Honor Bestowed by the Energy Materials and Systems Division of the American Ceramic Society

The Energy Materials and Systems Division (ESMD) of the American Ceramic Society awarded Xin Shi, a May 2024 physics Ph.D. graduate and current postdoctoral fellow at University of Houston, with its 2024 Outstanding Student Researcher Award.

The award was presented at the EMSD annual business meeting, held in conjunction with the 2024 Materials Science & Technology technical meeting and exhibition, on October 6-9, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The meeting and exhibition is the long-standing, recognized forum for fostering technical innovation.

The Outstanding Student Researcher Award recognizes exemplary student research related to the division’s mission. Each year, one winner is selected from applicants around the globe.

As the award recipient, Shi presented an invited lecture at an EMSD symposium at the annual conference. His lecture was entitled “Advancing Nontoxic, Antimony-based 1-2-2-type Thermoelectric Zintls.” He also received a plaque and a travel award of $1,000.

Shi’s advisor, Zhifeng Ren, said “Both Xin and I are very grateful for the recognition of Xin’s work in his Ph.D. dissertation by the EMSD. I hope his work on the 1-2-2-type thermoelectric Zintl phases will serve as a springboard to motivate other students researching thermoelectric materials and devices to reach higher levels to help society deal with energy and climate-related issues.”

“I would like to present my gratitude to the EMSD for selecting me as the award winner, for which I feel very honored,” Shi said. “I am part of a great team headed by my amazing advisor, Professor Zhifeng Ren, and I appreciate his support and guidance as I pursue my postdoctoral research in thermoelectric research.”

- Susan Butler, Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH