Hosted by the College of Engineering and the School of Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

The Electric grid is going through a rapid transformation with significant demand growth, large scale integration of renewable energy sources, and infrastructure upgrades to support electrification and data center loads and to enhance reliability and grid flexibility. Energy storage is at the center of this transformation, providing system operators with a flexible resource to support renewable integration and enhanced grid reliability. Advances in battery technologies, particularly lithium-ion batteries, have been pivotal in enabling modular storage system architectures suitable for a wide range of grid applications. This lecture will explore advances in battery technologies and the engineering of large grid-scale energy storage systems, focusing on their design, performance and suitability for utility scale applications. Additionally, it will highlight large-scale implementations, discuss emerging technology trends and address industry’s needs for the future grid.

Biography

Babu Chalamala recently joined the University of Texas at Dallas as a professor in both materials science and engineering and electrical and computer engineering. He holds the Jonsson School Distinguished Chair in Engineering. Until October 2025, he served as a senior scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, where he provided strategic vision for research areas in grid modernization, energy storage technologies, power electronics, and grid components and manufacturing. He also led the Energy Storage Technology and Systems Department for eight years. Prior to his role at Sandia, which he joined in 2015, he was a corporate fellow at MEMC Electronic Materials, where he led R&D and product development in energy storage technology. Earlier in his career, as a research staff member at Motorola and Texas Instruments, he contributed to advance vacuum microelectronics and flat panel display technologies. Additionally, he played founding roles in two startup companies focused on commercializing large format lithium batteries and digital X-ray sources.

Chalamala is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Association for the Advancement of Science, Materials Research Society (MRS) and the National Academy of Inventors. He is a member of the UN Council of Engineers for Energy Transition. He currently serves on the governing board of the IEEE Power and Energy Society as vice president of conferences and meetings, and he is the chair of the grid interfaces committee of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Council. He is a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE Power and Energy Society. He has been active in MRS in a number of leadership roles, where he currently serves on the MRS Society Agility Council. He received his PhD in Physics from the University and his BTech in electronics and communications engineering from Sri Venkateswara University. He authored 130 papers and holds 10 U.S. patents. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and received the 2025 IEEE USA Harry Diamond Memorial Award.