The world has demonstrated a need for lightweight cell phones and computers, lighter electric cars, and hybrid vehicles that deliver1 00 miles-per-gallon of gasoline. These needs have produced-highly motivated and well-financed development programs in batteries, fuel cells, and energy management. Each January the Annual Battery Conference on Applications and Advances brings together electrochemists, battery manufacturers, and engineers who use batteries to power loads that range from heart defibrillators to space stations. The resulting 38576 papers that report contributions from 177 authors.The registration fee for this conference has grown by only $75 in the 15 years since the first Battery Conference! How is this inflation-defying operation possible? The answer: Volunteers! This contrasts with a typical IEEE society conference which gets skilled help from IEEE headquarters for pre-conference planning, publication of attention-getting announcements and conference Proceedings, plus managing finances and the registration desk. Most of this work is done by volunteers at the Battery Conference: Electrical engineering students are hired to handle correspondence and registration details; and session organizers and chairmen are volunteers. A California printer delivered the 332-page Proceedings on the first day of the conference. OVONIC NiMH -ADVANCED M H ALLOYS 111 OVONIC NiMH C CELLS 0.0 :.0 2.0 3.G 4.0 5.G 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 Capacity (Ah)