Dr Matt Boot-Handford is the research and development (R&D) manager for batteries and catalysts, and plant manager for Calix’s new electric calciner, BATMn. Matt oversees R&D focused on the exploitation of Calix’s unique technology and nano-active materials for electrochemical energy storage and catalyst applications. Matt manages Calix’s role in a variety of collaborative research programs including: storEnergy: the Australian Research Council funded Training Centre for Future Energy Storage Technologies; POLYSTORAGE: the EU funded training centre developing solid state batteries; and the Calix-led CRC-P for Advanced Hybrid Batteries.
Before joining Calix in January 2019, Matt was Acting Head of the Energy Engineering and Carbon Capture Research Group in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. He also held roles as a Research Associate at Imperial College London and Visiting Scholar at the University of Technology Sydney. Matt has a PhD in Chemical Engineering and a MRes in Green Chemistry.
Matt worked closely with Calix in his previous roles at Imperial College on the EU funded ASCENT and LEILAC projects. Working on the development of low-carbon and sustainable technologies that mitigate the detrimental impact of human activity on the environment and steers the world away from its reliance on fossil fuels is a key motivation for Matt. As such, the prospect of moving to Australia to head up Calix’s new R&D program for batteries and catalysts presented an opportunity he could not pass up.
In his free time, Matt enjoys spending time with his family – his wife Laura and 15-month-old son Tom, all things fermentation including brewing beer, baking breads and curing; and exploring the wineries, cycling routes and hiking tracks of his new home in the Macedon Ranges.
