SEAS grad student wins award for fuel cell research

Masaru Tsuchiya '09 (Ph.D., Applied Physics), advised by Shriram Ramanathan, Assistant Professor of Materials Science on the Gordon McKay Endowment, was selected as the 1st Place Winner for the 2009 Bernard S. Baker Student Award for Fuel Cell Research, presented by the The Bernard S. Baker Fuel Cell Scholarship Fund and the Fuel Cell Seminar.

Tsuchiya's research interest is primarily in structural properties of materialsused in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC). With their strength as a cleanenergy conversion system, fuel cells are expected to play a major rolein environmental issues, especially in air quality improvement. Currently, he is working as a Principal Scientist at SiEnergy Systems, LLC, a start-up company based on technology created by Ramanathan.

He will be presented with the award during the plenary session of the 2009 Fuel Cell Seminar at the Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 and will receive a prize check in the amount of $2500, a complimentary Seminar and Exposition registration, and an invitation to present his research.

The purpose of the award is to encourage and recognizeexceptional students in the field of fuel cell relatedtechnologies. Dr. Baker was a pioneer in the fuel cell industry,and was himself a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship as part ofhis graduate work in carbonate fuel cells in The Netherlands.

Selection of finalists are based on quality of completed orproposed research work in a fuel cell related field. The awards consists of an award certificate, a cash award, aswell as complimentary registration to the Fuel Cell Seminar &Exposition. The Grand Prize winner is also invited to presenttheir research during the poster session.