Alejandro A. Franco

Alejandro A. Franco

i-MESC Coordinator - Université Picardie Jules Verne

Amiens - France

Dr. Alejandro A. Franco is a Full Professor at the Université de Picardie Jules Verne, an Honorary Member of the Institut Universitaire de France, and an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington. He has over 24 years of experience in multiscale modeling of electrochemical energy devices.

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. He also received an ERC Proof of Concept grant for SMARTISTIC, aimed at assisting battery manufacturers with mixed reality technology. He is actively involved in numerous European and industrial projects.

His extensive record includes (as of July 2026) over 190 publications, 23 patents, and 3 edited books. He has delivered more than 180 invited lectures at international conferences and 74 seminars at prestigious institutions worldwide (e.g. University of Washington, PNNL, Argonne National Laboratory, Stanford University, MIT, Samsung).

In 2019, he received the French Prize for Pedagogy Innovation, and he is the recipient of the 2025 ECS (Electrochemical Society) Battery Division M. Stanley Whittingham Mid-Career Award.

Prof. Franco coordinates the Erasmus+ i-MESC International Master Programme. He serves as Editor of the Journal of Power Sources and Editorial Advisory Board Chair for Batteries & Supercaps. Moreover, he is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Aikemics, a startup providing advanced digital solutions to support the battery manufacturing industry.

Academic Training

Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington (Seattle, USA) (since 2025)
Co-founder & CSO of Aikemics (since 2025)
ERC Proof of Concept Grantee 2022-2023
ERC Consolidator Grantee 2018-2023
Member of the Institut Universitaire de France (Junior: 2016-2021, Honoraire: since 2021)
Full Professor (Université de Picardie Jules Verne, LRCS UMR CNRS 7314, 2013-present)
Research engineer (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique est aux Energies Alternatives/LITEN, 2005-2013)
PhD researcher (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique est aux Energies Alternatives, 2003-2005, Multiscale modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells)
Visiting scientist (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique est aux Energies Alternatives, 2002, Direct Methanol Fuel Cells)
Master Sc. In Theoretical Physics (Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina, 2001)