Spartans are innovating batteries, electronics, composite materials and more to push electric vehicles farther while training the nation’s future workforce.
When it comes to batteries’ shortcomings, it’s hard to imagine anyone better equipped to overcome them than Chengcheng Fang, an assistant professor at Michigan State University in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science.
Last year, Fang was named one of the world’s leading innovators under the age of 35 by the magazine MIT Technology Review. Before joining MSU in 2020, she was trained as a part of a national collaboration called the Battery500 Consortium.
The consortium also included scientists who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their development of lithium-ion batteries in the late 20th century.
Now, leading her own lab, Fang says MSU is an ideal setting for helping usher in the future of battery technology.
“At MSU, we have a very strong research infrastructure, top-level students, top-end characterization tools, and we know the high standards of the industry,” says Fang, who also has an ongoing project with General Motors. “That’s really important for how we train our students and how we direct our research.”
Fang’s approach is a microcosm of the entire collaboration. Just as the MSU team is advancing on range anxiety from all fronts, her lab is looking for every opportunity to boost battery performance.
“My passion is making the technology better to actually bridge the gap between the lab and application,” Fang says. “We’re trying to innovate many parts inside the battery.”
That includes what’s been called the “holy grail” of battery research in developing new chemistries that could double the range of current EVs.
Find out more on how “MSU is working to solve range anxiety,” in a science story posted on MSUToday's website.
Written by Matt Davenport, courtesy of MSUToday.