stability and density of vehicles’ rechargeable batteries, enabling better performance for prominent car manufacturers such as Volkswagen and BMW.” Prof. Aurbach’s 20-year collaboration with General Motors (GM) in the US has led to improvements already being used in electric cars. “GM aims to set the tone in renewable-energy car batteries. To do so, it has engaged my laboratory as a pilot research facility.” In Israel, Prof. Aurbach aims to develop large-scale storage for energy collected from the sun and wind. “We can benefit from the sunny weather and solar panels, but to provide power at night or during cloudy hours we need to scale up our storage batteries and technologies and make them work with zero deficiencies for decades.” Chemical Reactions With his broad perspective, Prof. Aurbach describes the field as undergoing an evolutionary process. “In the late eighties and through the nineties, the main focus was on developing rechargeable batteries for mobile electronic devices. We were thinking small, focusing on how to maximize energy density in batteries, how to enable the shift to energetic lithium batteries and make them rechargeable. It was an immense scientific challenge. Meeting it sparked the mobile electronic revolution.” Together with Tadiran, Prof. Aurbach invented one of the first rechargeable lithium (metal-based) battery systems that could be commercialized, thanks to unique internal safety mechanisms that he developed specifically for these Tadiran batteries. “Then the world moved on to lithium-ion batteries, and we were fortunate to contribute significant knowledge that led to the development of these batteries that we all use today in our laptops and smartphones.” After two decades during which battery manufacturers produced billions of these stable and safe batteries, “a new challenge arose—electric propulsion for transportation.” The initial motivation was to help Israel and the world gain energetic independence and avoid repeated petrol crises. Ten years ago, the Israel Science Foundation, supported by the Prime Minister’s Office, established the Israel National Center for Electrochemical Propulsion, appointing Prof. Aurbach to head this consortium of more than 100 researchers from 25 research groups in seven Israeli academic institutions. The incentive behind this venture is to promote first-rate Israeli scientific activity in the field of energy research and power sources development that will help release the world from its dependence on petroleum. Providing alternative energy sources has become ever more central in the past two decades with growing awareness of climate change and global warming. “Anyone with a sense of responsibility is highly motivated to harness their scientific and technological capabilities to make a positive global impact,” Prof. Aurbach says. Renewable Generations of Energy In his laboratories, which are spread throughout BIU’s two chemistry buildings, Prof. Aurbach has raised generations of scientists; 80 master’s students and 65 doctoral candidates have become PhDs and professors. BIU’s president, Prof. Arie Zaban, is one of many senior faculty members trained in Prof. Aurbach’s laboratory. “As a scientist and an educator, I encourage my students to be the new leaders of the energy field,” Prof. Aurbach says. “We provide them with the best playground in which to practice and conduct independent research. BINA is a beautiful academic enterprise, enabling them to expand their specialties by taking part in interdisciplinary professional collaborative research projects and initiatives.” One such initiative is BIU’s cross-campus Energy and Sustainability Center that Prof. Aurbach has founded and heads. The center includes 55 research teams from seven of BIU’s faculties. It provides services, seminars and access to research projects for major partnered companies, including Dorel Group, Bazan Group, Nature Capital, Israel Electric Company, ministries and governmental entities. “The Energy and Sustainability Center intends to harvest BIU’s unique capacity and proficiency and gather under one roof all of our experts who deal with the vast range of topics of renewable energy, environment, smart mobility, climate, networks, smart cities, artificial intelligence, environmental education, epidemiology and regulatory laws. Together we’ll contribute to Israel and the world’s efforts to save our planet.” 32
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