Adam Heller Named 78th ECS Honorary Member
Adam Heller, chemical engineering research professor and professor emeritus in the Cockrell School of Engineering, has been named the 78th Honorary Member of the Electrochemical Society (ECS). This prestigious recognition is only bestowed upon long-standing ECS members who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of electrochemistry and allied disciplines.
Heller’s work in electrochemical engineering has impacted both industry and academia, and has touched the lives of people across the globe. As the inventor of the painless diabetes blood monitor, his developments in healthcare have had an enormous societal and economic impact. Heller’s work spans a range of technologies, touching areas related to battery and energy – including solar cells, the lithium battery and photoelectrocatalysis.
Heller began his career with such notable companies as GTE Laboratories and Bell Laboratories, where he headed the Electronic Materials Research Department. He transitioned into academia soon after when he joined the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin in 1988. During this time, Heller co-founded what would be one of his most significant contributions to science—the painless blood glucose monitoring system.
Aside from this development, Heller’s research also resulted in the first paper on the lithium thionyl chloride battery, which would be used in implanted medical and defense systems that required a shelf life of greater than 20 years or a higher than average energy density. This achievement and many others earned him the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2008.
“Adam Heller’s contributions to electrochemistry make him one of the greatest scientists of our time,” said Roque Calvo, executive director and CEO of ECS. “ECS is proud to recognize his achievements by naming him the 78th Honorary Member in our 113-year history.”
Heller’s lifetime successes add him to an esteemed list of innovators who have paved the way for electrochemistry including Thomas Edison (1928, inventor of the phonograph and motion picture), Gordon Moore (2007, co-founder of Intel Corporation), and many others. Of the 20 living ECS Honorary Members, Heller joins three other Longhorns represented on the list – Larry Faulkner (2003), Allen Bard (2013) and John Goodenough (2013).
ECS recognized Heller’s honorary membership, as well as for winning the ECS Europe Section Heinz Gerischer Award, at a special awards ceremony and dinner held during the 228th ECS Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, Oct. 11.
Tags: 228th ECS Meeting, 78th Honorary Member, Adam Heller, Allen Bard, Cockrell School of Engineering, diabetes, Dr. Adam Heller, ECS, Electrochemical Society, John Goodenough, Larry Faulker, McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Phoenix Arizona, Texas ChE, The University of Texas at Austin, U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, UT Austin