Lin Chen
Lin Chen, who was a postdoc at Argonne National Laboratory, used an Argonne-filed sulfide-based solid electrolytes patent that can improve lithium battery use time and safety, which could ultimately lead to longer-lasting electric cars, mobile phones and other consumer products.
But he needed to learn how to bridge science with the business world. He needed to make contacts in the battery manufacturing industry, learn how to pitch the technology, and see if the battery industry is interested in this kind of product and can make a positive impact on society.
Chen found that bridge in 2018 with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy I-Corps program which pairs up teams of researchers with industry mentors for an intensive two-month training program. The program, which is offered at Argonne, teaches researchers how to define the value of their technology, to identify their customers, to pitch the technology to those customers and to determine if there is a viable market for that technology.
Twice a year, Energy I-Corps accepts applications and project proposals from a two-person team and their industry mentor. If accepted, that two-person team earns $75,000 to be used for their time and expenses as well as for the expenses of an industry mentor during the course of the program. Expenses often include travel and hotel costs when attending training and meeting customers, and fees when attending conferences related to the project.
Since Energy I-Corps’ inception in 2015, 89 teams from 11 national labs have worked with more than 70 industry mentors, according to the Energy I-Corps website. This includes 12 teams at Argonne that completed the program since its inception and another four teams that are participating this year.
“It is a tremendous program,” said Chen. “It helped me to identify the battery and the battery materials market for the industry. It also helped me to learn how to talk to different companies, both large and small, about their safety concerns and industry needs for products that have not been realized yet, and their potential interests in this technology.”
Chen said he learned new skills, such as how to communicate more effectively with industry and how to focus on being a scientist and becoming an entrepreneur, both roles sharing the need to solve critical problems with great solutions. He also attended conferences, where he met potential customers.
“It helped me to interact with people and learn the real needs, manufacturing process and products’ specs within the battery industry,” Chen said.
While these business skills are helpful to participants as they learn to pitch their products, knowing how to talk to a potential sponsor is useful throughout the participant’s career, said David McCallum, New Program Capture manager at Argonne.
“After graduation, every team has expressed their great satisfaction with the program,” McCallum said. “It definitely takes them out of their comfort zone, especially during the customer discovery phase, where they have to talk to people they don’t know. But the benefits will be immense and it is well worth their time and effort.”
Chen first applied for Energy I-Corps in 2017, but his proposal wasn’t accepted. He felt so strongly about the battery technology, that he rewrote his proposal and reapplied in 2018. He garnered a spot in the program that summer with team member Elvis Zhang, then a fellow MBA student at Northwestern University.
After leaving Argonne, Chen used his concept to secure a DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant and established the Chicago-based startup, Beltech. He and his team rent a wet lab in the technology incubator at Illinois Institute of Technology and have access to labs at University of Chicago and Argonne to continue research on validating his concept and developing battery materials for products. Beltech, short for Beyond Lithium Technology, aims to largely improve the use-time of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and to reduce battery costs by increasing the energy density and offer more safety. It offers battery manufacturers a “drop-in” solution of an ultrathin lithium metal product, according to the Beltech website. Chen also was recently named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 List for 2019 in Energy.
“If you try and don’t succeed the first time you apply, then improve your proposal and try again. You could be successful the next time around,” said McCallum. “People who really want this training have an entrepreneurial mindset and don’t give up.”
Just like Lin Chen.
For further information about the Energy I-Corps at Argonne, contact David McCallum, Argonne’s New Program Capture manager, at (630) 252-4338.
By Anna Marie Tomczyk