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PCB007-Dec2024

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30 PCB007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2024 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $50 million over the next five years to establish the Low-cost Earth-abundant Na-ion Stor- age (LENS) consortium. Led by DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, the consortium includes DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Berke- ley National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The LENS consortium aims to develop high- energy, long-lasting sodium-ion batteries using safe, abundant, and inexpensive materials. This initiative addresses a critical need to reduce U.S. dependence on the limited and strategically impor- tant elements used in lithium-ion batteries, paving the way for a more sustainable future in electric- vehicle technology. "By leading the LENS consortium, Argonne will push sodium-ion battery technology forward and contribute to a secure energy future for everyone," said Argonne Director Paul Kearns. "Our scientific expertise and dynamic collaborations in this impor- tant field will strengthen U.S. competitiveness." The U.S. is particularly well-suited to sup- ply both the raw materials and innovation for sodium-ion technology because the country produces a substantial amount of the world's sodium chloride (table salt) and sodium. Sodium-ion batteries have the potential to eliminate not just lithium but also cobalt and nickel in some applications, providing a more affordable and sustainable solution. (Source: Argonne National Laboratory) A New Era for Batteries: Argonne Leads $50M Sodium-ion Innovation Push What is the training process when you put a system into a customer's site? How long is the ramp? It is not difficult or time-consuming to learn. It's a very easy-to-use system. e issue is the data gathering. It comes down to how much data you gather and the variety of data as to how quickly the system can learn. If you make the same product day in and day out for six months, at the end of six months, the sys- tem can only know how to make one product. But if you make 10 products every day, then the system will learn very quickly. Training people to use the system takes just a couple of days. So far, that has gone well. Of course, we follow up. We pride ourselves on the support we give our customers. This has been interesting, Andrew. Is there anything else you'd like to share? ere's a s aying t hat d ata paints a picture. It's about allowing our customers to see that pic- ture because looking at tables of data coming from different machines only works for engi- neers. But when an operator or an engineer can see a picture that shows that the layers don't line up, they can better understand and break down the root cause of movement, par- ticularly where it's happening. at's key. With our intelligent systems, we don't want to take the engineers out of the process, but we want to guide them to the root cause. It allows them to solve things more quickly. This is an interesting area in PCB manufacturing. Thank you, Andrew. This has been very enlightening. ank you, Marcy. PCB007

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