companies to his involvement in pioneering ClimateTech startups.

 Prior to joining Xerion, Jim held leadership positions at Ford Motor Company, Visteon and Johnson Controls, including an ex-pat assignment as Finance Leader for Johnson Controls South American Operations based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he led a comprehensive restructuring of the business resulting in a substantial EBITDA improvement.

 More recently, Jim has gained extensive experience in the startup sector as the initial CFO for both Our Next Energy and Relyion Energy, where he has focused on fundraising, helping raise over $500 million of venture capital and grants, as well as driving strategies to launch these companies on a path to profitable growth.

Jim holds an MBA in Corporate Finance from the University of Michigan.

Tim O’Meara

Executive Director, Systems Engineering

Tim joined Xerion in 2019 as Executive Director, Manufacturing Systems. He brings 40+ years experience providing complex manufacturing systems for Aerospace & Defense, Medical, Semiconductor, Communications and Industrial Markets. Prior to joining Xerion, Tim served as President of GEMCITY Engineering and Manufacturing, overseeing the operations of GEMCITY’s locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Thailand. At GEMCITY, he successfully positioned and navigated the company through three sales to private equity investors. He was a Chairman of the Dayton Regional Manufacturers Association and was appointed for a term to the U.S. Manufacturing Council by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.

Larry Spickard

VP, Manufacturing

Larry received his BS in Chemical Engineering and Executive MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. He has > 40 years of experience in the specialty chemical and mining businesses with over 10 years in the battery supply chain. Larry has held operations and P&L leadership roles supporting battery customers with Livent/Arcadium (lithium chemicals), Asahi/Polypore/Celgard (battery separators), and Columbian Chemicals/Birla Group (carbons). Larry also has experience in sales, product management, quality management, and ESH management at Monsanto (chemicals) and Imerys (mining). Most prior to Xerion, Larry led operations at the largest lithium chemical manufacturing site in N. America at Arcadium’s Bessemer City, NC pant, including responsibility for the molten salt electrolysis process making high purity lithium metal, and the commercial lithium hydroxide manufacturing facility. Larry volunteers with the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD screening supporting high school candidates applying to the Academy from the Dayton, Ohio area.