Two PPG researchers honored with black engineer awards

La'Techa Johnson (left) and Raphael Kollah won national recognition at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference in Baltimore.

March 23, 2005 - Raphael Kollah, manager of product research and development, Shelby, N.C., fiber glass science and technology, and La'Techa Johnson, senior chemist, quality control, Lake Charles, La., chemicals facility, were honored during the 19th annual Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference hosted by Lockheed Martin Corporation, the Council of Engineering Deans of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine last month at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Kollah was a Special Recognition Honoree in the Black Engineer of the Year Awards competition, sponsored by Career Communications Group, Inc. He joined PPG in coatings and resins research and development at Allison Park, Pa., in 1991, and moved in 2002 to fiber glass research and development at Shelby. Kollah manages a team of 10 associates that introduced three new products in 2004, developing products and processes involving sizing (fiber glass coating) formulations and fiber glass fabrication for use in compounding, molding and building materials. He has co-authored six professional papers and is named in 12 PPG patents. Kollah earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Nairobi in Kenya and his doctorate from the University of Maryland, and he completed postdoctoral research at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center.

"Raphael has done an outstanding job over the past two years in the face of a heavy workload and personnel shortages," said Bob Montague, associate director, fiber glass science and technology. "He has quickly established himself as a key leader of our science and technology programs."

Johnson earned recognition as one of 101 national "Modern-Day Technology Leaders," or young, black professionals working in the technology and science fields. She became the first American Chemical Society/PPG Scholarship Plus Program recipient to earn full-time employment with PPG upon earning her bachelor's degree in chemistry from Southern University in 2001. Nominated by Terri Angelini, research associate at Lake Charles, "for her strong values regarding improvement of society and commitment to community volunteerism," Johnson is a senior quality control chemist in the main laboratory at Lake Charles.

"All of us at PPG are proud of La'Techa's accomplishment," said Michael McGarry, vice president, chlor-alkali and derivatives, and sponsor of the ACS/PPG Scholarship Plus Program. "She is a great example of both how the ACS/PPG Scholarship Plus Program brings PPG together with talented, young minority leaders in science and technology and how PPG people add value at work and in our communities."

For more information about the Black Engineer of the Year Awards and Conference, click here.