Dr. Alejandro A. Franco is a Full Professor at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne in the city of Amiens, France, and an Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France. He has more than 23 years of experience in the field of multiscale modeling of electrochemical energy devices. He leads the Theory Open Platform at the ALISTORE European Research Institute. Prof. Franco has been awarded an ERC consolidator grant for his pioneering ARTISTIC project, focusing on battery manufacturing digitalization through multiscale modeling and artificial intelligence. Additionally, he has received an ERC Proof of Concept grant for his innovative SMARTISTIC project, aimed at assisting battery manufacturers with mixed reality technology. He has/he is actively participated/participating in numerous European projects and bilateral collaborations with the battery and fuel cell industry. Prof. Franco serves as the Chairman of the Expert Group "Digitalization, Measurement Methods, and Quality" in the European LiPLANET battery pilot lines network. In 2019, he was honored with the French Prize for Pedagogy Innovation for his utilization of Virtual Reality in teaching battery sciences. He has an extensive publication record, including over 166 publications, 12 invited book chapters, 3 edited books, and 23 patents. Prof. Franco is frequently invited to deliver plenary, keynote, and invited oral presentations in international conferences, totaling more than 145 invited lectures, as well as over 67 invited seminars in prestigious universities, institutes, and companies. He also coordinates the Erasmus+ i-MESC International Master Programme (Interdisciplinarity in Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion). He is the recipient of the 2025 Battery Division M. Stanley Whittingham Mid-Career Award Lecture of the Electrochemical Society. Moreover, he is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of a startup under creation that offers unique digital solutions, leveraging the pioneering research and expertise of his research group, to strongly support the battery manufacturing industry.
Present supervised Postdocs, PhD students, MSc. students and engineers
Diego (Peru) develops advanced deep learning models of battery manufacturing processes.
Javier (Spain) develops innovative software to support battery manufacturing industry.
Franco (Argentina) develops advanced physics-based models of battery manufacturing processes.
Francisco (Argentina) combines physics based simulations with machine learning models for accelerated optimization of battery manufacturing.
Open postdoctoral position on experimental battery manufacturing. You can be this person. Apply !
Mohammed (Yemen) develops experimentally validated physical models of solid state battery manufacturing (MCSA fellow cofunded by Umicore).
Antonio (Italy) combines chemistry informatics with materials synthesis to discover battery materials for IoT applications (co-supervised by Dr. Rosa Palacin -ICMAB- and Prof. Clare Grey -University of Cambridge-).
Amina (Morocco) works in the development of machine learning models for the lifetime prediction of industrial lithium ion battery cells (collaboration with Renault).
Dennis (Germany) develops new physics-based models of solid state battery electrode manufacturing.
Tan (Vietnam) develops machine learning models of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell electrode manufacturing (co-supervised by Prof. Olivier Guillon -FZ Jülich-).
Utkarsh (India) combines AI with physics-based simulations to optimize lithium ion battery electrode manufacturing (MCSA fellow).
Siwar (Tunisia) works in the modeling of electrochemistry-mechanics in operating solid state battery electrodes (MCSA fellow, co-funded by Umicore).
Soorya (India) combines physics-based simulations with AI to optimize the manufacturing process of Sodium Ion and Solid State Battery electrodes (collaboration with IFPEN).
Rashen (Philippines) develops physical and machine learning models of the assembly process of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (MCSA fellow; collaboration with the company AC2T, Austria).
Xingyu (China) develops physics-based simulators of the membrane aging in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (MCSA fellow; collaboration with the company AVL, Austria).
Sourab (India) develops advanced physics-based models to simulate and optimize the manufacturing process of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell electrodes (MCSA fellow; collaboration with the company Freundenberg, Germany).
Imelda (Mexico) develops advanced electrochemical models of Sodium Ion and Solid State Battery electrodes and cells (collaboration with IFPEN).
Pei (China) develops physics-based models of dry manufacturing processes of battery electrodes (co-supervised by Prof. Paul Vigneaux -LAMFA, UPJV-).
Emmanuel (Nigeria) develops models able to simulate the electrolyte infiltration in lithium ion battery cells (MESC+ programme fellow).
Mengda (China) develops advanced AI models for battery cell performance optimization. Co-supervised with Prof. Jean-Marie Laignez (CRIL, Université d'Artois).
Jia (China) develops innovative mesoscale models describing electrochemical and transport processes in redox flow batteries.
Hassna (Morocco) develops text mining algorithms to automatically extract battery data from scientific publications (co-supervised by Prof. Patrik Johansson -Chalmers University of Technology-).
Open position for a pedagogical engineer with expertise on digital technologies (i-MESC Erasmus+ MSc. programme). It can be you ! Apply !
PhD student starting soon in collaboration with industry (fulfilled position).
PhD student starting soon in collaboration with industry (fulfilled position).
Past supervised Postdocs, PhD students, MSc. students and engineers
(move the mouse over the photos)
PhD student (2020-2024)
Chaoyue (China) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on the microstructure-resolved electrochemical modeling of lithium ion battery electrodes.
PhD student (2020-2023)
Jiahui (China) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on the modeling of lithium ion battery manufacturing, supported on tomography characterizations (co-supervised by Dr. Arnaud Demortiere -LRCS-).
PhD student (2020-2023)
Marc (France) worked with Prof. Franco in the machine learning modeling and optimization of lithium ion battery manufacturing (collaboration with CIDETEC Energy Storage and Umicore).
Engineer (2021-2023)
Lucie (Franco) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC SMARTISTIC and in the CNRS prématuration STARS projects, on ergonomics aspects of the Mixed Reality technologies developed in these projects.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2021-2023)
Diana (Colombia) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on experimental lithium ion battery manufacturing and characterization.
MSc. student (2023)
Yasmina (Argelina) worked with Prof. Franco on the manufacturing and characterization of lithium ion battery electrodes (ERC ARTISTIC project).
Visiting scientist (2023)
Sergio (IMDEA Materiales, Spain) visited Prof. Franco's group for 3 months to work on the fabrication, characterization and modeling of lithium ion battery electrodes.
Visiting PhD student (2023)
Jorge (PhD student at CSIC Instituto de Ceramica y Vidrio, Spain) visited Prof. Franco's group for 3 months to work on the electrochemical modeling of Zinc Battery electrodes.
PhD student (2019-2023)
Fanny (France) worked on the multiscale modeling of organic battery cells. She was supervised by Dr. Christine Frayret (LRCS) and Prof. Franco.
PhD student (2018-2022)
Teo (Italy) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on the modeling of lithium ion battery electrode manufacturing.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2017-2022)
Alain (Cameroon/France) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on multiscale modeling of the manufacturing process of lithium ion battery electrodes.
Visiting PhD student (2022)
Agnese (PhD student at Politecnico di Torino, Italy) visited Prof. Franco's group for 6 months to work on the Deep Learning modeling of lithium ion battery electrodes electrochemical operation.
MSc. student (2022)
Brinti (India) worked on the experimental fabrication and characterization of lithium ion battery electrodes (ERC ARTISTIC project).
Visiting PhD student (2022)
Eduardo (Universidad de Loyola, Spain) visited Prof. Franco's group for 4 months to work on the mechanical modeling of lithium ion battery electrodes.
MSc. student (2022)
Clement (France) worked on the modeling of electrolyte infilitration in lithium ion battery cells (ERC ARTISTIC project).
MSc. student (2022)
Jeyhun (Azerbaijan) worked on a web tool for battery manufacturing metadata navigation (https://doi.org/10.1002/batt.202200224).
MSc. student (2022 & 2023)
Oualid (Argelia) worked on the physics-based modeling of the manufacturing process of lithium ion battery electrodes (ERC ARTISTIC project) and the experimental characterization of redox flow battery electrodes.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2021-2022)
Fernando (Chile) worked in Prof. Franco's group on battery electrochemistry big data management and associated software development.
Visiting PhD student (2022)
Anshuman (from India, and doing PhD at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany) visited Prof. Franco's group for 3 months to work on the modeling of lithium ion battery electrode microstructures.
Engineer (2020-2021)
Hassan (Morocco) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on experimental lithium ion battery manufacturing and characterization.
PhD student (2018-2021)
Mehdi (Franco) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on electrochemical microstructure-resolved modeling of lithium ion battery electrodes.
PhD student (2018-2021)
Abbos (Uzbekistan) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on the modeling of the electrolyte infiltration of lithium ion battery cells.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2020-2021)
Oier (Spain) worked with Prof. Franco in the modeling of lithium sulfur batteries and in the modeling of lithium ion battery electrode manufacturing.
PhD student (2017-2021)
Zeliang (China) worked on the tomography characteriation of lithium oxygen battery electrodes. He was supervised by Dr. Arnaud Demortiere (LRCS) and Prof. Franco.
MSc. student (2021)
Achraf (Tunisia) worked on mathematical models to optimize the formulation for 3D printing lithium ion battery electrodes.
MSc. student (2020-2021)
Alexandre (France) worked on the use of machine learning-based digital twins of battery manufacturing.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2018-2020)
Emiliano (Argentina) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on experimental characterization of lithium ion battery manufacturing.
MSc. student (2021)
Florent (France) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on the modeling of lithium ion battery electrode manufacturing.
MSc. student (2021)
Amina (Morocco) worked with Prof. Franco in the ERC ARTISTIC project on the modeling of the electrolyte infiltration of lithium ion battery cells.
Master student (2020)
Goran (France) worked with Prof. Franco and Dr. Emilie Loup-Escande (ergonomist at UPJV) on understanding how Mixed Reality serious games impact students' learning of Smart Energy Grid concepts.
MSc. student (2020)
Mohammed (Yemen) worked as summer intern within the ERC ARTISTIC project on the modeling of lithium ion battery fabrication.
PhD Student
(2016-2020)
Rasmus (Sweden) did his PhD thesis on electrolytes modeling at Chalmers University of Technology with Prof. Patrik Johansson and Prof. Franco as assistant supervisor.
MSc. student (2020)
Amal (Morocco) worked within the ERC ARTISTIC project on the modeling of battery electrode slurries and their drying.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2016-2019)
Alexis (Argentina) worked on the 3D-resolved modeling of Lithium Ion Batteries. He is now postdoctoral researcher in Uppsala University (Sweden).
Enginneer & PhD student (2015-2019)
Garima (India) worked on the physical modeling of the manufacturing of Lithium Ion Batteries and of semi-solid Redox Flow Batteries.
Visiting PhD student (2019)
Chance is doing his PhD at Purdue University (USA) and visited Prof. Franco to work on 3D-resolved modeling of lithium ion battery electrodes.
PhD student (2015-2019)
Vignesh (India) worked on multiscale modeling of lithium sulfur batteries. He is now postdoctoral researcher at Chalmers University of Technology.
MSc. Student
(2019)
Ricardo (France) worked on the development of Artificial Intelligence models to assess battery manufacturing experimental databases.
MSc. student (2018-2019)
Benjamin (France) worked with Prof. Franco and Dr. Emilie Loup-Escande (ergonomist at UPJV) on understanding the impact of Virtual Reality serious games on the learning of battery concepts by students.
PhD student & Postdoctoral Researcher (2014-2018)
Yinghui (China) worked on the modeling and characterization of Lithium Air Batteries and of Lithium Sulfur Batteries. She is now research engineer at SAFT Batteries (Bordeaux, France).
PhD student (2016-2019)
Amangendli (Turkmenistan) worked with Prof. Franco and Prof. Clare Grey (Cambridge) as a PhD student on the modeling and experimental characterization of Lithium Oxygen Batteries. He is now postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, UK.
PhD student (2016-2019)
Caroline (France) worked with Prof. Franco and IRT Saint Exupéry on physical modeling and experimental characterization of lithium air batteries for aircraft applications. She is now research engineer in Zodiac Aerospace company.
PhD student (2015-2018)
Mariem (Tunisia) worked with Prof. Franco and SAFT company on the modeling and experimental characterization of lithium ion battery electrodes. She works now as engineer in Renault Group company.
PhD student (2014-2017)
Simon (France) worked with Dr. Charles Delacourt (LRCS), Renault Group company and Prof. Franco on the modeling and characterization of battery graphite electrodes. He works now as research engineer at Renault Group.
MSc. student (2018)
Dylan (France) worked with Prof. Franco and IRT Saint Exupéry on the characterization of lithium air batteries for aircraft applications. He is now research engineer in the A2Mac1 company.
MSc. student (2018)
Alice (France) worked on the modeling of lithium oxygen battery cells.
MSc. Student
(2018)
Nizar (Tunisia) worked on the modeling of electrochemical processes in Lithium Air Batteries.
MSc. student (2017)
Kush (India) worked on the CFD modeling of semi-solid Redox Flow Batteries.
MSc. student (2017)
Marouan (Morocco) worked on the mesoscopic modeling of semi-solid Redox Flow Batteries.
MSc. student (2017-2018)
Simon (France) worked with Prof. Franco and Dr. Emilie Loup-Escande (ergonomist at UPJV) on the understanding of the impact of Virtual Reality serious games on the learning process of battery operation principles by students.
Visiting PhD Student
(2017)
Oscar (Mexico) was PhD student from Politecnico Nacional in Mexico, when he visited Prof. Franco's team for 4 months in 2017. He worked with Prof. Franco on the modeling of catalytic reactions and batteries.
Visiting scientist (2017)
Jorge (Mexico) is researcher at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico, and visited Prof. Franco for 1 month to work on the modeling of lithium ion batteries.
MSc. Student
(2017)
Noemie (France) worked on the characterization of electrochemical and transport processes in Lithium Oxygen Batteries.
MSc. student (2017)
Adelphe (Gabon) worked on the modeling of electrochemical interfaces in Lithium Sulfur Batteries.
Master student (2016)
Yih-Chying (Taiwan) worked as intern on the experimental characterization of Redox Flow Batteries.
Master student (2016)
Diego (Spain) worked on the modeling of electrochemical interfaces in semi-solid Redox Flow Batteries.
Master student (2016)
Ruijie (China) worked on the modeling of electrochemical reactions in Lithium Oxygen Batteries.
MSc. Student
(2015)
Guillaume (France) has worked on the kinetic Monte Carlo modeling of electrochemical processes in Lithium Oxygen Batteries.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2013-2016)
Matias (Argentina) worked on the kinetic Monte Carlo modeling of electrochemical processes in fuel cells and Lithium Sulfur Batteries. He is now permanent CONICET researcher in Tandil University, Argentina.
Visiting scientist (2015)
Ezequiel (Argentina) is Professor at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba in Argentina, and visited Prof. Franco for 2 months to work on the modeling of battery electrode texture.
MSc. Student
(2016)
Aoxiang (China) worked with Prof. Franco on the characterization of Lithium Ion Battery electrode microstructures, together with Dr. Charles Delacourt and Dr. Arnaud Demortiere.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2013-2015)
Kanhao (China) worked on the modeling of Lithium Ion, Lithium Sulfur and Lithium Oxygen Batteries. He is now Associate Professor in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Postdoctoral Researcher (2013-2015)
Trong-Khoa (Vietnam) worked on the mathematical modeling of electrochemical processes in Lithium Ion Batteries. He is now Senior Analyst in WorldQuant company (Vietnam).
MSc. Student
(2014)
Julien (France) worked on the modeling of dye synthetized electrochemical solar cells.
Visiting scientist (2010, 2014 and 2015)
Kourosh (Canada) is research scientist at the National Research Council in Vancouver, and visited Prof. Franco few months to work on the multiscale modeling of batteries.
Postdoctoral researcher (2013-2014)
Abdel worked with Prof. Franco and Prof. Dominique Larcher (LRCS) on the characterization of electrolytes for lithium ion batteries.
Visiting PhD student (2013 and 2014)
Stephan (Germany) visited Prof. Franco twice for few weeks to work together on the modeling of water management in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell electrodes. Stephan was at that time PhD student at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain).
MSc. student (2013-2014)
He (China) worked on the modeling of electrode mesostructure in all solid state lithium ion batteries.
MSc. Student
(2013)
Diala worked on the modeling of the electrochemical behavior of conversion materials in Lithium Ion Batteries.
PhD Student
(2009-2012)
Daiane (Brazil) worked on the modeling of electrochemical interfaces in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.
MSc. & PhD student (2008-2012)
Sylvain (France) worked on the modeling and experimental characterization of multimetallic catalyst nanoparticles and contamination reactions in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
PhD student
(2009-2012)
Luiz (Brazil) worked on the multiscale modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzers.
PhD student (2009-2012)
Romain (France) worked with Prof. Franco and Prof. Wolfgang Bessler (DLR, Germany) on the modeling of degradation mechanisms in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
PhD Student
(2008-2011)
Rodrigo worked on the multiscale modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (collaboration with Dr. Philippe Sautet and Dr. David Loffreda from ENS Lyon, France).
Visiting scientist (2011-2013)
Yoshinori (Japan) visited Prof. Franco for ca. 2 years to work on the modeling of electrochemical interfaces in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells. Yoshinori was working as research engineer at Nissan Motor Company at that time.
Postdoctoral researcher (2010-2011)
Slimane (Argelia) worked on the modeling of (de-)intercalation processes in lithium ion battery active materials.
Postdoctoral researcher (2009-2011)
Ali (Lebanon) worked on the multiscale modeling of bio-inspired electrodes for water splitting.
Postdoctoral researcher (2011-2012)
Dhurairajan (India) worked on the modeling of electrochemical reactions in bio-inspired materials for fuel cell electrode applications.
Visiting PhD student (2008)
Federico (Argentina) visited Prof. Franco for 8 months in 2008 to work on magnetoelectrochemistry. He was at that time PhD student at the Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica (Argentina).
Postdoctoral position (2011-2012)
Pablo (Argentina) worked on the multiscale modeling of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
Postdoctoral researcher (2010-2012)
Benjamin (France) worked on the multiscale modeling of Lithium Ion Batteries.
Postdoctoral researcher (2008-2010)
Margaret (USA) worked on the modeling of electrochemical reactions in fullerene-based materials for fuel cell applications.
PhD student (2008-2011)
Seng-Kian (Malaysia) worked on the multiscale modeling and characterization of contamination reactions in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell electrodes.
MSc. student (2012)
Pierre-François (France) worked on the modeling of lithium ion batteries.
Research engineer (2012)
Daniela (Argentina) worked on the modeling of aging mechanisms in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
MSc. student (2011)
Mohamed worked on the modeling of Lithium Ion Batteries.
MSc. student (2011)
Severin (France) worked on the development of a webpage with several functionaities for the research group.
MSc. student (2010)
Hanen worked on the multiscale modeling of water management in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell electrodes.
Visiting scientist (2010)
Wolfgang (Germany) visited Prof. Franco for 4 months to work together on the modeling of aging mechanisms in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
MSc. student (2010)
Julien worked on the modeling of catalyst aging in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
MSc. student (2009-2010)
Randa (Tunisia) worked on the modeling and characterization of multimetallic catalysts for fuel cell applications.
MSc. student (2008)
Magalie (France) worked on the modeling of contamination reactions in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
MSc. student (2008)
Mathias (France) worked on the modeling of aging mechanisms in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
MSc. student (2007)
Moussa worked on the modeling of aging mechanisms in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
MSc. student (2006)
Laurent (France) worked on the Bond Graph modeling of physical processes in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells.
Some team photos
October 2023
September 2022
November 2021
July 2020
December 2019
April 2019
July 2018
February 2018
February 2017
July 2016
February 2016
January 2016
June 2014
March 2014
2011
2010