Battery start-up Sakti3 Inc bets on Detroit, might have new battery breakthrough
creative commons - meagen
Although some folks in Washington act as though they could care less about the future of the home of the country's domestic automakers, at least one lithium battery start-up company has laid down a hefty bet on Detroit. Sakti3 Inc. was founded last year by University of Michigan professor, Ann Marie Sastry, after deciding some promising research results should be used to create a battery rather than another academic paper. While it isn't said whether her battery can hold more energy than those available today, it does seem as though making electric cars affordable is a goal she believes is necessary.
The company is currently only 10 employees strong but has attracted millions of investment dollars from the likes of Khosla Ventures and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. The new battery itself may not be unveiled for several more years, but Sastry recognizes the importance of a technology breakthrough. She says, "This is the moment to make radical change. The auto industry needs to change radically." She is sure right about that.
[Source: Detroit Free Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nie-mehr-benzin.de 1:51PM (12/16/2008)
Paper doesn't blush. We need solutions:
- How many kWhrs per kg?
- How many kW per kg?
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Cory 12:58PM (12/17/2008)
I had Ann Marie as a professor for Mechanics of Materials at U of M back around 1995. She wasn't always my favorite prof, but she's smart, fair, and, believe me, tough (sorry, bad flashback). I wish her the best. It's good to see someone who has risen quickly in academia stick her neck out and venture outside the wire. Hopefully she and others like her don't get crushed by the sorry state of the Michigan economy.
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KATE E 5:03PM (6/04/2009)
This kind of innovation is just what is needed--not only for the field of engineering and Michigan's economy, but America's competitiveness in the global economy.
When a drug company has promising results from animal studies, it's understood that there is an expensive and rigorous process involved to get that product to market--usually at least four phases of clinical trials just as a start. For big Pharma, often it's too easy and safe to just improve a product that already exists. The same is true for other industries, a transitional way of bringing innovation to market has to be created.
The key to real innovation and bringing inventions into being that will really change market paradymns is--or will soon be--smaller, more nimble "incubator" companies such as this one.
People are innovating all of the time, but many times the research, testing and delivery is falling into the hands of people who are no longer set up to do those things.
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