2017 Gerhard Herzberg award winner named, video
February 7, 2017 | By Rehana Begg
Dr. Jeff Dahn, is this year’s winner of Canada’s top research prize, the NSERC Herzberg Gold Medal for Science and Engineering, which is awarded annually for both the sustained excellence and overall influence of research work conducted in the natural sciences or engineering.
Dahn has been a pioneer in the research and development of the lithium-ion batteries used in mobile technology. The work accomplished by the Dahn Lab at Dalhousie University has had an impact on nearly every aspect of lithium-ion battery research.
In June of 2016, Tesla Motors, the world leader in electric-vehicle and grid energy-storage technology, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Dalhousie University formed the NSERC/Tesla Canada Industrial Research Chair, with Dahn as the chairholder.
Among the goals of this collaboration is to decrease the costs of lithium-ion batteries for cars and grid energy storage, as well as to make it more powerful and longer lasting.
Commenting on energy generation and storage for a sustainable future, Dahn says: “I think it’s imperative that we move to renewable energy as our primary energy source. And solar technology and wind technology are there, but the storage component is not there. To store electrical energy at scale, I think, is probably one of the top two or three problems facing humanity at this time…”
