Marca Doeff finds opportunities in tough times

Marca Doeff, Senior Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), is also Deputy Division Director of LBNL Energy Storage and Distributed Resources. During the shut-in, she works at her dining room table with a view of San Francisco Bay. She describes San Francisco without traffic, developing coping skills, and new research funding opportunities. A former chair of the ECS Battery Division, she is now Secretary of the ECS Board.

The pause that refreshes

“I used to commute to my office every day and complained constantly about the terrible Bay Area traffic. Now I only go in once a week to check on things and make sure nothing’s blown up. It’s ironic because there’s no traffic! I work almost exclusively from home and commute from the bedroom to the dining room. Working from home is not all it’s cracked up to be. I miss my routine and contact with my colleagues and post-docs. Although I meet and speak with people regularly through Zoom and other platforms, it’s not the same as face-to-face—but it is better than complete isolation. (more…)

Don’t let a lack of funds limit presenting in PRIME 2020!

Many ECS divisions and sections provide travel grants to qualified biannual meeting presenters. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, these travel grant awards can now defray PRIME 2020 presenters’ registration fees.

View Travel Grant Information and Apply

Application deadline:  August 17, 2020 (more…)

Ram Manthiram urges the science community to step up

In our series, The ECS Community Adapts and Advances, Arumugam “Ram” Manthiram urges the science community to be proactive in confronting the pandemic and climate change challenges threatening the global community. Ram is Director of the Texas Materials Institute and the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Texas Austin (UTAUS). He holds a co-appointment as the Joe C. Walter Chair in Engineering and Jack S. Josey Professor in Energy Studies. Ram’s research group focuses on the design and development of affordable, efficient, durable materials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage—specifically, batteries and fuel cells—to address global energy and environmental challenges. (more…)

The ECS British Columbia Student Chapter extends an invitation to our 9th Annual Young Electrochemists Symposium.  We proudly announce our invited speakers, including Prof. David Harrington (University of Victoria), Prof. Steven Holdcroft (Simon Fraser University), and a speaker from industry, Dr. Sadaf Tahmasebi of Planetary Hydrogen. The event also features a student three-minute thesis competition. 

Instead of gathering in person, join us for a half-day online symposium beginning at 9:00 am PST on Wednesday, August 12, 2020. Registration for the Young Electrochemists Symposium is FREE. Prizes will be awarded for the three-minute thesis competition.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PRiME 2020 will take place as a solely virtual event, not as an in-person meeting. Presenters giving oral/poster presentations at PRiME may apply for a travel grant to fund their meeting registration fee. To assist and support our ECS student and young professional members, the travel grant submission deadline is extended to August 17, 2020. (more…)

Alex Peroff checks in from his home office.

Alex Peroff on staying the course

In our series, The ECS Community Adapts and Advances, Alex Peroff spoke to us from his home office. Whereas travel used to be the largest part of his job, now he focuses on developing content and meaningful communication. Alex joined Pine Research Instrumentation, Inc. as an Electroanalytical Scientist in 2016 after completing a PhD at Northwestern University. His thesis work was on mechanistic studies of pyridinium electrochemistry. Alex serves as a member of the ECS Sponsorship Committee. Pine Research is an ECS Institutional Member at the Benefactor level. (more…)

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the PRiME 2020 cosponsors—The Electrochemical Society, The Electrochemical Society of Japan, and The Korean Electrochemical Society—are converting the in-person PRiME 2020 meeting to an exclusively online event.  

The cosponsors determined that it was impossible to host the meeting in person without risking the health and safety of meeting attendees and volunteers, ECS staff, and the public at large. It is indeed unfortunate that the amazing plans for the in-person PRiME meeting will not take place as initially envisioned, however, the organizers are extremely excited for the opportunities this reimagined digital PRiME affords. Most notably, for the first time in PRiME’s history, access to all of the program’s technical presentations will be freely available to the entire global community. All are welcome to attend! (more…)

Shelley Minteer on the pandemic’s effect on her research group

In our series, The ECS Community Adapts and Advances, Shelley Minteer reviews changes—both positive and negative—wrought by the pandemic on her research group. Shelley holds the Dale and Susan Poulter Endowed Chair of Biological Chemistry and Associate Chair of Chemistry at the University of Utah. The Minteer Research Group works at the interface of electrochemistry, biology, synthesis, and materials chemistry, to provide solutions and address challenges in the areas of catalysis, fuel cells, sensing, and energy storage. She received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Iowa in 2000. A member-at-large of the ECS Organic & Biological Electrochemistry Division, Shelley served as technical editor for the Journal of The Electrochemical Society (2013-2016) and received the ECS Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division David C. Grahame Award (2019). (more…)