Since May 2020, Prof. Anna Mechler is Professor for Electrochemical Reaction Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, as a member of the Aachener Verfahrenstechnik (AVT). She is also member of the Forschungszentrum Jülich, since September 2024 being department head for “Electrochemistry Electrolysis”.
Anna Mechler obtained her PhD in Electrochemistry in 2014 from Ruhr-University Bochum, for research conducted at the Max-Planck-Institute for Iron Research in the group of Karl J.J. Mayrhofer. Her PhD research focused on the combinatorial screening of fuel cell catalysts using the scanning flow cell. Following the completion of her PhD, she joined the group of Frédéric Jaouen at University Montpellier as a Postdoc to develop hybrid catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. In 2016, she became a research scientist and subsequently group leader for “Electrocatalysis” at the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion in Mülheim a.d. Ruhr.
Her current research focuses on the improvement of low-temperature electrolysis technologies as well as PEM fuel cells. She is especially interested in bridging the gap from fundamental studies in electrocatalysis to the incorporation of new materials and electrodes into fully functional reactors.
Anna Mechler coordinates the BMBF-funded project “PrometH2eus” with 26 partners, as part of the flagship project “H2Giga”, an initiative that drives the large-scale deployment of electrolyzers in Germany. As a member of the steering committee of the Clusters4Future “SupplHyInno Rhineland” at RWTH Aachen, she regularly co-organizes the Aachen Hydrogen Colloquium. In 2023, she was Co-Chair of the “European Fuel Cell Forum” conference in Lucerne.