Battery manufacturing startups can join ASU's national research effort by applying as industry partners through PNNL's BattMan page while commercial recruitment is open. The practical entry is a manufacturing-scale use case, such as yield, cost, quality sensing or pilot-line validation, coordinated with ASU's sensing and training work.
BattMan is the Battery Manufacturing Accelerator, a U.S. Department of Energy effort to move advanced battery technologies from laboratory discovery to domestic manufacturing. According to the Energy Department, the goal is lower costs and shorter commercialization timelines DOE launch announcement.
Table of Contents
- What effort would you join?
- Where does ASU fit?
- How do startups apply now?
- What makes a startup a strong fit?
What effort would you join?
BattMan is led by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Laboratory of the Rockies as laboratory members. Five founding universities are involved: ASU, University of Washington, Binghamton University, University of Alabama and University of Michigan-Dearborn. That structure matters for founders. Startups join a lab-university network rather than an ASU-only accelerator.
According to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the founding group includes those laboratories and five universities PNNL consortium announcement. The technical focus is production, not basic cell chemistry alone. Work centers on super intelligence, digital twins and advanced manufacturing science to bridge lab-scale storage ideas to real-world production. Examples include detection of process drift and contamination on the factory floor.
Where does ASU fit?
At ASU, professor A.M. Kannan leads work on sensors, embedded devices, super-intelligence analytics and educational programming. The aim is better battery manufacturing processes and more trained engineers and technicians. For a startup, that means two possible points of value.
One is manufacturing insight from sensing and process data. The other is access to students and technicians learning production skills. ASU does not run separate startup admissions for the consortium. Founders should treat ASU alignment as a way to strengthen a consortium application, especially for sensing, validation and hiring needs. According to the ASU Fulton Schools of Engineering, Kannan's team focuses on manufacturing processes and workforce preparation ASU announcement.
How do startups apply now?
Battery and battery-materials manufacturers and startups can apply to join as industry partners through PNNL's BattMan page during commercial recruitment. Use the contact route on that page and describe a concrete factory problem.
Keep the first message short and specific. A one-page process summary with volumes, defect rates and timeline beats a broad partnership pitch.
- State the product and manufacturing stage: materials, cells, modules, equipment or sensing
- Name one use case: yield loss, cost, quality sensing, contamination, drift or pilot-line validation
- List what you can contribute: data, pilot line time, samples, staff or equipment
- Explain the ASU connection: sensing test, process study or technician and engineer hiring
What makes a startup a strong fit?
The best fit is a company already making or preparing to make physical product. BattMan is built to shorten the path from lab discovery to domestic production. Pilot-stage teams with measurable yield, quality or cost problems can frame clearer projects. Software-only or early research concepts face a harder path.
Without line data, samples or manufacturing equipment, there is less for labs and university teams to test. Wait until you can offer a defined validation target. Only the laboratories and five universities are named as members so far. An application starts a commercial conversation and does not guarantee admission.