Microbattery shows promise, inventors say

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    By EELENG CHER

    The invention of the microbattery by a team of engineers at BYU and BiPolar Technologies may not be the most widely discussed technology at the moment, but its potential in areas like medical fields and automotive industries has caught the attention of industrial research scientists who attended the Solid-State and Actuator Workshop conference earlier this month.

    Robert Huber, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Utah and a member of the workshop’s program committee, said the presentation “drew a crowd and a good response.”

    “However, it is too early to predict the impact of the microbattery, as this was a scientific workshop and hence, there was little promotion of the products,” Huber added.

    Linton Salmon, associate dean of engineering and technology at BYU, presented his team’s research.

    Since the conference, there have been many calls to BiPolar Technologies, a Provo-based company marketing the microbattery, according to Rodney LaFollette, founder of BiPolar Technologies. In addition, he has received calls from companies like General Motors and Siemens and newsletters from various industrial sources.

    When asked if he thought the prospect of the microbattery was good, LaFollette said, “Absolutely. This is the most exciting thing I have ever worked on.”

    According to a news release, the latest microbattery is as thin as a strand of human hair. It can be used to power sensors commonly used in automotive and medical industries, thereby eliminating the use of cumbersome wires that connect the sensors to power sources or central control stations.

    “The microbattery simplifies the circuitry in mechanical systems,” Huber said.

    LaFollette gave vehicles as an example of how the microbattery would work.

    “Vehicles have and are going to have an increasing number of sensors. Autos will have sensors to indicate tire wear, the temperature of and wear on the engine — sensors to map the entire state of the vehicle,” he said.

    LaFollette said that knowing about the condition of the vehicle will help consumers cut costs.

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