Providing a Solution for the Modern World
Rare earth elements impact all of our lives. From smartphones to electric vehicles to green energy, these critical metals play a key role in the modernization and greening of our global economy.
Rare earth elements impact all of our lives. From smartphones to electric vehicles to green energy, these critical metals play a key role in the modernization and greening of our global economy.
With the global market for magnet rare earth oxides forecast to increase three-fold by 2030, establishing new sources of rare earth elements will be critical to support the electrification of the economy across Canada, North America, and the world.
We are developing an innovative process to recover the critical rare earth elements used in high performance magnets and re-circulating them back into the manufacturing process, reducing the environmental impact of the global energy transition.
A serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in developing cleantech technologies for processing and recycling of resources, Ahmad is the CEO, President, and co-founder of Cyclic Materials. Ahmad is among the early co-inventors of Jetti Resources Inc. technology and is an Ex-Board of Advisory member of Li-Cycle Corp (NYSE: LICY).
With dedication and a strong passion for a sustainable environment, Ahmad Ghahreman leads the company's vision to transform the rare earth elements market with ethical, economical, and sustainable sourced metals available for the global market.
Ahmad Ghahreman has earned his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the University of British Columbia and has co-invented more than 15 patents.
Patrick Nee is the VP of Strategic Partnerships and a founder of Cyclic Materials. He has a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Columbia University. Patrick was a founder of Universal Bio Mining, a company focused on developing copper and gold extractive processes. He has also founded technology companies in the healthcare and education spaces. Patrick is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and he has lived in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Tucson, Tokyo, Osaka, Milan, Panama City (Panama).
Patrick aims to increase the production of critical metals used to electrify our society while minimizing the mining required. This paradox can be solved with recycling, and Patrick intends for Cyclic Materials to make an outsized contribution to the efforts to stop climate warming.
Jeff Dawley is an experienced and passionate financial executive with international experience across a variety of industries. Jeff has worked in finance and technology across a broad spectrum of Canadian and international organizations and a diverse collection of industries that include mining, zinc recycling, newsprint and equipment manufacturing. Jeff has operated as a senior executive for nearly 20 years, including over 10 years as a CFO in both publicly listed and private companies.
Jeff holds a Chartered Professional Accountant designation in Canada, a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Information Technology Professional designation in the US and a Chartered Global Management Accountant designation recognized in the UK and US. Jeff is a volunteer member of the Government Relations Committee for the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade and serves as the audit committee chair for a Canadian publicly listed company.
Alex Forstner is the VP of Engineering and Technology and a founding team member at Cyclic Materials. He has a degree in Engineering Physics from Queen’s University and an MBA from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management. Alex’s career has been devoted to the global energy transition. First, from an infrastructure perspective where he worked to help Ontario transition away from coal power and integrate more renewable energy into the electricity grid and then to the commodity side where he spent 7 years working on and leading hydrometallurgical laboratory research programs on process innovations to extract the critical minerals necessary to facilitate electrification. Passionate about natural resources and their role in developing society, Alex is dedicated to making societal progress more efficient and less harmful to the planet and it is this reason that Alex is excited to be at Cyclic Materials and the forefront of the circular economy for rare earth elements.
A serial entrepreneur with more than 15 years of experience in developing cleantech technologies for processing and recycling of resources, Ahmad is the CEO, President, and co-founder of Cyclic Materials. Ahmad is among the early co-inventors of Jetti Resources Inc. technology and is an Ex-Board of Advisory member of Li-Cycle Corp (NYSE: LICY).
With dedication and a strong passion for a sustainable environment, Ahmad Ghahreman leads the company's vision to transform the rare earth elements market with ethical, economical, and sustainable sourced metals available for the global market.
Ahmad Ghahreman has earned his Ph.D. in Materials Engineering from the University of British Columbia and has co-invented more than 15 patents.
Scott Walbrun is a principal venture capital investor at BMW i Ventures, the independent venture capital fund managed on behalf of BMW Group based in Silicon Valley, where he focuses on Series A & B investments in cleantech, mobility, and industry 4.0. In this capacity, Scott has served on the board of six companies. He also serves as a mentor and workshop leader for hundreds of startups through various accelerator programs across the country.
Prior to joining BMW i Ventures, Scott provided M&A and capital markets advisory as a member of Jefferies’ Technology Investment Banking team. Scott joined Jefferies after completing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. While completing his MBA, he worked at Kinzie Capital Partners evaluating private equity investments, as well as at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation supporting the commercialization of science-based and deep tech companies.
Prior to business school, Scott managed Strategic Finance and FP&A at Truck Hero (a TA Associates portfolio company) and began his career in Fiat Chrysler’s Finance Leadership Development Program.
Sam Bursten is a Principal on the Frontier Fund at Energy Impact Partners (EIP). He focuses on investing in revolutionary technologies that enable deep decarbonization. His investments include Cyclic Materials, Rondo Energy, Zap Energy, Aeroseal, Project Canary, Sitetracker, Li-Cycle, and eSmart.
Prior to joining EIP in 2016, Sam worked at CIT in the Energy Group where he focused on project finance transactions across power, renewables, and infrastructure. Sam is a member of the Investor Advisory Board at NREL.
He holds a BA in Public Policy and an Energy and Environment Certificate from Duke University. He lives in New York.
Entrepreneur, systems engineer, multiple start-up founder. Wehbring has an extensive technical and operational background developed over 20 years of working in Silicon Valley. He has been a founder multiple times including as co-founder of one of the first “garage biology” start-ups. With Dr. Carlson, he has run the strategic consulting firm Biodesic which provides guidance to governments and corporations about the impact of biology on the future. Since 2015 he has made strategic venture capital investments in biotechnology as a managing director at Bioeconomy Capital. Wehbring earned an MEng in Electrical Engineering, as well as a BA in Physics with Distinction, from Cornell University.
Dr. Kondos’ career has been devoted in transforming organizations through innovation and delivering highly effective technology solutions within Barrick Gold, Inco (Vale), and Noranda (Glencore). The ability to adjust to working environments and work in teams, while creating long term roadmaps or solving immediate industrial challenges foster value creation in a sustainable way. He is the co-founder of YaKum Innovative Mining Consultants, and participates to two Advisory Boards.
Passionate about breaking conventional industry paradigms through value creation and transformational change driven by intelligence and creativity. Dr. Kondos combines technology and innovation with talented people to generate tangible solutions for the industry’s most pressing challenges. Respect of the environment and the engagement of communities as partners is paramount to the success of this philosophy. Value creation is at the forefront.
Dr. Kondos holds a PhD on Pressure Leaching in Hydrometallurgical Engineering from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec.
Leili Tafaghodi is an Associate Professor in Materials Science and Engineering Department at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. Her research expertise includes sustainable materials processing, and reutilization and recycling of waste materials. Prior to joining McMaster, she was an Assistant Professor and the Extractive Metallurgy Industry Chair at the University of British Columbia. She obtained her PhD on thermodynamics at the University of Toronto.
A photo credit of Georgia Kirkos/McMaster University
Bruce brings over 40 years of financial management experience, primarily with early-stage technology companies, both public and private. He has been Chief Financial Officer of numerous companies, including: Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. (NYSE:LICY), TrustPoint Innovation Technologies, Ltd. (subsequently acquired by Escrypt Canada, a subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH), Redline Communications Limited (TSX:RDL), MyScreen Mobile, Inc. (OTCQB:MYSL), and many more.
During his career, Bruce has participated in numerous financing transactions generating in close to $1 billion of capital; successfully listed companies on the NYSE, TSX and Nasdaq; and completed several cross-border M&A transactions. He is experienced in establishing the financial reporting and disclosure infrastructures required of public companies and in implementing sound internal controls and corporate governance procedures.
Bruce graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and is a Canadian CA and CPA. From 2005-2012 he was a member of the CPA Canada’s “Performance Reporting Board”, whose mandate is to promote best practices and thought leadership in financial reporting beyond traditional financial statements, and was also a member of the Committee’s “Small Company Advisory Group” from 2011-2015.
Mike Outwin is an entrepreneur and venture capital investor. He has spent his career working with scientists and industry experts to build and invest in promising breakthrough technology companies at the intersection of biological and physical sciences.
Mike is Co-founder and CEO at Jetti Resources, which unlocks vast stranded copper resources utilizing its catalytic technology.
In addition to Jetti, Mike is a member of the founding team at GreatPoint Ventures, a leading early-stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, with over $1 billion under management, where he now serves as a strategic advisor. Mike is also a Commissioner at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.
Neil Zeller is a senior finance and venture executive with over 20 years of experience serving emerging growth businesses as an investment banker and operating lead. He worked with boutique banking firms in San Francisco and New York supporting venture and private equity firms and their portfolio companies with M&A and capital raising advisory before co-founding several start-ups in the clean-tech industry, holding senior roles.
He later founded Directional Group as a platform for advising on financial and strategic initiatives, including; growth strategy, corporate development, equity and debt capital raising, acquisitions, liquidity events, and financial operations. He often serves in interim and fractional leadership roles.
Early in his career, Neil managed large commercial and industrial developments as a construction project manager. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Civil Engineering degree from the Johns Hopkins University.
Ben has been an owner and senior manager of industrial recycling and real estate development companies for nearly 20 years. Ben has successfully launched multiple projects and secured over $100 million in financing.
Ben brings a global perspective into the team, and he works with global industrial and family-office clients on waste and energy issues, and he speaks and consults on efficiency and waste reduction in the US and abroad. He has led or vetted projects involving anaerobic digestion, landfill gas, biomass, waste-to-fuels, and by-products recycling. He has an MBA from the University of Washington and a BA from Reed College.
Dr. Choi is the president at Yakum Consulting and an adjunct professor at Queen’s University. He obtained a PhD from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He is a recipient of Sherritt Hydrometallurgy Award and Processing Innovation Metallurgy Award from MetSoc.
As a technology leader and creative, holistic problem solver, Dr. Choi takes a deeper dive into process and technology. This is what he has done for 30 years for big mining companies such as Barrick Gold, Falconbridge, Noranda and Korea Zinc. As a big picture thinker, he possesses a profound understanding of operations, planning, technology and plant expertise. Dr. Choi has pushed the boundaries in technology and innovation breaking conventional industry paradigms through value creation and transformational change.
Value creation is at the forefront as a Technology Innovator and Leader. Dr. Choi’s ability to liaise and tap into new innovations developed both in university and in Industry allowed him to execute innovative technology solutions across the mine value chain. The combination of Research & Innovation with practical experience in mining technology has allowed him to patent unique, innovative solutions, such as various non-cyanide gold leaching systems that reduce environmental risk.
Adam has worked in the recycling industry for over 15 years and grew up around it as he represents the fourth generation as the President at Manitoba Corporation, a non-ferrous metal recycling facility. In addition to Manitoba, Adam is the President of a sister company, Sunnking Inc. which focuses on ITAD and Electronics recycling.
Adam is the President of Sunnking/Manitoba Corporation, current Chair of the ISRI Electronics Division, current Co-Chair of the ISRI Membership Committee, current Treasurer of the ISRI Empire Chapter, member of the REMADE Governance Board and Strategic Advisory Committee, and also serves on the advisory board for Camp Good Days and Special times, an organization aimed and providing year-round activities and programming for children with cancer.
Kunal Phalpher is a seasoned cleantech executive who has worked across sectors such as renewable energy, battery production and battery materials. Most recently Kunal held the position of President of Li-Metal, an innovator in anode materials for next-generation batteries. Prior to that Kunal was the Chief Commercial Officer, followed by the Chief Strategy Officer, of Li-Cycle, a leading lithium-ion battery recycling company closing the loop on critical battery materials. Kunal joined Li-Cycle at its infancy as one of the first employees and helped guide the company through its R&D phase to commercialization. Prior to these roles, Kunal held several roles focused on strategy and business development in the cleantech space both in Canada and Germany. Kunal holds an MBA from University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, and a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from University of Toronto.
