PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION CERTIFICATES
Battery Cell Manufacturing, Testing, and Design
Key Information
Course Dates
Program Duration
90 days to completeFirst public cohort launches April 14, 2025Not ready to commit?
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DIGITAL CERTIFICATE
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Today’s global demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage makes understanding battery manufacturing more critical than ever. More innovations in manufacturing process technology are needed to make electric vehicles more affordable and environmentally sustainable.
This online certificate trains you on the fundamentals of battery cell manufacturing processes, testing methods, and design principles. You will learn the theory of operation for every cell manufacturing step, including electrode production, cell assembly, and formation. Additionally, you will explore how cell performance is defined and measured at the end of the line and in the lab. The course will enable you to make informed cell design decisions that balance manufacturability with optimal performance.
You will gain the knowledge to transform your approach to battery manufacturing with our expert-led certificate course.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Understand every process step in battery cell manufacturing
- Explore the production equipment needed to produce battery cells at scale
- Analyze process and cell performance via testing methods
- Learn how to systematically improve productivity and quality
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The course is fully online. Learners will have opportunities to engage with the instructional team for guidance and support throughout the course. An online forum will be available to encourage open discussions, networking, and collaborative learning.
Video lectures and reading materials will be provided. Instructors expect learners to complete problem sets and quizzes.
- Understand the current landscape of battery cell manufacturing.
- Review basic elements of battery structure and function.
- Make basic considerations for battery factory planning.
- Dive into the working principles of every step in electrode production, including mixing, coating, drying, solvent recovery, calendaring, and slitting/punching.
- Understand the equipment, process control variables, characterization methods, sources of defects, and workplace hazards within each step.
- Learn about the working principles of every step in cell assembly and formation, including stacking/winding, tab welding, enclosure insertion, electrolyte filling, formation cycling/aging, and end-of-line inspection.
- Understand the equipment, process control variables, characterization methods, sources of defects, and workplace hazards within each step.
- Develop electrochemical test methods for quantifying cell capacity, energy, power capability, lifetime, reliability, and safety.
- Understand practical considerations for reproducible measurements, including equipment options, sampling methods, test acceleration methods, and data analysis considerations.
- Understand common degradation mechanisms and how these mechanisms affect testing strategy.
- Learn the role of electrode characteristics in determining cell capacity and power capability.
- Understand the role of the negative-to-positive ratio (NPR) and anode overhang on cell reliability and lifetime.
- Calculate cell design parameter targets to achieve customer requirements with consideration for manufacturability.
- Quantify process capability using the process capability index (Cpk).
- Quantify factory productivity using overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
- Understand how to root-cause process issues and suggest improvements using Ishikawa (fishbone) diagrams.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
- Engineering students
- Manufacturing engineers
- Mechanical and electrical engineers
- Production managers
- Battery researchers and developers
- Chemists and material scientists
The course is designed for both university students and working professionals. You should have a foundational knowledge of mathematics and physics. Prior knowledge of batteries or manufacturing is optional.
This course is a great option for learners who are familiar with manufacturing but not batteries. The content is designed to bridge the gap between understanding battery materials and manufacturing technology.
INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM
Andrew Weng, PhD
- EV Center Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan
- Program Director, Battery Talent Census, Volta Foundation
Andrew led projects on battery performance evaluation, degradation analysis, systems modeling, and in-house 4680 cell development. His research focuses on energy storage systems modeling with an emphasis on battery manufacturing process optimization and lifetime prediction.
Jason Siegel, PhD
- Director of Education, University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Center
- Associate Research Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Jason’s research focuses on battery modeling, diagnostic algorithms using battery expansion measurements, and controls.
Greg Less, PhD
- Technical Director, University of Michigan Battery Lab
Greg is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Battery Lab facility. He received a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Michigan. Prior to founding the Battery Lab, he was a research scientist at the University of Michigan and with battery companies T/J Technologies and A123 Systems.