लेखक: Haleh Ardebili

Ralph Zito, Ph D, was a pioneer in the field of electrical energy for over 30 years. With more than 40 patents and 60 papers to his credit, his resume is a virtual who”s who of energy companies, such as GE, Westinghouse, and Sylvania, to name a few. He taught at the Carnegie Institute, where he obtained his doctorate, and did research at New York University, where he received his baccalaureate. Ralph Zito passed away in 2012. Haleh Ardebili, Ph D, is currently the Bill D. Cook Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Houston. She also holds a joint appointment in Materials Science and Engineering Program. She received her B.S. Honors degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Pennsylvania State University (1994), M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University (1996), and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park (2001). Ardebili was a research scientist at General Electric R&D, and later a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University in 2010 before joining University of Houston. Her current research work focuses on materials for energy storage and topics include flexible and stretchable lithium ion batteries, next-generation polymer nanocomposite electrolytes among others. She has several publications and patents in the areas of energy storage and electronics. Her awards and honors include the NSF CAREER, Texas Space Grants Consortium New Investigators Program, and the Kittinger award for teaching. She is a regular contributor to the National Public Radio Show, “Engines of Our Ingenuity”.