Eastman Business Park, home to a unique ecosystem for the commercialization of battery and energy storage technology, has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oakridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to advance an all American model for the development and manufacture of next generation battery and energy storage products and materials.
The agreement – signed last Tuesday (June 9th) during a ceremony at Eastman Business Park – connects EBP to numerous emerging growth companies under the Oakridge umbrella in an effort to transform how new materials and systems are developed and manufactured more efficiently, economically and competitively in the United States.
Michael Alt, director of Eastman Business Park, said the partnership with ORNL – the nation's largest DOE science and energy laboratory – could have an immediate and profound impact: the lure of offshore development and manufacturing may diminish among American innovators; numerous new emerging growth companies could locate elements of their research and manufacturing operations at EBP; and hundreds of new advanced manufacturing jobs may be created in Rochester as a result.
“Eastman Business Park, with its pilot-to-large scale roll-to-roll printing and deposition capabilities – a key to new battery and energy storage technology – coupled with ORNL's expertise in developing and scaling new processing methods, creates a very unique and synergistic collaboration opportunity," Alt said. “Jointly, EBP and ORNL will offer companies the full continuum with 'one stop' shopping."
"EBP is pleased and excited to be affiliated with Oakridge," Alt said. “We look forward to working together to speed innovation for energy storage, and hope to have a long and successful relationship in the commercialization of new ideas."
“Together, EBP and ORNL offer a unique set of capabilities, which will help nurture companies in the battery and energy storage sector through the 'valley of death' between fundamental research and commercialization," Alt said. “This new public private partnership will enable a cross fertilization of capabilities, leveraging private investments with government programs to advance technologies and increase domestic manufacturing."
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