Join us for a virtual panel with Chemistry at UIUC alumni, as they share about their experience and careers in energy storage, process R&D chemistry, and research administration.
Register here to attend!
Panelists:
Dr. Karla Ewalt (BS, ‘89)
Senior Associate Dean for Research, Princeton University
Dr. Ewalt is responsible for research administration oversight in the areas of policy leadership, research development, communications, and drones at Princeton University. Prior to returning to the academy, she worked in private research institutes and biotechnology companies, first as a scientist and later as a founding member and president of the start-up company aTyr Pharma. Dr. Ewalt received her doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of California-San Diego and was a postdoctoral fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, focusing on protein structure and folding. She is a proud alumna of the University of Illinois, class of 1989, where she received her bachelors of science in chemistry with highest distinction. She conducted undergraduate research with two faculty members - Dr. Steven Zimmerman in organic chemistry and Dr. Timothy Nieman in analytical chemistry - experiences which set her on the path to graduate school and a rewarding career in research and research administration.
Dr. Kaitlyn Gray (PhD, ’11)
Senior Principal Scientist in Process Chemistry, Pfizer
Dr. Gray is originally from California where she completed her BS in chemistry at Harvey Mudd College. She then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to get her PhD in organic chemistry with Prof. Martin Burke where she worked on understanding the mechanism of action of Amphotericin B. Dr. Gray spent 9 years working in process chemistry at Dow Chemical/Corteva Agriscience. In November of 2020 she joined Pfizer’s process chemistry group in Groton, Connecticut where she has had the opportunity to work on COVID related projects. In her free time she likes to hike, rock climb, and hang out with her two miniature dachshunds.
Dr. Nicholas Ndiege (PhD, ‘08)
Senior Member of Technical Staff, QuantumScape
Dr. Ndiege was born in Nairobi, Kenya and migrated to the US 25 years ago. He completed his bachelors' degree at Berea College after which he joined the chemistry graduate program at UIUC. He completed his PhD dissertation with Prof. Richard Masel and the late Prof. Mark Shannon's research groups while working on joint projects with both professors to develop thick film deposition techniques for high temperature insulation and mixed oxide semiconductors for heterogeneous photocatalysis applications.
Following his PhD, he went for postdoctoral training with Prof. Sarah Larsen's group at the University of Iowa's chemistry program focusing on synthesizing zeolites for drug delivery and bioimaging applications for prostate cancer diagnosis and therapy. Thereafter, Dr. Ndiege transitioned from academia to industry by joining Lam Research Corporation as a process engineer working on back end deposition processes or low k and ultra-low k films. Beyond his time at Lam Research Corp., he held engineering roles at Aveni inc., where he did front end metallization for chip manufacturers; Alta Devices Corp., where he got into manufacturing engineering, building flexible GaAs solar cells for aerial vehicles and low earth orbit satellites; and Abbott Laboratories, where he supported the HeartMate 3 LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device) manufacturing line. Dr. Ndiege is currently at QuantumScape Corporation where he is a senior member of technical staff and part of the manufacturing engineering team, working on scaling up their solid-state battery production process, projected to have QuantumScape batteries in consumer driven cars within a few years.
