Research into solid-state batteries wins Cameron Dean the Vanier Graduate Scholarship
By Vanessa Parks
Internal Communications and Engagement Specialist
Cameron Dean, a PhD candidate in the Chemistry department, is all about power – battery power, that is. His research into solid-state batteries has earned him a Vanier Graduate Scholarship. This prestigious award recognizes academic excellence, research potential, and leadership ability.
“I want to better understand the function of battery materials, so that we can improve battery performance, safety, and cost,” says Dean. “For me, that means using computational methods, programming and simulation, to learn more about solid electrolyte materials, specifically. The goal is to optimize and come up with new developments.”
His research could impact a range of consumer products from phones and smart watches to electric vehicles. It also has the potential to inform future solutions to stationary energy storage, in other words, how we store power for use later in a more sustainable system.
“I don't see one battery technology necessarily being safer, more cost-effective, and better performing,” says Dean. “But there are avenues to explore for each of them, and different batteries for different consumer needs.”
Dean was first introduced to research into batteries as a co-op student at Tesla during his time as an undergraduate at Waterloo. “I learned about degradation analysis, which means looking at how batteries degrade over time in different kinds of use cases,” says Dean. “I found there was a lot to learn in the field and that data analysis was a useful way to better understand what was going on beyond the numbers.”
This focus on data analysis has become a key part of Dean’s research and was one of the things he highlighted in his application for the Vanier Scholarship. You need a lot of time and space to test solid electrolyte materials, but by using computational methods, Dean can move through various iterations without setting foot in a lab, which saves time and money.
It also allows him to work at very small length resolution. “We’re fundamentally trying to improve the ion conduction between two sites in a material,” says Dean. “You have a positively charged lithium or sodium moving from one spot to another, and these little hops happen at a very small scale. So, you need a level of resolution you can only get with advanced tools that require a lot of interpretation, and this interpretation is almost impossible without other information. Computation provides a framework for visualizing all this.”
Leadership is another important pillar of the Vanier Scholarship. As a coach for the varsity cross country team and member of the Chemistry Graduate Student Society (CGSS), Dean excels here, too. He talks about his varsity experience with enthusiasm. “For seven years now, I’ve been able to mentor other athletes as they come to the university and have watched them grow over the years,” he reflects. He’s also proud of helping to connect graduate students in Chemistry through this work with the CGSS.
Dean is now a member of the Nazar Group, a research team led by Linda Nazar, Canada Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials. Dean is grateful for the guidance he’s received from Nazar, pushing him in the direction of cutting-edge research in the field. “Her knowledge of what’s important and what to look at has really influenced my work,” shares Dean. “She directs us to key problems that make an impact and have positive outcomes.” Being a member of the Nazar Group has also connected him with researchers across the world, connections he hopes to strengthen as a Vanier scholar.
