Dr. Lachgar is a Professor of Chemistry and the Bell Faculty Fellow. His teaching expertise is in the general area of inorganic materials chemistry and nanomaterials. His research projects focus on the development and characterization of materials for potential applications in the field of energy storage and environmental remediation. Three main projects are underway in his laboratory, the first focus is on the use of the molecular building block approach to the design and preparation of novel cluster based hybrid inorganic porganic materials for hydrogen storage and CO2 sequestration. The second is the synthesis and structural characterization of materials for use as high capacity cathodes in rechargeable lithium ion batteries. And the third project has the objective of developing solid acid base catalysts for the production of biodiesel from inexpensive feedstock such as brown and black grease. Lachgar has authored over 90 papers and has received over $2,000,000 in grants since he joined the university in August 1991.