Lecture

Monday, July 29, 2019 11:30 am - Thursday, August 1, 2019 5:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Tsinghua-Waterloo Joint Forum on Advances in Energy and Environmental Technologies

Collage of solar panel, canola flower, wind turbines and powerline

The Tsinghua-Waterloo Joint Forum on Advances in Energy and Environmental Technologies will bring together leading experts in the fields of sustainable energy management, novel energy production, biofuels, pollution mitigation, fuel cells, and next-generation rechargeable energy systems.

Please join the Institute for Polymer Research (IPR) on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 for a guest lecture by Professor Mitchell Winnik, University Professor of Chemistry at University of Toronto, speaking on Biomedical Applications of Metal-chelating Polymers and Lanthanide Nanoparticles.

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Lecture Series

Porous media form the backbone of electrochemical energy storage and conversion technologies, governing transport, reaction access, and overall efficiency in redox flow batteries, electrolyzers, and fuel cells. Despite their central role, most porous electrodes and transport layers have changed little over decades, relying on randomized architectures that constrain performance, durability, and cost. Dr. van der Heijden’s research group reimagines porous media as engineered components, structures that can be deliberately designed rather than inherited. By integrating pore‑scale modeling, operando imaging, computational optimization, and advanced manufacturing, the group uncovers fundamental structure–performance relationships and develops new architectures that reduce transport losses. This talk highlights how tailored porous microstructures can enable more efficient, robust, and scalable electrochemical devices.

The Chemical Engineering Department is hosting a special graduate lecture on Optimization and simulation-based approaches to manage logistics of trucks and ships in large supply chains.