The Battery Innovation Center in the US state of Indiana has appointed David Roberts, the former chief executive of EnerDel, as its president. Ben Wrightsman, a former EnerDel director of strategic applications and of supply chain and procurement becomes chief operations officer/chief engineer.

The appointments follow the death of Chuck LaSota, its president and CEO.

Roberts has also been a board member of a Chinese joint venture with Wanxiang, an IP counsel for Caterpillar, an engineer with Lockheed Martin, and is a patent and business attorney in private practice with Gutwein Law.
“The BIC is poised to not only achieve the original mission and goals of the organization, but when we have the opportunity to create additional offerings that will serve many areas of need for the industry,” he said.

“For example, not only can the BIC be a test and evaluation lab with pilot manufacturing capabilities, the BIC is positioned to be a certification body helping to set and test to standards for the industry. Our position as a non-profit that does not take IP rights housed in a secure facility in central Indiana should also alleviate many concerns from industry participants.”

Wrightsman is a strategic industry executive with over 15 years of experience in high tech manufacturing, electronics, and product development companies.

“In my brief time here, I’ve been impressed with the quality of the facilities and the talent of the BIC team,” he said. “Our current consortium members and customers have repeatedly provided positive feedback regarding the quality of the services and the reliability of the data that we have been able to generate.

“There are not many – if any – other places in the world where you can have coin, cylindrical, and pouch cells manufactured and tested to provide unbiased data that can be used to validate new technologies for marketing or fundraising purposes.”

He added that he and Roberts also look forward to beginning a battery training certification program where individuals can receive an overview of “all things batteries”, including an overview of available chemistries, cell design considerations, microgrid system configurations, BMS strategies, and new breakthrough technologies.
“The BIC truly is the catalyst to meaningful energy storage technology development, and that’s why I’m excited to be here,” he said.