South Carolina Business Review

Battery research in high gear at USC

By Mike Switzer

Published September 3, 2025 at 6:30 AM EDT

Ways To Subscribe

Provided

Dr. Bill Mustain, director of the Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation at the University of South Carolina

We recently learned that a Swiss company specializing in battery technology has announced plans to open their US headquarters in Columbia, due in part to our next guest’s university research. Mike Switzer interviews Dr. Bill Mustain, director of the Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation at the Molinaroli College of Engineering and Computing at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC.

University of South Carolina

Carolina Institute for Battery Innovation, part of the Mustain Laboratory for Energy Storage and Fuels at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.

Tags

Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

See stories by Mike Switzer