Kandler Smith leads NREL's data science, modeling, and diagnostics efforts within the Electrochemical Energy Storage group. He also applies machine-learning techniques for model identification, fast charging, and the computational design and multi-scale modeling of electrochemical/thermal/mechanical-coupled phenomena in lithium-ion batteries. 

Research Interests

Battery lifespan

Battery microstructures

Battery second use

Multi-scale modeling for batteries

Energy storage

Transportation and mobility research

Education

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University

M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University

M.S., Engineering Management, University of Florida

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech

Professional Experience

Senior Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2007–Present)

Research Assistant and Graduate Fellow, Pennsylvania State University (2001–2006)

Control Engineer and Flight Test Representative, United Technologies’ Pratt and Whitney (1997–2001)

Featured Work

Principles of the Battery Data Genome, Joule (2022)

MATBOX: An Open-Source Microstructure Analysis Toolbox for Microstructure Generation, Segmentation, Characterization, Visualization, Correlation, and Meshing, SoftwareX (2022)

Pathways Toward High-Energy Li-Sulfur Batteries, Identified via Multireaction Chemical Modeling, Journal of the Electrochemical Society (2022)

Laser Ablation for Structuring Li-Ion Electrodes for Fast Charging and Its Impact on Material Properties, Rate Capability, Li Plating, and Wetting, Journal of Power Sources (2022)

Enabling Extreme Fast-Charging: Challenges at the Cathode and Mitigation Strategies, Advanced Energy Materials (2022)

From Battery Cell to Electrodes: Real-Time Estimation of Charge and Health of Individual Battery Electrodes, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (2020)

Field-Aging Test Bed for Behind-the-Meter PV + Energy Storage: Preprint, IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (2019)

Spatially Resolving Lithiation in Silicon-Graphite Composite Electrodes via in Situ High-Energy X-ray Diffraction Computed Tomography, Nano Letters (2019)

Electrochemistry Coupled Mesoscale Complexations in Electrodes Lead to Thermo-Electrochemical Extremes, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces (2018)

Design and Analysis of Large Lithium-Ion Battery Systems, Artech House (2014)

Patents

Model Predictive Control and Optimization for Battery Charging and Discharging, U.S. Patent No. 10,298,026 (2019)

Autonomous Battery Control and Optimization, U.S. Patent No. 10,277,041 (2019)

Battery Control, U.S. Patent No. 10,063,066 (2018)

Fail-Safe Design for Large Battery Systems, U.S. Patent No. 9,341,678 (2016)

Awards and Honors

NREL Outstanding Mentor Award (2014)

NREL Staff Award (2012)

NREL Technology Transfer Award (2012)

NREL Working with Business Award (2012)

NREL President's Award (2009)

Invited to Finland by U.S. Ambassador Bruce Oreck to represent NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy in seminars and interviews (2009)