ECS will be offering three Short Courses at the 227th ECS Meeting this May in Chicago. Taught by industry experts, the small class size makes for an excellent opportunity for personalized instruction helping both novices and experts advance their technical expertise and knowledge.

Register online today!

Short Course #1
Nanotechnology for Bioenergy: Biofuels to Fuel Cells
Shelley D. Minteer, Instructor

This course is perfect for those with an interest in biofuels and renewable energy. Attendees can expect to learn about the production and use of biofuels, the advances in synthetic biology that have improved biofuel production, advance sin ananotechnology that have improved electrochemical biofuel production, electrochemical uses of biofuel, and more—including fuel cells, enzmatic biofuel cells, and microbial biofuel cells. Read more.

About the Instructor
Dr. Shelley D. Minteer is most well known for her contributions to the use of catalytic cascades for anodic electrocatlaysis. In 2003, Professor Minteer co-founded Akermin, Inc. with her previous graduate student, which has focused on the commercialization of her biofuel cell technology and has moved on to carbon capture technology. Her roles with ECS have included: Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary-Treasurer, and Member-at-Large of the Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division, as well as being a member of multiple other Society committees. She is currently the technical editor for the Journal of The Electrochemical Society and ECS Electrochemistry Letters.

LIVE WEBCAST: April 30th at 5:00pm
Find out more and register today!

Flow Batteries for Grid-Scale Energy Storage
Large-scale energy storage is required to meet a multitude of current energy challenges. These challenges include modernizing the grid, incorporating intermittent renewable energy sources (so as to dispatch continuous electrical energy), improving the efficiency of electricity transmission and distribution, and providing flexibility of storage independent of geographical and geological location. Read more.

How to Publish in ECS Journals
ECS publications span the entire subject area of electrochemistry and solid-state science. The Society publishes peer-reviewed technical journals, proceedings, monographs, conference abstracts, and a quarterly news magazine. The Society’s oldest title, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, has been in continuous publication since the Society’s founding in 1902.

Presented by Robert F. Savinell
Editor of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society and ECS Electrochemistry Letters.

ECS Student Member Benefits, Awards, and Travel Grants
ECS offers a variety of options for students to get involved. Tune in to find out more.

Presented by Beth Fisher
ECS Associate Director of Development & Membership Services

Space is limited! Register today!

Hosted by ECS and the Research Triangle Student Chapter of ECS.

The results of the 2015 ECS Officer elections are in. Congratulations to the new ECS President and 3rd Vice President.

Daniel Scherson
Elected to President of the Board of Directors
Daniel Scherson is currently the Frank Hovorka Professor of Chemistry at Case Western Reserve University. He received a PhD in chemistry from The University of California at Davis under the late Joel Keizer working in the area of nonlinear, non-equilibrium thermodynamics.

His interests in interfacial science prompted him to spend the next four years as a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratories of John Newman at UC Berkeley, Phil Ross at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Ernest B. Yeager at Case Western Reserve University, and finally at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin, Germany, working both with Heinz Gerischer and Dieter Kolb, from whom he acquired both theoretical and experimental knowledge in the general area of physical electrochemistry, which ultimately shaped his academic career. Read more.

Yue Kuo
Elected to 3rd Vice-President
Yue Kuo is currently the holder of the Dow Professorship at Texas A&M University of Chemical Engineering. Due to his extensive experience and research in solid state science, Dr. Kuo has established the Thin Film Nano & Microelectronics Research Laboratory, which is dedicated to solid state research and education.

Among his many honors, Dr. Kuo has been awarded ECS’s Electronics & Photonics Division Award (2007) and the prestigious ECS Fellowship Award (1999). Dr. Kuo will also be receiving the ECS Gordon E. Moore Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Solid State Science and Technology at the 227th ECS Meeting this May.  He has authored many papers and edited many journals, including the Journal of The Electrochemical Society from 2003 to 2012. Read more.

In the world of ocean life, the cuttlefish is the king of camouflage. The cuttlefish’s ability to disguise itself, becoming virtually invisible to the naked eye, is an amazing quality that is very difficult to engineer. But with a little inspiration from marine animal, engineers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) have developed a design that mimics patters and textures in a flash.

Within seconds of light exposure, the new structure begins to replicate color and texture of the surrounding environment. While engineers have developed camouflaging materials before, this new design responds to much lower-intensity light and at faster rates than the few predecessors that exist.

“This is a relatively new community of research,” said Li Tan, associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering. “Most of the people (in it) are inspired by the cuttlefish, whose skin changes color and texture, as well.”

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The new development will curtail or reduce the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.
Image: University of Cincinnati

The United States is wasting food at an alarming rate. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, the country wastes 40 percent of all food produced—amounting to 1.3 billion tons of food waste produced.

But extra garbage and financial strain are not the only things food waste produces, it also generates a huge amount of greenhouse gas during decomposition. More specifically, global food waste creates 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas annually.

Those numbers were especially alarming to researchers from the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and Applied Science, who proposed a way to transform food waste into bioenergy back in 2013. That proposal has just been accepted.

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The lab fabricated the 500-nanometer films by anodizing a cobalt film electrodeposited on a substrate.
Image: Rice University

Researchers from Rice University have discovered an efficient, robust way of drawing hydrogen and oxygen from water.

The researchers have developed a new catalyst of a cobalt-based thin film, which pumps out hydrogen and oxygen to feed fuel cells.

This from Rice University:

The inexpensive, highly porous material invented by the Rice lab of chemist James Tour may have advantages as a catalyst for the production of hydrogen via water electrolysis. A single film far thinner than a hair can be used as both the anode and cathode in an electrolysis device.

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This lens of this new camera acts like a solar panel. Click image to enlarge.
Image: Columbia University

Who needs batteries to power a camera? Engineers from Columbia University are working on a novel design in which the pixels of the camera not only capture an image, they also collect light as an energy source.

The engineers are researching a commonality between a typical camera and solar panels: photodiodes. Each device has always used photodiodes, but in different ways.

Engineers plan for the new camera to use photodiodes in both functions.

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Dan Fatton, ECS Director of Development & Membership Services, recently came across this article on the validity of climate reporting from Columbia Journalism Review.

The internet is a wonderful place to express opinions, foster ideas, and gain knowledge. However, sometimes facts an opinions swirl together, creating content presented as truth with very little credibility.

This issue is specifically prevalent in the area of climate change. Now, the (somewhat ironically named) group known as Climate Feedback is working to improve the credibility of climate journalism on the web.

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This week we’re sitting down with Subhash C. Singhal of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), a world leader in the study of solid oxide fuel cells and one of the lead organizer of our upcoming Glasgow conference. Listen as we explore the culture of national laboratories and industry, the future of solid oxide fuel cells, Singhal’s upbringing in India, and more!

Listen below and download this episode and others for free though the iTunes Store (search “ECS Podcast”), SoundCloud, or our RSS Feed.

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ECS’s job board keeps you up-to-date with the latest career opportunities in electrochemical and solid state science. Check out the latest openings that have been added to the board.

P.S. Employers can post open positions for free!

Research Scientist – Silicon Materials
Institute for Energy Technology – Kjeller, Norway
The main tasks will be to perform R&D within the field of new technology and materials for production of high quality silicon materials for energy applications, within the framework of national and international R&D projects. Project management, supervision and development of future projects in collaboration with department staff and industry will also be key tasks.

Battery Design Engineer
Acme Aerospace, Inc. – Tempe, Arizona
Acme Aerospace, Inc. a leading manufacture that designs and manufactures custom batteries and battery control electronic systems for military and commercial aircraft applications is currently seeking a high energy, self-driven, detail oriented experienced individual accountable for design, development, pre-production and engineering projects related to FNC cells and batteries. Tasks include reviewing customer specifications and developing energy storage solutions that meet the customer requirements, as well as develop new battery concepts for emerging markets.