Earlier this year, six students from Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, WA, participated in a battery fabrication workshop at the Washington Clean Energy Testbeds, an open-access lab operated by the University of Washington (UW) Clean Energy Institute (CEI).
The students who attended came from a range of educational and professional backgrounds: two are transferring to UW to pursue degrees in computer science and engineering and biochemistry, one is a lab manager at an outpatient clinic who is transferring to WSU to be a chemical engineer, one is pursuing a civil engineering career, one works in manufacturing with an emphasis on automation and robotics, and one is an aspiring mechanical or electrical engineer who has an interest in clean energy.
Testbeds technical director J. Devin MacKenzie, the Washington Research Foundation Professor of Clean Energy and an associate professor of materials science & engineering and mechanical engineering at the UW, kicked off the workshop with an overview of battery technology, additive manufacturing techniques like slot-die coating, and how Testbeds users wield the facility’s tools for both academic research and private innovation.
The students worked with Testbeds staff scientists Dr. Tucker Murrey, Sarah Little, and Dr. Phil Cox to learn three key techniques: slot-die coating, coin cell assembly, and battery testing, respectively.
“The workshop also helped show that it’s more realistic to get involved in research than I initially thought,” one student said. “It seemed a little out of reach for an undergrad, but meeting everyone and seeing how things worked helped me realize how accessible resources for research can be, and that it’s not something out of my league.”
Read more about the experience and see more photos here: Charging up to build batteries – Clean Energy Institute