Name: Iryna Zenyuk
Hometown: Irvine, CA (originally from Ivano-Frankivsk)
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine
Professional Interests: renewable energy technologies
Why did you decide to join the Shevchenko Scientific Society?
I am a member of several professional science and engineering societies. The Shevchenko Society provides a venue for interactions with Ukrainian scientists across various social science disciplines. The Shevchenko Society has excellent lecture series and I enjoy learning about disciplines outside my immediate field of work.
What do you value about membership in the Society? What is your most memorable Society’s event or publication?
Since I live in California, most of the time I learn about lectures and their outcomes from my mother, Polina, who is an active participant in the society. The Youtube channel is great, as I get to hear the lectures remotely.
How did your interest in Ukrainian culture and society influence your career path?
I grew up in Ukraine and chess game has been a big part of Ukrainian culture and society. Ukraine has a very strong chess school and produced many strong chess players. I have been a chess player for 24 years, which was a long and fun career to have. Without Ukrainian culture and society support I wouldn’t have become a top ten women player in the US.
What is your current research/work project (or your hobby)?
I am an Assistant Professor at University of California Irvine in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. My group works on enabling renewable energy sources by electrification of transportation sector. We work in the domain of electrolyzers, fuel cells and batteries, trying to reduce cost and increase efficiencies of these electrochemical devices to decarbonize environment.
What career advice would you give for new members of the Shevchenko Scientific Society?
Let others know what you are working on and what you are passionate about, as by educating others we collectively grow as a community.