RIVERSIDE (CBS) — A Chinese entrepreneur and pioneer in the technology of electric vehicles has made an unprecedented $10 million donation to UC Riverside’s engineering school.

Winston Chung invented a battery that helped further the feasibility and performance of electric vehicles. Chung’s $10 million donation to the Bourns College of Engineering will make him the largest individual donor in UC Riverside history, officials said.

“(Chung’s) investment in this university will result in generations of students and faculty sharing their knowledge with local and global communities, and in new materials and new energy sources for an energy-hungry world,” said UCR Chancellor Timothy P. White.

“This gift is a wonderful testimony to the current strengths and aspirational future of the UCR Bourns College of Engineering,” he said.

Chung is the founder of Winston Global Energy Ltd. Last week, the company contracted with MVP RV for $310 million to have the Riverside-based manufacturer turn out 30,000 mobile homes in the next three or four years.

Chung’s work in sustainable technology has netted the earth lithium yttrium battery, a promising development for electronic cars.

The school will rename the campus’ Engineering Building II as Winston Chung Hall in honor of the entrepreneur’s gift and will establish the Winston Chung Global Energy Center within the school’s environmental research department, Lovekin said.

The center will initially focus on Life Source Rare Earth Lithium batteries, the invention Chung has pioneered.

(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)