Tien Duong 

Tien Duong currently manages the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program and the Battery500 Consortium at the Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO). The BMR program conducts battery research with a strong emphasis on developing, modeling, and conducting diagnostics for new materials. These materials are to be utilized in future battery technologies and could be ready for commercialization in the next ten to fifteen years. The Battery500 Consortium works toward demonstrating a battery cell having 500 Wh/kg of specific energy and 1,000 cycles life. Candidate chemistries include those utilizing metallic lithium as the negative electrode with either a high-nickel NMC material or sulfur as the positive electrode and a compatible electrolyte. Altogether, Mr. Duong supervises a complex, integrated materials R&D portfolio of over 80 research projects with an annual budget of over $40 million. 

Mr. Duong has been an integral part of the Energy Storage R&D effort within the Vehicle Technologies Office for almost 30 years and served in various positions including as Manager of the Energy Storage R&D Team (1999–2003) and Team Lead for the Hybrid and Electric Systems Team (2004–2008). Before joining the U. S. Department of Energy, Mr. Duong was a Senior Electrical Engineer at the US Army Belvoir R&D and Engineering Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. 

Mr. Duong has also served as a member of the Technical Advisory and Management Committees of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) formed in 1992 under a cooperative agreement between the US Department of Energy and the three U.S. automotive manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) to jointly develop advanced batteries for electric vehicles. 

Mr. Duong studied Chemistry at the University of Science in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon), Vietnam before immigrating to the United States in 1979. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. in Civil Engineering (Environmental Sciences), both from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Mr. Duong also holds a Professional Engineer (PE) license in the State of Virginia.