NUtech Ventures 2020 Emerging Innovator of the Year

NUtech Ventures Author

10/29/2020 Added

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The Emerging Innovator of the Year award went to Shudipto Dishari, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. The award recognizes an individual, often a junior faculty member, for recent innovation contributions. Dishari’s research focuses on designing ion-conducting and light-harvesting polymers, exploring the nanoscale phenomena within polymeric thin films and membranes. Her work could help reduce the cost and improve the energy efficiency of hydrogen-based fuel cells. Other potential applications include energy conversion and storage device systems, such as lithium batteries, semi-conductors and biochemical systems.

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[00:00:00.190](upbeat music)
[00:00:02.750]My name is Shudipto Dishari,
[00:00:04.550]I'm an assistant professor in chemical
[00:00:06.090]and biomolecular engineering at UNL.
[00:00:08.760]In order to actually have energy sustainability,
[00:00:11.300]we need to work on the challenges in energy conversion
[00:00:14.890]and storage devices,
[00:00:16.230]and ion conduction is the poor function
[00:00:18.410]of electrochemical systems.
[00:00:20.470]However, there is a big ion transport limitations.
[00:00:24.060]That means that ion conduction is really poor
[00:00:26.600]in sub-micron thick polymeric layers,
[00:00:29.540]which are used as a coating over the catalyst particles,
[00:00:32.560]and that negatively impacts the energy efficiency
[00:00:35.270]of fuel cells.
[00:00:36.200]So we have been inspired by natural systems,
[00:00:39.320]where the pattern conduction are very efficient,
[00:00:41.400]so biomolecular channels, and inspired by those,
[00:00:46.250]we are right now designing semiconducting polymers,
[00:00:49.810]incorporating nature mimicking functional repeat units.
[00:00:52.660]And we have also been able to impart getting functionalities
[00:00:56.700]to these polymers,
[00:00:57.590]which makes the diffusion of protons even faster.
[00:01:01.080]Right now, I'm collaborating with fuel cell catalyst
[00:01:04.370]developing research groups,
[00:01:05.850]and I'm trying to demonstrate
[00:01:07.340]that these ion conducting polymers are performing
[00:01:09.760]equally well in complex fields of environment.
[00:01:13.360]So if everything goes all right,
[00:01:16.110]then maybe five to 10 years down the line,
[00:01:18.620]I will think about commercializing design of ours
[00:01:21.090]through my own startup.
[00:01:23.800]A combined heat and power system
[00:01:25.440]can be really attractive for Nebraska,
[00:01:27.610]and that uses a proton exchange memory
[00:01:30.160]and fuel cell technology.
[00:01:31.400]So any improvement in hydrogen fuel cell technology,
[00:01:35.100]that will impact these combined heat and power systems.
[00:01:38.210]Also, there are some local industries
[00:01:40.330]which produces hydrogen as a byproduct,
[00:01:42.910]so because hydrogen is the fuel for hydrogen fuel cell,
[00:01:46.640]so if BMFC becomes an economical choice,
[00:01:50.110]at the end, these industries will also be benefited.
[00:01:53.290]If you want to achieve energy sustainability,
[00:01:56.000]if you want to improve the quality of life,
[00:01:58.350]then you have to think about technology transfer
[00:02:00.830]from lab bench to the marketplace, right?
[00:02:04.000]So NUtech Venture has been very supportive
[00:02:06.400]in protecting our intellectual properties,
[00:02:09.860]licensing and technology transfer, and many other things.
[00:02:13.020]So I would like to thank NUtech Venture
[00:02:15.980]for their great support.
[00:02:18.020]The creative side of my soul
[00:02:20.270]actually finds peace in research.
[00:02:22.550]You know, at different points of my life,
[00:02:24.750]I have sparked as a cook, as a fashion designer,
[00:02:28.590]as a singer, as a researcher and many more,
[00:02:31.070]but I'm really happy that I picked academic research,
[00:02:33.590]because here I can pick a problem
[00:02:36.110]that I'm really passionate about
[00:02:37.580]and work really hard to find the solutions of those.
[00:02:40.850]And if my small contribution
[00:02:43.180]to achieve energy sustainability
[00:02:45.280]and improving the quality of life,
[00:02:48.800]then that's good enough to have good night's sleep.

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NUtech Ventures 2020 Emerging Innovator of the Year

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