Impression: Kobi Jones

Kobi Jones (SSE ’20) didn’t arrive in New Orleans expecting Tulane to shape his career. In fact, he didn’t even expect to attend Tulane. But a single engineering course provided a spark that would lead him from Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering to the manufacturing floor of a battery technology startup.

Jones, who graduated from Tulane in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, is now a manufacturing engineer at South 8 Technologies in San Diego. The company develops battery electrolyte technology designed to work in extreme cold, with applications that include military communications equipment, drones and other systems that need reliable power in subzero conditions.

“I didn’t know I would go to Tulane, but this amazing school, this amazing opportunity, just appeared in front of me,” Jones said. “As soon as I stepped foot on campus, I was like, ‘I need to get involved with this.’”

Growing up in Maryland, Jones developed an early interest in chemistry after a high school teacher encouraged him to enter a science fair. He moved to New Orleans after enrolling at Xavier University of Louisiana, his father’s alma mater, to study chemistry. There, he learned about a dual-degree program that allowed students to complete foundational science coursework before pursuing engineering studies elsewhere.

He signed up for a class on materials and energy balances at Tulane. Almost immediately, he knew the school was a fit.

“I’d already completed the fundamental math courses, so this class moved me directly into engineering, solving equations for actual machines and thinking about real-world applications,” Jones said. “I saw the facilities and thought, ‘This is really an engineering school.’”

Jones transferred to Tulane in 2018. He made friends on campus who pushed him to further his knowledge in the field and consider which industries aligned with his skill set. He became vice president of Tulane’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, a student organization that gave him key leadership and management experience. And he still uses lessons learned from some of his professors.

Jones credits Hank Ashbaugh, now chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the School of Science and Engineering, with teaching him to strip complicated problems down to the variables an engineer can control.

“The real education was around process-based thinking,” Jones said. “And as I’ve gone out into the workforce, it’s very much like that: Cut through the nonsense, do good work and solve problems.”

Jones’ interest in the science of batteries began at Xavier. At Tulane, he was able to expand on those studies, and he worked with Advano, a New Orleans-based battery startup that spun out from the university, for his capstone project on optimizing battery material production.

In Jones’ words, “the opportunities aligned.”

Since 2021, Jones has worked at South 8, where he helps build battery cells and improve the manufacturing processes behind them. His work includes laser welding and collaborating with technicians as the company develops technology that can retain performance at temperatures where batteries typically struggle.

As the technology continues to evolve, the next generation of engineers may find themselves working in fields they’ve never imagined. The enduring skill is learning how to solve a problem.

“I love my job, and battery manufacturing is a growing industry,” Jones said. “Getting into this modern style of engineering and working on cutting-edge technology, for sure, was because of Tulane.”