It’s more than electrochemistry; it’s a community
As a PhD working on carbon materials for supercapacitors at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Daniel Arenas Esteban had the opportunity to travel to other universities to learn new techniques.
On a visit to the University of Calgary (UC), he worked directly with the ECS University of Calgary Student Chapter.
“I knew about ECS from its papers. Interacting with the UC chapter students definitely led me to become more involved with ECS. I really enjoyed the experience of meeting other students and working with them. When I went back to Spain, I knew I wanted to join an ECS student chapter and continue being a part of this community, but there wasn’t one. So I decided to start the first one in Spain,” said Esteban, whose chapter came to fruition in May 2018.
Looking back, he says the process of starting anECS student chapter at his university was quite easy.
“I had some help from the ECS University of Calgary Student Chapter president at the time. He helped me a lot, so it was not difficult. You just have to want to do it,” said Esteban, current ECS student chapter president.
He says students at his university have been very receptive to the new chapter on campus and are enjoying having a platform and shared space to network, share ideas, and collaborate.
“It’s great to create an organization that’s for students by students,” said Esteban, who called the chapter an excellent complement to his studies.
“It offers more than electrochemistry. It’s a community. People are very excited. We’re becoming famous in Madrid,” laughed Esteban, who also became an ECS student member and ECS Battery Division student member in 2018. “And we expect to start gaining more recognition throughout Spain also.”
He calls this access to the ECS community just one perk of being a member.
“You also have access to the ECS journals and to scholarships, grants, and fellowship opportunities,” said Esteban. “ECS also offers more than just electrochemistry. Various areas and aspects of science are represented, which makes it a strong society.”
.
