Awarded to those considered authorities in applied electrochemistry the Castner Medal is a distinguished biennial award given by the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Electrochemical Technology group. The award is named in honour of Hamilton Young Castner (1858-1899), a scientist, engineer and industrialist who changed the world in several respects but is best known as a pioneer in the field of industrial electrochemistry.
Dave is a recognised leader in the field of industrial electrochemistry having successfully developed and commercialised a number of electrochemical technologies such as advanced coatings and catalysts for water electrolysers and the chlor-alkali industry. His >30 year career in applied electrochemistry has included work in flow batteries, molten salt electrochemistry, fuel cells and water treatment. In the last decade Dave has had a focus on developing innovative models for technology development to achieve early commercial exploitation.
As part of his award, Dave gave a high-profile plenary lecture titled ‘From Electrosynthesis to Energy Storage and Back Again’ at Electrochem in September at The University of Edinburgh and was later presented with the medal on 2nd December 2022 at the SCI Headquarters in Belgrave Square by Professor Sudipta Roy of University of Strathclyde and chair ECTG (electrochemical technology group of the SCI).