Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 2015
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 2012
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2008
Licenses & Certifications
  • Professional Engineer Chemical, California, #6930
Professional Honors
  • MIT Energy Initiative Fellow
  • Valedictorian, NC State, class of 2008
  • Eagle Scout
Professional Affiliations
  • The Electrochemical Society—ECS
  • The American Chemical Society—ACS
Languages
  • German

Dr. Harding is trained as a chemical engineer and has years of experience investigating the behaviors, chemistry, and failure modes of a variety of battery systems. Dr. Harding has experience in designing, conducting, and analyzing laboratory experiments related to abuse and/or accelerated aging of batteries to assist his clients in understanding how their batteries will perform in the field. In addition, Dr. Harding regularly conducts failure analysis of batteries after performance or thermal failures, relying on his experience, education, and a suite of analytical techniques to investigate the root cause of battery failures in the field.

To complete his analysis of such systems, Dr. Harding uses techniques including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), reference electrode testing, analysis of cycling performance, X-ray analysis [X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and computed tomography (CT)], cross-sectioning, and device teardowns. Dr. Harding has conducted numerous battery abuse tests including (but not limited to) nail penetration, forced internal short circuit, projectile testing, and customized mechanical abuse. Dr. Harding is experienced with several programming languages and uses these to control equipment, perform programmatic analysis, and visualize large data sets.

Prior to joining Exponent, Dr. Harding was a graduate research assistant in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked in the Electrochemical Energy Lab and the Hammond Lab to develop a polymer electrolyte-based lithium — oxygen battery, and additionally investigated the efficacy of catalysts for the oxygen-evolution reaction in nonaqueous lithium — oxygen batteries. Over the course of this work, Dr. Harding designed and constructed a differential electrochemical mass spectrometer to characterize the consumption and production of gases in these devices. Dr. Harding obtained his Masters in Chemical Engineering Practice in 2012 based on engineering consulting work performed at Novartis in Basel, Switzerland and at SGC Energia in Güssing, Austria.