Jon Ustarroz, recipient of the Electrodeposition Division Early Career Investigator Award

Jon Ustarroz, assistant professor of the Analytical & Interfacial Chemistry group at the Université libre de Bruxelles and part-time research professor of the Electrochemical and Surface Engineering group (SURF) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, is the recipient of the Electrodeposition Division Early Career Investigator Award for his paper on “Electrochemical Growth Mediated by Nanocluster Aggregation: Implications and Perspectives.” He was honored with the award at AiMES 2018 in Cancun, Mexico.

Ustarroz says he’s proud to be a recipient of the award, which adds to his recognition within the field.

“For somebody who is young like me, and little people know about within the academic community, this has allowed me to get higher visibility and to prove to people who do not know me of what I’m capable of,” says Ustarroz.

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The ECS honors and awards program promotes technical achievements in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology. The program also recognizes exceptional service to the Society. Recognition opportunities exist in the following categories: Society awards, division awards and section awards.

You are invited to nominate qualified candidates for the following electrodeposition division awards that will be recognized at the 234th ECS biannual meeting, also known as AiMES 2018, which takes place in Cancun, Mexico from September 30 thru October 4.

ELDP Early Career Investigator Award: established in 2015 to recognize an outstanding early career researcher in the field of electrochemical deposition science and technology. Early recognition of highly qualified scientists is intended to enhance his/her stature and encourage especially promising researchers to remain active in the field. The 2017 winner of this award was the University of Akron’s Jiahua Zhu who presented an award talk called “Magnetocapacitive Carbon Nanocomposites” at our last biannual meeting.

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Nominations Deadline: April 1, 2017

ECS is currently accepting nominations for the following awards of the Electrodeposition Division (ELDP):

ELDP Research Award: established in 1979 to recognize outstanding research contributions to the field of electrodeposition and to encourage the publication of high quality papers in the Journal of The Electrochemical Society.

ELDP Early Career Investigator Award: established in 2015 to recognize an outstanding early career researcher in the field of electrochemical deposition science and technology. Early recognition of highly qualified scientists is intended to enhance his/her stature and encourage especially promising researchers to remain active in the field.

Please review the full award criteria for distinct application requirements before making the nomination.

The two Electrodeposition Division Awards are part of ECS Honors & Awards Program, one that has recognized professional and volunteer achievement within our multi-disciplinary sciences for decades. Learn more about various forms of ECS recognition and those who share the spotlight as past award winners.

Nominate a colleague today!

A working cell from Switzer’s research, with gas evolution.
Image: Sam O’Keefe, Missouri S&T.

In order to satisfy growing energy demands, scientists are looking for ways to develop and deploy a broad range of alternative energy sources that can be both efficient and environmentally friendly. At Missouri University of Science and Technology, a team is working to make clean energy more accessible through the development of a cheap, simple way to split hydrogen and oxygen through a new electrodeposition method.

ECS member and head researcher in the project, Jay Switzer, believes that the new development will produce highly efficient solar cells. He and ECS student member James Hill predict the process will be able to effectively gather solar energy for use as fuel, further increasing the amount of hydrogen available for fuel usage.

“The work helps to solve the problem that solar energy is intermittent,” says Switzer. “Obviously, we cannot have the sun produce energy on one spot the entire day, but our process converts the energy into a form that is more easily stored.”

Electrodeposition for Hydrogen

This from Missouri University of Science and Technology:

Switzer and his team use silicon wafers to absorb solar energy. The silicon is submerged in water, with the front surface exposed to a solar energy simulator and the back surface covered in electrodes to conduct the energy. The silicon has cobalt nano-islands formed onto it using a process called electrodeposition.

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