Chris Burns

Co-founder, NOVONIX

Dr. Chris Burns was a Co-Founder and CEO of NOVONIX, starting NOVONIX Battery Technology Solutions, in Halifax, NS, in 2013 during his Ph.D. which was acquired to become a public company and expand to form NOVONIX Anode Material business, in Chattanooga, TN, in 2017 to produce synthetic graphite for use in Li-ion batteries. Over this time, Dr. Burns grew the team to ~200 employees, signed contracts with leading cell manufacturers and OEMs (LG Energy Solution, Panasonic Energy, Stellantis, and PowerCo), raised ~US$350m (including strategic investors Phillips 66 and LG Energy Solution), and was selected for ~US$1b in government financing support.

Dr. Burns stepped back as CEO in January 2025 and is continuing as and Advisor to NOVONIX. In addition to his continued work at NOVONIX, he is a member of the Board of Directors of AccelerateZEV, Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Supply Chain Alliance, a member of the NRC Clean Energy Innovation Research Centre Advisory Board, an advisor to various companies in the battery and clean technology space, involved in investor networks and venture funds, and formerly worked as a Sr. Research Engineer at Tesla.

Dr Burns received his Ph.D. in Physics from Dalhousie University where he studied in Dr Jeff Dahn’s group. His PhD work focused on developing and applying high precision coulometry methods to understand battery lifetime. He is an inventor on multiple Li-ion battery materials patents and has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers that have been cited more than 6,000 times.