Dr. Moran Balaish

Dr. Balaish received her PhD from the Grand Technion Energy Program. Her research focused on the development and study of a novel fluorocarbon air-cathode/non-aqueous electrolyte system for Li-O₂ batteries.

At MIT, in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, she will switch from liquid-based electrochemical energy storage to solid-state electrochemical information processing and storage. Building on the expertise she accumulated during her Ph.D. studies, she will also acquire skills to help her specialize in a relatively new field: solid-state ceramic-based memristors. These are materials which change their electrical resistance depending on their pre-history, or on the total current or charge that has passed through them. Developing reliable and cheap memristors could revolutionize the way computers operate, opening the way to neural-like information processing and storage.

As a Teaching Assistant at the Technion, she taught a General Chemistry course in the International School of Engineering. She mentored in diverse settings such as the President Peres Program for Future Scientists, SciTech (a science program for outstanding high-school students from around the world), and Select (a voluntary after-school scientific enrichment program for underprivileged students).

Moran is also a recipient of the Fulbright and Technion-MIT Postdoctoral Fellowships.