§ Teaching & Mentoring
Teaching
I teach the courses that taught me — transport, thermodynamics, and reaction engineering — and I mentor undergraduates through their first real research. Good research is taught, not just done, and I write the notes I wish I'd had.
§ Approach
Teaching philosophy
Chemical engineering is taught as a tower of equations, but it is really a small set of physical ideas applied over and over. I teach for transfer: if a student understands why a flux is a driving force divided by a resistance, they can rederive half a textbook from a napkin. I spend less time on memorized formulas and more on the questions that generate them.
I run problem sessions like a research group, not a lecture. Students reason out loud, defend assumptions, and learn that being wrong precisely is more useful than being vaguely right. I show my own messy first drafts of derivations so that struggle looks normal — because it is.
Access matters. Every problem set I support comes with worked-solution walkthroughs and office hours that assume no prior advantage. The goal is simple: a student who arrives under-prepared should leave the course indistinguishable from one who didn't.
§ Courses
Courses I've taught
Three core undergraduate courses as a graduate teaching assistant, plus a guest module on electrochemistry in my own research area.
Electrochemical Energy Systems (CHE 561)
§ Mentoring
Undergraduate researchers
Six undergraduates have run projects with me in the Electrochemical Carbon Lab. Two have gone on to PhD programs, and several are co-authors on our papers.
-
2024–2026Priya — gas-diffusion electrode wettability screening
Built a contact-angle protocol that cut electrode-flooding failures in half. Now a PhD student at Georgia Tech.
-
2023–2025Marcus — operando Raman data pipeline
Wrote the Python pipeline behind our JACS Raman maps. Co-author on the 2024 paper; now a PhD student at MIT.
-
2023–2024Sofia — techno-economic sensitivity analysis
Mapped how electricity price sets the cost floor for ethylene. Now a process engineer at an electrofuels startup.
-
2024Daniel — copper catalyst synthesis & characterization
Optimized an electrodeposition route for Cu–Ag tandem catalysts. Presented a poster at the UA Undergraduate Research Conference.
-
2023Aisha — membrane-electrode assembly & testing
Standardized our MEA fabrication checklist, improving cell-to-cell reproducibility. Now in industry R&D.
-
2022–2023Liam — flow-cell instrumentation & LabVIEW control
Automated our gas-product sampling loop. McNair Scholar; pursuing a master's in energy systems.
§ Beyond the classroom
Guest lectures & outreach
Bringing electrochemistry and carbon management to wider audiences across campus and the community.
-
2025Guest lecture — "Can we make fuel from CO₂?"
A non-majors energy course at UA, framing electrochemical CO₂ utilization for a general audience.
-
2024Guest lecture — electrochemical reactors in CHE 422
Connected senior reaction-engineering theory to real CO₂-electrolysis design constraints.
-
2023–2026Lab volunteer — UA Engineering Day & Girls in STEM
Ran a hands-on "splitting water with electricity" demo for visiting high-school students each year.
§ Recommendation letters
Requesting a letter
I'm glad to write letters for students I've taught or mentored closely. So that I can write something specific and strong, please reach out at least four weeks before your earliest deadline and include: your CV or résumé, an unofficial transcript, the programs or positions you're applying to with their deadlines, and a short note on what you'd like the letter to emphasize.
If we worked together in a course or the lab and you remember a project or moment worth highlighting, mention it — it helps me tell your story honestly and well.
Request a letter§ At a glance
Teaching by the numbers
3
Courses taught
6
Undergrads mentored
4.9
Mean TA rating
2
Guest lectures
§ Work with me
Curious about research, courses, or joining the lab?
Whether you're an undergraduate looking for your first research project or a student needing a hand with transport and thermo, I'd like to hear from you.