Contact: Meg Henderson

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State sustainable bioproducts student is one of only four graduate students in the country to receive a summer fellowship from the Electrochemical Society.

Ridwan Ayinla, a doctoral student in the College of Forest Resources, will use the $5,000 ES award to expand his research into green batteries and supercapacitors powered by biomass—the harnessing and storing of energy from agricultural waste products.

“Lithium, a finite element, is the active material used in conventional battery design. Our lab is interested in creating active materials from forest product waste that will provide sustainable and complementary material alternatives for batteries and supercapacitors,” he said. “I’m looking forward to taking on a student assistant in the lab this summer and gaining that leadership experience. The award is also an incredible honor because I was competing against students from Ivy League schools, and it confirms that my research is sound and that we are conducting world-class research at MSU’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center.

“I am incredibly grateful for my advisor, Dr. El Barbary Hassan, and the department head, Dr. Rubin Shmulsky, who have supported me relentlessly,” Ayinla added. “They believe in me, they listen to me, and they support and guide my research.”

Originally from Afon, Kwara State, Nigeria, Ayinla received his bachelor’s degree from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in his home country and was awarded the Petroleum Technology Development Scholarship to pursue his master’s degree from University Teknologi PETRONAS in Malaysia. He was invited to apply to MSU’s graduate program in chemistry, and after graduating with a master’s degree, he enrolled in the sustainable bioproducts doctoral program.

Since 1928, the Electrochemical Society has granted a small number of highly competitive fellowships to support the research of graduate students working in a field of interest to the society. To learn more about the summer fellowship program, visit electrochem.org/summer-fellowships.

For more information on the Department of Sustainable Bioproducts in MSU’s College of Forest Resources, visit www.bioproducts.msstate.edu. For more on the MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center, visit www.fwrc.msstate.edu.

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