Nobel Prize winner visits Warsaw University of Technology
Our University welcomed Prof. M. Stanley Whittingham – winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He received an honorary doctorate from the Warsaw University of Technology, and also met with representatives of the University of Technology and gave an open lecture.
Prof. Whittingham is a co-creator of lithium-ion batteries. These devices have found a number of applications: from laptops, mobile phones and digital cameras, through power tools, to cars. The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly for work on this innovation to Prof. M. Stanley Whittingham, Prof. John B. Goodenough and Prof. Akira Yoshino.
The Rector of the Warsaw University of Technology, Prof. Krzysztof Zaremba, emphasised the importance of this research.
“Prof. Whittingham’s achievements revolutionised our lives,” the Rector emphasised during the honorary doctorate award ceremony. “I believe that as a technical university the Warsaw University of Technology is the right place to honour the professor, because our mission and our goal is to create solutions that bring measurable benefits to people.”
“Prof. Whittingham is an outstanding scientist, and at the same time a very kind man, focused on working together with scientific teams, including at the Warsaw University of Technology,” said Prof. Franciszek Krok, a scientist from our own Faculty of Physics who had the opportunity to meet and work with Prof. Whittingham.
You can find more information about the honorary doctorate award ceremony in following article: New doctor honoris causa of WUT.
During his visit to WUT, the Nobel Prize winner talked to authorities and representatives of the Faculties of Chemistry and Physics. The meeting was attended by Rector Prof. Krzysztof Zaremba, Vice-Rector for General Affairs Prof. Mirosław Karpierz and Vice-Rector for Science Prof. Mariusz Malinowski, as well as Dean of the Faculty of Chemistry Prof. Władysław Wieczorek, Dean of the Faculty of Physics Prof. Wojciech Wróbel, and scientists who have worked with Prof. Whittingham: Prof. Marek Marcinek from the Faculty of Chemistry and Prof. Franciszek Krok from the Faculty of Physics.
The Nobel Laureate also found time to meet PhD candidates, students and young researchers. He was a special guest at a seminar in the Centre for Advanced Studies. There, he spoke about the impact of new energy sources on technical civilisation.
Prof. Whittingham’s open lecture attracted crowds. In the packed Auditorium of WUT’s Faculty of Physics, the Nobel Prize winner first spoke about the role of energy storage in the context of energy management and climate change, and then took questions. The subject matter aroused so much interest that the discussion continued for quite a long time.
After Prof. Whittingham’s lecture at WUT, Prof. Marek Marcinek discussed the Young Scientist’s Manifesto, developed by the participants of the BATTERY 2030+ project, including the Warsaw University of Technology. Our young scientists (Marta Kochaniec, PhD and Maciej Smoliński, Msc.) handed the Nobel laureate the document.
Prof. M. Stanley Whittingham visited the Warsaw University of Technology on 21 and 22 November 2022.