U.S. Department of Energy Partners with Youngstown State University & Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Support Battery Manufacturing Workforce
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it is partnering with Youngstown State University and DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to advance workforce development for the battery manufacturing industry. The $1 million project will assist in the development of an Energy Storage Workforce Innovation Center, which will serve as a training center based in the Midwest. The training center would support the battery and EV manufacturing industry in the North-East region of Ohio — referred to as “Voltage Valley” due to the number of investments made in the area by the electric vehicle industry — by helping supply a capable workforce.
“We are in a period of tremendous advancement in battery technologies, presenting new opportunities for electric vehicles and energy storage systems,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette. “With these new technologies and growing industries, it is essential that we prepare a workforce that will lead the next generation of energy storage technologies into practice. Our investment will help continue the region’s reputation of meeting the nation’s manufacturing needs.”
This effort supports DOE’s Energy Storage Grand Challenge, which draws on the extensive research capabilities of the DOE National Laboratories, universities, and industry to accelerate the development of energy-storage technologies and sustain American global leadership in the energy storage technologies of the future. The Energy Storage Grand Challenge Roadmap outlines a Department-wide strategy to accelerate innovation across a range of storage technologies and develop a skilled workforce based on three concepts: Innovate Here, Make Here, and Deploy Everywhere.
The project is sponsored by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office and the Advanced Manufacturing Office.
Featured image: A thin film solid-state electrolyte with a three-dimensionally interconnected structure was fabricated by ORNL researchers. The structure increased conductivity through the ceramic base. Credit: Xi Chen/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Article courtesy of the US Department of Energy.
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