MSE Ph. D. Student Wins ECS Research Award

Steven Lacey, Ph.D. Candidate in Materials Science and Engineering and current President of the Electrochemical Society (ECS) Student Chapter at the University of Maryland (UMD), has been awarded the 2018 ECS Battery Division Student Research Award sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Research & Development. He will be recognized formally at the 234^th ECS Meeting in Cancun, Mexico in early October. The award carries with it a $1000 prize in addition to travel and registration expenses for the meeting. The Battery Division Student Research Award was established in 1979 to recognize young engineers and scientists in the field of electrochemical power sources.

Lacey will deliver his award presentation entitled, “Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage Systems: Material Development, Alternative Electrode Processes & Planar Devices”, at the conference, which will discuss relevant electrochemical research efforts during his graduate studies. His thesis research is devoted to nanomaterial synthesis, understanding battery operation at the nanoscale (via in situ/operando techniques), and the development of alternative electrode manufacturing processes for alkali-metal-ion and metal-air batteries. Lacey has published papers spanning a wide range of topics including energy storage, catalysis, additive manufacturing, nanocellulose and wood-based processing, thermoelectrics, and plasmonics throughout his academic career.

When asked about the award, Lacey replied, “I am very honored to receive this prestigious award from ECS! Disseminating my entire PhD thesis research at an international meeting such as AiMES 2018 is a unique opportunity and one that I am looking forward to. I am excited to receive feedback and network with electrochemical experts at this Cancun venue.”

Lacey is a 2015 recipient of the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship. As an undergraduate at UMD, he received the Department of Materials Science and Engineering Student Research Award and won 1st place in the 2014 ASM International Undergraduate Design Competition for his team’s senior Capstone project on carbon nanotube body armor.

Lacey is also one of the lead authors on a recent paper featured on the March 30 cover of Science focused on nanoparticle synthesis, which enables opportunities in materials discovery for a range of applications including catalysis (the acceleration of a chemical reaction by a catalyst), energy storage (batteries, supercapacitors), and bio/plasmonic imaging, among others.

Published June 1, 2018