Business grad’s journey took him from Japan to the cutting edge of battery tech

Dolan Ma ’26 is waiting in line at a Starbucks in Tokyo. He has been studying Japanese for about a year, but hasn’t mastered all the words yet, so he’s listening carefully to the cashier and the customer in front of him to be sure he orders the coffee correctly.

He’s anxious. He doesn’t want to make a mistake. He wants to act authentically. This brief, awkward scene is actually one of Ma’s favorite memories from studying in Japan in 2024. This brief moment when he had to “learn on the fly” and experience a little culture shock forced him to adapt quickly.

It’s also an example of how Ma defined his years at Binghamton University: recognizing those small but pivotal moments for personal and professional growth — especially when they appear unexpectedly. He graduates in May with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with concentrations in finance and management information systems from the School of Management (SOM), and a minor in Japanese.

Ma didn’t know where he’d end up when he started his academic journey; he joked, “I’m just a nerd in business school who’s into finance.” But in the first step of his career after graduation, he’s positioning himself at the intersection of business and clean energy technology with Bridge Green Upcycle, a startup based in the University-managed Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, dedicated to advancing clean energy practices by pioneering the upcycling of lithium-ion batteries.

He’s building off his senior-year internship, working on the startup’s commercial strategy.

“Primarily, what I do is market analysis, anything with commodity price tracking,” Ma said. “The big battery commodities are lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. I track the prices. I track global policy developments and events that could affect prices, such as a major mine closures or a global conflict that disrupts the supply chain. It’s really cool!”

Ma doesn’t necessarily feel at home in a big-city office. His interests have always revolved around video games, technology, finance, and cooking, and last but not least: learning about different cultures.

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Ma’s Chinese-born parents didn’t speak English, so he frequently acted as their translator. In high school, he studied Spanish and French, and after coming to Binghamton, he chose to minor in Japanese to explore the similarities between that culture and his Chinese heritage.

Ma believed a business degree offered the widest range of potential career pathways, and a finance concentration played into his affinity for numbers. While studying in Japan, he broadened his interpersonal skills in unique ways and emerged more confident in confronting the challenges of business and technology.

“I’ve learned so much, and a big part of that ability to learn is how well SOM prepared me,” Ma said. “I take a great deal of pride in my talent for making slide decks for presentations, because you have to be concise and clear with what you’re saying while balancing it with eye-grabbing graphics. Not everyone knows what it takes to craft a solid presentation, but SOM is perfect for helping you grow those skills that help you truly stand out when the competition is fierce.”

After gaining some baseline experience, Ma found his perfect fit during the Bridge Green Upcycle internship. Ironically, a previous internship success with an energy storage solutions company, e-Zinc, paved the way.

Recognized by e-Zinc’s chief commercial officer as an intern who could be counted on to show up every day and give “110% effort,” Ma was contacted in the fall about another internship opportunity with a new company (Bridge Green Upcycle) getting off the ground.

Ma couldn’t resist the opportunity to continue as part of a growing enterprise where he could test his creative business skills in fresh ways. It’s also been a reminder that achieving your own level of success doesn’t have to be painful.

“You just have to show up,” he said, “be ready to learn, and do your best.”