UC Climate Entrepreneurs Fellows
In April 2023, the University of California (UC) awarded the Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF) a two-year, $1-million grant as part of its statewide Climate Action Innovation & Entrepreneurship research program. In partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), LLF is advancing climate innovation and education around the new carbon economy by investing in student fellows and research teams. Livermore’s initiative involves three key areas: providing underrepresented UC students with access to LLNL research and training that enables them to participate in scaling up carbon technology solutions; assisting companies and start-ups to identify necessary technology and job skills for the future climate tech workforce; and providing a forum for environmental community groups to share their input and considerations as new climate technologies emerge.
Four UC Climate Entrepreneurs Fellows were paired with Lab mentors to complete 12-week paid internships at LLNL in Summer 2024. Students received training, networking, and coaching on entrepreneurship and product development best practices designed to innovate and develop their technology ideas for market. On August 1, the fellows presented their final research projects at LLF’s Summer Showcase, and will be sharing their work at a regional convening with LLF, LLNL, and industry and academic stakeholders this fall.
The University’s climate action grant to LLF is part of an historic $185M partnership between the State of California and UC to tackle the climate crisis by building upon existing innovation and entrepreneurship resources across the UC system and UC-affiliated national laboratories, including LLNL.
Meet the Cohort
Maged Elshatoury, a PhD candidate in Materials and Biomaterials Science and Engineering at UC Merced, worked with a Lab research team and Livermore-based Darmoktech, Inc. to explore ways to boost battery technology with smart polymer screening. Maged’s research project integrated automated high-throughput screening with additive manufacturing, characterization, simulation, and data science to enhance the ionic conductivity of polymer electrolytes for lithium and sodium-ion battery applications. The aim of this research is to advance battery technologies through safe, stable, and cost-effective solutions. Maged chose to work at LLNL for its world-class high-performance computing and collaborative environment to advance energy storage and nanotech research. Darmoktech, a battery innovation company whose mission is to revolutionize batteries for transportation with reimagined cell and packaging design, partnered on the project to test battery design. Maged’s career goals are to innovate the field of materials science by developing advanced materials for energy storage and nanotechnology applications, with a focus on enhancing battery technologies and leveraging high-performance computing for scientific discoveries.
In Maged’s own words, “The fellowship has allowed me to focus on my research, leveraging my expertise in materials science and engineering. It has been instrumental in exploring innovative approaches like high-throughput screening, additive manufacturing, and machine learning integration. These experiences not only enhanced my skills but also introduced me to the dynamic educational environment at LLNL, fostering a rich learning and collaborative experience. I am so thankful for this opportunity.”
Juliana Gonzalez is an undergraduate at UC Irvine majoring in Environmental Science and Policy. The focus of her summer research project at LLNL was to explore methods for transferring the air-to-fertilizer process from the Lab’s research environment to the community in a way that benefits the community (especially those impacted by environmental injustices) and complies with regulations. The current fertilizer production process is both energy intensive and a main contributor of global carbon emissions. The air-to-fertilizer process revolutionizes this by using an electrochemical reactor to produce ammonia from air that has zero emissions. Juliana came to LLNL because of its dedication to and innovative ways of achieving climate security. Her career goal is to utilize policy to improve environmental conditions and tackle climate issues. Of her experience, Juliana says “The fellowship has introduced me to new people, experiences, and helped me understand how to use my education in a professional setting. It has contributed to my professional development through opportunities such as the National Labs Entrepreneurship Academy (NLEA).”
Jose Martinez is a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at UC Merced. For the summer, he worked with LLNL researchers on their development of an in-air drop encapsulation apparatus (IDEA) as a commercial manufacturing method for carbon-capture sorbent materials. Jose’s research focused on determining how to stabilize the heat distribution to extend the system’s operating time. Carbon capture and storage is widely recognized as an essential strategy to meet global goals for climate protection. Direct-air carbon capture technologies are needed to retrofit existing and soon-to-be-built commercial facilities, such as power plants, hospitals, and business parks to meet future carbon management goals. Jose pursued this opportunity at LLNL because of its leading role in climate resilience research and commitment to providing opportunities for historically underrepresented individuals. His career goal is to combat climate change through the advancement of climate solutions by developing innovative carbon capture technology. According to Jose, “The Climate Entrepreneurs Fellowship program provided an immersive collaborative environment that has allowed me to work towards advancing climate solutions through developing carbon capture technology for the market.”
Tianshi Feng is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at UC San Diego. His LLNL research project focused on scaling up manufacturing of a nanoporous membrane for Lithium (Li-S) battery separators and evaporation cooling. The nanoporous membrane plays an important role in different applications, such as evaporation-cooling devices in high-power electronic systems and as separators in Li-S batteries (a battery separator is a type of polymeric membrane that is positioned between the positively charged anode and the negatively charged cathode to help prevent electrical short circuiting). LLNL is attempting to build an advanced manufacturing process to fabricate such nanoporous membranes with differing geometry for different applications that can be transferred to industry. Tianshi came to LLNL because of its cutting-edge 3D-printing techniques and robust work environment and researchers. His career goal is to find better thermal management solutions in multiscale electronic systems to ensure further miniaturization and better performance. For Tianshi, “This LLF fellowship has allowed me to focus on research and introduced me to LLNL’s Advanced Manufacturing Lab and its other state-of-art facilities.”