About

The Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) is a powerful collaborative of scientists and engineers from across Argonne that helps public and private-sector customers turn science into solutions. The organization creates energy storage solutions through multidisciplinary research, unlocking its potential.

Our Team

ACCESS tackles each unique energy storage challenge with an ideal collaborative team assembled from Argonne’s 1,400 award-winning and internationally recognized scientists and engineers. Our personnel represent dozens of disciplines including chemical sciences and engineering, high-energy physics, materials science, mathematics and computer science, nanoscience and technology, and X-ray science.

Our Leadership

ACCESS is led by a dedicated team of professionals with decades of experience in private industry and public science, working with firms from large corporations to small startups. ACCESS leadership is ready to help public and private-sector customers benefit from the world-class scientific resources at Argonne National Laboratory.

Venkat Srinivasan

Director, Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS)

Venkat Srinivasan is the director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) and deputy director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Innovation Hubs. He is a former staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab whose research interest is in developing next-generation batteries for use in vehicle and grid applications, among other things. Dr. Srinivasan and his research group develop continuum-based models for battery materials and combine them with experimental characterization to help design new materials, electrodes, and devices.

In addition to his research, Dr. Srinivasan is interested in moving technologies to market and has been exploring ways to develop an ecosystem, focused on batteries, to accelerate technology commercialization. In this role, he conceived the idea of CalCharge, a one-of-a-kind public-private partnership in energy storage.

Dr. Srinivasan has previously served as the technical manager of the Batteries for Advanced Transportation Technologies (BATT) Program, as the acting director of the BATT program, as department head of the Energy Storage and Distributed Resources (ESDR) department at LBNL, and the interim director of the ESDR Division at LBNL. Dr. Srinivasan joined the scientific staff at LBNL in 2003 after postdoctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and Pennsylvania State University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2000. 

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Susan Babinec

Program Lead for Stationary Storage

Susan Babinec is Program Lead for Stationary Storage at Argonne National Laboratory, where she leads a comprehensive strategy that expands the U.S. Department of Energy vision for a future electric grid that includes a range of optimized energy storage capabilities.

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Lei Cheng

Chemist

Lei Cheng is a chemist at Argonne National Laboratory who uses computational methods to study catalytic reactions and develop materials for energy storage applications. She uses a first-principles understanding of key phenomena to advance basic and applied science in energy storage and catalysis.

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Gregory J. Halder

Business Development Executive

Greg Halder supports industry partnerships and commercialization of Argonne technologies in the areas of stationary energy storage, catalysis & fuel cell technologies, transportation research, and X-ray & accelerator sciences.

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Brian J. Ingram

Materials Scientist

Brian Ingram is a materials engineer at Argonne National Laboratory. His research interests include the development of energy storage and conversion in beyond-Li-ion batteries and solid oxide fuel cells. Ingram is an expert in charge transfer in solid-state materials and has extensive experience in materials characterization including conventional and synchrotron radiation measurements such as x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption as well as high temperature solid-state impedance spectroscopy.

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Jeffrey S. Spangenberger

ReCell Center Director and Group Leader in Materials Recycling

Jeff Spangenberger is the Materials Recycling Group Leader in the Applied Materials Division at Argonne National Laboratory and director of the ReCell Center. His group works to solve material separation, recovery, and recycling challenges resulting in cost-effective and environmentally sustainable processes resulting in commercialized plants.

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