Sarah recently passed her MPhil viva on aqueous zinc ion batteries last month, and is earger to start her next chapter as a Knowledge Analyst for Energy, Power and Oil and Gas at McKinsey & Company Jakarta office in August 2021. The MCG group had a relaxed farewell gatherings at the Plough in Coton.
Here's Sarah's story with her viva, as well as her experience in Cambridge and expectations ahead:
"The topic that I chose for my thesis was Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries (AZIB). The background for choosing this was because I wanted to research more on batteries that were beyond Li-ion batteries. AZIBs are safer and cheaper than LIBs since they use aqueous electrolytes and use minerals that are abundant, however there are still many things that need to be addressed to make this battery commercial and able to be used in stationary applications. I chose to take a closer look at the cathode of the AZIB and made my thesis with a title of Battery Performance Analysis of Hollow Double-shelled Sphere VOOH as The Cathode for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery. I did my viva on 14th of June 2021 with Prof. Cate Ducati as my internal examiner and Prof. Satheesh Krishnamurthy as my external examiner. Fortunately, I passed with minor corrections; and now my corrections are done and approved by the degree committee. What’s left is to arrange when I would have my graduation and hopefully publish a paper about my research. I couldn’t have done all of this if not with the help from Prof. Vasant Kumar and also all the members of the MCG!
"My one year and a half in Cambridge has been very unusual to say the least. I arrived on January 2020 in Cambridge and then 2 months later the whole country went into lockdown because of COVID-19. It was a confusing time, but I stayed in Cambridge through the whole process and I am glad that I did that. I managed to do the first 3 chapters during lockdown and went full speed ahead with my experiments after the lockdown was lifted and the department was opened. Luckily, I got a 6-month extension and I still get to experience many things during my time at Cambridge like the going to formal halls, experiencing college life, being part of societies and joining programmes and committees. Fortunately, I could finish my course on time despite all of the uncertainties due to the pandemic. For the next chapter, I will be going back to Indonesia to start my new job as a Knowledge Analyst for Energy, Power and Oil and Gas at McKinsey&Company Jakarta office in August 2021. I am excited to start this new journey and very grateful for the experience that I got from Cambridge."
All MCG members really missed Sarah (already):
“I feel so sad to miss the opportunity to say goodbye to Sarah in person but have to do it virtually,” said Minfei, who usually took afternoon teas with Sarah as well as other MCG members, “really missed the great time together, wonderful discussions and group gatherings. There’s a bright future ahead of Sarah, and she deserves all the best.”
Vasant also sent his best wishes for Sarah’s next chapter at McKinsey & Company Jakarta office. He and the whole group really enjoyed having Sarah here, and hope that she could took a bit rest with family before the next exciting and fantastic journey ahead.
Here's the farewell gathering before Sarah's leaving, the group enjoyed the evening with talks and drinks.
