Battery Insiders Reflection - Battery Education

0:00Transcript

0:00Welcome to Battery Insiders, your podcast providing you insights in the fascinating world of batteries. Hosted by Bhavya Jha and Simon Engelke. And we're back. Welcome back, everybody. How are you doing, Simon? Very well. It's a rainy day in Munich. How about you? Oh, same. It's good. At least the weather is synchronized. Where you are in the world. Yes. Sun peeps in and out, but it's pretty gloomy. But other than that, I've just been, you know, reading up on batteries and learning more, listening to different podcasts about batteries, you know, battery education, which was our topic for today. Seems like it was a pretty lively discussion. It's great to hear your perspective. Yeah. I mean, I'm slightly biased here because I brought the topic, but another thing that's been interesting, you know, I think it's what I like about education. I think everything is in some way battery education when you talk about it, right? I mean, it's always, it's all about, you know, especially in the battery field, I think it's all about, you know, as we had before, so the session on like, you know, addressing the myth, you know, like the misconceptions, you know, the things that people don't know about and just, you know, have these kinds of conversations. And of course, you know, we're doing it also more in a structured way, let's say in the BatteryMBA, you know, and we're really interested, you know, to push this forward, but also support other organizations such as with the European Union, et cetera, on the, on, on education programs. But, um, no, I very much enjoyed it. I think it was a lively discussion. I really, um, I liked, you know, the, the, the, the, like your diversity, again, of, of things we have been discussing, um, of topics, you know, I think it's a range of different voices and also really enjoyed the, in the end, we had a session where everyone would talk also about their own educational journey around batteries, which I thought was quite fascinating to hear of everyone, you know, how they learned about batteries in the beginning, how they learned, how they got the education till now, but also what they're doing right now to keep updated because of course it's such a fast moving field. How would you, Babel? Yeah, it is. Um, I enjoyed hearing about everybody else's perspectives because as someone who didn't formally study batteries, it's always kind of a fine line that I walk, or at least I think I do when I'm talking to people who have, you know, done their bachelor's and master's and PhD in this. And here I am. Okay. I've studied international politics. I have an international energy perspective on things. I've done a lot of learning on the go. Um, I've done my research and I've definitely, you know, been building myself up to partake more in conversations, but it's interesting just as I aim to, um, you know, personally work on breaking down barriers between different aspects or different entities that work on batteries. Um, and, you know, working at different groups that like work at different parts of the batteries life cycle, there's a, there are many barriers that we have to break down, even just around education and making people feel like it's a topic that they can engage with because for those who are non STEM or non technical or identify that way, it can be pretty intimidating to like lean into these conversations.

3:26And so I think that's kind of been, that was my main takeaway was that, you know, people are coming at this from all angles and experiences. And I think the faster and sooner people realize that you don't have to know everything about batteries specifically to work on our larger mission of electrifying and transitioning to sustainable energy, the sooner we can, you know, really execute other aspects on the mission and kind of some of the bigger projects that'll actually get us to our goals. And so while battery education may seem like just, you know, again, just like one small topic, it actually has a huge impact in kind of pulling in people from all across the world, but also across ages, both older and, and perhaps to some extent, more importantly, younger, as we have a generation of kids growing up with more electric cars, more hybrid cars and whatnot. Absolutely. And I think it's one of these things also, I mean, you know, personally, right, when we got started also as battery associates, right? I mean, education wasn't like the first starting point. It was kind of more about let's, let's advise people, let's consult and things, et cetera.

4:38But then we also realized, right, it's, it's one thing to help people, right? But it's also, I mean, you know, like the image of a fish, right? Like, you know, there's one thing to, you know, like, you know, catch a fish or something, another one, and to feed someone, another one is to teach people to fish, right? And I think something I really enjoy is like, kind of like, you know, how can we enable other people, right, to be successful in the thing? Because there's just so much limit, right, of, you know, how much, let's say, a few experts can help on something, right? I think it's much more efficient to get more and more people actually into it, you know, and have more and more people to contribute, et cetera. And also from all around the world, right? I think that's something I'm really passionate about, right? How can we, you know, push forward, you know, the battery industry and, like, as you said, like everything around the world. And that's really, I think, really rooted in education.

5:23And education is not just, I think, you know, the classical, you know, as we might, you know, are used to in university settings and teaching, but I think it's also going to go much more into flight learning, like mentorship, like, you know, learning by doing, like with the battery cycle developing, all these kind of things and software and just all these different parts of education. I think, yeah, I mean, essentially learning, right? I think really see education as learning and really think about what are, like, all the ways how we can help people to learn, how to advance and how it doesn't have to stop, right? You mentioned young people, and it's, of course, a big passion. But other than also there's this big transition happening right now, right? From all those people who worked in the traditional, you know, sector, like be it in oil and gas, but also be in the OEMs, not the motive, et cetera, who now have to really transition, right? And if they want to stay relevant, involved, right, they also have to upskill, they have to learn, and how can we have all these people to do this transition as well? So, yeah, these are just some of these things I'm really passionate about. And of course, you know, another really big part of how can we make it more diverse, right? How can we bring in more diversity into the sector? You know, one obvious one is women. You know, we see this also in some of our sessions, right? It's tough sometimes to get, like, balanced, you know, panels, et cetera. And of course, we have many mechanisms how we work on these. And it's a batch MBA. We've got 40% women participating. But, yeah, I think it's some of these challenges as well, which are connected and important to be addressed.

6:44Yeah, there's definitely something to be said about, you mentioned traditional industries, and I'm thinking of, like, traditional ways of learning, and just acquiring information, or even instilling an interest. I think there is, because, well, yeah, batteries have been around. And, you know, we talk about, some people say, oh, it's so new and cutting edge. And then you have your other people, like, no, they've been around a while. We just, you know, it's just now gaining traction. Whichever camp you fall in, to learn more about it, I think it's going to take some time, just as we transition to the technology, it's also going to require transitioning, how we share that information. And so, there isn't always that ideal, perfect class that covers lithium-ion. There isn't, not all energy, energy classes, even nowadays, the syllabus will cover, like, all technologies in the energy ecosystem. So, where can you look to really deep dive into batteries? And I think that's required me to kind of think outside of the box, join listservs, be on workshops, do join things like battery associates, and just word of mouth. The oral tradition is what's, like, helping people enrich. And I think if we don't, if we ignore that oral tradition of just, you know, sharing by word of mouth, then, you know, you're missing something. And so, that's just been part of my learning experience and part of, I think, something that's become very common these days is imposter syndrome, right? Like, you know, there's so much out there. There's so many interests, people who specialize, great for them. The people who don't, you find yourselves trying to, like, make connections between your interests. And the next thing you know, you're, like, knowledgeable about a lot of things, but you're not sure you're the expert on something.

8:28And so, how can you really say it and without, like, feeling like maybe you're saying something wrong or, you know, there's someone out there who knows more than you. And well, you just have to get over it, but it takes time to do that. And the more you put yourself out there to do things like BatteryMBA or, you know, take a class or audit a class, take the certificate, whatever, then I think that just helps you build your own repertoire eventually over time. Absolutely. And I think it's, yeah, this imposter syndrome is definitely something, right? I think, yeah, we're all kind of familiar with. And I think the important thing also is the battery industry, right? I think also battery in general, I think it's my opinion, it's never too late. I think now it's a little about timing as well. I think now it's- You're really good about that. You're really good at being like, why don't you just say whatever you want to say? And I think it's going to be great. And I'm like, well, I'm on a panel with like this person to my right and this person to my left. Well, hypothetically in COVID times, right? I mean, just on a panel and like how, okay, I'll just take whatever Simon says I can do it.

9:29So Simon says, right? Absolutely. And I mean, that's, yeah, of course, happy to, you know, always push, you know, and be supportive. But I think also in general, I think also, yeah, as you said, you know, one thing is to kind of be brave and start, but also realize that everyone starts somewhere, right? I think there's so many, you know, I mean, very funny and I mean, you know, everyone has their own kind of biographies, but I think especially in the battery sector, I think it's fascinating where people are coming from, right? Like, as I said, people from oil and gas, people from, you know, from the arts industry, people from paper, from metal. I mean, you know, I think there's no real industry, you know, I mean, of course there's a classical path and that's also needed, right? We need experts, but I think we also need all these people like in between industries who bring a different lens on it. So I think, yeah, that's something I'm, you know, I just want to encourage everyone listening. If you're fascinated by this topic, you know, don't be shy to really dig into it more, right? And try and understand more and kind of get involved, right? Like meet people, come to our cup house sessions, you know, join programs we're offering, lectures, et cetera.

10:27But yeah, I just want to say a bit of a word of encouragement. It's never too late. You can always start on your learning journey. And by listening to this, you might already be doing it. Yes, absolutely. Build a bridge, be the bridge, find your lens. We've all done it. We all started somewhere and got here and we still have ways to go. Yeah. I want to start at the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. I think I'm still at the beginning too. A thousand percent. Absolutely. But I'm excited for it to continue on this, through this forum too. Same. Yeah. And with this, I think, you know, we can look forward to another session. I think we don't have it scheduled yet, so it's going to be another surprise, but yeah, we're going to have another session next week. Great. See you then. See you then. Bye-bye.