NY-BEST, in partnership with the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York, hosted the second annual M. Stanley Whittingham Distinguished Student Poster Award at its Fall Energy Storage Technology and Innovation Conference on October 29, 2025, in Ithaca, New York. The competition celebrates student researchers whose work is helping to shape the future of batteries and energy storage. The poster contest is funded and supported through the NSF sponsored Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York, which is working to build a robust, American made battery innovation and manufacturing hub in the region.
First place went to Cornell University PhD student Jantakan Nedsaengtip for the poster “Accelerating Formation Cycle in Battery Manufacturing: Real Time Insights Using Operando Techniques.” Her research focuses on one of the most time consuming and expensive steps in battery production, known as formation, where a stable internal interface forms that is essential for long term performance and safety. By using tools that can watch these interfaces in real time, Nedsaengtip aims to help manufacturers dramatically shorten this step, cut energy use, and bring high performance batteries to market more quickly.
Second place was awarded to Syracuse University student Haining Zhang for “Ultrafast, Energy Efficient Electrode Manufacturing via an Exothermic Binder.” Zhang is developing a new binder material that cures in minutes instead of an hour or more. This approach can reduce drying energy by about 70 percent, prevent cracking, and support faster, more sustainable battery manufacturing.
Third place went to Cornell University student Subhadra Jamkar for “Understanding the Interfacial Evolution Between Argyrodite Solid Electrolyte and Lithium Using In Operando Raman Microscopy.” Jamkar is working to understand how the contact between solid electrolytes and lithium metal changes over time, knowledge that is critical for safer and longer lasting solid state batteries.
By lifting up these student innovators, the M. Stanley Whittingham Distinguished Student Poster Award highlights the talent pipeline that will continue to make Upstate New York a leader in advanced battery research and manufacturing.
