Batteries - Energy Academic Group

NPS Battery Workforce Development

Batteries main content

As the United States pursues a carbon-free infrastructure, the importance of energy storage technologies, or batteries, has gained traction. Batteries require a large volume of minerals, frequently rare earth, or strategic minerals, that must be extracted from sub-surface mines or repositories. There is a lack of expertise within the United States, which has been years in the making and extends throughout the battery value chain. This systemic deficiency in understanding ranges from mining to refining to the final application in the field and even through to the recycling of waste products of both production and end use. Each one of these gaps, as well as the aggregated deficiencies, has the potential to become a national security vulnerability.

This project covers both new and continuing thrusts within NPS鈥� ongoing efforts in research, outreach, curriculum development, and training programs within the broader DoD energy security field. This proposal also expands these efforts beyond NPS to support the continuation of ongoing energy related research and the delivery of professional, technical or vocational, and research-based, institutionally accredited instruction.

The work will seek to identify areas where targeted teaching and degree programs, as well as just-in-time education and workforce development can further energy capabilities and capacities, as well as U.S. national interests.

GOALS

To conduct a thorough gap analysis that encompasses: battery education and training availability and adequacy; strategic mineral supply chain training and implementation from discovery through recycling; workforce development.

To organize a Battery Workforce Advisory Group of subject matter experts from Government, academia, and industry.

To create a plan that enhances national battery and strategic mineral educational and industrial readiness.

POCs: Dr. Mary J. Sims, mjsims@nps.edu

Related Battery Workforce Activity

U.S. DoE Battery Workforce Initiative

The purpose of this industry-driven, government-facilitated initiative is to speed up the development of high-quality training, starting with existing examples to develop consensus on core training needs, and then develop training for use by companies and local training providers. The initiative will:

Convene battery industry organizations to cooperate in the development of training by sharing non-proprietary requirements for high-demand occupations.
Engage training experts from manufacturers, labor, education, government, and other organizations to participate in facilitated workshops that quickly distill common skills and abilities needed in each industry segment and accelerate decision making.
Translate those needs into educational and on-the-job training requirements, forming the basis for training materials and guides.

The initiative includes employer-based testing and validation programs that will test the effectiveness of draft training for high-priority job positions/responsibilities identified by the initiative.

New Energy New York (NENY)

New Energy New York (NENY) is a comprehensive ecosystem of project initiatives that support the establishment of a U.S. hub for Battery Innovation, Manufacturing, and Workforce Development in upstate New York; made possible by a coalition of academia, non-profit, government, and industry.

Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD)

CEWD is a non-profit consortium of more than 120 energy companies, associations, unions, educational institutions, and government entities working in partnership to ensure a skilled, diverse workforce pipeline for the energy industry.

Seminar - Accordian - New (use this one)

Coordination

The Battery Workforce Development team鈥檚 mission is to help train and educate individuals to better discover, mine, refine, deploy, and recycle strategic minerals and continue to instruct individuals in associated technologies to enact advanced battery solutions.

Phase I(a) Concept: Concurrent and complementary, but potentially duplicative efforts by other organizations, may be underway during the period of performance of this proposal. Therefore, the NPS team will conduct a preliminary assessment of similar projects underway in the battery workforce development space.