ECS student chapters help connect young scientists to a robust local research network. With nearly 70 chapters established worldwide, students gain access to networking, collaboration, and educational opportunities. The ECS Aalborg University Student Chapter is one of three new chapters chartered by the ECS Board of Directors on March 7, 2017. The chapter’s president, Vaclav Knap, believes establishing the student chapter will help unite students working in the different areas of electrochemical and solid state science.

“The main goal was to bring students together,” Knap says. “At our department, the electrochemical oriented topics, such as batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers, are minorities. Therefore the idea was to bring the students from these areas closer together to support each other. Moreover, the ECS chapter is a great platform to further learn, promote our topics, and gain additional skills.”

Knap began forming the ECS Aalborg University Student Chapter in the summer of 2016, shortly after he joined the Society. Much of the inspiration to establish the chapter came when Knap attended the ECS sponsored Advanced Batteries, Accumulators and Fuel Cells (ABAF) Conference, where he was able to interact with ECS members such as Petr Vanysek and Jiri Vondrak and learn of the advantages that student chapters could offer.

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ECS hosts a vibrant network of nearly 70 student chapters, bringing together innovative young minds across the globe. Joining that list is the ECS University of New Mexico Student Chapter, chartered by the ECS Board of Directors on March 7, 2017. The chapter’s faculty advisor, Fernando Garzon, believes the establishment of the student chapter could help encourage research collaboration and bolster students’ visibility in the scientific community.

“It greatly benefits students to have a venue such as the ECS University of New Mexico Student Chapter to engage in meaningful scientific dialog with their peers and mentors,” says Garzon, past ECS president. “Engagement in a student chapter helps improve communication skills and provides networking opportunities with other individuals engaged in the ECS technical interest areas.”

The development of the ECS University of New Mexico Student Chapter can provide an avenue for students in different departments working in the electrochemical and solid state science technical area to connect. According to Garzon, many students across campus are actively involved in research pertaining to fuel cell materials, bioelectrochemistry, advanced electrolysis, electrochemical synthesis of fuels, sensor technology, and more.

“Students are more aware of the role that electrochemical and solid state science plays in their lives and the development of more sustainable, lower impact technologies to enhance the well-being of the growing global population,” Garzon says.

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ECS has nearly 70 student chapters around the world, offering young researchers an opportunity to network with peers, collaborate on research, and become part of a larger scientific community. The ECS Oklahoma Student Chapter is one of three new chapters chartered by the ECS Board of Directors on March 7, 2017.

“We decided to initiate the very first student chapter for the state of Oklahoma to promote the electrochemical science among undergraduate and graduate students,” says Charuksha Walgama, president of the chapter and graduate research assistant at Oklahoma State University. “This way we can generate more opportunities for fellow students and connect them to the ECS network worldwide.”

According to Walgama, being a member of the ECS Oklahoma Student Chapter could help students gain professional and leadership experiences, connect with fellow ECS members locally and internationally, and help prepare students to deliver presentations for a global audience at ECS meetings.

Additionally, Walgama believes the chapter could act as a venue to connect students across the state, opening new networking opportunities and a forum for the exchange of research and information.

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ECS is pleased to share the results of our first ever Open Access Week competition! We received many thoughtful entries, and ultimately decided that it was necessary to draw a tie. Our two 1st place winners, Caitlin Dillard and Manan Pathak, will each be receiving a $250 prize, as well as an additional $500 in funding to their respective ECS Student Chapters.

Here’s a bit about our winners:

Manan is currently pursuing his PhD with Prof. Venkat Subramanian at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he is a Clean Energy Institute Fellow. He is actively involved with the recently formed University of Washington ECS Student Chapter, and serves as the vice-chair for education and outreach. Manan completed his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at IIT Bombay in India. He is also one of the co-founders of a start-up called Battery Informatics where they are trying to commercialize their research on electrochemical and thermal physics model based Battery Management Systems (BMS). More details about the same can be found on www.batteryinformatics.com.

“I was fortunate to get admitted to an institute like IIT, in a developing country like India, which has only about 74% literacy rate, and has the highest population of illiterates in the world…Education was a luxury for many of them at such a young age, where schools would shut down during monsoon season…Their hard-work, passion and innate curiosity to study science and engineering inspired me to pursue research…OA is a way to reach out to such people, and bring them closer to the world scientific community. People are no longer bounded by their means but only by their curiosity and passion. The pursuit of knowledge and its free access will ultimately lead to the pursuit of happiness.”

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Thinking about starting a student chapter? There’s no better time to apply than now! Send us your completed application before September 15, 2016 and get your student chapter approved this October at PRiME 2016!

What are student chapters?

ECS student chapters are student-led groups which provide student members vital opportunities to enhance their professional development and academic experience through promoting electrochemical and solid-state science and technology. Every student chapter is a collaborative community which rewards its members with serviceable benefits.

ECS Munich Student Chapter

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Dr. Chamberlain giving a lecture to the students and faculty at the IIT student chapter’s first event.

The Illinois Institute of Technology is one of ECS’s newest student chapters, and they held their first event on November 23, 2015. They received an excellent attendance rate of nearly one hundred students in addition to IIT faculty members and faculty from other near by institutions.  This event included the director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS), Dr. Jeffrey Chamberlain, who is also the deputy director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR). Dr. Chamberlain hosted a lecture that included information and a detailed analysis on the innovation of battery technologies.

Following the lecture, a Q&A session was held, which gave the students and faculty in attendance the opportunity to address questions produced from Dr. Chamberlain’s lecture. These questions included the topics of environmental issues, the life cycle of lithium ion batteries, development of lithium-air batteries and even government policy and funding. The formal lecture and Q&A session was followed with refreshments and continued discussion. The IIT student chapter is extremely grateful to Dr. Chamberlain for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to come and interact with the chapter at their first event.

Congratulations, IIT Student Chapter on a very successful kick-off event!

Top row (l to r): Mark Sivak, Samantha Brain, Zachary Widel Middle row: Jeromy Rech, Dr. Jason Keleher, Richard Wiencek Third row: Julianne Truffa, Lisa Janes, Jacob Murray Bottom row: Amy Mlynarski

From outreach to knowledge acquisition, the newly established Lewis University student chapter is paving a path to instill a new-found enthusiasm in electrochemical science and technology.

“We will be able to help foster a sense of excitement for electrochemistry and begin to inspire others, in the same way that we were inspired,” says Jeromy Rech, chair of the Lewis University student chapter.

The inspiration behind starting the student chapter began in the late spring of this year, when a group of students from Lewis University’s Keleher Research Group presented at the 227th ECS Meeting in Chicago, IL. Upon meeting other ECS student members that initiated student chapters of their own, Rech and his group knew that forming a chapter at Lewis University was in the cards.

“We saw this as a great opportunity to begin to network and cultivate an academic relationship with other students who share similar passions,” Rech says.

Once the chapter was approved at the 228th ECS Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, the group immediately put the ball in motion. From volunteering as judges in an annual science fair to hosting the capstone presentations for chemistry majors, the chapter is on track with its goals of outreach and knowledge acquisition.

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Discussion during poster session. From left to right: Maximilian Bernt, Lukas Seidl, Thomas Mittermeier, Ludwig Asen, Benedikt Brandes (hidden).

Networking and knowledge exchange are at the heart of the newly established Munich student chapter.

“We wanted to establish an easy way to find people you could talk to when you encounter problems, want to vent your ideas about your experiments, or get some help,” says Thomas Mittermeier, chair of the student chapter and PhD student at Technische Universität München.

The student chapter, which pulls students from multiple universities across Munich, is working to assist in connecting themes and ideas happening in electrochemical research across the city. For Mittermeier and the rest of the students, it provides an avenue to transfer knowledge and bring more depth to research with ease.

“Since we’re from different individual research groups that all relate in some way to electrochemistry, the initial idea to start a student chapter was sparked from that,” Mittermeier says.

Establishing the Chapter

From ideas to research tools, the Munich student chapter is using an organized flow between universities and research groups to make research easier, producing better results. While the idea for this collaboration was sparked from the diversity and depth in research happening in Munich, the ideal platform was not always as apparent.

As a student member, Mittermeier regularly received ECS’s student newsletter. After seeing a list ranking universities by their number of student members, Mittermeier thought it was strange that his own university— Technische Universität München—was so high on the list but did not have a student chapter. With this, the ball started rolling for what would be the Munich student chapter.

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The University of Utah student chapter at their first meeting, held less than one month ago.
Image: Tao Wang

While the newly established University of Utah student chapter may just be getting off the ground, the group has big plans for the coming months. From outreach to collaboration to discovering new information, leadership of the new student chapter hopes that it will create both a sense of community and a forum for the exchange of knowledge.

“The student chapter is actually really good for the student population here because there’s not a lot of community involvement type activities for graduate students.” says Sara Koepke, chair of the University of Utah student chapter. “Moving in this direction is a really positive thing.”

For Koepke, outreach and scientific communication will play a large role in the direction of the student chapter. One of the first activities of the student chapter will be a professional development workshop, focusing on presentation skills for the communication of scientific research. The group also plans to begin outreach to schools, going to areas with the greatest need and presenting live demonstrations and practical lessons.

“The more people that know how important science is, the more likely that you’re going to have people willing to vote for such things as funding of the National Science Foundation or any other political movement that is necessary for the sciences,” says Koepke, currently a graduate student at the Minteer Research Group.

Additionally, Koepke believes that this type of outreach has the potential to inspire young students to pursue the sciences.

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