J. Katana Ngala, Ph.D.

J. Katana Ngala specializes in inorganic chemistry and has published research that investigates materials for batteries and fuel cells. He teaches lab courses on campus, helping students see chemistry in action. “I hope that what students take away from my classes is the knowledge of the principles,” he says. He holds a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Working as a scientist in industry, I contributed to making lithium battery materials and solid form catalysts. The opportunity to make products of real-life applications was satisfying. However, I realized that I derive more satisfaction in sharing what I have learned with students, and that’s why I decided to move to teaching. Also, prior to working in industry, before and during my Ph.D. program, I taught for more than seven years.

Labs are a fun and memorable way to learn chemistry, and teaching students in the lab offers the opportunity to demonstrate what is learned in the class effectively. Students may learn how to do remarkable things such as determining the weight of a molecule, which we cannot see with our eyes. Students usually enjoy performing experiments because of the interesting observations, such as a change in the color of chemicals when they react, or heat production in some chemical reactions.

My own education and research experiences have allowed me to gain a better understanding of chemistry for me to teach more effectively. My research experience allows me to present additional perspective to things like chemical reaction ideas, such as the conditions that would be required for the chemical reactions and their cost. I have published research on the development of lithium batteries for electric cars, resulting in further studies on the reported material in other labs. I also published a notable contribution in the study of catalysts, which was cited in about 70 other publications.