Hired for the HYCAP project, my roles were the Research and Development of nickel-carbon supercapacitors, and then the Engineering and Production of GO-START engine start modules for heavy vehicles and stationary generators.In a joint effort with the team, toxic chemicals were eliminated, and by synergistic doping of nickel electrode, careful separator selection and tailoring of carbon electrode composition, self-discharge was reduced by half and capacitance retention increased by 20 times, which made nickel-carbon supercapacitors commercially viable, now practically the only choice for applications where high fire safety is required due to aqueous electrolyte. Based on comprehensive accelerated corrosion tests and cost-risk analysis, corrosion-resistant materials were selected and the design of each cell component was refined.To reduce the operational costs of transportation companies and ease cold engine cranking, with the help of the team, GO-START modules were developed that consist of a proprietary supercapacitor cell pack, control unit and third-party components. This certified and commercially available product extends the lifetime of lead-acid batteries by 50 to 90 %, eliminates the need for engine idling when parked, saving annually 2500 to 8000 EUR/truck and contributing to emissions reduction, and allows replacing lead-acid batteries with Li-ion batteries due to their higher capacity and longer cycle life.The production process has been separated into independent tasks and, since the initiation of scale production, the workflow has been continuously improving, now saving 10 person-hours/unit (50 %).I have enhanced the use of Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy for the characterization and testing of supercapacitor cells, and created a comprehensive set of tests for the GO-START module and a failure analysis algorithm that unambiguously indicates the cause or the element of failure in aggressive conditions.https://www.c2cnewcap.com/products

In my current research work at the Corrosion Science and Surface Engineering Group in Centro de Química Estrutural, I am aiming to develop environmental-friendly multi-functional additives for reinforced concrete to implement a multilevel strategy for rebar protection against the corrosion provided by:a) the formation of less porous and permeable microstructure of the concrete/mortar;b) the increase the chloride binding capacity of the hydrated cementitious matrix;c) the uniform distribution and controlled release of the corrosion inhibitors, stored inside additives;d) the promotion of smart triggered self-healing of formed cracks;in order to significantly improve the corrosion resistance of the reinforcing steel embedded in modified mortars and concretes.

Noxidity Technologies predicts corrosion of industrial machinery and commercial facilities through the use of affordable, smart sensors and the use of Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies. It provides maintenance staff with timely and actionable insights to prevent corrosion and therefore helps reduce maintenance and repair costs. Noxidity allows for a shift from corrective/preventive maintenance to a predictive type, providing sustainable solutions for corrosion prevention and control, thereby raising the industrial processes to a new level.

During my work in Polychem, I was responsible for the design, adjustment, improvement and maintenance of small production lines; product quality control; and, finally, for sales management.We were producing diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), known as AUS 32 (according to ISO 22241), being a full analogue of AdBlue™ (German Association of the Automotive Industry), which is used as a consumable in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) component of the diesel exhaust system.

I started research in the laboratory of mineral fertilizers in a project dedicated to the improvement of frost resistance and the performance of the dolomite-filled concretes.The purpose of the study was to reduce natural dolomite’s water absorption by the hydrophobization of the mineral with various inorganic and organic additives. Among the rest, sodium soaps of rapeseed oil were proven to be the most chemically and economically efficient for such treatment. The mechanism of hydrophobization was established: it is based on carboxylic anions adsorption followed by the formation of a layer of insoluble calcium soaps, accompanied by orientation of apolar hydrocarbon chains outside the surface of dolomite grain. This allowed to reduce dolomite surface wettability, moderately enough to maintain the adhesion between cementitious matrix and the filler at acceptable level without decrease in mechanical properties. The modifier agent was tested on industrial scale and successfully introduced into manufacture.Afterwards, I worked in the laboratory of adsorbents and adsorption processes, working on the development of supported transition metal oxide catalysts to be used as grain media for depth filtration in a water defferization (removal of dissolved iron) process in the frame of X08M-048 research grant. The developed material was successfully tested and introduced in water treatment plant of a central water supply system.

Though science is the only way to change our society and bring the human civilization to a new evolutionally level, the scientific goals could not be supreme for a given individual, esp. in case one has not enough food to eat. Following the vital necessity to earn some money, as any student may, I had to quit from the scientific research of underpotential deposition of metals, performed in BSU, and got acquainted with a small team of nice people from a private company “Atitlan”. At that time, “Atitlan” was a just started enterprise, specialized at building and maintenance of swimming pools, and they required a person who could curb all the problems related with pool water purification, conditioning, and disinfection, as well as the quality control. Years later, when I left the company, it had reached sustainable development, and nowadays I understand that during the time I worked in “Atitlan”, I have got a plenty of practical experience necessary for a chemical, materials and even electrical engineer as well as sales manager by everyday solving challenging interdisciplinary tasks.http://atitlan.by

Since I was at school, I have got a strong adherent interest for chemistry as a science. At that time, I spent plenty of my time on solving challenging chemical Olympiads tasks, which urged me on grasping new information for a deeper knowledge. Later, as I became a student of the chemical faculty of BSU, I realized that most of the things, which were supposed to be new for me, actually were not much, since I’d learned them being at school. Among the things I tried to do was teaching chemistry at advanced level, since I felt the necessity to transmit the knowledge I had. To be honest, I cannot say that I was a good teacher and I realized that having the knowledge and being able to translate it to someone are completely different things. Anyway, it was an important experience in terms of gaining soft skills, which I dare say I have never been good at. gymn35.minsk.edu.by