Global development of industry and technology in the 20^th century, increased production of vehicles and the growing population have resulted in massive consumption of fossil fuels. Today, the automotive industry faces three challenges regarding environmental and energy issues:

1. finding a viable alternative energy source as a replacement for oil;
2. reducing CO₂ emissions; and
3. preventing air pollution.

Although the demand for oil alternatives—such as natural gas, electricity and hydrogen—may grow, each alternative energy source has its disadvantages. Currently, oil remains the main source of automotive fuel; however, further research and development of alternative energies may bring change.

Electrochemical research has already informed the development and improvement of innovative batteries, electrocatalysts, photovoltaics and fuel cells. Through this fellowship, ECS and TRINA hope to see more innovative and unconventional technologies borne from electrochemical research.

The fellowship will be awarded to a minimum of one candidate annually. Winners will receive a restricted grant of no less than $50,000 to conduct the research outlined in their proposal within one year. Winners will also receive a one-year complimentary ECS membership as well as the opportunity to present and/or publish their research with ECS.

To qualify, a candidate must be under 40 years of age and working in North America. The candidate must submit an original research proposal for review by the ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship Committee. The proposed research theme must not overlap with other research grants or other funded research projects.

Depending on the research progress and the results obtained at the completion of the award period, Toyota may elect to enter into a research agreement with the recipient to continue the work. The recipient must publish their findings in a relevant ECS journal and/or present at an ECS meeting within 24 months of the end of the research period.

The 2015 ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellows were:

• Prof. Patrick Cappillino, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
  Mushroom-derived Natural Products as Flow Battery Electrolytes: to investigate the use of a naturally occurring and biologically produced compound in non-aqueous redox-flow batteries (NRFB) to tune three important attributes while retaining extraordinary metal-binding properties: redox potential; solubility in NRFB solvents; peripheral electrostatic and steric properties.

• Prof. Yogesh (Yogi) Surendranath, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  Methanol Electrosynthesis at Carbon-Supported Molecular Active Sites: to synthesize a selective electrocatalyst for methane to methanol conversion by ligating single site transition metal compounds known to activate methane with graphitic carbon surfaces that allow for facile charge transfer.

• Dr. David Go, University of Notre Dame.
  Plasma Electrochemistry: A New Approach to Green Electrochemistry: to demonstrate the feasibility of using plasma electrochemistry to process carbon dioxide (CO₂) for the production of alternative fuels, thereby ushering in a novel electrochemically-driven approach to both capture and reutilize CO₂, reducing the overall carbon footprint of automobiles.