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Dean Mark Boneschanscher: 鈥淲e are very happy that Toni is willing to take on this task. He brings a fresh perspective and international experience relevant to the growth ambitions of the department. Moreover, he is highly valued as a kind and supportive colleague throughout the department.鈥�

Career
Antoni (Toni) Forner-Cuenca earned his Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Alicante (2013) and completed his PhD at the Paul Scherrer Institute and ETH Zurich, where he pioneered gas diffusion layers with patterned wettability for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. His doctoral work, completed in 2016, was recognized with the ETH Zurich Medal for outstanding thesis and the Electrochemical Society Energy Technology Graduate Student Award. From 2017 to 2018, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, advancing the science and engineering of redox flow batteries for large-scale energy storage. In 2019, Toni started his independent career at Eindhoven University of Technology, where he founded the Electrochemical Materials and Systems Group. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023, and to Full Professor in late 2025.

His research has been distinguished with numerous honors, including the Princess of Girona Award, the KNAW Early Career Award, the Electrochemical Society Energy Technology Division Supramaniam Srinivasan Early Career Award, an ERC Starting Grant, and the NWO Veni and Vidi Grants, among others.

Prof. Forner-Cuenca鈥檚 research focuses on advancing transformative electrochemical technologies for real-world energy applications. By leveraging principles from (electro)chemical engineering, materials science, and physical chemistry, his team designs, synthesizes, characterizes, and models innovative materials and electrochemical reactors. Key applications include large-scale energy storage with flow batteries, energy conversion via hydrogen fuel cells and electrolyzers, and decarbonization of the chemical industry through efficient molecular synthesis and separation processes.

Ambition
In my new role as Vice Dean, I am excited to work with the board and everyone in the department to improve processes that support our core mission: enabling our researchers and educators to focus their time and energy on what matters most, which is producing outstanding science and delivering excellent education with a positive impact on society. The pressure and competition in academia are intense, and we must find smarter, more thoughtful ways to ensure that our talented colleagues can devote their creativity and expertise to the work that truly drives progress.

Our department is in the midst of an important transition, and I hope to contribute positively by combining empathy with forward-thinking and ambition. Looking ahead, remaining competitive in emerging areas of chemical engineering and chemistry will require us to recruit new faculty members. I am genuinely excited to play a role in this process. Our department offers an outstanding environment for scientific discovery, collaboration, and education, and I look forward to helping us attract exceptional talent from around the world.

Vision
Chemical engineering and chemistry are central to many of the challenges society faces today: decarbonizing our energy systems, ensuring access to clean water, producing and recycling essential materials, and developing new molecules and materials that advance human health. These are complex problems, but they are exactly the kinds of questions our department is well equipped to address. It is a particularly exciting moment for our fields, and our students and trainees are well positioned to help shape the future.

In this context, my focus will be fostering collaboration, listening carefully, attracting talent, and maintaining a clear emphasis on quality. I hope to support an environment where people feel respected, ideas can develop openly, and our work can have a positive impact, both within the department and in society.