The topics of climate change and the energy crisis are on the minds of many scientists working in the fields of energy storage and conversion. When looking toward the future, the development of more efficient and effective energy storage technologies is critical. Instead of our traditional “carbon cycle,” researchers are beginning to focus on the “hydrogen cycle” as a promising alternative.
With this, there been a lot of focus on water-splitting techniques. However, there are many challenges that this technology has to overcome before it reaches efficient levels on a large scale.
In order to help address complications associated with water-splitting, ECS member Qiang Zhang is leading a research group from Tsinghua University to help get closer to the ultimate goal of the “hydrogen cycle” by developing a novel graphene/metal hydroxide composite with superior oxygen evolution activity.
“My nature is curiosity and The Electrochemical Society has gone a long way to satisfy my curiosity…” — A. Salkind
About two years ago, ECS began a conversation with Prof. Salkind about his proposal for a revised edition of Alkaline Storage Batteries. In the proposal we presented to John A. Wiley & Sons (our partner in publishing monographs), I said it was from “one of the ECS ‘giants’.”
That was quite true about Dr. Salkind. When I first met him (and ever after), I was engaged by his tremendous intellect, his wide-ranging curiosity, and his still being very much involved with his science.
Prof. Salkind was an emeritus member of ECS, having joined in 1952 as a student. He served the Society very well — as a Chair of our Battery Division and on an innovative committee called the New Technology Subcommittee. He became an ECS Fellow only in 2014, but over the course of his many years of involvement with ECS, he organized symposia, edited proceedings volumes, and chaired many committees.
Cover of the Alkaline Storage Batteries book from 1969
In conjunction with developing a new edition of the Alkaline Storage Batteries book, Prof. Salkind began visiting ECS headquarters. We were immediately drawn in by his still-vibrant enthusiasm for the field and his fascinating anecdotes about other ECS notables in the field: Vladimir Bagotsky, Ernest Yeager, and Vittorio de Nora, among others. He was always willing to teach and to share. We were very fortunate to be able to “capture” Prof. Salkind in a very recent interview at the HQ office.
Professor Salkind generously considered ECS his technological home and brought his important monograph to be published by ECS. ECS is grateful to Dr. Salkind for his years of service to the Society and his contributions to the entire battery community; and we thank his family for supporting this remarkable person and sharing him with ECS.
From New Mexico State University, Dr. Luo presents award check to ECS Student Member & ECS Edward G. Weston Summer Fellowship Recipient, Mr. Chen.
Beginning in 1928, these awards have been established over the years to assist students during the summer months in pursuit of work in the field of interest to The Electrochemical Society.
Announcing the ECS 2015 Summer Fellowship Recipients
Mr. Gen Chen
New Mexico State University
Advisor, Dr. Hongmei Luo Edward G. Weston Summer Fellowship
Mr. Hadi Khani
Mississippi State University
Advisor, Dr. David Wipf Colin Garfield Fink Summer Fellowship
Mr. Mohammad Mahdi Hasani-Sadrabadi
Georgia Institute of Technology
Advisor, Dr. Karl I. Jacob Joseph W. Richards Summer Fellowship
University of Cambridge Ph.D. candidate, Raphaële Clément (left), receives her ECS 2015 Summer Fellowship award check from adviser & ECS member, Professor Clare Grey (right).
Ms. Raphaele Clement
University of Cambridge
Advisor, Dr. Clare Grey F. M. Becket Summer Fellowship
Mr. Alexander Pak
University of Texas at Austin
Advisor, Dr. Gyeong S. Hwang Herbert H. Uhlig Summer Fellowship
Summer Fellowship Subcommittee (through the ECS Education Committee) Mark Orazem Vimal Chaitanya Kalpathay Sundaram Bryan Chin Peter Mascher
Are you interested in supporting the ECS Summer Fellowship program or creating a new fellowship through ECS? Contact us for more information.
Vimal Chaitanya, member of the ECS Education Committee, Heather Barkholtz, Jonathan Kucharyson, Maria Lukatskaya, ECS President Paul Kohl. (Not pictured Rajankumar Patel)
Each biannual meeting hosts a general student poster session and presents awards representing two categories: electrochemical and solid state science and technology.
Winners (pictured) were honored at the 227th ECS Meeting in Chicago on Wednesday May 27, 2015.
This poster session provides a forum for graduate and undergraduate students to present research results of general interest to ECS. The purpose of this session is to foster promote work in both electrochemical and solid-state science and technology, and to stimulate active student interest and participation in ECS.
Cash prizes are given to the presenting student author on each winning paper; the amounts are awarded at the discretion of the organizers and judges.
Your next chance will be at the 229th ECS Meeting in San Diego. Look for the call for papers soon!
“The Big Bang Theory” is making history by creating the first television-inspired scholarship to help advance students in STEM.
Students pursing science, technology, engineering, and math degrees at UCLA are eligible for the scholarship, which is currently endowed at $4 million.
“We have all been given a gift with ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ a show that’s not only based in the scientific community, but also enthusiastically supported by that same community. This is our opportunity to give back,” said series creator Chuck Lorre.
This from UCLA:
For the 2015–16 academic year, 20 Big Bang Theory scholars will be selected to receive financial assistance. Each year in perpetuity, five additional scholars will be chosen. Scholarships will be awarded based on financial need to low-income students who have earned admission to UCLA based on academic merit but need additional support to bridge the gap between typical levels of financial aid and the cost of attendance.
Dr. Alvin Salkind with ECS Executive Director Roque Calvo at ECS headquaters May 19, 2015.
We have some very sad news. Long time ECS member, Dr. Alvin Salkind has died. He joined The Electrochemical Society in 1953 and continued as a member in good standing for more than 62 years.
This message from his family:
Dear ECS Society members,
We are sad to let you know that our father, Dr. Alvin J. Salkind, a fellow of the Electrochemical Society, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 87. Funeral services will be on Friday, June 12 at 10am at the Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Ave., Princeton NJ 08542. All are welcome to join us to celebrate his life and career.
James and Susanne
The first thing you need to know is that Dr. Salkind literally wrote the books on electrochemistry and alkaline batteries: Techniques of Electrochemistry Vol 1-3 with Ernest Yeager and Alkaline Storage Batteries with S. Uno Falk.
To say he was a friend of the Society is an understatement. He lived near the home office and made frequent visits. The picture above is from his latest visit. He was just here May 19th so Roque Calvo, ECS Executive Director, could interview him on video about his life (we’ll have that video soon). He was a pleasure and had lots of great stories.
Below is just a little from notes we gathered from the research we dug up from various sources about Dr. Salkind as we planned for the video interview:
Top 30* includes student chapters such as the Research Triangle Student Chapter. Officers include Isvar Cordova, Dominica H. C. Wong, James Daubert, and Marty Dufficy.
“I joined ECS because of its reputation in the field of electrochemistry and its focus on supporting its members. While a member of ECS, I have had the opportunity to meet and talk with experts in the field of electrochemistry that I would not have been able to do if I was not an ECS member. ECS provides opportunities for students to not only interact with local electrochemists, but to also travel to international meetings to meet and talk with experts in the field.”
James Daubert, PhD student North Carolina State University
ECS staff recently analyzed membership data to determine which universities had the greatest presence within the society. Here is what we discovered:
Chemical phase map showing how the electrochemical discharge of iron fluoride microwires proceeded from 0 percent discharge (left), to 50 percent (middle), to 95 percent. Source: AZO Materials
ECS student member Linsen Li, along with former member Song Jin, have recently completed the first part of their study focusing on the powerful potential of iron fluoride in lithium-ion batteries, which can improve energy storage.
“In the past, we weren’t able to truly understand what is happening to iron fluoride during battery reactions because other battery components were getting in the way of getting a precise image,” said Linsen Li, graduate student and research assistant at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
This development will likely impact energy storage and could, in the future, advance large-scale renewable energy storage technologies if the researchers can maximize the cycling performance and efficiency of the low-cost fluoride lithium-ion battery materials.
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The topics of climate change and the energy crisis are on the minds of many scientists working in the fields of energy storage and conversion. When looking toward the future, the development of more efficient and effective energy storage technologies is critical. Instead of our traditional “carbon cycle,” researchers are beginning to focus on the “hydrogen cycle” as a promising alternative.
