Innovation drives job creation, business growth, and competitive advantage. Inventors fuel the economy by pushing boundaries and establishing new markets. Consider Thomas Edison who invented the incandescent lightbulb, the movie projector and the phonograph.

Now while Donald Sadoway is not Thomas Edison, he has a distinctive scientific style: start with the periodic table, respect thermodynamics, select materials that can scale, and design the chemistry in service of society. His GroupSadoway lab at MIT is behind the invention of the Liquid Metal Battery, Molten Oxide Electrolysis, and the aluminum sulfur battery. He is the inventor on 43 US patents, and author of 178 published scientific papers.

Consider the importance of the inventor

Donald Sadoway, PhD
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CEO/Chief Scientific Officer
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Professor Donald Sadoway has been changing the world through science for over 45 years. He is a one-man disruptor dedicated to developing solutions to the world's most pressing problems. He has been called an international thought leader, a visionary, and a leading developer of battery technology and 21st century metallurgy. Our world requires rapid, radical solutions that transform our relationship with energy. Donald Sadoway is leading a wave of innovation using extreme electrochemistry to invent a suite of low-carbon metals extraction technologies that minimize emissions to air, water, and soil.

Donald Sadoway's research seeks to establish the scientific underpinnings of technologies that make efficient use of energy and natural resources in an environmentally sound manner.

Donald Sadoway in the news

TED Talk
His TED talk, viewed over 2.5 million times, is as much about inventing inventors as it is about inventing technology.
TIME 100
In 2012 he was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Nature paper
Published in 2022, the paper titled Fast-charging aluminium–chalcogen batteries resistant to dendritic shorting led to the development of the Avanti battery.
Lectures on OpenCourseware
Donald Sadoway's impact on engineering education has extended well beyond the lecture hall. Online videos of his lectures in general chemistry hosted by MIT OpenCourseWare, have been viewed thousands of times from around the globe. Bill Gates has been quoted "Don Sadoway, MIT--best chemistry lectures everywhere. Unbelievable."
The Colbert Report
In 2012 he joined Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report for a hilarious discussion about the Liquid Metal Battery. "It looks like a grilled cheese sandwich."
European Inventor of the Year Award 2022
Donald Sadoway was named winner of the European Inventor Award 2022 in the Non-EPO countries category for the Liquid Metal Battery. The European Inventor Award pays tribute to inventors who transform their ideas into solutions that address some of the greatest challenges of our time.

Group Sadoway

Experienced, credentialed, creative, and dedicated to science in service to society.

Rhonda Irby

Chief Commercial Officer
Ronda Irby is growth-focused and responsible for shaping the company’s commercial strategy and market expansion. As Chief Commercial Officer, she drives the transition of breakthrough technologies from the lab to scalable, real-world solutions, forging strategic partnerships that align with national priorities.With extensive leadership experience across government, defense, and industrial sectors, Rhonda specializes in building ecosystems that accelerate commercialization and strengthen critical supply chains. Her track record in strategy, business development, and market positioning ensures Sadoway’s innovations reach the partners and platforms where they create the greatest impact.

Paul Burke

Chief Technology Officer, Sadoway Incorporated
Dr. Paul Burke is a metallurgist and materials scientist with extensive experience in high-temperature electrochemistry, molten-salt systems, and industrial-scale electro-metallurgical process development. He has led multiple advanced energy and molten-metal programs across academia, government-funded research, and private industry. Dr. Burke earned his PhD in Metallurgy and Materials Science (2011) from Dalhousie University, specializing in reactive-metal sintering, thermodynamics, and high-temperature powder-based metallurgical processes. Following his doctorate, he joined the Liquid Metal Battery Project under Prof. Donald Sadoway at MIT. As Vice President of R&D at Digital Alloys, Dr.Burke led development of high-temperature metal-deposition technologies. Following that, Dr. Burke became Chief Technology Officer at Pure Lithium, where he built and led the engineering and process-development organization. His work spanned metallurgical processing, lithium-metal anode formation, materials characterization, and electrochemistry for early-stage battery manufacturing. In his role as CTO of Sadoway Incorporated, Dr. Burke is responsible for the technical execution of molten-borate electro-reduction of metal sulfide ore, including reactor design, operational setup, laboratory integration, and the rapid reduction-to-practice experiments. Dr. Burke's role at Sadoway Incorporated involves neither lithium battery development nor his work with Alkalinth.

Steven Lubbe

Chief Engineer, Sadoway Incorporated
Steven Lubbe is a systems engineer and engineering leader with more than 15 years of experience across aerospace, additive manufacturing, high-temperature metal systems, inert-gas/containment technologies, and advanced industrial R&D. His career spans engineering execution, product development, business development, and technical leadership roles at cutting-edge hardware companies in the United States and internationally. Mr. Lubbe earned both his Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering and his Master of Engineering (Project Management) from the University of Pretoria. His early engineering work included turbine engine maintenance and certification, fuel-system modeling, thermodynamic system development, cryogenic gas systems, and CNC/fabrication work—providing a broad foundation in mechanical, thermal, and fluid-dynamic systems. Mr. Lubbe spent several years in the aerospace sector at Aerosud and the South African Air Force, where he contributed to Airbus A400M component qualification, automated welding development, turbine-engine test operations, and large-format metal additive manufacturing research (Project Aeroswift). He then transitioned into advanced manufacturing, becoming a subject-matter expert in metal 3D printing, inert-atmosphere control, and precision metal-handling technologies.In the United States, Mr. Lubbe held senior engineering roles at Inert Corporation and VulcanForms, and he served as Director of Engineering at Pure Lithium, alongside Prof. Donald Sadoway and Dr. Paul Burke.Today, Mr. Lubbe is the CEO of LubbeLLC, an engineering firm specializing in inert-atmosphere systems, vacuum hardware, furnace integration, and custom mechanical/thermal infrastructure for high-performance R&D. As Chief Engineer of Sadoway Incorporated, Mr. Lubbe provides technical leadership in system design, equipment integration, reactor setup, safety systems, and build-out of the laboratory infrastructure required for molten-borate electro-reduction of metal sulfide feedstock. His combined expertise in mechanical systems, high-temperature engineering, inert-environment equipment, and additive manufacturing, positions him as a key technical contributor to the Sadoway Incorporated metals-extraction effort.

Don Rifkin

Chief Financial Officer
Donald Rifkin is a Certified Public Accountant with over 25 years of experience. Prior to his private practice he spent seven years on Wall Street after completing his MBA at the Tepper School of Management at Carnegie Mellon University.

Rebecca Miller

Marketing + Communications
Rebecca Miller has worked with academic institutions, corporations, organizations and creative agencies to drive positive change through persuasive communications. Her work is effective and she strives to change perception, drive interest, raise money, and deliver better numbers.

‍Rebecca has generated ooohs and aaahs with her video programs, broadcast work, interactive communications and graphic design. She is known for her unusual creative solutions, aggressive editing, bold graphics, and surprising music scores. She recently completed an independent documentary about the famous documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty. Her portfolio includes a civil rights documentary, theater programs for General Electric, multi-screen installations for the World Business Forum, music videos for Bose, and a series of customer profiles recorded in Europe for MathWorks.  She has produced many programs for schools and colleges, most notably for Harvard University, Harvard Business School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Northeastern University. She has been on staff with Smash Advertising, working with major broadcast and cable clients. While working in Los Angeles, she produced the PBS series Talking with David Frost, working with guests including Luchiano Pavarotti, Jacques Cousteau, and Benazir Bhutto. She started her career working for local network broadcast stations and production groups.

Her art work is shown at the Atelier Contemporary gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in museums and collections nationwide.