Campus Life

Celebration to showcase Battery and Energy Storage Technology Center

A celebration to mark the creation of the Battery and Energy Storage Technology (BEST) Center will be held from noon to 6 p.m. on March 21 in 125 Reber Building.

The BEST Day celebration, which is free and open to the public, will highlight research activities and will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Battery Manufacturing Laboratory (BML), a battery manufacturing demonstration, a poster session, graduate student presentations and laboratory tours.

Co-directed by Chris Rahn, professor of mechanical engineering, and Chao-Yang Wang, the William E. Diefenderfer Chair of Mechanical Engineering, the BEST Center will center on energy storage technologies in vehicle electrification, renewable energy and smart grids. The center is the first of its kind to focus on clean energy research and education.

The BML is the only laboratory in the country that allows engineers to fabricate automotive batteries from scratch, permitting research and development of new materials in battery designs that include improved performance, cycle life and cost. The facility can manufacture experimental lithium-ion and other high energy density batteries.

"Their work is integral to industries ranging from automotive to laptop computers," said Karen Thole, head of the mechanical and nuclear engineering department.

The event is sponsored by the College of Engineering, the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the Materials Research Institute, the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering and the Penn State Industrial Research Office.

Information and registration for the event can be found online at http://www.research.psu.edu/events/best-day/.

Last Updated June 23, 2015

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