Early Career Scientist profiles
Early Career Researchers
Read more about our Early Career Researchers in the photo gallery.
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Early Career Researchers
Read more about our Early Career Researchers in the photo gallery.
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Early Career Research Award: Kevin Gallagher
Kevin Gallagher came to Argonne as a postdoctoral appointee in 2009. He received his Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied low-temperature fuel cells. At Argonne, Gallagher does modeling for the laboratory’s electrochemical energy storage department. His work uses experimental measurements to reconstruct what actually occurs inside batteries. Gallagher has developed electrochemical models that examine possible aging mechanisms and advanced electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries. He has also conducted a series of experimental electrochemical diagnostic studies on composite cathode active materials. Gallagher made significant improvements to an advanced battery design and cost model used by Argonne researchers. He led efforts to adapt this model for use in the EPA’s Light Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for 2017-2025. Today, this battery design and cost model, BatPaC, is the only public-domain model that captures the interplay between the design and cost of Li-ion batteries for transportation applications. “Kevin has a strong background in electrochemistry, an in-depth knowledge of advanced battery technologies and outstanding communication skills," said Gallagher’s advisor, Dennis Dees. "In the few years he has been at Argonne, he has made major contributions to several advanced battery projects and proposals, including for the Energy Innovation Hub for advanced research on batteries and energy storage.” By Stephanie Yin
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Early Career Research Award: Lynn Trahey
Lynn Trahey joined Argonne’s electrochemical energy storage department as an assistant materials scientist in 2010. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied thermoelectric materials. While undertaking her postdoctoral studies at Northwestern University, she began working with Argonne scientists on Li-ion batteries. At Argonne, she has designed and carried out independent research on next-generation Li-ion battery anodes. She has also developed in situ battery characterization techniques at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source and managed projects on Li-air batteries. “In addition to excelling in her research studies, Lynn is an outstanding team player who communicates well with others," said Trahey’s supervisor, Mike Thackeray. "She is a laboratory supervisor and is absolutely fastidious about safety and working in a clean environment. Her early success as a researcher is reflected by her recent Northwestern-Argonne Early Career Investigator Award for Energy Research.” The award will support Trahey’s research proposal to develop tin and silicon anodes with longer lifecycles. “My hope is to make people not have to charge their iPhones every night,” explained Trahey. By Stephanie Yin
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Early Career Research Award: Kate Ryan
Kate Ryan came to Argonne as a postdoctoral appointee in 2011. She earned her Ph.D. from Oxford University, where she studied hydrogen storage materials and crystallography. During graduate school, she collaborated with researchers at multiple research institutions, including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Ryan studies Li-air batteries as part of Argonne’s Laboratory Directed Research & Development Director’s Grand Challenge project. “Kate was a perfect candidate to join the Grand Challenge team,” said her advisor Tony Burrell. “She is imaginative, independent and interactive – all of which are qualities needed for a large, interdisciplinary research project.” Ryan researches electrolyte stability in hopes of finding ways to prevent electrolyte decomposition over the cycle life of Li-air batteries. She looks at side reactions that occur in solution from the formation of reduced oxygen species. Ryan’s work contributes crucial insights into the design of Li-air batteries, which, at present, are majorly limited by electrolyte performance. By Stephanie Yin
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Early Career Research Award: Fikile Brushett
Fikile Brushett came to Argonne National Laboratory’s electrochemical energy storage department from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010 as a recipient of an Argonne Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow award. His graduate research on membraneless fuel cells equipped Brushett with an understanding of electrochemical systems and their applications. At Argonne, Brushett studies the design of non-aqueous redox flow batteries. His research identifies and creates novel materials that can operate in wide voltage windows with optimal energy densities. Brushett looks at how to use organic electrochemistry – specifically that of flowed redox-active electrolytes – to find new ways to store energy. Present systems use highly acidic solutions that store energy in the form of metal oxidation state changes. “Large amounts of energy can theoretically be stored in the chemical bonds of organic molecules," Brushett’s supervisor Jack Vaughey said. "Fikile’s ideal background in electrochemical systems, his desire to learn more about the chemistry of energy storage and his innate ability to work with a team have made this concept a reality.” Brushett’s recent work focuses on quinoxaline derivatives and overcharge protection materials. In January 2013, he will head to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he will serve as an assistant professor of chemical engineering. By Stephanie Yin