VESTAL, NY (WSKG) — Nobel Laureate and Binghamton University Professor Dr. Stan Whittingham accepted his prize Tuesday in Stockholm, Sweden. At the same time, BU held a watch party in Vestal.
Whittingham won the award for his career developing the lithium-ion battery which can be used for grid storage. He’s the first Binghamton professor to win the award.
"He understands fundamental physics and chemistry of energy storage and energy exchanges, and that’s how you really develop new—totally new—concepts, and new ways of storing energy and reusing it, and creating reliable products that change the world," said Bahgat Sammakia, Vice President for Research at Binghamton University.
Sammakia said the next big push for Binghamton University is to take Whittingham’s results and translate them into products and applications that benefits society and creates wealth in New York.
Daryl Santos is also a professor at BU. He said this gives the university more name recognition.
"I do work with some companies on the West Coast in Silicon Valley," Santos explained. "Those companies there heard about him winning the Nobel Prize almost as quickly as we did. So that kind of information spreads quickly."
Even before winning the Nobel Prize, Whittingham's work was drawing students to Binghamton University.
"Dr. Whittingham is so famous—his science, attitude, and his knowledge," said Ben Pei, a second-year PhD student. "I’m so interested in him, so that’s why I came here to be a PhD student."
Students and colleagues said Whittingham is a brilliant researcher, but also called him generous, humble and down-to-earth.