UA Students Win DOE Award at National EnergyTech Competition

By Natalie Crouse

Students working with technology developed at The University of Alabama’s Energy and Power Electronics Systems and Devices Laboratory, led by Dr. Jaber Abu Qahouq, competed in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2025 EnergyTech University Prize National Pitch Event.

The event, hosted by the DOE Office of Technology Commercialization, featured multidisciplinary teams of postsecondary students from across the country pitching innovative business plans to bring a DOE National Laboratory- developed or other high-potential energy technology to market.

The UA team, SoHara, includes Shane Vanderhagen and Caleb Messerly, both MBA candidates who earned their bachelor’s degrees from UA in May 2025—Vanderhagen in electrical engineering and Messerly in computer science. Team member Mohammad Alsmadi is a doctoral candidate in electrical and computer engineering, who graduated in August 2025. Faculty advisors for the team are Dr. Jaber Abu Qahouq, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Dr. Robert Morgan, professor of marketing. Dr. Sajad Saberi, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, also supported the team. Team SoHara received the DOE Office of Electricity’s Long-Duration Energy Storage Bonus Prize for their business plan centered on a technology that delivers fast and accurate state-of-health estimation and failure prediction for electrochemical batteries retired from electric vehicles for second use in other applications.

Prior to being named national finalists, the team won a regional-level competition.

The technology has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

* The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy or the United States government.