Alfred University awarded $160,644 grant to prepare students for battery/energy storage jobs
Alfred University is recipient of $160,644 in National Science Foundation (NSF) grant funding which will be used to support a training program focused on battery degradation and useful life prediction. The program will help provide engineering students with skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the battery and energy storage job market.
The grant is administered through the NSF-funded Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine: Generating Regional Opportunities in Workforce (GROW) program. The initiative supports the development and implementation of a pilot workforce training program—titled “Training College Students in Battery Degradation and Remaining Useful Life Prediction Using Machine Learning”—aimed at advancing regional and national battery and energy storage labor readiness.
Kun Wang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering in Alfred University’s Inamori School of Engineering, is principal investigator for the project. Gabrielle Gaustad ’04, dean of the Inamori School of Engineering, Scott Misture ’90, ’94 PhD, Inamori professor of materials science and engineering, and Xingwu Wang, professor of electrical engineering, serve as co-investigators.
Housed at Binghamton University, the Upstate Energy Storage Engine is one of 10 NSF-supported Regional Innovation Engines across the country. It is dedicated to building a comprehensive battery and energy storage ecosystem in Upstate New York by fostering innovation, technology, translation, workforce development, and inclusive collaboration to support United States independence and leadership in these industries. Alfred University’s grant is a sub-award from GROW funding awarded to Syracuse University.
The start date of the grant awarded to Alfred University was October 17, 2024, with an end date of February 28, 2026. The program will equip students from the materials science, renewable energy, and electrical engineering fields with skills in battery testing, data analysis, and machine learning for performance prediction. It aligns with the Upstate Energy Storage Engine’s mission to advance the battery industry by fostering a highly skilled workforce capable of driving innovation in energy storage systems.
Don Crampton (left), program manager for Alfred University’s Upstate Energy Storage Engine Workforce Development project, met Wednesday with project team from Alfred, including Kun Wang (right), assistant professor of materials science and engineering, who serves as principal investigator for the project. The team provided Crampton with an update on the progress of NSF grant-funded training initiative, which will study battery degradation and useful life prediction using machine learning.
The NSF grant will fund instructional positions and training equipment at Alfred University. Kun Wang is overseeing development of curriculum for short courses, which will be offered to 30 to 50 students from Alfred University, Alfred State College and Corning Community College. The courses will be offered over the summer—possibly in conjunction with Alfred University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Institute—and during the Fall 2025 semester. Kun Wang said he expects at least 10 students enrolled in the Undergraduate Research Institute to enroll in the training program. He added that employees of businesses in New York State that utilize battery technology—including Raymond Corp., an electric forklift manufacturer in Greene, NY—may sit for short-course training as well.
The project team from Alfred University met Wednesday, Feb. 12, with Don Crampton, director of Strategic Partnerships at Syracuse University, who serves as program manager for Alfred University’s Upstate Energy Storage Engine Workforce Development initiative, to discuss the status of the project. Kun Wang outlined the schedule for acquiring battery testing system equipment that will be used for training.