ECS President | 2012-2013
Fernando Garzon has had the great fortune to pursue a career in energy science and technology, for all of his professional life. His graduate research at the University of Pennsylvania was centered on the fundamental properties of ceramic ionic conductors in the beta” alumina family. His postdoctoral appointment with Dr. Ian Raistrick at Los Alamos National Laboratory was originally focused on supercapacitor materials. The discovery of high temperature superconductivity redirected his research to the fundamental growth and characterization of these new materials.
Dr. Garzon’s experience in thin film ceramic materials growth and past background in solid-state electrochemistry enabled him to develop new classes of ceramic gas sensors. These mixed potential devices detect oxygen, hydrogen, and combustion emissions such as hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitric oxides, and sulfur dioxides. He has worked for many years with the transportation and power industries to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.
He also became actively involved in the multidisciplinary Los Alamos fuel cell program in the early ‘90s. He was able to contribute to the understanding of the degradation mechanisms of polymer fuel cells by adapting modern materials analysis techniques for the characterization of membrane-electrode assemblies. Dr. Garzon is currently studying the effects of common fuel/air contaminants on polymer fuel cells. He also leads fundamental studies of high temperature proton conducting electrolytes. Dr. Garzon has been a Society member since 1986, a past Chairperson of the HTM Division and served on many ECS and DOE committees. He has co-authored over a hundred publications and seven patents.
