Awards are important. They make a difference when applying for jobs, promotions, research grants, and more. Let’s encourage and reward fellow Canadian students by nominating them!

Nominations are due
by February 28

The award recognizes promising young engineers and scientists in the field of electrochemical power sources who are pursuing a PhD degree at a Canadian university, consisting of a $1,500 (CAD) prize!

Candidates must be nominated by a university faculty member. (more…)

Recent growth in space-related activities has presented numerous opportunities for electrochemistry in space. That’s why Greg Jackson, chair of the ECS High-Temperature Energy, Materials & Processes Division (H-TEMP) and mechanical engineering professor at the Colorado School of Mines, took it upon himself to bring the first-ever symposium dedicated to “Electrochemistry in Space” to the 236th ECS Meeting.

“As a board member and someone who cares about the Society expanding its audience, I felt that there are many activities going on in regards to applying electrochemistry in space and the uniqueness of the space environment merited a special symposium,” said Jackson, lead symposium organizer.

The potential for increased lunar and Martian activities with in situ resource utilization (ISRU), human space flight, and in-space satellite maintenance, and space debris management present many technical challenges and opportunities where electrochemistry plays a central role. (more…)

Forty years ago, Joan Berkowitz became the first female president of The Electrochemical Society. In honor of the groundbreaking milestone, ECS will host the symposium, “40 Years After: A Symposium on Diversity,” taking place on Wednesday, October 16, at the 236th ECS Meeting. The symposium will not only celebrate the past but also look towards the future, encouraging conversations and examining options to promote the continued support of not only women in the sciences, but diversity and inclusiveness overall. (more…)

LUIS MANUEL ALVAREZ CERDA received the prize for the best doctorate poster.

The XXXIV National Congress of the Mexican Society of Electrochemistry (SMEQ) and 12th Meeting of the ECS Mexico Section—held this June in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico—honored Luis Manuel Alvarez Cerda for his work, titled, “Effect of the Polymerization Synthesis Temperature on the Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Balance in Polyaniline Deposits (PANI) on an Anion Exchange Membrane.”

Each year, SMEQ hosts a poster session which awards prizes by degree (bachelor’s/master’s/doctorate). Alvarez took home the main prize for the best doctorate poster, which includes the opportunity to present at a future ECS biannual meeting.

About Luis

Luis Manuel Alvarez Cerda, chemist since 2005, received his master’s degree in chemistry in 2007. In 2008, the chemistry company Igcar de México/Produquímicos Industriales hired Luis Alvarez to work in the L&D department where he developed more than 30 new products and more than 50 new raw materials until 2017.

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Canada is looking for its next big battery breakthrough!

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John Bannister Goodenough, internationally recognized as one of the key minds behind the development of the first commercial lithium-ion battery, has been awarded the Royal Society’s Copley Medal, the world’s oldest scientific prize.

The longtime ECS fellow and honorary member was recognized for his exceptional contributions to the materials science field, still used in mobile electronics today, including laptops and smartphones all around the world. The award ties him to an elite group of equally notable scientists and engineers, including the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, Louis Pasteur, Albert Einstein, and Dorothy Hodgkin.

“Words are not sufficient to express my appreciation for this award,” said Goodenough, in a Royal Society interview. “My ten years at Oxford were transformative for me, and I thank especially those who had the imagination to invite a U.S. non-academic physicist to come to England to be a Professor and Head of the Oxford Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory. I regret that age and a bad leg prevent my travel back to England to celebrate such a wonderful surprise.”

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ECS’s mission is to advance theory and practice at the forefront of electrochemical and solid state science and technology, and allied subjects by encouraging research, discussion, critical assessment, and dissemination of knowledge in these fields. We couldn’t do this without the help of our sponsors! Their support plays a key role in the advancement of the sciences.

Most recently, the Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory, contributed $5,000 to the 19th Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells & Electrolyzers 19 (PEFC&E-19) symposium taking place at the 236th ECS Meeting. (more…)

Bonnie Gray, professor at Simon Fraser University.

Editors’ Choice—Development of Screen-Printed Flexible Multi-Level Microfluidic Devices with Integrated Conductive Nanocomposite Polymer Electrodes on Textiles

Bonnie Gray, a professor at Simon Fraser University’s school of engineering science, was inspired by the city of Vancouver in British Columbia in her latest work.

“Vancouver is well-known for its technical clothing, and I have a lot of friends in the film industry who work in costume design. A combination of these influences and my own engineering background caused me to look further into integrating clothing with technology. That’s how I went on to become involved in developing screen-printed flexible multi-level microfluidic devices on textiles,” said Gray, which led to the fruition of her and lead author Daehan Chung‘s research paper, “Development of Screen-Printed Flexible Multi-Level Microfluidic Devices with Integrated Conductive Nanocomposite Polymer Electrodes on Textiles.”

In their open access paper, published in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society, the pair “present a flexible plastisol-based microfluidic process integrated with conductive nanoparticle composite polymer (C-NCP) electrodes for flexible active microfluidic devices on textile substrates.”

According to Gray, flexible and wearable microfluidic devices are among the newest wearable devices for applications in health monitoring, drug delivery systems, and bio-signal sensing. (more…)

ECS will be exhibiting at the upcoming Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) Energy Innovation Summit in Denver, Colorado.

ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit
Booth #602
July 8-10, 2019
Gaylord Rockies l Denver, Colorado

The annual conference and technology showcase offers a space for experts from various technical and professional communties to come together in one place to think about America’s energy challenges in new and innovative ways. (more…)