Drew Higgins

Biography

In January 2019, Drew began as an Assistant Professor in Chemical Engineering at McMaster University, where his research focuses on sustainable electrochemical energy technology development. Particularly, his team focuses on applications including electrochemical CO₂conversion, rechargeable zinc-ion batteries, supercapacitors, water electrolyzers and biomass valorization processes. Their research covers the synthesis of new nanostructured electrode materials and their integration into electrochemical technologies, as well as developing advanced understanding of material performance through the development and implementation of in situ characterization techniques. Previously Drew completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering within the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology at the University of Waterloo in 2015, with his thesis involving the synthesis, characterization, and device integration of nanostructured oxygen reduction catalysts for low temperature fuel cells. During this time, he spent approximately one year at the Los Alamos National Laboratory working. In 2015, Drew started a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University in the Department of Chemical Engineering and in 2017 he was promoted to an Associate Staff Scientist at Stanford University / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where he oversaw research activities focusing on discovering and understanding new electrocatalyst compositions and structures for a variety of important electrochemical reactions, including water oxidation, CO₂ reduction, oxygen reduction and methane activation. More details are available at: https://www.higginslab.com/.  

Education

• BASc in Chemical Engineering – University of Waterloo(2009)
• MASc in Chemical Engineering – University of Waterloo(2011)
• PhD in Chemical Engineering – University of Waterloo(2015)
• Banting Postdoctoral Fellow – Stanford University(2015-2017)
• Associate Staff Scientist – Stanford University / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory(2017-2018)