Nokia recently announced the top three winners of its fourth annual Bell Labs Prize, which recognizes disruptive technology innovations with the potential to solve the critical challenges humanity faces within the next 10 years.

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This year’s competition attracted more than 330 proposals from 35 countries, which were narrowed down to around 20 semifinal applications shortlisted for collaboration with Bell Labs researchers over a two-month period. These refined semifinal proposals were then reviewed by the Bell Labs leadership team and the nine finalists selected, with each finalist having the chance to extend their collaboration with leading researchers at Bell Labs.

The nine finalist applications covered topics ranging from new approaches to machine learning, new materials synthesis, new human sensory technologies, new distributed computing paradigms, new battery technologies and new programmable radio and antenna technologies. The final judging event took place with a group of seven luminaries in the STEM field.

Joint second prize was awarded to ECS member Colm O’Dwyer, Professor of Chemistry at University College in Cork, Ireland, and Chair of the Electronics & Photonics Division of ECS, for his invention of a new class of 3D-printed batteries that could be incorporated into virtually any form factor, enabling new kinds of wearable devices with medical, health, communications and other future applications.

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ECS fellow Plamen Atanassov was recently elected as a 2017 National Academy of Inventors Fellow. Atanassov is among 155 renowned academic inventors awarded this year’s fellowship, which is regarded as the highest professional accolade bestowed to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society.

Atanassov, a Distinguished Professor Chemical and Biological Engineering and Director of the University of New Mexico Center for Micro-Engineered Materials, focuses the majority of his research efforts on developing catalysts for fuel cells. His work in creating a platinum-free catalyst for hydrogen fuel cells has helped overcome major barriers in applications such as hydrogen-powered vehicles, which could play a major role in transforming transportation and reducing greenhouse gasses.

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Each year, the ECS Canada Section recognizes a deserving PhD student from a Canadian university for academic achievements in our multi-disciplinary fields though the Canada Section Student Award. The award was established in 1987 to recognize promising young engineers and scientists and to promote careers in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology. Recipients receive a $1,500 (CAD) prize.

Leah Ellis’ broad academic interests include surface analysis, materials science, and green chemistry. She obtained her Bachelor’s (2011) and Master’s (2013) degrees in chemistry at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, studying alloy-based anode materials for sodium-ion batteries with Dr. Mark Obrovac. During this period, she was awarded an internship at Tesla’s research facility in Palo Alto, California.

Upon completion of her M.Sc., Leah spent one year as an intern at E-One Moli Energy in British Columbia, Canada, working on lithium-ion cell testing and development. Before commencing her PhD, she crossed the continent of Africa on a bicycle. Presently, Leah is completing her PhD, under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Dahn at Dalhousie University. Her research focuses on increasing the energy density, extending the lifetime, and reducing the cost of lithium-ion batteries, especially for automotive and grid storage applications.

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The ECS Canada Section recently awarded Leah Ellis and Yurij Mozharivskyj the 2017 Canada Section Student Award and W. Lash Miller Award, respectively.

Canada Section Student Award

The Canada Section Student Award was established in 1987 to recognize promising young scientists and engineers in the field of electrochemical power sources. The 2017 award went to Leah Ellis, a PhD candidate at Dalhousie University working in lithium-ion battery research.

“This ECS Canada Section Student Award is very prestigious,” Ellis said. “Looking at the list of past award winners, I feel very honored and humbled to be included in this list. The award is very inspiring to me, and I hope to live up to its reputation.”

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Centennial Outstanding Achievement Award

Nomination Deadline: January 1, 2018

The Electrochemical Society invites you to nominate candidates for the LDM Centennial Outstanding Achievement Award. The award was established in 2002 (the Centennial Year of The Electrochemical Society) to encourage excellence in luminescence and display materials research and outstanding technical contributions in those fields. The award consists of a framed certificate and a $1,000 prize. The 2018 recipient is required to attend the 234th ECS biannual meeting (AiMES) in Cancun, Mexico in October of next year to receive the award and to give a lecture to the LDM division.

The 2016 winner of this award was Baldassare Di Bartolo, professor of physics at Boston College.

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The ECS HTM Division is currently accepting nominations for the following award:

HTM Outstanding Achievement Award was established in 1984 to recognize excellence in high temperature materials research and outstanding technical contributions to the field of high temperature materials science. The award consists of a framed certificate, a $1,000 prize and complimentary meeting registration. The 2018 recipient is required to attend the 234th ECS biannual meeting (AiMES) in Cancun, Mexico in October of next year to receive the award and to give a lecture to the HTM division. The recipient is eligible for up to $1,000 toward travel expenses to facilitate attendance.

In 2016, Harlan Anderson won the award and presented the talk, “A Country Boy Finds Materials Science.”

Please review the award rules carefully before completing the application.

ECS recognizes outstanding technical achievements in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology through its Honors & Awards program. There are many deserving members of the High Temperature Materials Division among us and this is an opportunity to highlight their contributions.

Application Deadline: January 1, 2018

The ECS Corrosion Division is currently accepting nominations for the following two awards:

Corrosion Division Morris Cohen Graduate Student Award: established in 1991 to recognize and reward outstanding graduate research in the field of corrosion science and/or engineering. The award consists of a framed scroll and $1,000 prize. The award, for outstanding Masters or PhD work, is open to graduate students who have successfully completed all the requirements for their degrees as testified to by the student’s advisor, within a period of two years prior to the nomination submission deadline.

Herbert H. Uhlig Award: established in 1972 to recognize excellence in corrosion research and outstanding technical contributions to the field of corrosion science and technology. The Award consists of $1,500 and a framed scroll. The recipient is eligible for travel reimbursement in order to attend the Society meeting at which the award is presented.

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Matthew Murbach, co-founder of Battery Informatics, Inc.

Matthew Murbach, founding president of the ECS student chapter at the University of Washington (UW) and motivating force behind the launch of the ECS Data Sciences Hack Day, has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the area of energy. According to Forbes, Murbach was recognized for his work “to commercialize battery management breakthroughs to enable faster charging, finer control over degradation and longer lifetimes.”

Murbach is co-founder of Battery Informatics, Inc. and a PhD student in chemical engineering at the University of Washington. Murbach’s PhD research is exploring new ways to diagnose the state of health in batteries, a critical and expensive asset in the emerging low carbon energy economy.

Battery Informatics is a next-generation battery management company focused on capturing the maximum value of energy storage through software solutions. The company is licensing UW intellectual property to extract the maximum value from these battery assets over the whole battery lifecycle. Just this month, they are flipping the switch on their first customer installation.

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Deadline: December 31, 2017

ECS recognizes outstanding technical achievements in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology through its honors and awards program. We are currently accepting nominations for the Canada Section Electrochemical Award, which was established in 1981 to recognize significant contributions to the advancement of electrochemistry in Canada. The recipient will be recognized for his/her achievements with a gold medal at the section’s 2018 annual meeting.

It has been a few years since we have conferred this award. The last recipient was David Shoesmith of Western Science University in 2010. In 2006, the award was presented to Jeff Dahn of Dalhousie University. Consider your fellow electrochemists and let’s find out whose next!

Please review the full award details carefully before completing the application. I encourage you to submit a nomination and acknowledge the hard work of your peers!

Extended Deadline for Nominations: November 15, 2017

ECS recognizes outstanding technical achievements in electrochemistry and solid state science and technology through its honors and awards program. We are currently accepting nominations for the Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division David C. Grahame Award, which was established in 1981 to encourage excellence in physical electrochemistry research and to stimulate publication of high quality research papers in an ECS journal. This award recognizes Society members who have made outstanding contributions to the field and enhanced the scientific stature of the Society by the presentation of well-recognized papers and at Society meetings.

In spring 2017, Viola Birss delivered “Nanoscale Templates and Scaffolds for Electrochemical Device Applications” as the most recent Grahame award recipient, joining a respected group of award-winning scientists.

The award consists of a framed certificate and a $1,500 prize. The recipient is required to attend the requisite Society meeting and present a symposium lecture that will be sponsored by PAED.

Please review the award rules carefully before completing the application.