STEVENSVILLE, MD - Miltec UV partnered with the University of Maryland QUEST Capstone Consulting Project last December for a project that kicked off in January. The company announced that the project is now complete. Honor students were tasked with developing a strategy to help Miltec UV choose a method of commercialization for its ceramic coating technology, a technique that is less expensive, safer and more effective than the current process used to manufacture lithium ion batteries.
The team tasked with providing Miltec UV with a real-time innovative solution, to maximize profit with minimal risk, consisted of an electrical engineer (Katelyn Walter), a mechanical engineer (Austin Kendall), an accounting and finance honor student (Jessica Lewis) and a finance honor student (Tim Odukale). The diverse knowledge, skills and perspectives of these students allowed them to evaluate the financial implications and risks associated with multiple commercialization options. The recommendation was a dual-sided approach that allows Miltec to maximize profits while providing the flexibility to customize the strategy based on the customer’s needs. The strategies were to partner with a coater who would coat the separator while Miltec UV maintains the customer relationship or licensing the coating technology to the customer, and providing the equipment to coat the separators.
Miltec UV executives are extremely impressed by the financial and risk modules presented by the team. Miltec CEO Marilyn Blandford commented, “This type of research and business modeling would have taken Miltec a year to complete in-house. We were impressed with how quickly the students were able to create viable solutions for Miltec and produce deliverables that we will be able to use in the future. This initiate was a huge success, and we will continue to utilize the Quest Program to help us solve business, engineering and technology challenges.”
Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) is a multidisciplinary engineering, technology and management program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Honors students from the A. James Clark School of Engineering, College of Computer, Mathematical, & Natural Sciences, and the Robert H. Smith School of Business participate in a challenging course of study that focuses on quality management, process improvement, and system design. The QUEST Program began in 1993 and was funded by a grant from IBM to establish total quality on university campuses. The University of Maryland has continued the program, which has produced graduates prepared to face the changing landscape of business, engineering and technology.
