The Electrochemical Society and Materials Research Society are co-presenting a webinar on Frontiers in Solid State Batteries on Wednesday, October 24, 2018, from 1200-1330h ET.

ECS fellow, Shirley Meng, will be a presenter during the webinar. Jagjit Nanda of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will serve as the host for the webinar.

Webinar description

The advantages of solid state batteries were not fully recognized until the 1960s, with the discovery of beta-alumina, which led to the development of the commercially relevant high-temperature Na-S battery in the 1960s and the ZEBRA battery in the 1980s. The October issue of MRS Bulletin focuses on recent developments in solid ion-conductors and the various surface and interfacial challenges needed to be overcome for enabling solid-state batteries. (more…)

ECS teamed up with Amazon to bring ECS members Amazon Catalyst at ECS. ECS members were able to interact with one of the world’s largest companies and potentially be awarded a grant to tackle a number of different challenges.

Through the catalyst program, ECS and Amazon looked for solutions that make life easier, healthier, more sustainable, more enjoyable, or more satisfying. The Amazon Catalyst at ECS serves as a prime vehicle for change. Applicants did not need to be established in their field – they just needed a good solution and the passion to carry it out. Amazon Catalyst committed up to $100,000 to help fund the selected ideas.

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Fudong Han is one winner of the 2018 Battery Division Student Research Award sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Research & Development.

The Battery Division Student Research Award (see all of the winners) was established in 1979 to recognize promising young engineers and scientists in the field of electrochemical power sources with the intention to encourage recipients to initiate or continue careers in the field. With the generous sponsorship of Mercedes-Benz Research & Development, the Battery Division is now able to provide two deserving students with an annual prize of $1,000 each and travel support to attend the ECS biannual meeting at which their achievements are recognized. ECS extends many thanks to Mercedes-Benz Research & Development for its support.
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ECS would like to congratulate Johan Scheers of the Volvo Group for winning first place in the August 2018 Refer a Friend Contest! Scheers receives a complimentary meeting registration to a 2019 ECS biannual meeting of his choice.

The second place recipient, Anatolie Carcea from the University of Toronto, receives a complimentary 5-year membership. Tatiana Lastovina from Southern Federal University in Russia, the third place winner, receives a complimentary 3-year membership.

Members were challenged to recruit new members to the Society throughout August; emails were sent each week to encourage these member-to-member recruitment efforts.

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Peter C. Foller kicked-off his career with a mildly stressful, yet necessary, experience we can all relate too – public speaking. It was Foller’s first time presenting his research, an event he still vividly remembers. Foller, then a graduate student, attended an ECS meeting with faculty advisor Charles W. Tobias, where he hoped his presentation would lead him towards networking opportunities, and ideally, a job. Moreover, Foller recalls that ECS meeting presentations were something Professor Tobias expected of students, long after that final handshake in his office followed by that slow turn, eyeglasses lowered, “And now you may call me Charles…”

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Free download of over 141,000 articles and abstracts.

ECS is celebrating International Open Access Week by giving the world a preview of what complete open access to peer-reviewed scientific research will look like. This year’s theme is “Designing Equitable Foundations for Open Knowledge.” ECS is taking down the paywall October 22-28 from the entire ECS Digital Library, making over 141,000 scientific articles and abstracts free and accessible to everyone.

This is the fourth consecutive year ECS will take down its paywalls during Open Access Week, an annual event organized by SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Eliminating the paywall during Open Access Week allows ECS to give the world a preview of the potential of its Free the Science initiative.

Free the Science is ECS’s move toward a future that embraces open science to further advance research in our field. This is a long-term vision for transformative change in the traditional models of communicating scholarly research. ECS last opened its digital library in April 2018 for the second Free the Science Week.

“ECS is working to disseminate scientific research to the broadest possible audience without barriers,” says Mary Yess, ECS chief content officer/publisher. “Through Open Access Week, we’re able to once again highlight a new scholarly publishing model that promotes authors and the science they do.”

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By: Michel Foure, Berkeley Interview Consulting

Scientists and engineers often find themselves trapped in a career that is far from fulfilling their dreams and aspirations. It is not for a lack of working hard. It is simply because they have not learned or (re)discovered the keys to build a very successful career.

Strategic Tools for a Successful Career, being offered at AiMES 2018, is filled with hands-on exercises. The participants will actively engage these essential principles.

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By: Dennis W. Hess, Georgia Institute of Technology

Engineers and scientists typically work in teams whether employed in industry, government, academia, or national laboratories. In these teams, a leader is appointed who is responsible for ensuring collaboration, synergy, effectiveness, and efficiency when addressing problems and performing research, development, or manufacturing functions.

I will be offering practical leadership strategies during the professional development workshop Managing and Leading Teams at AiMES 2018.
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Some people crack under pressure. Not Vilas Pol. The chemical engineering professor from Purdue University was in his element as he raced to assemble the periodic table in record time, 8 minutes and 36 seconds to be exact, setting a new Guinness World title. With all 118 elements set in place, Pol raised his hands, celebrated his new title as the fastest man to arrange all the elements of the modern periodic table. The never before attempted world record was completed on Wednesday, August 15, 2018.

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