Image: Curtis Berlinguette, Investigator, Blusson QMI.

Curtis Berlinguette is a Professor of Chemistry and Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia. He is also a Principal Investigator at the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute (Blusson QMI) and a Program Co-Director for the Canadian Institute of Advanced Research (CIFAR).

Curtis leads a large, interdisciplinary team seeking ways to discover and scale disruptive clean energy materials. His academic group has advanced a range of clean energy technologies, including CO2 electrolyzers, next-generation solar cells, and self-driving labs for accelerated materials discovery.

He also likes to work on high-risk, high-impact clean energy projects like cold fusion. Curtis has been recognized with several awards, including an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship. In 2021, Prof. Berlinguette was elected to the Royal Society of Canada.

Curtis co-leads the Vancouver branch of the Acceleration Consortium, which has received a $200-million grant for self-driving lab development from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF). The boost will help researchers at UBC and the University of Toronto to accelerate research translation from early-phase discovery to real-life deployment of new materials and molecules — from life-saving medications and biodegradable plastics to low-carbon cement and renewable energy.

Continue reading about Curtis’ work with self-driving labs here.