On Tuesday, August 6, 2024, federal and state officials gathered at ION Storage Systems to celebrate the UMD based company on its recent achievements and its leading role in establishing the state of Maryland as a clean energy innovation hub. In the past few months, ION has received a $20M SCALEUP award from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Program in Energy (ARPA-E), a $1M award from the Maryland Department of Commerce’s Build our Future program, a $1.5M investment from TEDCO (Maryland’s venture capital investors), and $200K from Prince George’s county Economic Development Fund (EDI).

Maryland Governor Wes Moore highlighted the work that ION is doing and referred to it as important, impressive and a “Maryland original”. He then affirmed, “The State is proud of the genius, hard-work and especially of the fact ION was established here. We are proud to call you ours.”

Governor Moore also noted that everything innovation starts from an idea, a concept and a need. He commended Dr. Eric Wachsman, ION’s founder, Director of the Maryland Energy Innovation Institute (MEI²), and University of Maryland (UMD) Distinguished University Professor, for the idea to make a bet on battery technology; to find a way to make it better; and especially to build it locally. The Governor noted that it’s ideas like this that can be powerful and empowering and change the world.

By supporting the State’s universities, their research, and encouraging entrepreneurship, Maryland can keep these ideas in the state. Moore also stated that Maryland can and should be the best place to build and grow these ideas that will change the world. By choosing to invest and people and companies in this state, Maryland will become a leader in manufacturing because “partnerships produce progress”.

Ricky Hanna, ION’s CEO, echoed this sentiment when he commented that not only did the technology originate at UMD, but that UMD continued to support the company by making several strategic investments in ION including an MEI² Energy Seed Grant. Hanna also said he was proud of the fact the company had moved into manufacturing space 5 miles up the road from where the technology was developed and that the company currently employs 75 people and plans to add at least 10 more by the end of the year. He and ION CTO Dr. Greg Hitz, UMD grad ’09, Ph.D. ’16., commended the hard work and dedication of its employees. ION is providing scientific, engineering, manufacturing, and blue-collar living wages to the state as the company continues to grow.

ARPA-E Director Dr. Evelyn Wang noted that the initial idea began ten years ago from technology developed by Eric Wachsman, with assistance from an ARPA-E RANGE (Robust Affordable Next Generation Energy Storage Systems) award to develop ceramic materials and processing methods to enable high-power, solid-state, lithium-metal batteries for use in EVs. She noted that, “ION’s impact will be felt across America’s energy landscape. This technology can fundamentally change the way we use, generate and store energy. And we are so proud to be a part of this journey.”

Delegate Fraser-Hidalgo emphasized the need to support small business and grow clean energy economy in the state.

Also in attendance were U.S. Congressman Glenn Ivey (Maryland fourth district), State Senator Rosapepe, State Delegate Fraser Hidalgo, and UMD President, Dr. Darryll Pines.

The press release from Governor Moore’s office can be accessed here.