Professor Whitacre’s receipt of the 2014 Resonate Award honors his contribution to the grand challenge of finding safe, reliable, cost-effective, sustainable energy storage solutions. He developed a novel sodium-based aqueous electrolyte battery technology based on low cost functional materials. His company, Aquion, is in the process of launching the product for stationary energy storage in both on-grid and off-grid applications. Professor Whitacre received a BA in physics from Oberlin College and MSE and PhD degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He started his career at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and in 2007 he accepted a professorship at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2008 he founded Aquion Energy, a company that has since garnered over $100 M in funding. Learn More