Perspectives on the ISSI
Much has happened in our field since the founding of our Society on September 8, 1987, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany at the 6th International Conference on Solid State Ionics. The promise of high energy density batteries has been fulfilled with lithium batteries now powering our laptops, cell phones and even motor vehicles. Concerns about global warming have accelerated the demand for alternative means for capturing and storing solar and other forms of renewable energy as well as for the detection and monitoring of emissions. Our field of Solid State Ionics is well poised to provide efficient and cost effective solutions, if we as a community, can make rapid and synergistic progress combining advances in theory, experiment, computation towards device development and scale up on the types of devices illustrated in the above figure. More recent developments hold promise for future micro and nanoelectronic devices in which ion motion can be applied to create extremely fast and highly dense memory elements. Finally, it is fair to say that life itself depends on ion motion through membranes, and this interface between biology and solid state ionics is itself an exciting frontier that individuals in our field are just beginning to seriously address.
Recent Initiatives
ISSI has in recent years been working towards providing a more direct interface with members of the Society as well as providing them with useful resources. Several of these activities include:
- Incorporating the Society as a stand alone Non-profit Corporation with ability to handle its own finances
- Building on our success in recognizing outstanding contributions from young scientists active in the Solid State Ionics field via the Young Scientist Award Program to include the new ISSI Mid Career Research Award and the ISSI Senior Scientist Award.
- Establishing a permanent, more user-friendly Website highlighting latest developments in the field of Solid State Ionics and providing means for members to provide feedback to the Society.
- Organizing the International Conference on Solid State Ionics to address both current and crosscutting trends in the field. SSI-24 was successfully held in London, UK, July 15-19, 2024. The conference website: https://ssi24.scito.org/
- The next International Conference on Solid State Ionics (SSI-25) will be held in Singapore, July 5-10, 2025.
The conference website: https://ssi-25.org/
We look forward to receiving your input as to how the ISSI might further advance services to its members and the broader SSI community.
ISSI Board Members
The ISSI board members are currently as follows:
President:
Prof. Tatsumi Ishihara, Japan
Vice President:
Prof. Jennifer Rupp, Germany
Immediate Past President:
Prof. Bilge Yildiz, USA
Treasurer:
Prof. Stephen Skinner, UK
Secretary:
Prof. Ryan O'Hayre, USA
Councilors from Asia/Pacific Rim:
Prof. Naoaki Yabuuchi, Japan
Prof. WooChul Jung, Korea
Prof. Hanxing Liu, China
Councilors from Europe:
Dr. Rotraut Merkle, Germany
Prof. Monica Burriel, France
Prof. Bettina Lotsch, Germany
Councilors from America:
Prof. Nicola H. Perry, USA
Prof. Olga Marina, USA
Councilors from Any Region:
Prof. Anke Weidenkaff, Germany
ISSI Past Presidents
The ISSI Leadership heralds from the most highly renowned and respected individuals from across the globe:
2022-2024 Prof. Bilge Yildiz, USA
2019-2022: Prof. Truls Norby, Norway
2017-2019: Prof. Han-Ill Yoo, Korea
2015-2017: Prof. Harry L. Tuller, USA
2013-2015: Prof. Joachim Maier, Germany
2011-2013: Prof. Shu Yamaguchi, Japan
2009-2011: Prof. M. Stanley Whittingham, USA
2007-2009: Prof. Klaus Funke, Germany
2005-2007: Prof. Tsutomu Minami, Japan
2003-2005: Prof. Subhash Singhal, USA
2001-2003: Prof. Joop Schoonman, The Netherlands
1999-2001: Prof. Hiroyasu Iwahara, Japan
1997-1999: Prof. Wayne Worrell, USA
1995-1997: Prof. Werner Weppner, Germany
1993-1995: Prof. Osamu Yamamoto, Japan
1991-1993: Prof. Gregory Farrington, USA
1989-1991: Prof. Bruno Scrosati, Italy
1987-1989: Prof. Robert Huggins, USA