Photo | Courtesy of Ascend Elements
Mike O'Kronley, former CEO of Ascend Elements in Westborough
6 hours ago
Ascend Elements names former oil executive as next CEO
Photo | Courtesy of Ascend Elements
Ascend Elements CEO and President Linh Austin
Clean energy manufacturer Ascend Elements has named Linh Austin as CEO and president, replacing Mike O’Kronley as the leader of the Westborough electric vehicle battery recycling firm.
Austin, an energy industry figure with more than 30 years of experience including stints at BP and McDermott International, has served on Ascend’s board of directors since September, according to a Thursday press release from the firm.
"We are poised to become Europe and North America's leading commercial-scale manufacturer of domestic, critical battery minerals," Linh Austin, president and CEO at Ascend Elements, said in the press release. "I'd like to thank our investors for their continued support and the board of directors for the opportunity to lead Ascend Elements into its next stage of growth."
Austin replaces O’Kronley, who had served as CEO since March 2020. A former engineer and member of the WBJ 2023 Power 50 and 2024 Power 100, his relationship with the company began when he invested in the firm when it was still known as Battery Resourcers.
Under his watch, Ascend grew rapidly, going from 11 employees in 2021 to more than 400 as of 2024, according to data provided to the WBJ Research Department. O’Kronley participated in a press conference with President Joe Biden and U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in 2022 after the firm received more than $480 million grants from the U.S. Department of Energy.
“Over the past five years, we’ve achieved remarkable milestones,” O’Kronley wrote in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday announcing his exit from the company. “We secured substantial funding from top-tier investors and earned recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy with three separate grant awards … While I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve accomplished at Ascend Elements, the time has come for me to move on to the next chapter.”
Austin worked for London-based BP from 2009 until 2013, initially serving as a director of planning & resource unit leader before taking on a project general manager role in 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile. He served as regional CEO, SVP - Middle East & North Africa, for McDermott, working out of the Texas-based firm’s United Arab Emirates office from 2015 to 2020.
Austin later served as president and CEO of Pennsylvania-based manufacturer Fluitron in 2023 before moving on to a chairman role for that firm, which he held until September 2024.
Founded at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2015, Ascend works to recycle components from lithium-ion batteries into much-needed material for electric vehicles and other purposes. The company has formed partnerships around the world with companies including Japan’s Honda Motor Co., the South Korean battery company EcoPro Group, and Waltham-based Koura Global.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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