Cambridge EnerTech’s

Battery Engineering

Optimizing Cell and Pack Design through Engineering

March 25 - 26, 2026 ALL TIMES EDT



As battery technology continues to evolve, the demand for precisely engineered battery systems that maximize the potential of active cell materials is growing. Developing battery packs that deliver consistent performance while ensuring seamless integration into end products requires a strong focus on safety, reliability, and durability. Cell design, including the selection of non-active components, plays a critical role in overall battery performance and long-term reliability. Regardless of cell chemistry, designing and integrating battery packs involves complex thermal, mechanical, and electrical engineering challenges. Achieving optimal cell and pack performance tailored to specific application duty cycles demands a thoughtful balance of energy and power density, manufacturability, abuse tolerance, thermal behavior, and cost-efficiency. The Battery Engineering program will explore these key considerations.

Wednesday, March 25

12:35 pmRegistration Open

12:35 pmNetworking Luncheon

1:20 pmDessert Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing (Sponsorship Opportunity Available)

BATTERY SAFETY AND RELIABILITY

1:50 pm

Chairperson's Remarks

Yuandan Li, PhD, Senior Reliability Engineer, Product Integrity Engineering, Google Inc.

1:55 pm

A Unified Machine-Learning Framework for Predicting Energy Yield and Classifying Failure Modes in Battery Thermal Runaway

Simran Kumari, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Materials Informatics, Nissan

A data-driven framework is introduced for predicting the energy yield and classifying the trigger mechanism of thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries. The core of this approach is a 2D uniform data augmentation method that corrects for severe data imbalances across multiple feature dimensions simultaneously. A stacked ensemble regressor trained on this balanced data demonstrates high predictive accuracy across all failure modes, providing a valuable tool for designing safer battery systems.

2:25 pm

NVPF Sodium-ion versus NMC and LFP Lithium-ion Batteries in Thermal Runaway: Vent Gas Composition and Thermal Analysis 

Christiane Essl, Researcher, Battery Safety, VIRTUAL VEHICLE Research GmbH

In this study, cells with three different cell chemistries—Na3V2(PO4)2F3 (NVPF), LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC), and LiFePO4 (LFP)—are analyzed in exactly the same setup to compare the hazardous vent gases and their thermal behavior during thermal runaway. Additionally, the influence of different triggers on the failure behavior of NVPF cells is elucidated. Of the three cell chemistries, LFP releases the least amount of vent gas at 0.02 mol/Ah (41% H2, 27% CO2, 8% CO), followed by NVPF at 0.05 mol/Ah (42% CO2, 17% electrolyte solvent, 15% H2 and 10% CO), and NMC at 0.07 mol/Ah (36% CO, 24% CO2, 19% H2). The maximum vent gas temperature increases from NVPF (265 °C) to LFP (446 °C) and NMC (1050 °C). As for the triggers, overcharge has the highest vent gas production of the NVPF cells at 0.07 mol/Ah.

2:55 pm Redefining Next-Generation Battery V2.0: From Industrial Myth and Tech Paradox to a Producible High-Safety, High-Energy Lithium Battery Platform

Vincent Yang, CEO, ProLogium Technology Co., Ltd.

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3:25 pmRefreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing (Sponsorship Opportunity Available)

3:55 pm

Shifting Left: Agile Battery-Reliability Validation for Fast-Paced Consumer-Electronics Product Development

Yuandan Li, PhD, Senior Reliability Engineer, Product Integrity Engineering, Google Inc.

The fast pace of consumer electronics development often challenges the validation for lithium ion batteries, which are long lead-time and critical components. To navigate this constraint, reliability validation needs to be agile. This talk details Google’s "shift-left" strategies to expedite the battery validation. We will share practical approaches covering three key phases: (1) early mechanical risk validation; (2) module - system validation correlation; and (3) longevity assessment for intended field life

4:25 pm

Safety Evaluation of Emerging Solid-State and Sodium-ion Battery Chemistries

Nathan Johnson, PhD, Senior Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories

This talk examines safety in sodium-ion and solid-state batteries using a multi-scale approach. By analyzing material behavior and interface interactions, we identify potential failure mechanisms and highlight insights that elucidate safety implications for emerging battery chemistries benchmarked against lithium-ion.

5:30 pmVolta Foundation Battery Social*

Join Volta Foundation for an Battery Social at International Battery Seminar & Exhibit in Orlando! Connect with fellow battery professionals, exchange ideas, build valuable relationships, and stay ahead in the rapidly evolving battery industry as the Volta Foundation Battery Social is the perfect place to engage with the brightest minds in the industry.

*separate registration required, please click here for details: https://learn.volta.foundation/ibse-2026

8:30 pmClose of Day

Thursday, March 26

INTERACTIVE LEADERSHIP BREAKFAST

7:25 AM -

Powering Impact: An Interactive Session on Technology, Market Strategy, and Execution in the Battery Economy

PANEL MODERATOR:

Christina Lampe-Önnerud, PhD, Founder and CEO, Cadenza Innovation

Battery innovation succeeds when technology, business strategy, and disciplined execution move in sync. In this one-hour plenary dialogue led by tech innovator made market shaper and global executive Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud, brings together engineers, marketers, project managers, emerging leaders and mentors to focus on advancing ideas in the high-growth battery industry. The session will center on three practical dimensions: how to position technical concepts in terms of customer value and cost-performance; how to communicate with credibility to executives, investors, and commercial partners; and how project leadership translates vision into milestones that matter. 

Come join us for this new initiative with coffee/tea and bagels around small tables with young professionals, mentors, managers, and senior executives—not as observers, but as active participants with a courageous commitment to sponsor talent, open doors, and strengthen execution cultures. The call to action is clear: bridge science and market reality, expand your network with intention, and help shape a battery industry that advances through both technical excellence and commercial clarity.

PANELISTS:

Marianne Meins, CTO & Executive Vice President, Emerging Technologies, Curtis Stout

Dee Strand, PhD, CSO, R&D, Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Inc.

Celina Mikolajczak, Advisor to the Battery Industry

Lucy Li, PhD, Senior Technical Program Manager, Cell, Peak Energy; Program Manager, Women in Batteries, Volta Foundation

Paige Johnson, Founder & CEO, Ten-Nine Technologies LLC

Mykela DeLuca, PhD, Program Dir, Battery Business Directory, Volta Foundation

8:00 amRegistration Open and Morning Coffee

BATTERY-PACK ENGINEERING

8:25 am

Chairperson's Remarks

Roman Yakobov, Battery Engineering Manager, Electrical Engineering, Plug Power Inc.

8:30 am Built to Solve: Engineering the Tools for EV Battery Remanufacturing

Connor Taylor, Manager, Electrical Engineering, Cox Automotive

Sarah Hake, Manager, Product Operations , Cox Automotive

9:00 am

Battery Module/Pack Design around Safety

Roman Yakobov, Battery Engineering Manager, Electrical Engineering, Plug Power Inc.

This talk explores key challenges in battery module design, focusing on thermal malmanagement with high-power cells in confined spaces—particularly in the material handling sector. Drawing from real-world experience, it covers failure scenarios, design strategies, and novel thermal solutions using both emerging and commercial materials. Attendees will gain actionable insights into how engineering decisions impact thermal behavior across the battery development lifecycle

9:00 amCoffee Break in the Exhibit Hall

9:30 am From Microstructure to Pack: A Comprehensive Approach to Battery Simulation

Niloofar Kamyab, Applications Manager, Electrochemistry, COMSOL Inc.

Designing high-performance, durable, and safe batteries requires a detailed understanding of battery technology and the underlying physical processes. Modeling and simulation software help designers look inside the battery in a way that is not possible using physical experiments. In this talk, we will cover the modeling capabilities offered with the COMSOL Multiphysics® software to simulate batteries across different scales, from the microscale to battery packs. We will also discuss the available functionality for modeling a wide range of battery chemistries, including next-generation systems such as solid-state, sodium-ion, and lithium–sulfur batteries, at varying levels of complexity. We’ll cover the study of aging and degradation, thermal management, performing virtual characterization tests, and simulating battery behavior under real-world operating conditions.

10:00 amBattery Booth Crawl with Bagels in the Exhibit Hall with Last Chance for Poster Viewing

10:45 am

Three Ways to Compute Lithium-ion Cell Impedance from Physics-Based Models

Gregory L. Plett, PhD, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

The impedance spectrum of a lithium-ion battery cell contains a rich amount of information regarding the cell’s physical properties. It can be measured in a straightforward way using electrochemical-impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the measurements can be regressed against a physics-based model to infer model parameter values. To do so, we must be able to simulate the model quickly and accurately: this talk addresses three approaches to doing so.

11:15 am

Advanced Control Strategies for Automotive Battery Applications

Scott Trimboli, PhD, Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) require careful and reliable battery management for safe and efficient operation and energy utilization.  A “dual-mode” variant of model predictive control (MPC) has recently shown it can deliver robust performance at low computational cost.  This presentation explains this new control approach and shows how it may be employed to improve overall battery utilization in electric vehicles.

11:45 am Physics-Based Modeling and PHM Integration for Battery Qualification and Prognostics

Wyatt Pena, President & COO, Ridgetop Group Inc.

This work presents an integrated PHM framework that couples hardware-in-the-loop cycling with physics-based electrochemical modeling and prognostic analytics. The approach integrates electrolyte transport modeling, path-dependent aging prediction, and state-of-health (SOH) and remaining useful life (RUL) estimation. These capabilities enable quantitative model-to-test correlation, degradation mechanism validation, and predictive verification for advanced cell development and qualification.

12:15 pmEnjoy Lunch on Your Own

THERMAL MANAGEMENT

1:10 pm

Chairperson's Remarks

William Walker, CTO, KULR Technology

1:15 pm

Thermal Management Systems

William Walker, CTO, KULR Technology

KULR Technology Corporation, in collaboration with South 8 Technologies and NASA Johnson Space Center, is developing -60 °C lithium-ion batteries for deep-space and lunar missions under the Texas Space Commission’s SEARF program. Using South 8’s novel LiGas electrolyte in 18650-M35A and 21700-M52V cells, the project integrates KULR’s radiation-tolerant kBMS into the KULR ONE Space (K1S) platform, culminating in an 8U CubeSat flight demonstration validating cryogenic, human-rated battery performance.

1:45 pm

Advancing Automotive Battery-Pack Safety with Innovative Venting Units

Michael Harenbrock, PhD, Principal Expert, Engineering Electric Mobility, MANN+HUMMEL GmbH

Vents are crucial for battery pack safety, especially under thermal runaway conditions. As battery cell chemistry and pack designs evolve, selecting appropriate venting units becomes increasingly important. The presentation provides an overview of regulatory and technological trends influencing vent design and introduces additional features such as gas sensors and hot particle filters.

2:15 pm

Accelerating Battery Controls Development with Maccor, Cell Hardware-in-Loop (HIL) Testing

Victor Gin He Leong, Senior Battery Cell Engineer, Battery Cell Engineering, Lucid Motors Inc.

Mike Sandoval, Vice President Business Development, Maccor, Inc.

As battery controls become more dynamic, cell testing must move beyond static protocols to adaptive, model-integrated validation. Cell hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) couples real cells with real-time battery and environmental models, widening scenario coverage while reducing physical tests and equipment. We see cell HIL as a cornerstone for digital-twin testing, real-time control co-development, and accelerated learning loops. This talk reviews how our collaboration with Maccor enables advanced control validation at scale.

3:15 pmTransition to Closing Plenary

CLOSING PLENARY PANEL DISCUSSION

3:30 pm

Navigating the Global Battery Growth in Harmony with Shifting US Policy, Demanding Energy Security, and Big-Data Requirements

PANEL MODERATOR:

Christina Lampe-Önnerud, PhD, Founder and CEO, Cadenza Innovation

In a world where battery momentum continues to evolve, the industry is facing great uncertainty in policy and energy priorities. In this Plenary Closing Discussion, we are ending the conference with a thought-provoking and insightful panel of experts led by Christina Lampe-Onnerud to help us think through: Where is the US battery market going in the aftermath of the Big Beautiful Bill and how is this different in Europe and Asia? What are the effects on US electricity infrastructure with Energy Security, storage growth and Big Data supercharge? How do we as an industry navigate these uncertain times?

PANELISTS:

Eric Darcy, PhD, former Battery Technical Discipline Lead, NASA-JSC; Private Consultant, Darcy Batt Consulting, LLC

John Warner, DM, Chief Customer Officer, American Battery Solutions

Michael Liu, Director, Research & Insights, Volta Foundation

4:30 pmClose of Conference




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