Jeff Sakamoto

Jeff Sakamoto is a professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and
Engineering and has 25 years of experience studying and translating ceramic materials
for electrochemical materials into energy technologies for terrestrial and space
applications. Currently he is the director of the DOE Energy Frontiers Research Center,
Mechano-chemical Understanding of Solid Ion Conductors (MUSIC). He was a senior
researcher at the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2000-2007) where he helped develop
Li ion batteries for the 2003 Mars rovers, a Professor at Michigan State University
(2007-2014), and has been a Professor at the University of Michigan since 2014. His
group synthesizes ceramic electrolytes, studies the coupling of mechanics and
electrochemical phenomena, and develops manufacturing processes for solid state
batteries. He received two Major Space Act Awards from the NASA Inventions and
Contributions Board, is the primary contributor on 34 patents and received the
Teacher-Scholar (2013), and Withrow Excellence in Teaching (2009) Awards at Michigan
State University. He also founded Zakuro, Inc., a solid-state battery startup in 2020.