Beginning May 2013, the rapidly emerging California battery sector will have access to new resources to accelerate its growth: an opportunity to work alongside world-class scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). This opportunity is available to members of CalCharge, a partnership of Berkeley Lab and CalCEF that serves as a “center of gravity” for this emerging industry. The unique agreement announced today offers companies an expedited path to collaborate with Berkeley Lab scientists and gain access to the Lab’s state-of-the-art scientific research facilities for proprietary research and development projects.
Public-private research collaborations are critical to accelerating research in batteries, according to Venkat Srinivasan, head of the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources group at Berkeley Lab. “Private companies are eager to tap into the talent at the national labs, to have access to the best scientists, and the best equipment,” he said. “As a national lab, we’re also eager to help bridge the gap between basic and applied research. We think this agreement will knock down a barrier to innovation that will give the California industry the opportunity to achieve meaningful breakthroughs in battery technology.”