(Invited) Graduate Doctoral Program in Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering at University of California Irvine

Abstract

UCI Electrochemistry & Electrochemical Engineering graduate program initiative was born in a series of ad-hock meetings of groups of UCI faculty members early in the Fall of 2018 with realization of reaching a critical mass in this intrinsically interdisciplinary area of research, two decades of offering a “classic” electrochemistry class in Chemistry (part of School of Physical Sciences), the existence of multiple electrochemistry modules and a set of Fuel Cell Technology classes at the Advanced Power and Energy Program, Samueli School of Engineering. Artur M. Sackler Colloquium of the National Academy of Sciences on Status and Challenges in Science for Decarbonizing our Energy Landscape (October 10-12, Beckman Center, Irvine, CA) saw the presence of some 17 UCI professors with a self-declared adherence to electrochemical science and engineering ranging from photo-electrochemistry, bio-electrochemistry, sensors & actuators, high-temperature electro-chemistry and solid-state ionics, electrochemical energy technology and power systems and corrosion. It was this very fact of self-identification that is the most powerful impetus for this initiative to create a graduate program at both PhD and MS/ME levels. It came with the spark realization that at present, in the US, (and could be also in Europe or in Japan), there is no other university campus with such high concentration of achievement and talent in the general area of electrochemistry. It came also with the call from the key constituencies: the high-technology wave of renewable energy integration into the grid, highest demand for electricity storage, new mobility and propulsion and with the need to transform critical chemical processes, like Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis, or Fischer-Tropsch processing of CO and hydrogen to liquid fuels. Electrochemical sciences will play fundamental role in freeing humanity from dependence on fossil fuels and associated high temperature / high pressure processes. Electrochemical engineering is one of the ways to introduce environmentally friendly, low-temperature, solution-based technologies and is the base of hydrogen economy, as a path to ultimate decarbonization.With this in mind, an initiative group had set-off to create a proposal for a graduate program first as interdisciplinary engineering PhD degree program within Samueli School of Engineering, with Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering initial participation, with an extension to professional Masters in Engineering (ME) and then as a cross-disciplinary (campus-wide) program to include School of Physical Sciences, with Chemistry, Physics & Astronomy and Earth Systems Sciences participation. The initial thrust is to build on fundamental electrochemistry towards materials and energy applications. Extending the program to include sensors and sensor systems as well as water quality and treatment will naturally lead to inclusion of Electric Engineering & Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Civil & Environmental Engineering faculty. Through this involvement all departments in both schools would become contributive partners in the program. We will discuss the sequence and content (ssyllaby) of all current and planned classes. All though classes are indicted with course number and instructor’s name and departmental affiliation. This first 3 teaching quarters have not been formally organized as a program but rather were “self-harmonized” between the faculty as a pedagogical experiment. This presentation will discuss curriculum links and program building challenges.1 1 The University of California Irvine (as well as most of the UC System campuses) is teaching on a Quarter System: three 10-week long teaching periods: Fall, Winter and Spring.