The Upcell Alliance, through its involvement in the BATTwin project, proudly co-organized with the Ecole de la Batterie project and Verkor, the Battery Manufacturing Industry Winter School. The event was held in Grenoble from March 25th to 27th, 2025, and successfully gathered 102 European researchers, trainers, industry professionals and students to explore battery production, focusing on innovative materials, recycling processes, and the digitalization of the industry.

Among the distinguished speakers, Prof. Marcello Colledani, BATTwin project coordinator, delivered an insightful presentation on digitally-enhanced zero-defect manufacturing, covering: 

(i) the challenges in battery cell manufacturing and opportunities for efficiency improvement,

(ii) the work performed within the CINEA-funded BATTwin project for the development of process and system-level digital twins, with an introduction of models leveraged.

Overall, his session emphasized the role of system level digital twin technology for the production efficiency optimization, defects and scrap rates reduction in the gigafactories ramp-up phase – key KPIs in the push towards a more sustainable and competitive European battery industry.

Prof. Nada Mimouni, cybersecurity expert within BATTwin, highlighted the growing importance of leveraging  ontologies and knowledge graphs to mitigate cyber-attacks in battery manufacturing facilities. As digitalization accelerates across the sector, her session addressed the critical need for robust security frameworks enabling advanced threat analysis and pattern identification for mitigation strategies development.

Likewise, Nina Carretero, Secretary General of Upcell Alliance, moderated the round table “Cross perspectives-from lab to industry”.During the latter, the challenges, from scaling up and cost of innovations, collaborations between academia and industry leveraging subsidies at regional, national and European level, to systematic knowledge transfer from traditional manufacturing to the battery sector have been tackled by the panel speakers. 

The Winter School featured a comprehensive program, including key-note speeches, round-tables, training, PhD thesis presentations and site visits to state-of-the-art facilities such as the CEA battery pilot line and the Synchrotron ESRF. These activities provided participants with practical and technical insights into the latest advancements in battery technology.

By co-organizing this event,  Upcell Alliance, through the BATTwin project, highlights its dedication to fostering education and collaboration in the battery manufacturing sector.

For more information about the CINEA-funded BATTwin project : https://battwin.net/ .

For full information about the Battery Manufacturing Industry Winter School : https://ecoledelabatterie.fr/en/winter-school/.