Q&A With SBU Energy Innovation Expert David Hamilton

As cities around the globe race to embrace cleaner, smarter energy systems, New York is emerging as a powerhouse in battery innovation.

Thought leaders, technologists, policy makers, and innovators will converge at the SUNY Global Center in Manhattan on Thursday, April 24 for "New York State of Charge: The Status of Battery Innovation"-a high-impact panel led by The New York Climate Exchangeand Stony Brook University dedicated to the evolving landscape of battery technology, deployment strategies, and circularity in energy systems.

David Hamilton

David Hamilton, senior director of energy innovation in Stony Brook's Office forResearch & Innovation, is set to be a speaker on the panel to discuss the role of sustainable infrastructure and energy fairness in shaping the future of urban energy systems, and why now is crucial for creating a more robust and sustainable energy future for New York and beyond.

Q: What led you to dedicate your career to energy innovation, and how does this event align with your personal mission?

Most of my career has been in the energy space. I graduated from Clarkson University with an electrical engineering degree, and my first job was at the Long Island Lighting Company, which eventually turned into Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and PSEG Long Island. And so from there, my career path has brought me multiple opportunities to be in the clean energy space.

I worked at Plug Power, which is a leader in the hydrogen and fuel cell industry. I also worked at Empower Solar, which is a leading residential and commercial solar provider. And through it all - the power industry, sustainability, environmental impact - all of that has been a theme going through what my positions were and what I was interested in.

In 2011, I joined Stony Brook University and had the opportunity to launch the Clean Energy Business Incubator Program (CEBIP). For 11 years, I supported the clean energy economy in New York State by helping clean energy startup companies. That experience really deepened my focus and commitment to advancing new companies, technologies, and innovations that can positively impact our electric system and environment-especially in terms of resiliency and energy generation.

Currently, I oversee our two NYS centers which focus on advanced energy research and grid integration innovation, and so through all of that, the theme continues to be power and generation. And it allows me the opportunity to use my expertise and my experience, which is now 30 some odd years, to help new entrepreneurs, new companies, researchers, to invent technologies and drive innovation that will make a difference.

Making an impact on the environment, helping with sustainability, helping just to have a clean and healthy energy portfolio is important, and that is what I've been able to do throughout my career, and specifically since I've been at SBU.

Q: All of that goes with the theme of this event, which is about battery innovation and circularity.

Energy storage is absolutely critical-and batteries are at the heart of it. Batteries will continue to be a critical part of our life, but we need to figure out how to use them properly, use them efficiently, use them for as long as we can, where we don't have to worry about landfills and recycling. The more use we can get out of a battery, the better off we will be. This event is about bringing leading experts together in one place-and while I don't consider myself the foremost expert in the room, I'm honored to be part of the conversation.There are going to be a lot of experts in how to deploy and how to utilize batteries and energy storage systems the appropriate way to make the best impact for New York state, the country and the world.

Q: How is the Office of Research and Innovation at Stony Brook contributing to battery innovation and sustainable energy solutions?

We have several centers that are funded by New York State that we have in the Office for Research and Innovation. So I oversee the New York State Center of Excellence in Advanced Energy, which is known as the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center(AERTC). And then we also have a Center for Advanced Technology, which is the Center for Integrated Electric Energy Systems(CIEES), and it focuses on driving the development of new innovative technologies that will make an impact on the electric grid.

Through both centers, we take a comprehensive look at batteries and energy storage systems-examining everything from their design and the materials they're made of, to how they're operated, installed on the grid, and utilized throughout their lifecycle. We're also focused on the critical questions around end-of-life: Can they be recycled? How should they be recycled? And even further upstream-what materials can we use during manufacturing to make recycling more efficient and environmentally responsible down the line?

We're really embracing the cradle-to-grave concept-looking at the full lifecycle of batteries. If we can design batteries without relying on rare earth metals, it not only simplifies the manufacturing process, but also makes them easier to recycle at the end of their life. Thoughtful design from the start can lead to more sustainable, efficient, and environmentally friendly energy storage solutions.

We test and validate existing battery solutions to ensure that they operate properly. We help install batteries and do pilots and demonstrations to prove that they will work in the real world.

Q: Are there any past initiatives you've been a part of that directly inform your approach?

Technologies always change. They always grow. The energy portfolio and the innovations that we use is constantly shifting, right? The areas that we focus on now aren't necessarily the areas that we focused on when the building was built in 2011. Companies and technologies that I'm looking at now have different technologies than they did when I started the incubator. We can't just say we're doing research in one thing. We're seeing that a little bit now with some of the challenges the offshore wind industry is having with the federal government, and offshore wind has been a big focus for us, the integration of renewables to the grid. Now, if offshore wind is being put on the back burner, let's say, while the federal government figures out what its position is, we need to look at different things in our portfolio.

We look at nuclear, we look at geothermal, we look at cleaner natural gas options. So, all of that kind of puts us in the right place to look at batteries. We're looking at designing batteries so they can have multiple uses and multiple lives, so not just one thing. And we're looking at, confirming and validating that the technologies that are being invented can have a value and a place in the ecosystem. So we're always flexible. We're always pivoting. Everyone needs to understand that the energy portfolio is fluid, and we need to be able to adapt to that.

It's about how important batteries are to what we're looking to accomplish with the New York state regulations and rules that they're looking to electrify and to go with more renewable and clean energy sources - moving away from fossil fuels, and batteries are a critical part of that.

Q: What do you hope attendees will leave understanding or feeling inspired to act on?

Hopefully, this helps people walk away with a deeper understanding of batteries and energy storage-how they work, why they matter, and how we can use them more responsibly and effectively. So there could be a lot of folks that are hesitant about batteries, that think that, all right, when they hit their 80% mark in an electric vehicle, they're going to be taken out and thrown in a landfill. I'm hoping people will come out of it inspired by the fact that there are a lot of people, a lot of smart people, trying to come up with the best possible solutions to extend the life of batteries, make them valuable and critical to our world, while still helping with the sustainability and environmental impact side of things.

New York City is the largest city in the world. It's leading the world in terms of electrification and renewables, and trying to make itself as clean as possible.

Batteries are a critical part of the solution. Having the New York City Climate Exchange partner with us on this effort-focused on driving real solutions for urban environments, particularly in New York City-sends a powerful message. It shows the world that New York City is serious about sustainability and innovation, and that Stony Brook University is equally committed to making a lasting impact.

Q: Can you describe this event in three words?

Innovative. Collaborative. Forward-thinking.

- Oluwatoyin Kupoluyi