Producers and crew from PBS's Nova series are visiting the Energy Institute's Battery Lab this week while filming a special on the future of energy storage and vehicle electrification. Battery Lab Manager Greg Less, along with Battery Fabrication Specialist Bill Hicks, are building batteries with host David Pogue, while Professors Levi Thompson, Jeff Sakamoto and Christian Lastoskie will guide the production team through their lab spaces and give interviews about their work. UMEI Director Mark Barteau will appear to discuss the future of energy storage and transportation.
Dedicated in Fall 2013 and newly open for business, the Battery Fabrication and Characterization User Facility is a space developed in cooperation with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Ford Motor Company. This lab enables industry and university researcher collaboration on developing cheaper and longer lasting energy-storage devices in the heart of the U.S. auto industry. The new facility — for prototyping, testing and analyzing batteries and the materials that go into them — promises to be a key enabler for Southeast Michigan's battery supply chain. It will bring together materials scientists and engineers, as well as suppliers and manufacturers, to ease a bottleneck in battery development near the nation's automotive capital. The new lab will be available for any firm to use. It will also allow students to use state-of-the-art equipment while working closely with experts. The Energy Institute envisions the new facility as a safe zone for non-competitive collaboration.