Dr. Tekalign Debela

Assistant Professor of Chemistry

B.Sc., Arba Minch University; M.Sc., Addis Ababa University; Ph.D., Zhejiang University

Bio:

Dr. Tekalign T. Debela is an assistant professor of Chemistry in the Division of Natural Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Zhejiang University, after earning his M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in Physics. He completed two postdoctoral research positions, most recently at the University of Oregon, where he worked with Prof. Christopher H. Hendon in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Prior to that, he spent five years as a research professor at Jeonju University, South Korea, focusing on the computational design of layered materials for energy applications as part of the “Brain Pool” fellowship.

Trained as a computational materials chemist, Dr. Debela’s research sits at the intersection of physical chemistry and chemical physics. His work focuses on applying quantum mechanical calculations to develop models of chemical systems. Using high-performance computation, Dr. Debela’s research, which is highly collaborative, provides numerical insights into reaction mechanisms, electronic properties, and defect formation in complex solids.

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellow, University of Oregon, 2022-2024
  • Research Professor, Jeonju University, 2017-2021
  • Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, 2014
  • Physics, Addis Ababa University, 2010
  • Physics, Arba Minch University, 2006

Courses Taught

  • CHE 1510 – General Chemistry
  • PHY 2510 – General Physics I Calculus Based

Representative Publications

  • Debela T. T., Hendon C. H. et. al (2023). Ligand-Mediated Hydrogenic Defects in Two-Dimensional Electrically Conductive Metal Organic Frameworks. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 145, 11387
  • Kwon I. S., Kwak I. H, Debela T. T. al (2020). Se-Rich MoSe2 Nanosheets and Their Superior Electrocatalytic Performance for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction. ACS Nano,14, 6295.
  • Debela T. T., Kang H. S. (2018). Phase polymorphism and electronic structures of TeSe2. J. Mater. Chem. C, 6, 10218.
  • Debela T. T., Jiang J. Z. et. al (2014). Nucleation driven by orientational order in supercooled niobium as seen via ab initio molecular dynamics. Rev. B, 89, 104205.

Full publication list available at Dr. Debela’s google scholar page: https://scholar.google.com.hk/citations?user=QuzLw4sAAAAJ&hl=en