Nathan L. Galinsky, '11

Nathan Galinsky, Ph.D. is a 2011 graduate of the chemical engineering department at WVU Tech. After graduation, he spent five years pursuing his master’s and doctoral degrees at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. He worked under the supervision of Dr. Fanxing Li on developing ceramic oxides for chemical looping applications. His research was in a novel area of energy conversion that is more efficient than combustion, with the added benefits of providing low energy needs for carbon capture not capable in traditional combustion processes. His work led to four first-authored papers, including a paper featured on the cover of the ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering journal. He co-authored an additional four papers during graduate school. Galinsky’s work was recognized at the university level earning him his best Ph.D. award in 2016. He worked with Dr. Carol Hall as a teaching assistant for Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics for three years. He harnessed his love for teaching and seeing the excitement of finding a student’s “I understand” moment.

Following his 2016 graduation, Galinsky furthered his studies under the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education program as a post-doc at the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory in Morgantown, West Virginia. He continued working on chemical looping but focused more on larger-scale operations. His efforts led to being asked to contribute two chapters on material development for a book dedicated to chemical looping technology in 2018. Galinsky had fallen in love with teaching and pursuing a passion and future in education during his time at WVU Tech and his graduate school years. In 2019, Galinsky accepted a job to join the department he once graduated from at WVU Tech.

Galinsky was a very active student while at WVU Tech. He remembers having some of his teachers encourage him to actively pursue tutoring students, which was his first glance at finding a passion for education. He also participated in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE) and Tau Beta Pi chapters, and is now the faculty mentor for both organizations. He also got his first research experience as a student. Galinsky was recognized with a Presidential Leadership Award from the Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering in 2011.

As a professor at WVU Tech, Dr. Galinsky has developed his passion for getting students into engineering and sciences and has been the Camp STEM coordinator since 2021.

Galinsky was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia. He has a love of West Virginia, education, sciences and engineering that has only been possible through attending and working at WVU Tech.