New Battery Prototyping Center has been opened at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The center, which costs $1.5 million, will be conducting research and working with companies in order to develop next-generation rechargeable batteries for things such as cell phones.

On Friday, state officials helped Rochester Institute of Technology inaugurate the new center. The new centre is related to a larger plan, in which experts look forward to establishing a battery and energy storage hub in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region. The project was sponsored by Empire State Development and other state agencies.

Companies can make use of the new laboratory's equipment in order to conduct their own trials or take help from RIT to carry out the work.

"This project is a top priority of the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council and shows what can be possible when private industry partners with New York's world-class research universities", said Governor Andrew Cuomo said. Cuomo added that the facility will be an important resource for companies across the country and will help strengthen Rochester's position as the epicenter of next generation energy storage.

The center is located in RIT's Institute Hall and it will work along with companies to prototype the next generation of rechargeable batteries. Many companies have already asked about working in the RIT Battery Prototyping Center.

Grant-funded research will also be conducted at the center. And the center will also develop a course in the direction of training students in the rising battery industry. It will also educate staff on capabilities of the lab.

The center has office, conference and storage space in addition to a state-of-the art dry room, the industry's equivalent of a 'clean room', where manufacturing of the batteries could be done.