Deyang Qu has been named as the Johnson Controls (JCI) Endowed Professor in Energy Storage Research, a collaborative appointment between the company, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and the Wisconsin Energy Institute (WEI).
The appointment, based at UW-Milwaukee’s College of Engineering & Applied Science and affiliated with WEI, is part of a collaboration to advance research, development and commercialization of energy storage technologies.
Qu, a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston) since 2005, will be responsible for providing long-term strategic coordination between the universities and the energy industry’s needs in matters of curricula, sponsored research and the talent pipeline development. He begins his new duties in Milwaukee on January 15.
During his tenure at UMass Boston, Qu built a recognized research programme in energy storage systems for electric vehicles, smart-grid technology and military applications. He holds three patents and brings existing grants from the US Department of Energy and the Office of Naval Research.
JCI has previously funded and installed the Johnson Controls Energy Storage Research Lab, housed in the Wisconsin Energy Institute at UW-Madison, to test, evaluate and optimize how battery systems perform and interact with a vehicle’s powertrain and electrical architecture.
“Professor Qu is a wonderful addition to the University of Wisconsin as the Johnson Controls chair,” said Michael Corradini, the Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of engineering physics at UW-Madison and WEI director. “His research has encompassed broad engineering interests, including the development of high performance energy storage systems for emerging electric vehicle technologies, and fundamental material and electrochemistry research.”
Qu brings with him two Ph.D. students, one Senior Research Associate and a visiting professor.
