In June 2025, Professor Feng was awarded the prestigious 2025 Team Award by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO). The honor was presented at the VTO’s Annual Merit Review conference in Washington, DC.
The award recognizes Professor Feng’s "extraordinary expertise in leading multi-functional composite systems for high-volume manufacturing of battery enclosures."
Supported by a DOE grant and a university-industry partnership led by General Motors, Feng's team successfully developed an innovative smart composite material. This material transforms structural carbon fibers into a self-structural health monitoring sensor network. The team also integrated additional micro-sensors to create an electric vehicle (EV) battery enclosure with the unique capability to detect battery thermal runaway.
This recent accolade adds to a series of awards her team has received from professional societies, which have recognized their cutting-edge research in applying machine learning to predict composite material fatigue life and provide early warnings of battery failure. You can read more about these awards here.
The Department would like to extend our congratulations to Maria for being honored this prestigious award.
