Kelsey Hatzell, expert on energy storage technologies, wins junior faculty award from SEAS

By the Office of Engineering Communications

Kelsey Hatzell, an expert on batteries and energy storage technologies, has won the Alfred Rheinstein Faculty Award from Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). The award is given annually to assistant professors in SEAS to honor their excellence in teaching and research.

Hatzell, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, specializes in solid-state batteries. Her research explores fundamental questions related to dynamic processes that occur at solid-solid and solid-liquid interfaces in batteries and energy conversion systems, as well as translational work related to battery manufacturing.

Hatzell has received numerous accolades for her work, including an NSF CAREER Award, a Young Investigator Program award from the Office of Naval Research, an early career grant from NASA, a Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, a POLiS Award of Excellence for Female Researchers, and an ECS Toyota Young Investigator Fellowship. Prior to joining Princeton in 2021, Hatzell was an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Vanderbilt University.

“Kelsey’s research achievements have distinguished her as a rising young leader in the areas of energy and electrochemistry,” said department chair Howard Stone in his nomination of Hatzell. “Her research group has made significant contributions to the field of solid-state batteries, and she has emerged as a world leader in in situ and operando synchrotron characterization of solid-solid interfaces.”

A complete list of the 2023 junior faculty awards can be found on the School of Engineering and Applied Science website.