Lonnie Garris III is the Co-founder and CEO of Cool Amps Corp., a lithium-ion battery recycling
and metal reclamation company. At Cool Amps, Lonnie leads a team of technologists
developing novel methods to recover critical metals from end-of-life electric vehicle batteries.
These metals will be critical to sustain the nation’s move to electrification. Before he co-founded
Cool Amps, Lonnie served twenty-four years in the U.S. Air Force as a career intelligence and
cyber professional. Having obtained the rank of colonel, Lonnie served in leadership positions at
the group and squadron level. He was also instrumental in maturing the Air Force’s premiere
weapon system that provided actionable intelligence to warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. In
addition, Lonnie’s military career provided him the opportunity to lead large-scale information
technology projects which transformed the Air Force’s ability to transmit and analyze data more
efficiently.
Lonnie’s rich educational background began at Southern Connecticut State University where he
received a B.A. in Political Science. He went on to receive an MBA from Webster University in St.
Louis and Executive Education from Yale University. As a life-long learner, Lonnie continues to
contribute his time as a thought leader. He has published several insightful national security and
cybersecurity articles through The National CIO Review and the Yale School of Management.