Nobel Laureate Dr. M. Stanley Whittingham guests lectures to Chemistry classes
Dr. M. Stanley Whittingham, 2019 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Distinguished Professor in Chemistry at Binghamton University, and Honorary Fellow at New College in Oxford, England, spoke to students at Vestal High School the morning of May 19, 2022. He spoke extensively about electrochemistry, his work on the lithium ion battery, and the future of energy – especially electric energy storage.
Professor Whittingham with a few Chemistry Students.
He explained that currently his team’s research is focused on trying to make batteries not only safer, but more effective. In addition, getting expensive materials, such as cobalt, out of the composition of batteries will make them more affordable to produce. After a stimulating presentation that included global climate issues, supply infrastructure, the resources used in battery production and predictions about the future of energy, Dr. Whittingham took student questions.
Professor Whittingham with the Chemistry Teachers at Vestal
He told students that the second-largest energy storage facility in the U.S. was being built right here in Broome County. That facility would help keep the energy production and use levels more balanced. He also told them of plans to build a large battery manufacturing facility in Endicott, which could potentially provide many jobs for people at very varied levels of education, from high school grads to Electrical Engineers.
Professor Whittingham with Mr. Arbuiso, and Mr. Islam, who was a Graduate Student from Binghamton University in our classroom this year.
Finally, Dr. Whittingham urged students to take up a field that they love, and shared that the key to future success is working where several disciplines interface. He pointed out that he did not win the Nobel Prize alone, but was part of a three-person international team that included an engineer, a physicist and a chemist (himself).
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