Amanda Squicciarini, Membership Services intern.

My name is Amanda Squicciarini and I have been interning at The Electrochemical Society since this past September with Beth Fisher in Membership Services. I am a junior at The College of New Jersey, located just up the road from ECS’s Pennington, NJ headquarters where I am studying marketing and communications.

You have probably seen a couple of my blog posts, like 2015 ECS Outstanding Student Chapter or 5 Ways to Expand Your Student Chapter (if not, make sure you go check them out!). This was my first experience with Word Press and blogging in general, so it was exciting to see my work published on this blog that has 15,000 page views per month. Blogging was only one of the many learning opportunities I have had at ECS over the past four months. I was also responsible for creating student chapter newsletters, and processing their reimbursements. If you are a student chapter officer, you have probably received quite a few emails from me!

As you probably already know, ECS holds bi-annual meetings every spring and fall in places anywhere from Boston, MA, USA to Cancun, Mexico. During my internship, I was able to observe the behind the scenes hard work and hours of planning that goes into these meetings months before they actually happen. My internship had just begun a few weeks before the fall meeting, and I was able to see how much work needed to be done in order for the meeting to be successful. I felt that this was a special experience to be able to see an event of that magnitude being prepped and planned for (over 2,000 people from 46 different countries attended the 228^th ECS Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, USA this fall!). I even got to help by packing registration supplies, creating signs and making sure that the fellows were listed to be given their ribbons. Then after everyone returned from the meeting, I was in charge of organizing the data from the short courses to see if there were any ways to improve them for the next biannual meeting.

This internship was also my first experience in the non-profit sector. It was a great learning opportunity to be able to see how a non-profit functions. In addition, the history being endless within the society really appealed to the history buff in me. A task of mine was to scan in old files (as far back as 1903) so that the historic information is not lost when the papers are eventually recycled. Although this may seem like a very “typical” intern task, this task was essential due to the fact that members of ECS have been changing the world with their research for over 100 years. You may have heard of a guy named Thomas Edison… he was a member of ECS and I would say he changed the world! And hey, it’s pretty neat to be handling papers that are more than five times my age.

Overall, interning with The Electrochemical Society has been a great opportunity and I know I will be using the skills learned during my internship here, throughout my career. Thank you ECS staff and members for making me feel welcome, always being helpful and for teaching me something new on a daily basis. I could not have asked for a better internship experience.

Spring 2015 Internship Opportunity:

If you are seeking an internship opportunity for the spring semester, contact Beth Fisher, Membership Services Director, at beth.fisher@electrochem.org for more information. And no worries if you have not had much experience within the field of electrochemistry, I didn’t either, but you’ll pick it up quick and it is truly a great opportunity.

Dr. Chamberlain giving a lecture to the students and faculty at the IIT student chapter’s first event.

The Illinois Institute of Technology is one of ECS’s newest student chapters, and they held their first event on November 23, 2015. They received an excellent attendance rate of nearly one hundred students in addition to IIT faculty members and faculty from other near by institutions.  This event included the director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS), Dr. Jeffrey Chamberlain, who is also the deputy director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR). Dr. Chamberlain hosted a lecture that included information and a detailed analysis on the innovation of battery technologies.

Following the lecture, a Q&A session was held, which gave the students and faculty in attendance the opportunity to address questions produced from Dr. Chamberlain’s lecture. These questions included the topics of environmental issues, the life cycle of lithium ion batteries, development of lithium-air batteries and even government policy and funding. The formal lecture and Q&A session was followed with refreshments and continued discussion. The IIT student chapter is extremely grateful to Dr. Chamberlain for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to come and interact with the chapter at their first event.

Congratulations, IIT Student Chapter on a very successful kick-off event!

With already half of the academic year complete, it is time to think about summer opportunities to further your career!

Hadi Khani (left), an ECS Summer Fellowship 2015 recipient and his advisor, Dr. David Wipf.

The Electrochemical Society has been offering summer fellowships since early 1928. These awards were established to assist students during the summer months, June through September, in the pursuit of work in a field of interest to ECS. In order to qualify for these fellowships, one must be enrolled in a college or university in addition to being a member of ECS.  Here is the complete list of candidate qualifications and award rules.

Up to 4 recipients will be selected for 2016 and will receive up to $5,000!

If you meet the requirements, apply for an ECS Summer Fellowship today! The deadline is January 15, 2016.

Success story
In 2013, Carlo Santoro received the F.M. Beckett Summer Fellowship from ECS. Through that fellowship, he connected with Dr. Plamen Atanassov at the University of New Mexico to study enzymes and their integration into microbial systems.

“I spent a summer at the University of New Mexico learning and integrating enzymes into a microbial system to make a hybrid system. It was interesting; it was a way to learn new things, a way to interact with people in different fields, to learn more. It was a very, very great experience.”—Carlo Santoro, 2013 summer fellowship recipient

Now, Dr. Santoro is working alongside Dr. Atanassov and some of the world’s best microbiologists to develop bio-catalytic materials that will simultaneously decontaminate wastewater and generate energy in a microbial biofuel cell.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Colin Garfield Fink Summer Fellowship to see if you qualify!

ECS’s Europe Section is now offering a travel grant to students presenting their papers at ECS biannual meetings. While there are over ten different divisions that offer travel grants, the Europe Section is the only section currently offering travel grants to students.

228th ECS Meeting in Phoenix attendees picking up their travel grant checks.

This grant will be offered to up to four students per biannual meeting that are enrolled in a graduate or upper level undergraduate program at, or be recent (within 12 months) graduates from, an institution in Europe. The attending student must also present an oral or poster presentation in a symposium sponsored or co-sponsored by ECS. Head over to our website for the complete terms of reference for this award.

The deadline to apply for a travel grant for the 229^th ECS Meeting in San Diego is February 12, 2016.

Why wait? Apply today!

Meeting attendees discussing the research presented at the Student Poster Session.

ECS established General Student Poster Session Awards in 1993 to acknowledge the excellence and diligence of our students’ work. The winners demonstrate a deep understanding of their research topic and how it relates to one or more of the fields of interest to The Electrochemical Society. At each biannual ECS meeting, awards are given to students in two categories, electrochemical science and solid state science and technology. First and second place winners receive a certificate in addition to a cash award.

The 228th ECS Meeting Student Poster Session award winners holding their certificates.

For the 228^th ECS Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, the first place winners are Daiki Ito, and Xiaoxing Xia. Daiki Ito of Nagoya University, was the Solid State winner, and Xiaoxing Xia, of California Institute of Technology, was the Electrochemical Science winner. The second place winners were Kenta Machida of Kogakuin University and Subrahmanyam Goriparti of Instituto Italiano Di Technologia. Congratulations to all four winners!

In order to be eligible for the General Student Poster Session Awards, students must submit their abstracts to the Z01 General Society Student Poster Session symposium, and present their posters at the biannual meeting.

First place winner, Xiaoxing Xia accepting his certificate.

The submission deadline for the upcoming 229^th ECS Meeting in San Diego is December 11, 2015.

Submit your abstract for the San Diego meeting today.

On October 26^th, 2015, the ECS British Columbia Student Chapter held its 1^st Annual Academic Workshop.

The workshop was held at the Molecular Biology and Chemistry Building located at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. It attracted nearly 40 attendees from all different departments and disciplines at The University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Tsinghua University, China. Also in attendance was the Chair of ECS Canada Section, Dr. Michael Eickerling.

The attendees were given a detailed presentation from Dr. Andrei Kulikovsky on the topic of Physical Models of Impedance Spectroscopy for PEM fuel cells. Dr. Kulikovsky visited all the way from Germany for the workshop, where he is involved in modeling fuel cell components and stacks. Within the past fifteen years, Dr. Kulikovsky has published more than seventy research papers.

In 2012, he published a one-of-a-kind book called Analytical Modeling of Fuel Cells. This book is the first monograph on modeling of polymer electrolyte, direct methanol and solid oxide fuel cells performance. Dr. Kulikovsky’s current research interests include modeling of fuel cells and catalyst layers.

Dr. Andrei Kulikovsky beginning the workshop.

Attendees keenly listening to the talk and taking notes.

Congratulations on a successful workshop!

ECS would like to introduce its 2015 ECS Outstanding Student Chapter Award recipient, Indiana University!

Indiana University Student Chapter officers and advisors proudly holding their award plaque.

The Outstanding Student Chapter Award is a prestigious award given annually at the fall ECS bi-annual meeting. An Outstanding Student Chapter recipient actively participates in the ECS community, hosts their own community outreach activities and lectures, and has devoted, hardworking members.

With over twenty members, Indiana University Student Chapter is led by Professor Dennis Peters and Professor Lane Baker. This group is made up of members from different research backgrounds, which allows discussion to vary and provide insight into the numerous fields of electrochemistry, including bioanalytical and environmental. The chapter has hosted guest speakers, including Allen J. Bard and Nate Lewis, on their campus to not only present seminars, but also give career advice.

The mission of the Indiana Student Chapter is to spread knowledge of electrochemical science to the younger members of their community. This year will mark the fourth year in a row that this chapter volunteered at Science Fest, where chapter members host an entire laboratory with hands-on electrochemical experiments. This coming year they will also add a research talk, open to all.

The Indiana Student Chapter strives to build a better forum for students with different backgrounds to share their ideas, host and conduct outreach activities, while furthering their professional development.

Congratulations, Indiana University!

First, I want to introduce myself! My name is Amanda Squicciarini, ECS’s newest intern. I am a junior Marketing major and Communications minor at The College of New Jersey. I’ve only been with ECS for a couple of weeks but I already feel that I have gained skills and experiences that will help me further my career. But more importantly, did you hear we have SEVEN new student chapters?!

At ECS’s 228^th Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, seven new student chapters were approved, growing our total student chapter number to 54! Expanding is a focus for ECS, the more members, the more people who have access to the science. Our student chapters are especially important since they are the scientists of our future.

Here are our seven new student chapters:

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With our 228^th meeting in Phoenix just completed, ECS is calling for abstract submissions for our 229^th meeting in San Diego, California. By submitting an abstract, you have the opportunity to present a paper or participate in a poster session and are eligible to apply for a division-sponsored travel grant. Travel grants are intended is to assist students, postdoctoral researchers, and young professionals with the travel costs of attending an ECS biannual meeting. These grants are specific to each division.

How to submit an abstract:

To submit your abstract for the 229^th meeting in San Diego, please visit here.

The deadline for submitting an abstract is DECEMBER 11, 2015.

How to apply for a travel grant:

Apply for a travel grant after submitting your abstract by visiting www.electrochem.org/travel_grants.

The deadline for travel grant submissions for the San Diego meeting is FEBRUARY 12, 2016. 

If you have any additional questions please contact travelgrant@electrochem.org.

Poster session winners Andrew Akbashev, Axel Gambou-Bosca, Andrew Durney

How to enter the General Poster Session:

Students are eligible for the biannual meeting general student poster awards by submitting their abstract to the Z01- General Society Student Poster Session. To submit your abstract for the San Diego meeting, please visit https://ecs.confex.com/ecs/229/cfp.cgi and then scroll to the “Z-General Topics” section.

The 2014 Outstanding Student Chapter Award Plaque with Prof. Arumugam Manthiram (front left) and UT-Austin Student Chapter Members.

Did you know that ECS offers over ten different awards that students in your chapter can be nominated for?  These awards include division awards, section awards and fellowships. Each award has unique qualifications and deadlines. Learn more on our website!

Upcoming Award Nomination Deadlines:

Corrosion Division Morris Cohen Graduate Student Award – December 15, 2015

ECS Summer Fellowships – January 15, 2016

Battery Division Student Research Award – March 15, 2016

ECS Outstanding Student Chapter Award – March 31, 2016

For more information, contact awards@electrochem.org.