Trinity team to improve electric vehicle batteries after winning National Challenge Fund prize
Posted on: 17 September 2025
A team from Trinity’s School of Engineering has won a prize in the National Challenge Fund competition, which was established under the Government of Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Team DRIVE’s prize of around €1.25 million will now be used to improve the thermal management of electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
The overall challenge of the competition was for researchers to identify problems related to Ireland’s Green Transition and Digital Transformation, and to then work directly with those most affected to solve them.
Team DRIVE, which won the “2050 Prize” is led by Trinity’s Dr Séamus O’Shaughnessy and Dr Daniel Trimble, with Societal Impact Champion Dr Karl Brown, Jaguar Land Rover, UK. Other key members of the Trinity team are David Salter, Kantharuphan Annathurai, Dr Rajesh Nimmagadda, and Justin Madueke.
Team DRIVE’s solution manages the temperature of every cell in a battery pack via direct contact between the cells and a dielectric coolant. This improves thermal management of lithium-ion batteries in EVs, which results in increased battery performance and lifespan, and offers safer battery operation.
Dr Séamus O’Shaughnessy, DRIVE team lead, said: “We're delighted to be the team selected to progress to the Prize Phase of the National Challenge Fund: 2050 challenge. This wouldn't have been possible without the continued commitment, hard work, and cutting-edge research carried out by all Team DRIVE researchers over the past two and a half years.”
“The support from Research Ireland over the next two years will enable us to further develop and industrialise our novel lithium-ion battery thermal management solution to meet the needs of current and next generation battery applications, in particular electric vehicles.”
“For the past three academic years, many talented undergraduate, MSc, and PhD students have pursued related research projects under my supervision and much of that work has fed into DRIVE, collectively taking us forwards. This I consider one of our project’s great strengths, so I would like to thank those students for their hard work."
Dr Daniel Trimble added: “EVs will only become the norm when batteries are something drivers never have to think about—safe, quick to charge, long range and built to last. With DRIVE, we’re engineering tighter thermal control around every cell so packs run cooler and more uniform under real conditions.”
“This prize helps us move faster from lab to road with industry, bringing trusted, high-performance EVs closer to everyday life.”
In addition to team DRIVE’s success, a team from University College Dublin – AI2Peat – with Societal Impact Champion Dr Shane Regan, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, won the Future Digital Challenge.
James Lawless, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, said: “I am delighted to announce the first two teams to be awarded prize funding under the National Challenge Fund. This is a significant milestone for the programme, which has supported 96 research teams since its launch in 2022.”
“The winning teams are working on innovative, solution-focused projects that will help to deliver transformational societal and economic impact and support Ireland’s progress towards becoming a climate-neutral economy by 2050. I congratulate the DRIVE and AI2Peat teams on their success in securing prize funding.”
Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, CEO, Research Ireland, said: “I am delighted to see the first round of the National Challenge Fund advance to the prize phase. The teams announced today have successfully progressed their projects through three rounds of this competitive funding programme to achieve their prize awards. I congratulate them on this achievement and look forward to seeing their projects deliver ambitious solutions over the coming years.”
EU Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, said: “The National Challenge Fund shows how strategic EU funding can make a real difference. In this case, support comes from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility. The prize funding announced today will help the winning research teams further develop their solutions to major challenges on the road to a more sustainable future. Both Ireland and the European Union are committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. These projects will play a key role in that effort - supporting the shift to a climate-neutral society and helping to build a better future for everyone.”
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