Congratulations Emmanuel

Franklin got his Bachelor’s in Chemistry at Michael Okpara University, Nigeria. His research was focused on the biosorption of heavy metal ions aqueous solutions using agricultural waste.

Frank worked as a Quality control chemist in the pharmaceutical industry for about a year and then proceeded to obtain my Masters in Chemistry at Illinois State University. His research was focused on designing metal nanoparticle/polymer nanocomposite as highly stable and efficient quasi-homogeneous catalyst in C-C bond forming reactions. He is currently working on incorporating hydrocarbon ionomers in PEM WE.

In his free time, He enjoys cycling and taking photos of beautiful scenery.

Chase obtained his B.Sc. from the University of Calgary developing CO₂ photocatalysis, and later obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan studying and improving polymer solar cells.

His current research focuses on the development of polymers for a range of applications from ion-exchange membranes to corrosion prevention.

In his free time, you may find him climbing a mountain or cooking delicious food.

Ana Laura obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She did part of her undergraduate studies at the Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, France, where she had her first contact with electrochemistry. She has a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of São Paulo with one year done at the University of Surrey, UK. She also did a 2 years post-doc at the Nuclear and Energy Research Institute (IPEN), Brazil, in collaboration with Shell.

Ana Laura has experience in membrane and ionomer synthesis (using radiation-induced grafting), materials characterization, and application in PEMFCs and AEMFCs.

During her free time, Ana Laura likes to travel, train BJJ, and enjoy nature.

Hien is a visiting research student in Holdcroft’s group. She completed her M. Sc in Microsystems Engineering from IMTEK, the University of Freiburg. Her Master’s thesis focused on improving the performance of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells with low Pt-loading. She develops and investigates proton-exchange fuel cells with sulfonated polyphenylene-based ionomers in her PhD project. Her current research project in Holdcroft’s group is focused on understanding the reasons for the high power density of fuel cells integrating hyperbranched ionomers in the catalyst layers.

Hien can talk about food, travelling, shows and science very passionately. She loves to go out but only if it is sunny.

Jamie is a visiting graduate research student in the Holdcroft group.

He received his master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Twente, The Netherlands. Followingly, he started his PhD in the group of Dr. Lorenz Gubler (Paul Scherrer Institute, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) working on polybenzimidazole membranes for vanadium redox flow batteries.

Jamie’s research in the Holdcroft group focuses on the optimization of HMT-PMBI membranes for flow battery applications.

In his free time, you may find Jamie hiking, on the tennis court or sheltering from the rain with some board games.

Matthew received his Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia Okanagan focusing on organic and analytical chemistry.

In his final year of studies, he worked for Progressive Planet Solutions Inc. furthering their pozzolanic cement development before transferring to InnoTech Alberta to join the Bio-Thermal Chemical Processing Team and assist on the development of electrochemical grade activated carbon products made from Canadian industrial waste for use in supercapacitors and lithium sulfur batteries. This project is now in the scale up phase and being prepared to launch to market.

In his free time you can find him out fly fishing and camping.

Torben joined the lab to add to the team currently working on CO2 electrolysis, following his PhD that he completed at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart (Germany).

Torben’s background is in characterization and development of hydrocarbon ionomer membranes for PEMFC and PEMWE application, focusing on their balance of properties to combine high performance and durability.

His broader interest lies in functional polymeric materials, electrochemistry, and the renewable energy economy.

Jacob Ronen Keffer obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry from McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario. He worked with Dr. Gillian Goward’s group, using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance to study sodium-ion battery cathodes.

He is now pursuing his Master’s in Chemistry and is focusing on carbon dioxide reduction. He hopes to apply solid-state NMR methods to polymer membranes.

In his free time, Jacob has been exploring Vancouver and loves hiking, skiing, biking and wants to explore camping and climbing.

Anastasiia obtained her B.Sc. from Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI), Ukraine in Chemical Technology. As a participant of Double Degree program, she got her M.Sc. in Environment Engineering from KPI and Korea Institute of Science and Technology. She decided to continue her research journey in Korea and completed Ph.D. program at University of Science and Technology/KIST School.

Her experience is ranging from polymer synthesis to membrane fabrication and full physical/chemical characterization, as well as the application in fuel cells, electrolysers and batteries.

Pete has an MChem from the University of Southampton, UK, and a PhD in PEMFC technology from the Centre for Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research at the University of Birmingham, UK.

His research interests are in the development and characterisation of new materials for PEMFCs and carbon dioxide electro-reduction cells. In his spare time you will likely find him on the mat training BJJ and Japanese Jiu Jitsu.

Kate has an MChem from Lancaster University in the UK, with her research focussed upon developing small molecules for solar thermal fuels.

She moved to SFU for a PhD and is currently interested in developing structure – property relationships of poly(imidazolium)s for anion exchange membranes.

In her free time, Kate likes to be exploring BC on her bike or hiking up the mountains.

Binyu graduated with a B. Eng. in Chemical Engineering from East China University of Science and Technology and a M. Sc in Chemistry from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Before joining Dr. Holdcroft’s group, he worked on developing more efficient anode catalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells.

Now, he starts to study the water electrolysis on our anion exchange membrane (HMT-PMBI). In his free time, you may find him in the gym.

Sidney is a first year graduate student in the Holdcroft Lab interested in characterizing the ionic conductivity and permselectivity on anion exchange membranes.

She received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Waterloo in 2017 where she worked in Jean Duhamel’s lab during her thesis project and proved the ability of using Model Free Analysis (MFA).

In her spare time, Sidney enjoys playing piano, skiing and is a food lover.

Emmanuel got his bachelors degree in Engineering Physics at Obafemi Awolowo University, his research focus was on Dye Sensitised Solar Cells (DSSC).

He went on to work in the industry for two years before obtaining his M.Sc degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Cape Town focusing on PFSA catalyst coated membranes for PEMFC performance enhancement.

Emmanuel is a huge lover of nature and wildlife photography and in his spare time likes to teach life skills to kids.

Apurva is a visiting research student in Holdcroft’s group. 

She completed her MSc in Energy Science from IIT Bombay, her masters project focused on the mechanism(s) of hydrogen sorption in metal hydrides. Currently she is continuing her PhD at IIT Bombay.

Her current research project in Holdcroft’s group focuses on the analysis of transport properties in ion exchange membranes.

Apurva loves to paint in her spare time and is fond of Madhubani paintings.