Vorbeck Materials, a Jessup firm, won a national competition by the Department of Energy that highlighted startup companies willing to launch new products from technology developed within the country's national laboratories.
Vorbeck specializes in developing products with graphene, a variation of the graphite that's used in pencils and one of the strongest and most conductive materials available.
Vorbeck was one of three firms across the country who won the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge" by the DOE. The company is using a method developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in laptops, mobile devices and electric vehicles.