Ann Marie Sastry

Ann Marie Sastry is an American engineer, educator, and businessperson. She was President of Sakti3, a solid-state battery company based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[1] Sastry was the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Mechanical, Biomedical and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan from 1995–2012.

Ann Marie Sastry
Alma materUniversity of Delaware
Cornell University
OccupationEngineer, Educator, and Businessperson
TitlePresident of Sakti3
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Mechanical, Biomedical and Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan

Biography

Sastry got her bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware as a Eugene I. DuPont Scholar. She later received a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.[2] She joined the University of Michigan as a faculty member in 1995. While at the University of Michigan, she founded and directed GM/UM Advanced Battery Coalition for Drivetrains and Energy Systems Engineering graduate program.[2]

Research

Sastry has worked in a variety of fields,[2] including composite materials,[3] percolation phenomena,[4][5] diabetes,[6] and battery materials,[7][8][9][10] design and optimization.[11] Her work has been cited over 6400 times.[12]

Rise and Fall of Sakti3

Sastry co-founded the solid-state battery company Sakti3 in 2008 as a spin-out of her university lab, with several of her students.[2] The company was headquartered in Michigan, a state in financial peril, marked by deep budget deficits.[13] Despite Michigan's multi-billion dollar budget deficit, the State of Michigan, through the Michigan Economic Development Council (MEDC) gave Sakti3 a no-strings grant of $3 million, in addition to other tax credit incentives issued directly through the State of Michigan, in the hopes it could develop a viable technology that could create permanent, Michigan-based jobs.[14] Sakti3 also received $1 million in funding from the federal government, administered through the Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC).[15] Sakti3 at one time claimed an intellectual property portfolio of 94 patents and patents pending.[16]

Sakti3 was acquired by Dyson in October 2015, with the expectation that Sakti's battery technology could help Dyson become an electric car manufacturer.[17] However, by April 2017, Dyson determined the patents had no utility and abandoned Sakti3's entire patent portfolio and cancelled its licensing agreement. Eight months after Dyson announced that they had relinquished Sakti3's core battery patents, Sastry departed Dyson amid doubts in the field regarding her claim that she was on the verge of commercializing much-sought-after solid state battery technology.[18] Dyson's exit from Sakti3 technology was later referred to as a "complete write-off".[19] In October 2019, Dyson announced that it had scrapped its electric car project altogether.[20] Sakti3 no longer appears to be operational in any capacity, either independently or under Dyson.[21] There is no record that any government entity received any material benefit from their investment despite Sastry receiving a significant personal windfall from the sale to Dyson.[22]

Controversy

Former employees (who were not on staff at Sakti3 at the time of the Dyson acquisition) have criticized the company. Fabio Albano, Marc Langlois, and Steve Buckingham claimed that the company's early patents and methods were useless and that Sakti3 was using an unscalable stacked cell configuration.[23] Additionally, Sastry's erratic leadership style was singled out by multiple former employees as a reason for Sakti's failure.[24]

Claims made by the company over technological advances as well as its secretive behavior regarding sharing data have been criticized by former employees and media following the acquisition by Dyson.[25] The only independently verified data on Sakti3's prototypes by the United States Department of Energy show a capacity of 2.4 mAh, only capable of powering very small devices.[26] Steve Buckingham, a former employee, has publicly expressed his disappointment with the small area (one square cm) of the best cell produced. Bob Kruse, formerly GMs most senior electric vehicle executive, stayed on as COO for less than 2 years.[27] In November 2017, Sastry's unexpected and quiet exit from the company stoked speculation that the company oversold their early successes.[28]

Awards and honors

Sastry has won multiple awards and honors including 1997 NSF PECASE Award (Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers),[29] Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award of the ASME in 2007[2] and Frank Kreith Award of the ASME in 2011.[30] She was named an ASME fellow in 2004.[31]

Volunteer and non-profit roles

Sastry has served as a volunteer and board director for charitable and non-profit organizations related to poverty alleviation and clean technology, including IHN Alpha House and the ICCT (International Council on Clean Transportation).[32]

References
  1. Battery exec leaves Dyson two years after $90 million buyout, 15 Dec 2017
  2. Desmond, Kevin (2016). Innovators in battery technology : profiles of 93 influential electrochemists. McFarland & Company. ISBN 9780786499335.
  3. Berhan, L.; Sastry, A. M. (2007-04-30). "Modeling percolation in high-aspect-ratio fiber systems. I. Soft-core versus hard-core models". Physical Review E. 75 (4): 041120. doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.75.041120. PMID 17500878. S2CID 6380421.
  4. Berhan, L.; Sastry, A. M. (2007-04-30). "Modeling percolation in high-aspect-ratio fiber systems. II. The effect of waviness on the percolation onset". Physical Review E. 75 (4): 041121. doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.75.041121. PMID 17500879. S2CID 13999078.
  5. Yi, Y.-B.; Sastry, A. M. (2004-08-08). "Analytical approximation of the percolation threshold for overlapping ellipsoids of revolution". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences. 460 (2048): 2353–2380. doi:10.1098/rspa.2004.1279. ISSN 1364-5021.
  6. Vincent, Andrea M.; Perrone, Lorena; Sullivan, Kelli A.; Backus, Carey; Sastry, Ann Marie; Lastoskie, Christian; Feldman, Eva L. (2007-02-01). "Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products Activation Injures Primary Sensory Neurons via Oxidative Stress". Endocrinology. 148 (2): 548–558. doi:10.1210/en.2006-0073. ISSN 0013-7227. PMID 17095586.
  7. Zhang, Xiangchun; Shyy, Wei; Sastry, Ann Marie (2007-10-01). "Numerical Simulation of Intercalation-Induced Stress in Li-Ion Battery Electrode Particles". Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 154 (10): A910–A916. doi:10.1149/1.2759840. ISSN 0013-4651. S2CID 15540771.
  8. Wang, Chia-Wei; Sastry, Ann Marie (2007-11-01). "Mesoscale Modeling of a Li-Ion Polymer Cell". Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 154 (11): A1035–A1047. doi:10.1149/1.2778285. ISSN 0013-4651. S2CID 10130595.
  9. Kim, Hyon C; Sastry, Ann M (2012-11-01). "Effects of carbon fiber electrode deformation in multifunctional structural lithium ion batteries". Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures. 23 (16): 1787–1797. doi:10.1177/1045389X12449914. ISSN 1045-389X.
  10. Chung, M. D.; Seo, J. H.; Zhang, X. C.; Sastry, A. M. (2011-04-01). "Implementing Realistic Geometry and Measured Diffusion Coefficients into Single Particle Electrode Modeling Based on Experiments with Single LiMn2O4 Spinel Particles". Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 158 (4): A371–A378. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.686.6838. doi:10.1149/1.3549161. ISSN 0013-4651.
  11. Chen, Y. -H.; Wang, C. -W.; Zhang, X.; Sastry, A. M. (2010-05-01). "Porous cathode optimization for lithium cells: Ionic and electronic conductivity, capacity, and selection of materials". Journal of Power Sources. 195 (9): 2851–2862. doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2009.11.044.
  12. "Ann Marie Sastry - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  13. "Michigan". www.data-z.org. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  14. "Sakti3 Raises $7 Million in Series B Financing". www.businesswire.com. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  15. LeVine, Steve. "Sakti3's quest for a better battery: Hype, funding, promises, and then a surprise sale". Quartz. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  16. Charlton, Alistair (2017-04-03). "Out with the old, in with the new: Dyson drops old battery patents in solid state cell push". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  17. "Dyson acquires Sakti3 for $90M to help commercialize 'breakthrough' solid-state battery tech". VentureBeat. 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  18. LeVine, Steve. "Battery exec leaves Dyson two years after $90 million buyout". Axios. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  19. "Dyson Dumps Solid-State Battery Developer Sakti3". InsideEVs. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  20. "Dyson has scrapped its electric car project". BBC News. 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  21. https://careers.dyson.com/en-gb/where-we-are/americas/us/ann-arbor/
  22. https://qz.com/524268/sakti3s-quest-for-a-better-battery-hype-funding-promises-and-then-a-surprise-sale/
  23. LeVine, Steve. "Sakti3's quest for a better battery: Hype, funding, promises, and then a surprise sale" (https://Qz.com/524268/Sakti3’s-quest-for-a-better-battery-hype-funding-promises-and-then-a-surprise-sale).
  24. https://www.glassdoor.com%2FReviews%2FSakti3-Reviews-E361693.htm&usg=AOvVaw09GFwyju-nCXnV8Fb9r5bb
  25. Id.
  26. Walker, L. (June, 2014), "Electrochemical Performance Testing" (https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/07/f17/es201_bloom_2014_p.pdf) (PDF) U.S. Department of Energy
  27. https://qz.com/524268/sakti3s-quest-for-a-better-battery-hype-funding-promises-and-then-a-surprise-sale/ Qz.com "Sakti's quest for a better battery: Hype, funding, promises, and then a surprise sale"
  28. "Battery exec leaves Dyson two years after $90 million buyout" (https://www.axios.com/battery-exec-leaves-Dyson-two-years-after-90-million-buyout-2517738650.html). A iOS. 2017-12-15.
  29. "The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers: Recipient Search Results | NSF - National Science Foundation". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
  30. "Frank Kreith Award of the ASME". Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  31. "ASME Fellows" (PDF). Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  32. Transportation, International Council on Clean. "Board of Directors | International Council on Clean Transportation". www.theicct.org. Retrieved 2017-08-03.
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