Christopher Michelbacher, Director, is an experienced electrification and battery expert with a background spanning industry and government.
Prior to joining SMI, Chris held significant roles in the automotive and energy sectors. At Audi of America in Herndon, VA, he served as the Charging & Energy Lead, overseeing strategic initiatives and managing technical and business aspects of the charging and energy ecosystem. Before his time at Audi, Chris worked as a research engineer at Idaho National Laboratory and as a technical advisor for the Department of Energy in Washington, DC. At DOE headquarters, he provided technical oversight and program management for various initiatives, including the Battery Grid & infrastructure portfolios and the Extreme Fast Charging Technical Gap Assessment. Additionally, Chris led multiple United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) Li-ion battery development projects and served as a technical evaluator. At Idaho National Laboratory, he led battery testing programs and evaluated on-road electrified vehicle performance.
Chris earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University and an MBA from George Washington University.