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Innovation in Energy Storage: What I Learned in 3.091 was All I Needed to Know

Donald R. Sadoway: June 5, 2010; Running Time: 48:03

About the Lecture

About the Lecture

In a lecture that could have been titled, Better Education through Chemistry, Don Sadoway begins with solar energy, grid-level storage, and liquid metal batteries and moves into education innovation, sharing creative ways to teach chemistry.

Calling 3.091 a chemistry-centered class or Chemistry and the World Around Us, Sadoway uses examples from art, literature, music, and film to bring the topic alive. He weaves a complex chemistry tale with special features that include materials science jokes, insights into Salvador Dali, the story of human greed that took down the Titanic, and the use of primary sources in science.

He also shares some amazing student innovations around learning chemistry, including the periodic table of the chemical elements set to “Do-Re-Mi”, and periodic table inspired sonnets.

Lecture Details

Location: Kresge Auditorium

“How do we think against the grain? Pose the right question.”

Donald Sadoway

About the Speaker

Donald R. Sadoway

John F. Elliott Professor of Materials Chemistry
Department of Materials Science Engineering Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow

Donald Sadoway has taught at MIT since 1977. His research seeks to establish the scientific underpinnings for technologies that make efficient use of energy and natural resources in an environmentally sound manner. He holds a number of patents, and has served as principal editor of the Journal of Materials Research as well as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Light Metals. He holds the Bose Award for Teaching in the School of Engineering at MIT, 1997.

He received a B.A.Sc.in Engineering Science,and an M.A. Sc.and Ph.D.in Chemical Metallurgy from the University of Toronto.