CAIRNS TO RECEIVE MEDAL FROM MICHIGAN TECH
HOUGHTON--Elton J. Cairns, head of the Energy Conversion and Storage Program, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; and head of the Berkeley Electrochemical Research Center, University of California-Berkeley, will receive the Melvin Calvin Medal of Distinction during midyear commencement ceremonies at Michigan Tech Nov. 21.
The Medal honors the memory of Michigan Tech alumnus Melvin Calvin, who won the coveted Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1961. It is Michigan Tech's highest honor and is bestowed on individuals who have been associated with the University and who have demonstrated notable distinguished achievement.
Cairns received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering and chemistry with highest honors from Michigan Tech in 1955. He earned his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California-Berkeley in 1959.
From 1959 until 1966, Dr. Cairns performed research in electrochemistry and fuel cells at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York. In 1966 he joined the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois as a group leader, and made contributions to the development of very high-power-density secondary battery systems and to the understanding of the chemistry of liquid metal alloys and molten salts. In 1969 he was promoted to section head of the Energy Conversion Section. From 1973 to 1978 he was assistant department head of the Electrochemistry Department at the General Motors Research Laboratories at Warren, Michigan. In 1978 he joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as associate lab director and director of the Energy and Environment Division, with a joint appointment as professor of chemical engineering at the University of California-Berkeley. He assumed his current positions in 1996.
Cairns has authored nearly 180 publications and 15 patents, and has received numerous awards recognizing his professional achievements.
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11/12/98-MTN192