Prof. Dr. Lucy Mudiwo Ombaka has been appointed deputy professor of Hydrogen Technologies at the Faculty of Engineering of Hochschule RheinMain (HSRM) as of March 2024. She began her academic career at Egerton University, Kenya, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics and a master’s degree in chemistry. Professor Ombaka then completed her dissertation in chemistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. From 2010 to 2012, Lucy Ombaka held a teaching position at Bukura Agricultural College, Kenya. From 2015, she taught at the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology, Kenya, before moving to the School of Chemistry and Material Science of the Technical University of Kenya in 2016, where she has been teaching since. From 2018 to 2021, Lucy Ombaka conducted research in renewable hydrogen at Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover with a Georg Forster Research Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

What aspect of your research fascinates you the most?

Using my chemistry background to contribute to the shift from carbon-intensive to more carbon-neutral systems and products fascinates me the most. Conducting research on products such as solar fuels, sustainable aviation fuels, and renewable hydrogen utilization that help reduce carbon foot-prints and create favourable climatic conditions, especially for vulnerable communities, is a great motivation to me. Such systems are highly dynamic and their practical application involves several challenges. Hence, research in this area is very interesting and impactful.

What does “good teaching” mean to you?

To me, good teaching should be multi-directional with all involved parties continuously learning new aspects. A good lesson to me is one in which the interests of both the lecturer and the students are maintained, and the students are self-motivated, curious, and well-prepared for hands-on learning.

What did you want to be growing up?

As a child, I wanted to be a medical doctor, later on, as a teenager, I changed my ambitions to chemical engineer. So, I am close to where I wanted to be as a teenager.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Spend time with my family, simply stated. As a mother, balancing childcare and work keeps me on my toes. I spend a lot of time playing with my children; we go out and do all sorts of fun activities; we also go to church together and are part of a community here in Germany, even though we are originally from Kenya.