An online platform that had once offered a voice to scientists – to join in on debates and discussions of other scientists and inquisitive minds – may now be a thing of the past. Social news website Reddit hosts r/science, one of the world’s largest online science communities, which ran a popular Ask Me Anything Q&A (AMA) series that picked the brains of academics about topics like climate change, physics, and astronomy has come to an end. This was all due to a change in Reddit’s algorithm, changing how posts were ranked and making it nearly impossible to compete with the charm of cute animal GIF’s in the competition of upvotes.

The demise of the Ask Me Anything Q&A series is considered a major setback for the science community. The forum grew to nearly 19 million users, now left with no other platform that offers quite the same reach, accessibility, and engagement.

“With flat-earthers, anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, and the rest of the anti-science brigade making their views heard in almost every corner of the internet, it’s a difficult time for those who value insightful discussion of peer-reviewed science online,” says Alastair McCloskey, a digital content coordinator in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Sheffield. Read his full article here.

(more…)

ECS Transactions 85(13) “Selected Proceedings from the 233rd ECS Meeting: Seattle, WA – Spring 2018,” has just been published.

Browse the table of contents in the ECS Digital Library, or purchase the full issue (available for instant download) from the ECS Online Store.

This issue contains a total of 149 papers from the following Seattle symposia:

A01 – Battery and Energy Technology Joint General Session

A02 – Large-Scale Energy Storage 9

A03 – Li-ion Batteries and Beyond

A04 – Materials Recycling for Energy Conversion and Storage

B01 – Carbon Nanostructures for Energy Conversion and Storage

B02 – Carbon Nanostructures in Medicine and Biology

(more…)

By: Yue Kuo, ECS President

Today I am writing this message as someone who has worked with Roque over the past 23 years and has benefited from Roque’s leadership and dedication to the Society.

As president of ECS, I want to celebrate and recognize Roque’s legacy. I am sure as a past ECS board member, you have appreciated all of Roque’s contributions. If you were able to attend the presidential reception in Seattle, thank you for showing your support.

Because of this deep and long relationship, I am respectfully requesting that you consider making a gift to the Roque Calvo Next Generation Fund.

The Roque Calvo Next Generation Scholarship Fund was created by the ECS Board of Directors to honor the 37 years that Roque served the Society. As we celebrate Roque’s legacy, I think back to all that he has contributed to the development of our student programing, including starting the student chapters and the first student poster session. Under his leadership, there are now 70 student chapters worldwide and at the last ECS meeting there were 288 student posters. Today, ECS offers 13 student awards and invests $300,000 per year in student grant and education programs.

(more…)

Photo Credit: www.HydroQuebec.com

Hydro-Québec (an ECS institutional member) and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have announced a breakthrough in the lithium-ion battery materials field, publishing their research results in the Journal of Power Sources. Using a cathode made with new high voltage safe materials, the researchers have achieved a world first: building a 1.2 Ah lithium-ion cell with a voltage of 5 V.

“With the high voltage of this new cell, we can reach a very high energy density,” says Karim Zaghib, General Director of the Center of Excellence in Transportation Electrification and Energy Storage. “This highly desirable property can improve batteries used in a wide range of applications.” Army Research Laboratory scientists Jan Allen and Richard Jow, also inventors of this high voltage cathode material, believe that the high cell voltage can, in addition to enabling high energy density, improve the design of devices.

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used to power many electronic devices, including smartphones, medical devices and electric vehicles. Their high energy density, excellent durability and lightness make them a popular choice for energy storage. In response to the growing demand for their use in a wide range of products, there are many teams working to improve their storage capacity. In particular, there is great interest in developing new compounds that could increase energy storage capacity, stability and lifespan. That is why the innovation announced today has such a strong commercial potential.

(more…)

Dan Schwartz, Boeing-Sutter Professor and director of the Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington

Daniel Schwartz, a University of Washington professor of chemical engineering and director of the Clean Energy Institute, received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation this week. The OSTP and NSF recognized Schwartz for his commitment to interdisciplinary graduate education – helping students apply their research to societal and market needs – along with his dedication to recruiting and supporting Native American STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) scholars at the UW.

“I’m proud to join this cadre of dedicated educators and mentors helping students become leading scientists and engineers,” said Schwartz. “Focusing on clean energy science, engineering and resource management at UW has brought top students from across the country to Seattle, where they have partnered with Northwest tribes and businesses to ensure the future of energy is being created here.”

Starting in 2007, Schwartz launched an NSF-funded interdisciplinary graduate training program that used tribal clean energy research partnerships to attract top Native American students to graduate degree programs in UW’s College of the Environment and College of Engineering. The program was continued and expanded in partnership with Washington State University and Salish Kootenai College with U.S. Department of Agriculture funding, eventually including an undergraduate summer research experience program. Since the program launched, 26 students have completed doctoral degrees, with four awarded to Native Americans and four to other underrepresented minorities. Six masters have also been awarded – including two to Native Americans – and a tribal student-led startup company was founded. A signature achievement was the 2016 Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Washington, D.C. on fuel partially made from tribal forest thinnings.

Listen to the ECS Podcast to learn more about Dan Schwatz and open science.

(more…)

New ECS Executive Director Chris Jannuzzi.

On behalf of the ECS Board of Directors, we are pleased to announce that Christopher J. Jannuzzi has been selected as the new executive director of the Society. He will start July 19, 2018.

Chris comes to ECS from IEEE in Piscataway, NJ where he was executive director of the Electron Devices Society for over six years and executive director of the Photonics Society for the last four years.

He is a graduate of New York University and has his MA from Teachers College, Columbia University in Organization and Leadership. Prior to joining IEEE he was senior director of member services at The College Board.

Chris brings his experience in all aspects of association meetings, publications, education, technical affairs, membership, chapters, awards, and development, along with his strategic foresight to build on the 117 years of success of ECS. He is excited to lead the Society to the next level.

We are thrilled to have Chris as our new executive director and we look forward to your continued support as we welcome him in his new role.

Extended Deadline: August 31, 2018

2015 IEEE NET award winner Katherine Ayers of ProtonOnsite with Venkat Subramanian, past chair of the ECS IEEE Division.

Endowed by the Dow Chemical Company Foundation to recognize significant advances in industrial electrochemistry, the IEEE Division New Electrochemical Technology Award is the only award within the ECS Honors & Awards Program presented to an organization. The purpose of the award is to promote high quality applied electrochemical R&D and is intended to highlight novel electrochemical technology which has been practiced at a commercial scale.

The IEEE NET Award consists of a commemorative plaque (for up to six key contributors). The award will be presented at the IEEE Division business luncheon in spring 2019 and the winners will be asked to present a paper on the technology development during a division sponsored symposium. Recipients may receive travel assistance in order to attend the designated meeting. Organizations are encouraged to self-nominate and reapplication is allowed.

(more…)

Join us at AiMES 2018

Early bird registration for AiMES 2018 in Cancun, Mexico is now open! We are excited to invite you to the Americas International Meeting on Electrochemistry and Solid-State Science (AiMES 2018), a joint conference of the 234th ECS Meeting, the XXXIII Congreso de la Sociedad Mexicana de Electroquimica (SMEQ), and the 11th Meeting of the Mexico Section of ECS.

REGISTER NOW!

BOOK YOUR HOTEL

Why attend?

As a must-attend event for scientists and engineers from across the globe, AiMES 2018 will introduce you to the latest research trends, and industry leaders, all of which will help you make major strides in your career. The unique blend of electrochemical and solid state science and technology at AiMES 2018 provides a forum to learn and exchange information on the latest scientific and technical developments in a variety of interdisciplinary areas. Look through the technical program to see a full list of the topics that will be covered.

(more…)

Sixteen* new issues of ECS Transactions have just been added to the ECS Online Store for pre-order.

The following issues of ECST will be published from symposia held during AiMES 2018, the ECS and SMEQ joint international meeting, in Cancun, Mexico, September 30 – October 4, 2018,  and will be available in limited quantities for pick-up at the meeting.

Electronic (PDF) editions will be made available for purchase beginning September 21, 2018. To pre-order a CD or USB edition, please follow the links below:

(more…)