A chemical engineer turning waste into worth
I am Elyse Kimpiab, a PhD candidate in Chemical & Biological Engineering at The University of Alabama, working in the Harris Laboratory on zeolite catalysts for bio-derived molecules. I came to this work from the Democratic Republic of Congo by way of South Africa, and I do it because I believe we cannot solve global challenges with the same thinking that created them.
Where I come from, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, problems are not abstract. I grew up seeing communities struggling with disease, families without reliable access to clean water, and children who did not always get the chance to become the adults they dreamed of becoming. I did not yet have the words — sustainability, green chemistry, circular economy — but I had a question that stayed with me: why does it have to be this way?
In primary school my teacher asked the class what we wanted to become. I said I wanted to be an engineer. He told me I could not: science is not for women. I was young, but I knew those words were wrong, and another question began to grow — why not me? That pushed me toward chemical engineering, not to earn a degree, but to use science as a tool for change.
Years later, in a chemical engineering lab in South Africa, I saw it work in practice. We took toxic mining wastewater and, instead of only removing the problem, turned it into nanoparticles that help clean water. Later, working on winery wastewater, we turned something that once polluted the environment into biogas, renewable energy, and fertilizer. The story was no longer only about problems. It was about possibility.
My journey has been personal too. After the birth of my second child, with complications, I almost paused my studies. Motherhood did not make my dream smaller; it made it more urgent. With the support of my husband and my family I went back to the lab, carrying the little girl who was told science is not for women and the responsibility to become an example. My original question is still with me — and now I have an answer. It does not have to be this way.
The short version
Everything a collaborator, search committee, or journalist usually asks for, in one place.
- Name
- Elyse E. Kimpiab
- Role
- Ph.D. Candidate, Chemical Engineering
- Department
- Chemical and Biological Engineering
- Institution
- The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL
- Research group
- Harris Laboratory — joined Spring 2023
- Advisor
- Dr. James W. Harris
- Focus
- Zeolite catalysis for bio-derived molecules; green synthesis and waste valorization
- Earlier degrees
- M.Sc., The University of Alabama (2024) · B.Tech, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (2017)
- Expected PhD
- December 2027
Where the training happened
From chemical engineering in Cape Town to catalysis research in Tuscaloosa.
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December 2027 (expected)Ph.D., Chemical and Biological Engineering — The University of Alabama
Advisor: Dr. James W. Harris, Harris Laboratory. Dissertation title to be confirmed. GPA 4.0.
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December 2024M.Sc., Chemical and Biological Engineering — The University of Alabama
Advisor: Dr. James W. Harris. GPA 4.0.
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December 2017B.Tech, Chemical Engineering — Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa
Graduated cum laude. CGPA 7.5/10 (US equivalent ≈ 3.5).
Recognition along the way
Scholarships, grants, and recognition that have funded the work and carried it to conferences.
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2026Travel grant Sustainable Future Travel Grant
ACS Green Chemistry Institute — to attend the 30th Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, San Antonio, TX.
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2026Travel grant Sustainable Future Travel Grant
ACS Green Chemistry Institute — to attend the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry & Engineering networking event.
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2024Certificate ACS Green & Sustainable Summer School — Certificate of Achievement
ACS Green Chemistry Institute. Selected as one of about 60 outstanding students from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
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2023Grant Advancing Science Conference Grant (ASCG)
National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE).
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2023Scholarship Graduate Merit Scholarship
Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation (AKAEAF).
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2017Distinction Cum Laude Distinction
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa.
What's on the bench right now
A snapshot of what I am working on toward a December 2027 graduation.
- Completing my PhD in the Harris Laboratory, with graduation expected December 2027.
- Revising “Glycerol Etherification with Ethanol over Beta Zeolites of Varied Hydrophobicity” for the Journal of Catalysis.
- Preparing a co-first-author manuscript on acetone co-feeding during ethanol upgrading over dealuminated Beta zeolites.
- Serving as Graduate Ambassador for the ChBE Department at the UA Graduate School.
Read deeper, or reach out
The full record lives on the CV and the publications page. For anything else, my inbox is open.