This article was originally published in UCSB’s ‘The Current‘.
Pitching a faster and more sustainable manufacturing process to close the supply-and-demand gap for lithium-ion battery materials, Leeta, a team comprising two materials Ph.D. students, won the grand prize at UC Santa Barbara’s 24th Annual New Venture Competition (NVC) Finals, earning a total of $12,000 in cash and a start-up grant. The final marked the culmination of the Technology Management (TM) Department’s rigorous eight-month technology business plan competition that was open to students from all disciplines at UCSB.
“We are extremely grateful that our work was recognized and validated by winning the grand prize,” said Kira Wyckoff, a fifth-year Ph.D. student advised by Ram Seshadri, a distinguished professor in the Materials Department and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.