Rate My Professor Fernando Garzon

Fernando Garzon is a Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico, holding a joint appointment as a Faculty Research Scientist at Sandia National Laboratories' Advanced Materials Laboratory since 2014. He also directs the Center for Micro-Engineered Materials. Garzon earned his B.S.E. in Materials Science and Engineering in 1982 and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering with a focus on Solid State Chemistry in 1988, both from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his current roles, he spent 26 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory, progressing from Postdoctoral Fellow (1988-1989) to Technical Staff Member (1989-1993), Technical Project Leader (1994-1997), Deputy Group Leader (1999-2001), and ultimately Scientist V and Materials Chemistry Team Leader (1997-2014) in the Electronic & Electrochemical Materials & Devices Group.

His research specializations encompass electrochemical energy conversion technology for fuel cells and batteries, chemical sensor development using ionic devices, heterogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis, inorganic ionic and nanoporous membrane science, ceramic thin and thick film materials development, advanced gas sensors, fuel cell materials technology, energy storage technology, high temperature materials and devices, electronic conducting transition metal oxides, thin film growth, ceramic membrane technology, solid state ionics, and advanced explosives forensic technology. Garzon has co-authored over 140 scientific publications garnering more than 6,000 citations, with an h-index of 34. Key works include chapters in the Handbook of Fuel Cells on contaminant effects and catalyst activity (Wiley, 2010), 'Solid-state mixed potential gas sensors: theory, experiments and challenges' (Solid State Ionics, 2000), and 'Combined Mixed Potential Electrochemical Sensors and Artificial Neural Networks for the Quantification and Identification of Methane in Natural Gas Emissions Monitoring' (Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 2021). He holds ten U.S. patents in electrochemical technology, including those for thin film mixed potential sensors (2007) and solid state oxygen sensors (1997, 1996). Among his major awards are the Los Alamos National Laboratory 2012 Fellow’s Prize for Scientific Leadership, Fellow of the Electrochemical Society (2008), DOE-EERE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Program 2009 Award, multiple Los Alamos Technology Transfer Awards (1996-2010), R&D 100 Award (1999) for Sulfur Resistant Oxygen Sensor Technology, and Scientific American’s Top 50 Science and Technology Achievements (2003) for sulfur-tolerant fuel cell anodes. Garzon served as President of the Electrochemical Society (2012-13), Vice President (2009-12), Past Chairman of its High Temperature Materials Division, and editor for Solid State Ionic Devices, alongside invited plenary and keynote lectures at international conferences.