David Wilkinson

Professor & Canada Research Chair, University of British Columbia

David P. Wilkinson is a professor and Canada Research Chair in the department of chemical and biological engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. He received his bachelor’s of applied science in chemical engineering from UBC in 1978, his Professional Engineering status in 1980, and his PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Ottawa in 1987. David’s main research interests are in energy conversion and storage materials, carbon dioxide and nitrogen conversion, and processes to create clean and sustainable energy and water. He has more than 80 issued U.S. patents, 230 refereed journal articles, and a number of technical books and book chapters.

Prior to joining the university in 2004, David had more than 18 years of industrial experience in the areas of fuel cells, hydrogen, and advanced lithium batteries. He has held a variety of leadership positions including being associate department head, executive director of the UBC Clean Energy Research Center, principal research officer and senior advisor with the National Research Council of Canada in Vancouver, director and vice president of research and development at Ballard Power Systems, and section leader for chemistry at Moli Energy (now E-One Moli Energy). He is a co-founder and technical advisor to Mangrove Lithium, a company which was spun out from his research program with his graduate students. David has received a number of awards, and was appointed to the Order of Canada for his contributions to electrochemical science and engineering, particularly his work on the development of fuel cell technology.