38th Annual Huggins Science Seminar

Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 7:00pm in K.C. Irving Centre Auditorium - Reception to Follow

OUR ENERGY FUTURE, LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES AND ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE: JEFF DAHN

Abstract:

Thank goodness the world is shifting more and more to renewable sources of energy like solar, wind and tidal. However, the sun does not always shine, the wind does not always blow and tidal flows are zero periodically.  Electrochemical energy storage (in batteries) is needed to deal with this variability when the fraction of renewables on the energy grid becomes large.  In this talk, I will highlight Canadian contributions to the science and technology of lithium-ion batteries that are helping with the transformation to renewable energy and electric vehicles.  I will also provide a few sobering perspectives on the scale of this transformation.

Bio:

Jeff Dahn is recognized as one of the pioneering developers of the lithium-ion battery that is now used worldwide in laptop computers and cell-phones. Dahn's recent work has concentrated extending the lifetime of lithium-ion batteries so they last decades. 

Jeff Dahn was born in Bridgeport, Conn. in 1957 and emigrated with his family to Nova Scotia in 1970. He obtained his B.Sc. in Physics from Dalhousie University (1978) and his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1982.  Dahn then worked at the National Research Council of Canada (82-85) and at Moli Energy Limited (85-90) before taking up a faculty position in the Physics Department at Simon Fraser University in 1990.  He returned to Dalhousie University in 1996 as a Professor of Physics.  He is presently a Canada Research Chair and the NSERC/Tesla Canada Industrial Research Chair.

Jeff and his wife Kathy’s twin daughters, Tara and Hannah are graduates of Dalhousie Medical School and are currently in their residency program. Their son, Jackson, is also a Dalhousie graduate (Engineering), who works at a startup company, Novonix, in Dartmouth.

Jeff Dahn was awarded the inaugural Governor General Innovation Award (Canada) in May, 2016 and the Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal in Science and Engineering (Canada’s top science award) in 2017 among many other awards.

 

SCIENCE SEMINARS HAPPENING OCTOBER 7 - 11, 2019

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY:

Speaker: Dr. Timothy Webster

Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS), Nova Scotia Community College

Title: Nearshore benthic habitat mapping using topo-bathymetric LIDAR

Thursday, October 10, 2019 in Elliott Hall Room#207 at 11:30am.

 

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS:

Speaker: Eric Oliver

Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University

Title: Historical and Future Projected Changes in Global Marine Heatwaves

Wednesday, October 9, 2019 in Huggins Science Hall Room#218 at 4:45pm.

 

Speaker: Tim Maudlin

Department of Philosophy, New York University

Title: What's the Deal with Quantum Mechanics?

Thursday, October 10, 2019 in the K. C. Irving Centre Auditorium at 4:30pm.

 

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH & ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE:

Speaker: Dr. Brian Kendall

University of Waterloo

Title: Non-traditional redox-sensitive metals in sedimentary rocks as tracers of global ocean redox conditions: Lessons from Phanerozoic anoxic events?

Wednesday, October 9, 2019 in Huggins Science Hall Room#336 at 12:30pm.

 

Speaker: Dr. David Eaton

University of Calgary

Title: Crustal Fluids, Friction and Faults: What can we learn from injection-induced earthquakes?

Friday, October 11, 2019 in Huggins Science Hall Room#336 at 1230pm.

 

JODREY SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE:

Speaker: Chris Kendrick (BCS, '92)

Title: So, what do I do with my degree?

Friday, October 11, 2019 in Carnegie Hall Room#113 at 2:30pm.