01When your technology won't scale
Scale-Up
Move from prototype and demonstration toward a scalable product: system scale-up, engineering bottlenecks, manufacturing readiness, supplier coordination, production and cost reduction.
NEBOJSA ZEC, PhD · ENGINEER & TECHNOLOGY LEADER
Turning promising technology into scalable products.
I'm an engineer and technology leader specializing in complex energy systems, with hands-on experience taking battery technologies from development through MWh-scale systems, product engineering and manufacturing.
My experience spans lithium-ion, sodium-ion and redox-flow battery technologies across cell, stack and system engineering, with particular focus on stationary energy storage.
Today I help deep-tech companies navigate the difficult transition from technology that works to products that scale.
Battery & energy-system engineering MWh-scale scale-up Multidisciplinary R&D leadership
Discuss your challengeBased in Germany · Working globally
OPERATING AT THE INTERFACES
DECISION PATHRISK ↓ / VALUE ↑
01 / WHO I AM
Engineer.
Technologist.
Builder.
I've spent my career working at the point where promising technology meets engineering reality.
That means dealing with system architecture, interfaces between disciplines, product requirements, manufacturability, suppliers, cost, testing, scale-up, engineering priorities and organizational structure.
Building the technology is only one part of the job. Someone has to connect the chemistry, the system, the hardware, the controls, the testing, the manufacturing process and the people building it.
That's the kind of engineering leadership I've spent my career doing — across batteries and energy-storage systems, from cell and stack technology through system engineering, product development, manufacturing and MWh-scale deployment.
I now bring that experience to companies developing the next generation of energy and climate technologies.
02 / EXPERIENCE IN CONTEXT
I've worked through these transitions myself.
MWh-scale
Scaled redox-flow battery technology from early development to MWh-scale energy-storage systems.
Cell → System
Experience spanning electrochemical technology through cell, stack and system engineering, with particular focus on stationary energy storage.
From R&D
to delivery
to delivery
Built and led multidisciplinary engineering organizations spanning mechanical, electrical, systems, controls, software and testing — connecting technology development with product engineering, integration and scale-up.
R&D → Manufacturing
Experience connecting technology development with system architecture, product engineering, stack production, suppliers and manufacturing.
Lithium-ion Sodium-ion Redox-flow batteries Stationary energy storage
03 / THE REAL CHALLENGE
Technology is only
the beginning.
A promising technology can work in the laboratory and still fail to become a viable product.
The difficult part often starts when performance, cost, reliability, manufacturability, supply chain and system integration all have to work at the same time.
How should the system be architected?
What changes when the technology scales?
Where does the cost actually come from?
Can it be manufactured reliably?
What engineering organization is needed to deliver it?
This is where I work.04 / WHERE I CAN HELP
When engineering reality gets difficult.
02When the system isn't clear
System Engineering
Turn technology and requirements into a system architecture that actually works — through requirements, subsystem definition, integration and performance/cost trade-offs.
03When a prototype needs to become a product
Product Development
Turn engineering concepts into products that can be manufactured, with product architecture, DFM, BOM/cost optimization, component selection and production readiness.
04When you don't know what to build next
R&D & Technology Strategy
Make better technical decisions about where to invest engineering effort: technology assessment, roadmaps, R&D priorities, benchmarking and problem solving.
05When the engineering organization needs to deliver
Technical Leadership
Build the engineering capability needed to turn technology into a product: organization design, technical ownership, connected disciplines, decision-making, R&D priorities, hiring, processes and fractional technical leadership.
06When you need an independent technical opinion
Technical Due Diligence
Understand whether a technology has a credible path from technical performance to scalable product — across architecture, scale-up, manufacturing, economics, risk and engineering capability.
05 / THE WORK IN BETWEEN
From technology
to product
This is where my experience sits: across the boundaries where technical decisions become increasingly difficult — and increasingly expensive — to change.
06 / TECHNOLOGIES
My deepest experience is in electrochemical energy systems.
My deepest hands-on experience is in batteries and energy storage. The same system-engineering, product-development, scale-up and manufacturing principles transfer naturally to adjacent electrochemical and climate technologies.
PRIMARY EXPERTISE
Lithium-ion
Cell & system engineering
Sodium-ion
Cell & stationary-system development
Redox-flow batteries
System development, scale-up & MWh deployment
Other energy-storage technologies
Technology assessment & engineering
ADJACENT APPLICATIONS
Fuel cells
Electrolyzers
Direct Air Capture
Advanced energy systems
07 / SELECTED EXPERIENCE
Selected experience
The examples below are intentionally described at a high level where project confidentiality applies.
From redox-flow technology to MWh-scale systems
Scaled redox-flow battery technology across multiple chemistries from early development through MWh-scale stationary energy-storage systems, working across system architecture, stack production, engineering integration, suppliers and manufacturing.
Sodium-ion: from cell technology to stationary ESS
Experience spanning sodium-ion technology from cell-level development through system architecture and the scale-up of stationary energy-storage products.
Building the engineering organization around the technology
Built and led multidisciplinary engineering organizations spanning mechanical, electrical, systems, controls, software and testing. Created the technical structure and coordination needed to move complex energy technologies from development toward integrated products and scale-up.
Technology assessment, due diligence & M&A
Experience contributing to techno-economic analysis, technical due diligence, M&A and consulting engagements involving emerging energy technologies.
08 / WHO I WORK WITH
Built for difficult transitions.
Technology → Product
For startups moving beyond the laboratory.
Prototype → Scale
For companies preparing manufacturing and deployment.
R&D → Organization
For companies building or restructuring engineering teams.
Technology → Investment
For investors evaluating deep-tech companies.
09 / HOW I WORK
No predefined playbook.
Just the problem.
Every engagement starts with the problem rather than a predetermined consulting package.
- 01
Understand
What are you building? Where are you stuck? What constraints actually matter?
- 02
Diagnose
Identify the technical, organizational and economic bottlenecks.
- 03
Engineer
Develop practical solutions, evaluate trade-offs and make the engineering decisions explicit.
- 04
Execute
Turn conclusions into a roadmap, engineering work and action.
10 / FOR INVESTORS
Investing in deep-tech is difficult when the technology is difficult.
Independent technical due diligence for energy & climate technology.
I help investors distinguish promising technical claims from technologies with a credible path to scalable, manufacturable products.
Discuss a potential investmentASSESSMENT DIMENSIONS
01Technology02System architecture03Scale-up04Manufacturing05Cost trajectory06Technical risks07Engineering organization11 / AI FOR ENGINEERING
Engineering is changing.
AI for engineering organizations
I help engineering teams identify where AI agents, technical knowledge systems and automated workflows can remove repetitive work, improve access to engineering knowledge and accelerate R&D.
Engineering agents Technical documentation R&D intelligence Knowledge systems Automated workflows
Explore AI for EngineeringNZ
TECHNOLOGY / PRODUCT / SCALE12 / ABOUT
Engineer.
Technologist.
Builder.
I've spent my career working across the full engineering path from electrochemical technology to scalable energy systems.
My experience spans lithium-ion, sodium-ion and redox-flow batteries; cell and stack technology; system engineering; product development; manufacturing; suppliers; multidisciplinary R&D; technical leadership; due diligence; M&A; and startups.
My work has brought together mechanical, electrical, systems, controls, software and testing disciplines around complex energy products — connecting technical decisions across the organization rather than treating each discipline in isolation.
Today, I work with companies that need experienced technical judgment to move from technology → product → scale.
MLZ→VoltStorage→ESSResearch → Systems → Product & Scale
U.S. O-1 Visa · Extraordinary Ability
Based in Germany · Working globally
13 / START A CONVERSATION
Have a difficult
engineering problem?
Tell me what you're building, where you're stuck, and what you're trying to achieve.
Start a conversationBased in Germany · Working globally