Oakland Senior Design class helps local startup with battery enclosure prototype

Oakland Senior Design class helps startup with battery enclosure prototype
na4b
Monika Jansohn, president of Na4B (Sodium for Batteries), is developing an improved sodium nickel chloride battery, with help from OU INC and Oakland Senior Design Students.

Oakland University Engineering students and OU INC, the university’s business accelerator, recently worked with a Rochester Hills-based startup geared towards zero emission power grids to create a new battery enclosure prototype.

 

Na4B (Sodium for Batteries) is a tenant client at OU INC that receives business services and conducts lab work in their space within the incubator. The company is developing an improved sodium nickel chloride battery through nano-engineering and — over a two-year span — will build prototypes of their electrochemical cells with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

OU INC seeks to match academic programs and student experiential learning opportunities with the needs of its’ start-up and growth stage entrepreneurs.  OU INC recently introduced Na4B to Mechanical Engineering Professor Michael Latcha, Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Mohammed Zohdy, and students in Engineering Senior Design (ECE 491) to develop a battery pack for the lab-scaled 4 kilowatt-hour battery prototype. The elaborately designed battery pack holds the cells, completes the electrical connections  and keeps them at a static temperature.

 

The Senior Design experience at Oakland University’s School of Engineering and Computer Science pulls together seniors in computer, electrical and mechanical engineering to tackle problems that involve multidisciplinary challenges.

 

Dr. Monika Jansohn, president of Na4B, said students put a lot of work into project, and that the program is good for preparing students for real work environments. Mechanical Engineering student Jacob Miller agreed. He said rather than working on a project with a definite end for educational purposes, the class was able to experience real customers and put what they learned in various courses to an actual working cause.

 

“Since Na4B had not finalized the details of their battery cell when the project was carried out, it was a particularly difficult challenge to develop a test fixture for the cells,” Latcha added.

 

“The students were successful in parametrically designing a test fixture that included the necessary containment, heating, cooling and electrical monitoring systems that will be necessary to determine the viability of the technology in a commercial setting.”

 

One of the goals of OU INC is student engagement, with a focus on providing entrepreneurial resources and business solutions to help develop business ventures and accelerate ideas to bring to market. Amy Butler, executive director of OU INC, said the Na4B battery project is a great example of how OU INC brings those two goals together.

 

“OU students came and visited the Na4B lab at the incubator, talked with the founders, and maximized their learning opportunity to dig into a real design challenge, while also learning about building a business around that technology idea,” said Butler.

 

“Na4B has also worked with our School of Business Masters of Business Capstone Class, as well.  The innovation and student commitment to the project has been outstanding.  This kind of partnership enables OU Inc to be an active part of training the talent that our companies need now and in the future.”

 

OU INC is a SmartZone and International Business Incubator, in collaboration with the City of Rochester Hills, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), and various industry partners. With a focus on the energy, medical device, and information technology sectors, OU INC provides entrepreneurial resources and strategic business solutions for developing business ventures and accelerating ideas to market. Further information is located at oakland.edu/ouinc.