Prof. Rupp Leads the World's First Center for Solar Batteries

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Society (MPG), with support from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, have announced the establishment of the world's first Center for Solar Batteries. This immense initiative aims to develop innovative energy storage solutions by integrating solar cells and batteries into a single component, enabling direct chemical storage of solar energy. The center will be led by Prof. Jennifer L.M. Rupp, Prof. Karsten Reuter, and Prof. Bettina V. Lotsch. For more information, please visit the official announcements:

- World's First Center for Solar Batteries

- Strategic partnership on optoionics between TUM and Max Planck Society

Qkera wins 2024 Falling Walls Award

Qkera a start up originating from our Chair was honored as one of the top 25 science start-ups worldwide at the 2024 Falling Walls Science Summit, selected from over 1,100 global contenders. The award was given for its stride to develop innovative solid-state battery electrolytes, achieving higher energy densities and enhanced stability at reduced production costs. Congrats to Andi, Lea, Steffen and Jennifer!

Fuzhan Wins ZEISS Women Award 2024 in Digital Research

We are thrilled to announce that Fuzhan has been awarded the prestigious ZEISS Women Award 2024 in the Digital Research category. This award recognizes her outstanding contributions to the fields of data science and digitalization of materials science labs, where her innovative research is making a significant impact. Fuzhan's work is pushing the boundaries of digital technology, demonstrating excellence in both academic and practical applications. Her achievements are not only advancing the field but also inspiring future generations of researchers and innovators. The award was presented by Georg v. Erffa, Head of Corporate Human Resources at ZEISS, in a ceremony that celebrated the vision and leadership of female pioneers in Digital & IT.

Our warmest congratulations to Fuzhan for this well-deserved recognition!

Prof. Rupp Appointed Max Planck Fellow at the Fritz Haber Institute

Prof. Rupp has been appointed as a Max Planck Fellow for the next 5 years at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin. This honorary title will further strengthen ties with the Max Planck Society, officially making Prof. Rupp a member of the institution.

Prof. Rupp Elected Vice President of the International Society for Solid State Ionics (ISSI)

Prof. Jennifer Rupp has been elected as the 2024-2025 Vice President and the 2026-2027 President of the International Society for Solid State Ionics (ISSI). This prestigious role underscores her contributions to the field and leadership within the global scientific community. For more information about the ISSI, please visit their website.

Matteo Achieves Second Place in Master Project Category at Green Challenge Competition

Matteo, supervised by Prof. Rupp, secured second place in the prestigious Green Challenge Competition with his project, "Spraying Towards a Sustainable Energy Future: Next-Generation Solid-State Batteries." The innovative approach was recognized for its potential in advancing sustainable energy solutions. More info can be found here.

Prof. Rupp Receives Richard M. Fulrath Award by the American Ceramic Society

Prof. Rupp has been awarded the Richard M. Fulrath Award by the American Ceramic Society for excellence in ceramic sciences and materials research. The prestigious honor will be received by Prof. Rupp at the 126th American Ceramic Society meeting in Pittsburgh this October.

Report in Wirtschaftswoche

Prof. Rupp and Prof. Janek were featured in a report of Wirtschaftswoche on solid-state batteries. Wirtschaftswoche is one of the most relevant economic newsletters in germany.

ECM-Team highlighted in MIT News for radiation detection with ceramics

Prof. Rupp and team have been featured in MIT News for discovering a fundamentally new way to detect radiation with ceramics (article here). Previously the team had been featured in MRL News.

Prof. Rupp's announced as Member of the National Academy of Science Leopoldina

We are honored to announce Prof. Rupp's recent induction into the Leopoldina, the National Academy of Sciences in Germany. This prestigious recognition is a testament to Prof. Rupp's pioneering contributions to the scientific community and her relentless pursuit of knowledge. The Leopoldina is renowned for its role in promoting science for the benefit of society, and Prof. Rupp's inclusion highlights her significant impact in her field. Join us in celebrating this remarkable achievement!

Prof. Rupp highlighted in Nature for tech trends insights

Prof. Rupp's insights on the future of energy storage have been featured in Nature. Jennifer's contribution is a testament to the impactful research conducted by our team and her recently founded battery company Qkera. We are proud to share this achievement with the scientific community and our partners.

QKera: A Leap forward in Battery Technology

In November, we celebrated the founding of QKera by CEO Lisa Liu, CTO Andi Weis, and CSO Prof. Rupp. This venture promises to bring innovative solutions to the forefront of battery technology, stemming directly from our research. Keep an eye on this space for more updates!

Jennifer participates in panel at BMW Technology Days

Jennifer took part in a bilateral panel talk at BMW Technology Day. There, she discussed the future of energy storage with BMW's Frank Weber (Board of Management for R&D), BMW's Ilka Horstmeier (Board of Management), as well as TUM President Thomas Hofmann.

Jennifer sits on panel at 50th anniversary celebration of the European Patent Convention

The European Patent Office celebrated 50 years! Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President of the European Commission von der Leyen gave speeches, and Jennifer took part in a panel to discuss Technologies for a Sustainable Future. More details and live streams of the event can be found here.

Prof. Rupp featured on Battery Generation Podcast

Prof. Rupp was a guest on a recent episode of the Battery Generation Podcast, where she discussed the promise and current status of solid-state batteries with Patrick Rosen. The episode has been viewed over 20k times so far!

Thomas wins DMSE's best PhD thesis award

Thomas is this year’s recipient of the best PhD thesis award at the Department of Material Science and Engineering at MIT. Thomas's PhD thesis investigates opto-ionic properties of doped ceria and includes the first observations of opto-ionic space charge modulation at grain boundary regions in a ceramic. Congratulations Thomas!

Thorben receives Linde/MDSI Fellowship

Thorben has received the Linde/MDSI Fellowship for his work applying data mining and machine learning to battery material discovery and optimization. The fellowship will support Thorben's research and promote interdisciplinary research within TUM. Congratulations Thorben!

Team's work featured for International Women’s Day by the RSC

The work of the team and Jennifer has been featured by the Royal Society of Chemistry for International Women's day. Relevant tweets can be found here and here highlighting a recent open access publication.

Prof. Rupp accepts position on the advisory board of Advanced Energy Materials

Prof. Rupp has accepted a position on the advisory board of Advanced Energy Materials. This reflects Jennifer's and the team's important contributions to the journal and the field at large. Congratulations Jennifer!

Philipp reaches top 10 in dissertation competition

Philipp has made it in the Top 10 and finals for Dissertations in Germany for the Natural Science/Tech Division. He will defend his work on glucose micro fuel cells in Berlin in the coming week. Congratulations Philipp, and best of luck!

Thomas awarded MIT Energy Initiative Fellowship

Thomas has been named a 2022-2023 MIT Energy Fellow, in recognition of his ground-breaking work on opto-ionics. Congratulations Thomas!

Drew awarded Accenture Fellowship

Drew has been named a 2022-2023 Accenture Fellow. The fellowship will support his work on Li-based neuromorphic computing devices. Congratulations Drew!

Prof. Rupp named Academic Director of TUM Venture ChemSpace

Prof. Rupp is now the Academic Directory of TUM Venture ChemSpace, which is dedicated to transforming deep tech innovations at TU Munich into startups. Jennifer is the first woman in this role.

Prof. Rupp elected to IEEE Neuromorphic Computing Committee

Prof. Rupp has been elected to the IEEE Neuomorphic Computing Committee. The committee will serve to support IEEE in fostering and promoting neuromorphic computing hardware as well as research into the underlying physics, electronics, and chemistry. The complete list of the 10 committee members can be found here.

Group's research featured by DOE Office of Science

MIT Material Research Laboratory's coverage on the group's recent publication - Photo-enhanced ionic conductivity across grain boundaries in polycrystalline ceramics - was featured on the homepage of the Department of Energy Office of Science. Congratulations to Thomas and coauthors for this well-deserved recognition!

Prof. Rupp joins Unifrax Battery Advisory Board

Prof. Rupp has joined Unifrax's Battery Advisory board supporting battery material & device production as well as Unifrax's new silicon anode technology "SiFAB". Additional information can be found on Business Wire.

Ericsson collaboration featured in All About Circuits

The group's work with Ericsson developing lithium-based memristors has been featured by All About Circuits. The Ericsson collaboration focuses on the development of Lithionic devices for neuromorphic computing. Prof. Rupp and Dr. Moran Balaish lead the MIT team, which consists of various members of the Rupp group alongside Professors Martin Bazant, Vivienne Sze, and Jesus del Alamo and their teams. The article showcases our past work as well as Prof. Rupp's vision of the future of neuromorphic computing.

Ericsson collaboration featured in MIT Materials Research Laboratory news

The group's collaboration with Ericsson has been featured by the MIT Materials Research Laboratory (MRL). The Ericsson collaboration focuses on the development of Lithionic devices for neuromorphic computing. Prof. Rupp and Dr. Moran Balaish lead the MIT team, which consists of various members of the Rupp group alongside Professors Martin Bazant, Vivienne Sze, and Jesus del Alamo and their teams. MRL published two articles, one announcing the collaboration and another detailing the specific research it enables.

2021 LILA-Material Science Mentoring Program fellows announced

Hana Gobena and Isaac Dyer have been named fellows in the LILA-Material Science Mentoring Program. More about the awardees and the LILA program can be found here.

Jesse wins ExxonMobil-MIT Energy Fellowship

Jesse has been awarded the 2021-2022 ExxonMobil-MIT Energy Fellowship. This competitive fellowship will help support Jesse's battery cell development project. Congratulations Jesse!

Prof. Rupp joins advisory board of Energy & Environmental Science

Prof. Rupp has accepted a position as advisory board member to serve and consult for the journal Energy & Environmental Science . On the advisory board, she will give input on the journal's future directions as well as make judgement calls for critical paper reviews.

Kierstin wins DMSE's Julian Szekely Award for Outstanding Junior

In recognition of her research and academic talents, Kierstin Torres has won DMSE's annual Julian Szekely Award for Outstanding Junior. Kierstin has contributed to various research projects and inventions within the Rupp group, resulting in great science and research papers, including a first authorship paper in Advanced Functional Materials. Congratulations Kierstin!

Prof. Rupp named fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

In recognition of the high quality and impact of her contributions to the chemical sciences, Prof. Rupp has been invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) . The RSC is one of the most distinguished and influential professional societies within chemistry and adjacent fields. Congratulations Prof. Rupp, FRSC!

Prof. Rupp featured in MRS Bulletin

Prof. Rupp was featured in a recent profile in the MRS Bulletin. The profile touches upon her personal history and research interests as well as her thoughts on how to make science and engineering more inclusive and impactful.

Jesse Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Jesse for being a recipient of an NSF graduate fellowship! This fellowship will support Jesse's work combining machine learning and high throughput synthesis for next-gen solid state Li electrolytes.

Group's recent review on thin electrolytes for solid-state batteries featured in TechXplore

A recent Nature Energy review by Moran, Juan Carlos, Kun Joong, Yuntong, Zach, and Jennifer has been featured by TechXplore. The article highlights the team's commentary on the current status and future promise of thin electrolytes for solid-state batteries.

Dr. Yousra El Ajjouri named first 2020 fellow in the LILA-Material Science Mentoring Program

Dr. Yousra El Ajjouri has been named the first 2020 fellow in the LILA-Material Science Mentoring Program. Dr. El Ajjouri’s research centers on solid state ionics, material processing, and machine learning. More on Dr. El Ajjouri and the LILA program can be found here.

Prof. Rupp highlighted in Advanced Materials "Women in Materials Science" Virtual Issue

Prof. Rupp has been highlighted in in Advanced Materials "Women in Materials Science" virtual issue, honoring the high impact her and other women have in Materials Science. Prof. Rupp is recognized alongside research conducted by herself and her team at the cutting edge between neuromorphic computing and battery technology. Congratulations to Jennifer and to all women recognized in this special issue!

Fall Course Annoucement: 3.38 - Ceramics: Processing, Properties and Functional Devices

3.38: Ceramics: Processing, Properties and Functional Devices - is being offered again this Fall by Prof. Rupp. Graduate and undergraduate students are invited to join in on the fun. Details can be found here. We look forward to welcoming students to the class!

Team awarded MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) Seed Fund for rapid material design for solid-state batteries

Our lab has been awarded an MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) Seed Fund for the new project "Rapid material design for solid-state batteries". Congratulations to Jesse and Kasia for a successful proposal!

MIT News

Prof. Rupp announces LILA-Material Science Mentoring Program to support African-American, minority LGBT and female graduate students and postdocs across US institutions

In response to recent events, Prof. Rupp has announced the LILA-Material Science Mentoring Program to support African-American, minority LGBTIQ and female graduate students and postdocs across US institutions with the goal of increasing diversity in Materials Science and Engineering.

Yuntong wins ExxonMobil-MIT Energy Fellowship, named a 2020-2021 delegate in the American Ceramic Society's President's Council of Student Advisors (PCSA)

Yuntong has been awarded the 2020-2021 ExxonMobil-MIT Energy Fellowship and has been named a 2020-2021 delegate in the American Ceramic Society's President's Council of Student Advisors (PCSA). Congratulations Yuntong!

Congratulations class of 2020!

Congratulations class of 2020 ! It was a true honor to learn from you, listen to all your exciting ideas and thoughts to contribute to science and possibly change the world. I loved every minute of it. I wish you all the very best for your future and am so proud of each one of you. Now go here - and ... do a little dance around a chair, juggle 5 bananas in the air standing on a counter top, and dance until you hit every wall of the room in a polyhexacondodecahedra arrangement and keep moving. Video proofs of celebrations are always welcome. Congrats !

- Prof. Rupp

Prof. Rupp takes seat on advisory board of Matter

Professor Rupp is now serving on the advisory board of Matter, a new flagship materials science journal from Cell Press. She will represent the area of applied electrochemical materials.

Sara Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Sara for being a recipient of an NSF graduate fellowship. This fellowship will fund Sara's work studying conduction pathways in ceramic/polymer hybrid batteries.

Prof. Rupp to serve on board of Matter by Cell Press

Professor Rupp has accepted an appointment to the board of Matter, a new flagship materials science journal from Cell Press. There, she will represent the area of applied electrochemical materials.

Welcome Lingping, Jesse, and Hyunwon!

ECM is pleased to welcome Jesse Hinricher and Hyunwon Chu - two new PhD students - along with Lingping Kong - a new Posdoc. All three will be working on solid state lithium batteries.

Claire Halloran selected as a Rhodes Scholar

Claire Halloran, a former ECM undergraduate researcher, was named a 2020 Rhodes scholar. She is one of just 32 winners selected from a field of 963 applicants. Congratulations Claire on winning this extremely competitive scholarship!

Royal Society of Chemistry highlights Prof. Rupp's comment on 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, Akira Yoshino for work on Li-batteries

Professor Rupp's comments were highlighted in a Royal Society of Chemistry article congratulating the winners of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their pioneering work on lithium ion batteries.

Prof. Rupp featured in Women in Business magazine's top 100.

Professor Rupp has been named in Women in Business magazine's top 100.

Welcome Haemin!

ECM welcomes a new postdoc, Haemin Paik. Haemin will be working on Li-based microbatteries and memristors. Welcome Haemin!

Work on low-temperature battery material processing featured in MIT news

Our recent paper titled "A low ride on processing temperature for fast lithium conduction in garnet solid-state battery films" has been featured in MIT news.

Welcome Katarzyna!

ECM is pleased to welcome our newest postdoc Katarzyna Sokol. Katarzyna will be working all solid-state Li-based batteries and memristors. Welcome Katarzyna!

Work on low-temperature battery material processing featured by MIT Materials Research Laboratory

The team's latest work, titled "A low ride on processing temperature for fast lithium conduction in garnet solid-state battery films", has been featured by MIT Research Laboratory.

Priyanka wins MIT Infinite Mile Award

Congratulations to our assistant Priyanka, recipient of the 2019 MIT Infinite Mile Award for outstanding service in administration and support. The whole team celebrates Priyanka’s success!

Article on low-temperature processing of battery materials published in Nature Energy

Our paper titled "A low ride on processing temperature for fast lithium conduction in garnet solid-state battery films" has just been published in Nature Energy. The paper introduces a new processing route to attain highly lithiated thin films at temperatures 400ºC lower than conventional processing. Congratulations to Reto, Michal, Inigo and Alin!

Philipp receives Hugh Hampton Young Fellowship

Congratulations Philipp! This fellowship will fund Philipp's work on glucose fuel cells.

Willis Awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Willis for being a recipient of an NSF graduate fellowship working on new material design for catalysis and fuel conversion.

Prof. Rupp promoted to associate professor

Prof. Rupp has been promoted to associate professor. Congratulations Jennifer!

Prof. Rupp becomes associate editor for Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Starting February 2019, Prof. Rupp will serve as associate editor for Journal of Materials Chemistry A. The journal covers the latest materials with applications in energy and sustainability.

Welcome Martin, Andrea, and Won Seok

Three new visitors have joined the group. Martin Philipp is a PhD student from University of Technology Graz. Andrea Pertoldi is a visiting masters student from ETH Zürich, Switzerland. Won Seok Chang is a researcher from Samsung Institute of Technology (SAIT). Welcome!

Jennifer Rupp joins Editorial Advisory Board of Advanced Functional Materials

Prof. Jennifer Rupp has recently accepted to join the editorial advisory board of Advanced Functional Materials.

Recent article on CO2 sensors operating on a Li-battery electrolyte featured in Nature Reviews Materials

A recent article from the Electrochemical Materials Laboratory published in Advanced Materials has been featured as a Research Highlight in Nature Reviews Materials. In this paper, Michal, Inigo, Reto and Jennifer demonstrate a new type of environmental CO2 sensor based on Li-La-Zr garnet-type electrolytes. We are very excited about this work as it is a first step towards integrated sensing of chemicals extending the use case of this classic Li-solid state battery electrolyte.

Welcome Willis

We are excited to welcome Willis O'Leary to our group. Willis is a first year graduate student at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and will be working on solar to fuel conversion materials. Welcome Willis!

Philipp wins poster prize at Materials Day 2018

Congratulations to Philipp for winning the poster award at Materials Day 2018, organized by the Materials Research Laboratory at MIT

New Course Offering! 3.38 Ceramics: Processing, Properties and Functional Devices

Prof. Jennifer Rupp will teach 3.38 this fall semester, a new graduate level course on ceramic. Click here for more information on the course.

Moran receives 2018-2019 Zuckerman Israeli Postdoctoral Scholarship

Congratulations to Dr. Moran Balaish for receiving the 2018-2019 Zuckerman Israeli Postdoctoral Scholarship. The Zuckerman STEM Program offers support to 10 postdocs from Israel who conduct research in the US.

Zach Receives Award from the Pakistan-U.S. Science and Technology Startup Program

Dr. Zach Hood has received an award under the Pakistan-U.S. Science & Technology Start-up Program sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and RTI Innovation Advisors, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State, USAID, and the Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC).

The startup project "Empowering Pakistani Women through Translational Research in the Sciences: Waste-to-Energy Conversion and Water Purification Technology Development" will be carried out as a collaboration between the ECM at MIT (Zach Hood), Wake Forest University (Abdou Lachgar), and the University of Sindh in Jamshoro, Pakistan (Najma Memon).

The overall goal of the project ist tocommercialize materials for waste-to-energy conversion and water purification, thereby empowering Pakistani women in the science and technology sector.

The training program portion of the award will take place in Dubai, where the team will learn how to commercialize the technologies and create a start-up in Pakistan.

Congrats Zach!

Welcome Moran

We are very excited to welcome Dr. Moran Balaish to the team! Moran is postdoc from Israel who will work on resistive switching materials. Welcome, Moran!

Welcome Prof. Yagi

We are very excited to welcome Prof. Shunsuke Yagi from the University of Tokyo to our group. Prof. Yagi will work together with the Electrochemical Materials Laboratory for the next year. Welcome, Prof. Yagi!

Electrochemical Materials Laboratory wins Displaying Futures Award

The Electrochemical Materials Laboratory has won the 2018 Displaying Futures Award by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Philipp and Kunjoong participated in the 3-day-workshop at the company headquarters in Germany and successfully pitched the project "on-chip all-solid-state glucose micro fuel cell for energy harvesting in the human body". The award of $50000 will support the ongoing research on this project financially, and the team will receive mentorship and access to resources from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.

Philipp named 2018 Broshy Fellow

Congratulations to Philipp Simons, who was named the 2018 Broshy Fellow. This competitive fellowship aims to support research which focuses on a novel, interdisciplinary project that has a good likelihood of being translated into an innovative commercial product and/or service that positively impacts healthcare outcomes and cost.

Zachary Hood recipient of the 2018 MRS Graduate Student Award (Gold)

Dr. Zachary Hood was selected as one of the recipients for the 2018 MRS Graduate Student Award (Gold) for his Ph.D. work detailing Li and Na solid electrolytes for next-generation batteries. Congratulations !

Welcome Zach and Marco

We are excited to welcome our new postdoc Zach Hood, and our new visiting student Marco Gysel to the team of Electrochemical Materials. We are very happy to have you both on the team!

Welcome Noa, Neil, Claire, Kaitlyn and Erick

Several new undergrads have joined the team of Electrochemical Materials. A warm welcome to Noa Schwartz, Neil Aggarwal, Claire Halloran, Kaitlyn Mullin and Erick Hernandez. We are very excited to have you!

Jennifer Rupp featured on MIT Energy Initiative Energy Futures

Jennifer Rupp has recently been featured on the Energy Futures of the MIT Energy Initiative.

Jennifer Rupp wins BASF/Volkswagen Science Award Electrochemistry 2017

Prof. Jennifer Rupp won the 2017 Science Award Electrochemistry for her outstanding research results in the area of next-generation energy storage systems. The Science Award Electrochemistry is an annual award presented jointly by Volkswagen and BASF.

Jennifer Rupp appointed as assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science

Prof. Jennifer Rupp has been appointed as assistant professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT, in addition to her appointment at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE).

Welcome Yuntong

The Electrochemical Materials Laboratory keeps growing. A warm welcome to our new graduate student Yuntong Zhu.

Welcome Kunjoong and Teo

The ECM lab keeps growing. A warm welcome to our new postdoc Dr. Kunjoong Kim, as well as to visiting student Jun Hao Teo.

Welcome Juan Carlos

The team of Electrochemical Materials is welcoming our new postdoc, Juan Carlos Gonzalez to the team.

Dr. Alexander Bork receives travel grant from Knud Højgaards Fond

Congratulations to Dr. Alexander Bork for receiving a travel grant from Knud Højgaards Fond to support his transition to the labs of Prof. Jennifer Rupp and Prof. Bilge Yildiz.

Prof. Rupp joins MIT

Prof. Jennifer Rupp has joined the MIT faculty as the Thomas Lord Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering