mESC-IS 2015

François Béguin,  Poznan University of Technology		Saim Özkar, Middle East Technical University
Fermin Cuevas, ICMPE/CNRS,		Detlef Stolten, Forschungszentrum Jülich,
Bernard Dam,  TU Delft,		Enrico Traversa, KAUST
Ho-Cheol Kim, IBM  Almaden Research Center		Volodymyr Yartys,  Inst. for Energy Technology (IFE)
Yury Gogotsi, Drexel University,		Rachid Yazami,  Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Hiroshi Inoue, Osaka Prefecture University		Bilge Yıldız, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Amelia Montone, ENEA		Andreas Züttel, EMPA
Dag Noreus, Stockholm University

Professor François Béguin
Poznan University of Technology

“Properties of carbons in electrochemical capacitors involving various types of electrolytes”

François Béguin who was Professor and leader of the Energy&Environment Group in Orléans University (France) till 2011, is now Professor in Poznan University of Technology (Poland), where he has been awarded the WELCOME stipend from the Foundation for Polish Science. His research activities are devoted to chemical and electrochemical applications of carbon materials, with a special attention to the development of nano-carbons with controlled porosity and surface functionality for applications to energy conversion/storage and environment protection. The main topics investigated in this team are lithium batteries, supercapacitors, electrochemical hydrogen storage, reversible electrosorption of pollutants. He owns several patents related with the synthesis of nano-structured carbon materials (nanotubes, carbons from seaweeds, etc) and their use for electrochemical systems. He published more than 260 papers in high impact international journals and his works are cited in more than 12500 papers. His Hirsch Index is 52. He is also involved in several books dealing with carbon materials and energy storage. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Carbon Conferences and chairman of the Advisory Board for the international conferences on Carbon for Energy Storage and Environment Protection (CESEP). He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Carbon. Till 2012, he has been  Director of several national programmes (Energy Storage – Stock E, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells – HPAC, electricity management – PROGELEC) in the French Agency for Research (ANR)

Dr. Fermin Cuevas
ICMPE/CNRS, Paris

“TiNi-based Intermetallic Compounds for Ni-MH Batteries: Challenges and Opportunities “ 

Fermin Cuevas obtained his PhD in Physics at UAM University of Madrid in 1996. He moved then to the Max-Planck-Institute of Metals Research, Stuttgart (Germany), for a two-year postdoctoral stay. After one year teaching at UAM, he got a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission to continue further postdoctoral training at CNRS in the Laboratoire de Chimie Métallurgique des Terres Rares (France). In 2002, he got a permanent research position at CNRS and in 2007 his Habilitation as PhD supervisor from Paris XII University. His main research interest deals with hydrogen storage in solids and electrode materials for Li-ion batteries. He has published about 100 articles in international peer-review journals. His work has been initially focused on the synthesis, crystal structure and microstructure of intermetallic compounds, and thermodynamic, crystallographic and kinetic properties of their hydrides. Later, his research area has been enlarged to novel light materials (complex hydrides and metal-carbon composites) for hydrogen storage, and to the synthesis of nanoscale hydrides and Si-based composites for anodes of Li-ion batteries.

Professor Bernard Dam
TU Delft

” An Optical Analysis of the Hydrogen Permeation Properties of Pd-based Alloys” 

Bernard Dam obtained his PhD in 1986 in Nijmegen for a thesis on incommensurately modulated crystals. After working as a researcher at Philips Research Laboratories in Eindhoven and as an Associate Professor at the VU University in Amsterdam, he is now the head of the MECS (Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage) group at the Delft University of Technology since 2009. This group specializes in photoelectrochemical water splitting, and the application of metal hydrides for sustainable energy applications. Using a thin film combinatorial approach, hydrogen storage materials, hydrogen sensors and hydrogen separation membranes are being investigated. The general focus of his research is the relation between the thin film growth, the (defect)structure and the physical properties of materials.

Dr. Ho-Cheol Kim
IBM Almaden Research Center

“Updates on Battery 500 Project:Collaborative Research with ASELSAN”

Dr. Ho-Cheol Kim manages Energy Research Department at IBM Research-Almaden Research Center located at San Jose, CA. He joined IBM Research in 2001 after his Post-Doctoral research at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He received his Ph. D. in Polymer Science from Seoul National University in Korea. His research has been focused on nano-structured materials (organic and inorganic) and their applications to eletronic devices. Recently he actively explores materials and devices for energy storage, in particular high energy metal-air batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage. He won the IBM Almaden Fund for Innovation (2005) and the IBM Research Division Award (2005, 2013). He has authored/co-authored over 110 research publications and holds over 80 granted/pending US patents.

Professor Yury Gogotsi,
Drexel University

“2D Carbides (MXenes) for Energy Storage“

Dr. Yury Gogotsi is Distinguished University Professor and Trustee Chair in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. He also holds courtesy appointments in the Departments of Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Drexel University, and serves as Director of the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterial Institute. He served as Associate Dean of the College of Engineering from 2003 to 2007. He received his M.S. (1984) and Ph.D. (1986) degrees from Kiev Polytechnic and a D.Sc. degree from the Ukrainian Academy of Science in 1995, as well Dr.h.c. from Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France, in 2014. He has co-authored 2 books, edited 13 books, obtained more than 50 patents and authored more than 400 peer-reviewed papers, being listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by Thomson-Reuters in 2014. His research has been recognized with a Kavli Distinguished Lectureship (MRS), Chang Jiang Scholar Award, European Carbon Association Award, S. Somiya Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies, G.C. Kuczynski Prize from the International Institute for the Science of Sintering, Purdy Award and Roland Snow Award from the American Ceramic Society, NANOSMAT Prize, I.N. Frantsevich Prize from the Ukrainian Academy of Science, R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine (twice) and two Nano 50TM Awards from NASA Nanotech Briefs. He has been elected a Fellow of the AAAS, Materials Research Society, American Ceramic Society, The Electrochemical Society, as well as Academician of the World Academy of Ceramics and Full Member of the International Institute for the Science of Sintering. He is currently serving as Associate Editor of ACS Nano

Professor  Hiroshi Inoue,  
Osaka Prefecture University

“High Capacity Ti-V-Cr-Ni Alloy Negative Electrodes for Use in Nickel-Metal Hydride Batteries“

Hiroshi Inoue, is a professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka Prefecture University, Japan. He received hig Ph. D from Osaka University in 1995. He became a research associate at Osaka University in 1989. He moved to Osaka Prefecture University as a Research associate in 1994, and promoted to a Lecturer in 1996, an Associate Professor in 1998, and a Professor in 2005. He is the author of more than 130 peer-reviewed international journals, 4 books and 9 patents. His research is currently focused on aqueous electrochemical devices such as alkaline rechargeable batteries, electrochemical capatitors, polymer electrolyte fuel cells and direct alcohol fuel cells, and hydrogen production and storage.

Dr. Amelia Montone
ENEA, Rome,

“Solid State Hydrogen Storage: New Materials and Technologies from COST Action MP 1103”

Amelia Montone, Degree in Physics in 1984 (Rome University “La Sapienza”). From 1988 Researcher at ENEA, Research Centre of Casaccia, Rome. Research work has been on applications of electron microscopy methods to material science problems. In the last ten years her research is focused on synthesis, microstructural and thermal characterization on nanocomposite for hydrogen storage,. She has published more than 110 publications in international journals. Project scientific leader in national and European projects on hydrogen storage materials. ENEA scientific coordinator of Hydrostore-Industria 2015. Management board member of EERA-Joint Programme on Advanced Materials and Processes for Energy Application (AMPEA), Chair of the COST Action MP1103 (Nanostructured materials for solid-state hydrogen storage), 25/10/2011-25/10/2015, President of SISM (Italian Society for Microscopical Sciences) from 2008 to 2013.

Professor  Dag Noreus,
Stockholm University

“Metal Hydrides in Batteries and Semiconducting devices“

Dag Noréus is a professor in the Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry at Stockholm University. He earned his PhD degree in reactor physics in 1982 at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, and completed his postdoc at Daimler-Benz, Metal Hydride Laboratory, Stuttgart, Germany, in 1983. Noréus became a researcher in 1984 and a professor in 2000 in the Department of Structural Chemistry, Stockholm University. His research interests include x-ray diffraction, elastic and inelastic neutron scattering, and electrochemistry focusing on the understanding of metal-hydrogen interaction in metal hydrides and electrodes. http://www.h2fc-fair.com/hm14/exhibitors/nilar.html

Professor Saim Özkar
Middle East Technical University

“Transition Metal Nanoparticles in Low Temperature Catalysis” 

Saim Özkar has completed his undergraduate study in chemical engineering at the Technical University of Istanbul in 1972, and then worked for two years in industry. He received his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 1976 before joining the Department of Chemistry, Middle East Technical University as an Assistant Professor in 1979, where he is now a Full Professor. He spent one year at the Max Planck Institute in Mülheim as Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation Scholar in 1986, 2 years at University of Toronto as visiting professor in 1988-1990, and 9 months at Colorado State University as Fulbright Fellow in 2000. His current research interests involve the transition metal nanoparticles; synthesis, characterisation, and catalytic applications in hydrogen generation, hydrogenation, oxidation, and coupling reactions.Saim Özkar was awarded the TÜBİTAK 1996 Science Prize and has been a member of Turkish Academy of Sciences since 1996.

Professor Detlef Stolten
Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

“Status and Potential of PEM Technology for Transportation and the Related Hydrogen Infrastructure “

Detlef Stolten studied metallurgy/ceramics at and later received his PhD from the University of Technology at Clausthal/Germany. He worked for over 10 years in the industry as a scientist first with the Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart and then with Daimler Benz/Dornier, Friedrichshafen. Since 1998 he has been with the Juelich Research Center as the Director of the Institute for Energy and Climate Research – Fuel Cells. In 2000 he became a full professor for Fuel Cell Technology at the University of Technology Aachen, Germany. His research activities are focused on energy process engineering for DMFC, HT-PEFC and SOFC systems, i.e. electrochemistry, stack technology, reforming process and systems engineering as well as systems analysis. Fostering the cooperation between research and industry he was in charge of the NRW – Fuel Cell Network from 2000 through 2005. Former activities of Prof. Stolten include Member of the Board of the Research Association of Electrochemistry (AGEF) in Germany: Member of the Advisory Council of the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform,(2004 – today). He represents Germany in the Executive Committee of the IEA Annex Advanced Fuel Cells. He chaired the Steering Panel for the Strategic Research Agenda of the Platform and was chairman of the Quality Assurance Panel for the Implementation Plan. Being a member of the Technology/Engineering Working Group he has been contributing to the GROCC (Global Roundtable on Climate Change), Columbia University, New York since 2005. He represents the Helmholtz-Community within the advisory board of the ‘Programmgesellschaft Nationale Organisation Wasserstoff- und Brennstoffzellentechnologie GmbH (NOW)’, the major agency for project funding of the German Federal Ministries for Transport, Economics and Research.  Prof.  Stolten currently is the Chairman of the ExCo of the IEA Implementing Agreement Advanced Fuel Cells. He represents Germany in the Executive Committee of the IEA Annex Advanced Fuel Cells and is co-chairman of IEA’s Expert Group on Science for Energy.  He is on the advisory board of the journal Fuel Cells and the Chair of the World Hydrogen Energy Conference which was held in May, 2010. Prof. Stolten is the Chair of the 2nd International Conference on Energy Process Engineering (2nd ICEPE) hold in June, 2011. Since 2011 he is Member of the Advisory Board of the VDI- GVC (Association of German Engineers- Chemical and Process Engineering).

Professor Enrico Traversa,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

“Chemically stable materials for the development of reversible solid oxide fuel cells based on proton conducting electrolytes”

Professor Traversa his “Laurea” (Italian Doctoral Degree), Summa cum Laude, in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rome La Sapienza (1986). He joined the University of Rome Tor Vergata in 1988, where he held the role of Professor of Materials Science and Technology since 2000, and from 2001 to 2008 was the Director of the PhD Course of Materials for Health, Environment and Energy. Since March 2013, He is  now  Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Professor Enrico Traversa’s research interests are wide ranging within the general framework of nanostructured materials for sustainable development including energy, environment, and healthcare. Majority of his recent research activity has been on solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), including chemically stable proton conducting oxide electrolytes, miniaturized SOFCs, hydrocarbon-fueled SOFCs, and reversible SOFCs for energy storage. He is also  interested also in the biological interactions of materials, investigating redox-active oxide nanoparticles with pharmacological potential, novel strategies for drug delivery, and novel scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering elucidating the role of mechanical and biological cues. He has authored more than 500 scientific papers, with over 330 published in refereed international journals, has 16 patents, and has edited 30 books and special issues on journals. He is listed in the Essential Science Indicators/Web of Science as a highly cited researcher, both in the Materials Science and Chemistry categories, and has an h-index of 49.

Professor Traversa was elected in 2007 to the World Academy of Ceramics, to the Advisory Board between 2010 and 2014, as a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society in 2013, and as a Fellow of the European Ceramic Society in 2015. In 2011 he was the recipient of the Ross Coffin Purdy Award of the American Ceramic Society for the best paper on ceramics published in 2010, and the “1000 Talent” Scholarship from the Government of China in 2011. He was Chair of the High Temperature Materials Division of the Electrochemical Society (2011-2012). He was a Member of the International Relations Committee of the Materials Research Society between 2003 and 2009. Professor Traversa started a two year term in January 2015 as the Chair of the European Section of the Electrochemical Society (ECS). The academic council of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM), honoured Professor Enrico Traversa with the IAAM Smart Materials Medal of the year 2014 for his outstanding and notable contribution in the field of Materials Science and Technology. Professor Traversa is featured in the first set of 50 Official ECS Major League Trading Cards, which are electrochemical and solid state science themed and feature some of the biggest movers and shaker in the field, past and present in ECS related domains including battery, energy technology, fuel cells, sensors, electronics, and more.

Professor Traversa is currently Editor-in-Chief of Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy and an Associate Editor for the Journal of Nanoparticle Research. He is one of the Volume Organizers of MRS Bulletin for 2014.

Professor Volodymyr Yartys
Institute for Energy Technology (IFE)

“ Nanostructured Metal Hydrides for H storage and Metal Hydride Batteries: The Role of Magnesium “

Volodymyr Yartys  is professor of materials science and hydrogen technologies at the Institute for Energy Technology and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway. He received his PhD in inorganic chemistry from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1980 and a Doctor of Sciences in inorganic chemistry from L’viv University in 1995. He then became a professor in inorganic chemistry in 1998. He is working in the fields of materials science of nanomaterials, hydrogen and energy storage with a focus on: (a) Rechargeable Batteries; (b) Hydrogen as an Energy Carrier; (c) Novel Materials for Hydrogen Storage and Battery Applications; (d) Hydrogen storage systems; (e) Use of metal hydrides in energy management. Professor Yartys is the author of 429 publications (210 papers in peer refereed academic journals, 6 patents and three books), and has acted as a project leader in research projects funded by the EU, Norwegian Research Council, Nordic Energy Research, and industry.

Dr. Rachid Yazami,  
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 

Lithium ion batteries; from conception to development and beyond.

Dr. Rachid Yazami, a native of Fez, Morocco, received his MS in electrochemistry and PhD in graphite intercalation compounds for lithium batteries at France’s Grenoble Institute of Technology, and then began his career at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), also in Grenoble, where he rose to research director. He has been a visiting associate in materials science and chemistry at Caltech, in collaboration with JPL/NASA, for 10 years, and in 2010 joined the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore as a visiting professor in materials science. His current research addresses lithium batteries and “beyond lithium” future battery technologies, including liquid anode alkali metal-air and fluoride-ion batteries.
He is a founder of CFX battery, Inc. (now Contour Energy Systems), a primary and rechargeable lithium and fluoride battery start-up in Azusa, California; director of energy storage programs at the Energy Research Institute; and principal investigator of battery research at the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) Center for Electromobility, jointly managed by NTU and the Technological University of Munich. In 2011 he founded KVI PTE, Ltd., a start-up in Singapore dedicated to battery life and safety enhancement for mobile electronics, large energy storage, and electric vehicle applications. In 1979–1980 Yazami invented the lithium graphite anode, now used in commercial Li-ion batteries, a $15 billion/year business. He is listed as inventor on more than 70 patents related to battery technology, including nano-Si- and nano-Ge-based anodes for ultra-high rate charge lithium batteries, the lithium-carbon fluoride battery for space and medical applications, and more recently liquid anodes. He has coauthored more than 250 papers on batteries and their materials and systems. He has received scientific awards including from NASA, NATO, IBA, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, IEEE. In 2014 Yazami was the co-recipient of the Draper Prize granted by the National Academy of Engineering in Washington DC for his pioneer developemnt of lithium ion batteries.. The Draper is considered equivalent to the Nobel Prize in Engineering.

Professor  Bilge Yıldız,
Massachusets Institute of Technology 

“Oxygen Reduction Kinetics on Perovskite Oxides in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells:  Effects of Dissimilar Interfaces and Surfaces ”

Bilge Yildiz  is an associate professor in the Nuclear Science and Engineering and the Materials Science and Engineering Departments at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she leads the Laboratory for Electrochemical Interfaces. She received her PhD degree at MIT in 2003 and her BSc degree from Hacettepe University in Turkey in 1999. After working at Argonne National Laboratory as research staff, she returned to MIT as an assistant professor in 2007. Her research centers on molecular-level studies of oxygen exchange kinetics on surfaces at elevated temperatures, under stress and in reactive gases, by combining in situ surface sensitive experiments with first-principles calculations and novel atomistic simulations. The scientific insights derived from her research impact the design of novel surface chemistries for efficient and durable solid oxide fuel/electrolysis cells, and for corrosion resistant films in a wide range of extreme environments as in nuclear energy generation and oil exploration. She was the recipient of the Charles Tobias Young Investigator Award of the Electrochemical Society in 2012, the Somiya Award of the International Union of Materials Research Societies for international collaboration in 2012, and an NSF CAREER award in 2011.

Professor Andreas Züttel,
EMPA-EPFL, Switzerland

“ The Role of Hydrogen in the Future Energy Economy ”

Andreas Züttel obtained engineering degree in Chemistry, Burgdorf(1985), Diploma in Physics from the University of Fribourg (UniFR) (1990), Dr. Rer. Nat. From science faculty UniFR. In 1994, he was a postdoctoral researcher at AT&T Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA. He then returned to the University of Fribourg to join the Physics Department as a lecturer. Professor Züttel has also been an external professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands, a guest professor at IMR, Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, and a visiting professor at Delft Technical University, The Netherlands. He is also the president of the Swiss Hydrogen Association “HYDROPOLE“. Prof. Züttel has been the head of section “Hydrogen and Energy” at EMPA since 2006 and recently being appointed Professor of Chemical Physics in the School of Basic Sciences (SB) in EPFL.