Redhwan Al-Akbari is a chemical engineering Ph.D. student who is dedicated to advancing his knowledge and expertise in the field of waste conversion and utilization. With a strong background in chemical engineering, chemistry, and mathematics, he is actively engaged in cutting-edge research to develop innovative solutions to complex problems. Redhwan work deals with the conversion of waste and underutilized materials to value-added products through ultrasonic processing. He has more than half a decade of experience in a laboratory setting coupled with experience in the oil and gas industry
Tamer Al-Shboul received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. majoring in Chemical Engineering from Jordan University of Science and Technology, one of the highest-ranked universities in Jordan. His M.Sc. research is concerned with biodegradable polymers blends and nanocomposites. Tamer has well experience in the chemical industry, as he had internships at Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co., and Jordan Bromine Co., in addition to his extensive experience in water treatment. He started his Ph.D. in chemical engineering in Sep-2021 at the University of Calgary under the supervision of Prof. Nashaat Nassar. His current work is focused on nanotechnology developments in petroleum wax deposition.
Luis Prada received his BSc and MSc majoring in petroleum engineering from Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia. Luis research experience in the oil industry was aiming in analyzing and modeling the viscoelastic behavior of the polymer solution using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In 2022, Luis started his research work in the SAGD project with Dr. Nassar’s research group as a Ph.D student. Luis is involved in the representation and evaluation of the nanoparticle behavior in the porous media through 3D simulations and experimental evaluation in 3D setup.
Jesus Botett received his BSc and MSc majoring in petroleum engineering from Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia. Jesus has more than 5 years of professional experience in the oil industry as a reservoir engineer, implementing oil field management, engineering analysis, and numerical simulation. In 2022, he joined Dr. Nassar's research group as a Ph.D student with a chemical engineering major. His research is focused on the use of nanoparticles for the catalytic upgrading of the physicochemical characteristics of heavy crudes in reservoirs implementing the SAGD technique as an enhanced recovery method.
With two decades of experience in the oil and gas industry, his breadth of expertise is comprehensive, encompassing areas such as natural gas processing and conditioning, computational modeling, process optimization, gaseous emissions reduction, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) technologies.
His research interests primarily focus on the innovative application of nanotechnology in the field of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). This includes both point-source CO2 capture (PSC) and Direct Air Capture (DAC) using state-of-the-art technologies. This emerging domain holds significant potential in mitigating the impact of global warming. His ultimate goal is to integrate and optimize a new technology to foster more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices in the industry.
Holding the professional designation of P.Eng., he is a member of both APEGA and EGBC in Canada.
B.Sc. (Mining and Metallurgy Engineering) National University of Colombia
Current research: evaluating the performance of eco-friendly nanoparticles in the rheology properties of water-based drilling fluids.
Aqrab Ullah is an MSc student in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department under the supervision of Professor Nashaat Nassar. Aqrab holds a bachelor's degree in petroleum and gas engineering from BUITEMS University, Pakistan. He has more than a year of experience in crude oil production operations in Pakistan. His current research study is related to “Understanding the mechanisms of polymer grafted nanoparticles for EOR application in sandstone reservoirs”.
Fatima has done her BSs in Petroleum & Gas Engineering from Dawood University of Engineering & Technology Karachi, Pakistan. She has well experience in the oil & gas sector, as she worked for more than two years at GASCO Engineering Pvt Ltd. Currently, she is a full-time MSc student of chemical engineering at the University of Calgary. Her research project is “studying the stability conditions of nanomaterials in oil and/or water media”.
Pegah Farjad is currently enrolled as an MSc. student in Civil and Material Engineering Department at the University of Calgary, supervised by Dr.Khoshnazar from Civil Engineering and Dr. Nassar from Chemical Engineering. She also has the Msc degree in chemical engineering from the Amirkabir University of Iran. Her project was modeling the acidizing process of oil wellbore. She has 6 years of professional work experience in the industry. She is interested in eco-friendly materials with less GHG emission. Currently, she is working on the usage of nano-silica in the cementitious mixture and investigating its effect on the transport properties of these mixtures.
Roozbeh Mowlaei is an M.Sc. student at the University of Calgary with a specialization in construction materials engineering. Under the supervision of Dr. Khoshnazar from the Civil Engineering and Dr. Nassar from the Department of Chemical Engineering, he aims to investigate the effect of surface modification of nanoparticles on the properties of cementitious mixtures. He received his first M.Sc. in structural engineering from the Iran University of Science and Technology. During his first master's, he explored the application of 3D printing technology in construction materials. He also spent 6 months as a research assistant at Monash University, Australia, where he investigated the effect of the incorporation of graphene-oxide silica nanohybrids in cementitious composites.
Sohaib Alhalsa holds a BSc in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. Currently, he is an MSc student in Department of Civil and Engineering at the University of Calgary. His research study is aimed at the involvement of modified bio-based nanomaterials (derived from agricultural wastes) in the production of sustainable cementitious mixtures with desirable properties.
Uttam is enrolled in master’s studies at the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. He is a part of Dr. Nassar Group for Nanotechnology Research Group as a Research Assistant. His research interest lies in the integration of nanotechnology for EOR application. Presently, he is investigating the prospect of CO2 utilization for heavy oil recovery. He did his under-graduation in Petroleum Engineering and has a sound knowledge of upstream operations.
Oscar is an M.Sc. student at the University of Calgary. He did his undergraduate in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Industrial de Santander, Colombia. Oscar has experience in hydrocarbon research with a focus on flow assurance. In addition, he has successfully coordinated the implementation of the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, developing my leadership and strategic planning skills to optimize tasks and deliver both group and individual results. Furthermore, Oscar has conducted physicochemical analyses in a water treatment plant laboratory and overseen the manufacturing and quality control of finished products in the chemical industry.
