Cornell Students Partner With Tesla on Battery Storage

Master of Engineering students are designing a 250 MW utility-scale battery energy storage system with Tesla alumnus input.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Electric Vehicles

Cornell Students Partner With Tesla on Battery Storage

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Do you think large battery storage systems will make the power grid more reliable?

Cornell M.Eng. students are working with Tesla on a 250 MW utility-scale battery energy storage system design as part of a year-long program. The team includes Siddhant Dhende, Yi-Hsuan (Sharon) Chen, Chia-Hung (Alex) Liu, and Sreekar Mukkamala.

Why it matters

Battery storage is intended to align electricity supply with demand as solar and wind power expand, storing excess energy and releasing it during peak demand. The project gives students hands-on experience with grid-scale storage planning in an industry partnership.

The design targets a 250 MW capacity, but the extraction does not provide cost, site, or performance comparisons. Financial metrics such as net present value and levelized cost of storage are still being modeled by the students.

The players

Tesla

Tesla is an electric vehicle and energy company that provides industry input and collaboration on this battery storage design project.

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League research institution whose R.F. Smith School of Engineering runs the Master of Engineering program hosting the project.

The details

Students are evaluating site selection, system sizing, cost modeling, battery technologies, inverters, transformers, and operational strategies. Tesla alumnus Azhir Barodawala, M.Eng. '18, now a staff sales engineer at Tesla, is working directly with the team under Cornell faculty guidance.

The project runs as a year-long Master of Engineering program project at Cornell.
At the end of the year, the team will present feasibility analyses and strategic recommendations to faculty and Barodawala.

Roadmap

Grid-scale battery storage is becoming central as electricity systems add more solar and wind generation, and industry partnerships with universities are one channel for developing that capacity. This project applies Tesla's utility-scale storage technology to a university feasibility study rather than an operating installation.

For New York residents, the project shows how grid-scale battery storage could be planned and costed before construction. Its findings may inform future utility decisions on storage capacity and site selection.

The takeaway

Battery storage projects depend on careful sizing, siting, and cost modeling before they reach construction. Student feasibility work like this shows how those decisions are made early in the process.