NSF designates B.U. as one of 10 national storage engines
JOHNSON CITY, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Johnson City is sharing in the economic promise of our area becoming the national center for battery research and manufacturing.
Representatives from the National Science Foundation and the White House were in JC this morning to announce the launch Binghamton University's new energy storage facility.
Officials gathered inside the former Gannett building next to Walmart to announce that the building is the new home for the pilot manufacturing program, Battery New York.
The facility will research energy storage, hold workforce trainings, and create prototype lithium-ion batteries.
The university also announced that it has been designated as one of just 10 National Science Foundation engines across the country.
Noble Prize winner, and BU chemistry professor Stan Whittingham says if we don't invest in battery technology now, then we'll have to buy from other countries that do.
"We can't catch up with the Asians, we have to leapfrog them. So, this funding will let us do that. It will let us really come up with new inventions, which we intend to test out and build up to commercial stage in this facility," says Whittingham.
Whittingham says the building, which used to hold several printing presses, is the perfect size and layout for a battery manufacturing facility.
A representative with the National Science Foundation, Erwin Gianchandani says the NSF invests in programs like these, that accelerate innovation, and can reinvent industry standards across the world.
"This is the broadest, and most significant federal action to expand America's innovation capacity and potential since Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grants Act that crated the modern university system for the country over 150 years ago. Think about the significance of that for just one second," says Gianchandani.
The official name of the initiative is the NSF Upstate New York Energy Storage Engine, and it will be receiving $15 million for the first two years and up to $160 million over a decade.
The coalition is comprised of other colleges such as RIT, Cornell, and Syracuse, plus over 140 business partners ready to provide talent for the workforce.
