April 30 is voting deadline
The ECS Energy Technology Division election is now open with two excellent candidates—Ertan Agar and Gang Wu—for the volunteer position of ETD Treasurer. Their biographies and candidacy statements follow.
We urge all ECS Energy Technology members to take part in this important election!
Voting is open through April 30. Voting instructions and the link to the electronic voting proxy are at the end of the page.
Candidates for ECS Energy Technology Division Treasurer
Ertan Agar
Biography
Ertan Agar is Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Electrochemical Energy Systems and Transport Laboratory (E2STL) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML). Prof. Agar also serves as the Faculty Lead for the UML NSF I-Corps Site Program and the Regional Northeast I-Corps Hub, supporting technology commercialization and startup initiatives in electrochemical energy systems. His research aims to advance the design, development, and diagnostics of flow-assisted electrochemical systems to address global energy challenges and contribute to a carbon-neutral electricity grid. Prof. Primary focus areas include redox flow batteries for grid-scale energy storage and the decarbonization of chemical manufacturing through electrochemical engineering.
After completing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Drexel University, he conducted postdoctoral research on performance diagnostics of flowable slurry electrodes at Case Western Reserve University’s Chemical Engineering Department. Prof. Agar is an active member of the Electrochemical Society’s Energy Technology Division (ETD) and has contributed to multiple ETD initiatives, including symposia organization, travel awards, and graduate student awards.
Statement of Candidacy
I am honored to be nominated for the position of ECS Energy Technology Division (ETD) Treasurer. As a long-standing member of The Electrochemical Society (ECS), I consider ECS my professional home. Since joining as a graduate student in 2010, I have greatly benefited from ECS’s vibrant technical community and have been dedicated to giving back. For the past seven years, I have actively served ETD, contributing to various division initiatives. My leadership roles within ETD include organizing symposia, chairing the Travel Awards Committee, and serving on the Graduate Student Award Committee. Through these experiences, I witnessed firsthand how ETD not only advances electrochemical science but also shapes careers, fosters lifelong collaborations, and supports the next generation of energy researchers, something I am deeply committed to strengthening.
The urgent need for decarbonization, the transformation of the electrical grid, and the increasing power demands of artificial intelligence present both challenges and opportunities for our field. Electrochemical energy technologies are at the center of this transition, and ETD has a crucial role to play in driving innovation and solutions. As Treasurer, I will advocate for and support ETD initiatives that push the boundaries of electrochemical energy research, while ensuring that our division remains a leader in the sustainable energy field.
I strongly support the Free the Science initiative, as I believe that scientific knowledge should be openly accessible to all. The ECS community must continue to lead the way in promoting open-access publishing rather than supporting a system that funnels scientific progress into the hands of a multi-billion-dollar publishing industry. I will work to ensure that ETD remains a strong advocate for open science, making our research accessible to the global scientific community.
Beyond financial responsibilities, my vision as Treasurer includes strengthening ETD’s engagement with junior members, early-career researchers, and industry professionals. I believe that mentoring the next generation and creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration are essential for the long-term growth of our division. Furthermore, electrochemical energy systems are at the heart of an expanding innovation and startup ecosystem, with breakthroughs in battery technology, hydrogen, and sustainable manufacturing increasingly moving from academic labs to real-world applications. ETD can play a central role in fostering this transition by supporting interdisciplinary collaboration and bridging academic research with entrepreneurial opportunities.
I am excited about the opportunity to serve the Energy Technology Division in this capacity and to work with fellow members to advance our shared mission. I appreciate your support and look forward to contributing to the continued success of ETD and ECS.
Gang Wu
Biography
Gang Wu is Professor of Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, with expertise in electrochemical science and engineering. His current research focuses on advanced electrocatalysis and catalysis for hydrogen and carbon-neutral electrochemical energy technologies, such as polymer electrolyte fuel cells, water electrolysis, CO2 reduction, electrosynthesis, and carbon-free nitrogen electrochemistry. He is also interested in developing clean energy-related heterogeneous catalysis, including efficient ammonia synthesis and cracking, to overcome the grand challenges of hydrogen storage and transportation.
Prof. Wu completed his PhD at the Harbin Institute of Technology in 2004. After postdoctoral training at Tsinghua University, the University of South Carolina, and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), he was named Staff Scientist at LANL in 2010. He joined SUNY, the State University of New York at Buffalo as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2014 and was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2018, and Full Professor in 2020. He joined Washington University in St. Louis in 2024. Prof. Wu is a leading scientist in exploring single-metal-site catalysts for sustainable electrocatalysis, evidenced by his over 350 papers in prestigious journals and citations of around 58,000 times with an h-index of 130 (Google Scholar, January 2025). Clarivate Analytics has acknowledged Prof. Wu as a Highly Cited Researchers every year since 2018. He received the 2024 ECS Energy Technology Division Research Award.
Statement of candidacy
My passion and love for electrochemistry started when I was 17 during my undergraduate studies at the Harbin Institute of Technology. In the Department of Applied Chemistry, I selected electrochemical engineering as my undergraduate major among different subdisciplines such as environmental science, polymer science, fine chemical engineering, and electrochemical engineering. I joined The Electrochemical Society as a postdoc at the University of South Carolina. Then, in 2015, when I was a tenure-track Assistant Professor at SUNY-Buffalo, I was elected Member at Large of the ECS Energy Technology Division (ETD). I actively organized many ETD symposia and served as session chair during ECS meetings and on behalf of ETD. Currently, I am an Associate Editor for the Journal of The Electrochemical Society in Fuel Cell, Electrolysis, and Energy Conversion. Encouraged by the division Chair, in 2017 I created a new continuing annual symposium. I04 focuses on nitrogen electrochemistry for sustainable and carbon-free energy storage and conversion, which is timely and desirable for developing innovative carbon-neutral technologies. For many years, I have served on ECS award committees including the ETD Research Award and ECS Toyota Young Investigator Award. Overall, I am always responsible and reliable in serving ECS, as I have been strongly supported by the Society and value giving back to it.
My career development parallels the growth of the ECS Energy Technology Division. Among various scientific societies, ETD is my home. My students, postdocs, and I attend biannual meetings and present our latest research on water, carbon, and nitrogen-related electrochemical reactions for energy technologies such as fuel cells, water electrolyzes, CO2 reduction, and advanced electrosynthesis. My research group at Washington University in St. Louis has established an internationally recognized reputation in applied electrocatalysis in the last 15 years by leading/participating in multiple DOE/NSF projects and publishing high-impact scientific papers. In addition to bringing our research expertise and reputation to ETD, my goal is to boost fundraising to support ETD activities based on our extensive collaborations with industry. I am dedicated to recruiting student members to the division, especially from underrepresented groups. I am enthusiastic about making ETD financially and technically stronger and more diversified, supporting our goals of addressing current energy and environmental sustainability issues via developing innovative electrochemical energy technologies.
Voting instructions
Proceed to the electronic proxy ballot and follow these easy steps to cast your vote.
- Enter your ECS member number and password. (Your member number is located under MY ACCOUNT/ECS ID when you log in to the ECS website.)
- Your electronic proxy ballot opens after you log on. Contact ECS Customer Service if you have trouble logging on.
- You can only vote once.
Thank you for participating in this important election!
VOTING CLOSES April 30 @ 2359h!