US-Taiwan Workshops on Materials and Systems Challenges in Electrical Energy Storage

该奖项提供资金支持两个相关研讨会，汇集美国和台湾的研究人员，双方各12人，讨论与电化学能量转换和存储有关的问题。其目标是：1)确定作为研究目标的更有效系统的挑战和障碍；2)促进两个群体之间的研究和教育合作。第一个工作坊将于2011年4月在台湾台北举行。除技术会谈外，还将参观台湾相关产业和实验室。第二次后续研讨会将于2011年10月在明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯市举行，与美国化学工程师学会全国会议同时举行。后一项会议将提供一个展示这一主题并更广泛地与美国研究界接触的机会。这两个研讨会将邀请该领域的主要研究人员参加。台湾在电池领域处于领先地位，无论是从基础还是制造角度来看都是如此。与会者有资格确定关键问题和研究机会，以改进电化学系统的能量存储和转换。此类系统的范围从用于便携式应用的非常小的电池到用于运输的电源，再到用于存储来自间歇性可再生能源（如太阳能或风能）的大型单元。提高效率、能量密度和功率密度的技术挑战需要通过应用材料科学以及工程分析和设计的最新发展来解决。与会者完全有资格确定最有希望的机会并向更广泛的研究界传播信息。

This award provides funding to support two related workshops bringing together US and Taiwan researchers, 12 from each side, to discuss issues related to electrochemical energy conversion and storage. The objectives are 1) to identify challenges and barriers to more efficient systems as targets of research and 2) to foster research and educational collaboration between the two groups. The first workshop will be in Taipei, Taiwan, in April 2011. In addition to technical talks, there will be a tour of relevant Taiwanese industry and laboratories. The second, follow-up workshop will be in Minneapolis, MN, in October 2011, in conjunction with the national meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. The latter meeting will provide an opportunity to showcase the topic and to engage the US research community more extensively.The two workshops will engage leading researchers in this field. Taiwan is a leader in the field of batteries, both from a fundamental as well as a manufacturing perspective. The participants are well qualified to identify key issues and research opportunities for improvement of electrochemical systems for energy storage and conversion. Such systems range from very small batteries for portable applications to power sources for transportation to large units for storage of energy from intermittent renewable sources, such as solar or wind. The technical challenges to improving efficiency, energy density and power density need to be attacked by application of the latest developments in materials science as well as engineering analysis and design. The participants are well qualified to identify the most promising opportunities and to disseminate the information to the broader research community.