In 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy launched a competition designed to stimulate creative thinking about an important societal challenge, and hundreds of competitors jumped in for a chance at the $1 million first prize. A few weeks ago, the winners were announced—and that $1M prize went to a team led by UIUC’s Paul Braun , with UIUC’s Beniamin Zahiri contributing key expertise and Xerion Advanced Battery Corp. as an industry partner.