Mannix P. Balanay, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Ph.D. Chemistry Program Director

Office: 7.114
Email: mannix.balanay@nu.edu.kz
Phone: +7 (7172) 69 46 57
Research Group: Laboatory of Functional Materials and Computational Chemistry
Specializations: Materials Chemistry, Computational Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Optoelectronic materials, Heterogeneous catalysis

Biography

Dr. Mannix P. Balanay earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Kunsan National University in the Republic of Korea in 2012, where he studied the design, synthesis and fabrication of dye-sensitized solar cells. During his Ph.D. studies, he learned various density functional theory methods for the theoretical design of dyes and polymers used in organic solar cells. He was also trained in the organic synthesis of the dyes and their fabrication into solar cells. After completing his PhD, he was hired as a research professor and invited professor at the same university, where he continued his research on third-generation solar cells. Before coming to Korea, he was an instructor at Siquijor State College and Silliman University. He holds two master's degrees in chemistry with specialization in computational chemistry (from Kunsan National University) and bioinorganic chemistry (from Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology, Republic of the Philippines). During his time in the Philippines, he has done a lot of work in environmental research, starting with his undergraduate thesis sponsored by the Philippine National Oil Company, where he studied the impact of the plant's exhaust on rain quality in the region. At Siquijor State College, he was not only a instructor but also a science research specialist in coastal resource management, where he learned underwater diving and earned his license as an advanced open water diver. At Silliman University, he was the Chemist of the Chemistry Department's Commercial Analysis Laboratory, where he supervised various chemical analyses, primarily of soil and water, for different sectors of the community. His specialization in bioinorganic chemistry allowed him to gain experience with bacterial cell culture and protein profiling. In 2014, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry of Nazarbayev University and promoted to Associate Professor in 2020.

In 2019, he was awarded the “Balik (returning) Scientist Program” award of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCIEERD) of the Republic of the Philippines in coordination with the Chemistry Department of the Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology.