March 27, 2025: Dawn Heng, best known for being for over a decade as the popular senior vice president of Daramic, has been promoted to president of the international lithium ion battery separator group Celgard.

Heng confirmed the move to Batteries International on March 24.

Celgard is the sister company of lead battery separator giant Daramic and both firms are part of the Asahi Kasei group.

Heng has been senior vice president at Daramic for more than a decade and was most recently senior VP/MD, Asia, for specialty business and global marketing for Polypore International and Daramic.

Heng said he looked forward to helping steer advances for lithium as the dominant force for energy storage in the future.

Asahi Kasei is braced for growth and further success amid intensive competition in the lithium ion battery industry, he said.

Last November, Asahi Kasei and Honda announced they had signed a shareholders’ agreement to convert an existing Asahi Kasei subsidiary called E-Materials in Canada into a joint venture, to be renamed Asahi Kasei Honda Battery Separator Corporation (provisional working name).

The new venture, which should start manufacturing the base film and coating of Asahi Kasei’s Hipore lithium battery separator in 2027. The aim is to make 700 million m2 per year of coated film.