Electrochemical Society-Toyota Fellowship Goes to UCI Engineer

Iryna Zenyuk receives fellowship support for research in green energy technology.

Aug. 27, 2018 - Iryna Zenyuk, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science and associate director of the National Fuel Cell Research Center, has been awarded an ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship. The annual fellowship, a partnership between the Electrochemical Society and Toyota Research Institute of North America, aims to encourage young professors and scholars to pursue research in green energy technology that promotes next-generation alternative fuel vehicles.

Zenyuk’s project, “Addressing the Activation Overpotential in Fuel Cell Cathodes,” looks at using electrochemical techniques to improve the performance of costly components in high-efficiency fuel cell electric vehicles. She will receive a grant of $50,000 to conduct her research.

“A reduction in cost is needed to enable full commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles,” said Zenyuk. “This fellowship will advance the understanding for reducing precious metal loading in fuel cells. I am honored to receive this recognition and will be working to unravel fundamental problems of kinetics and transport that are currently limiting overall performance.”

– Lori Brandt