Biography
|
Date
|
Role
|
| 1998- |
Reader in Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London.
|
| 2007-2010 |
Visiting Professor, Department of Chemistry, Warwick University |
| 1993-1998 |
PhD in Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, USA, thesis title: “Global optimisation techniques for process systems engineering” |
| 1989-1993 |
MEng Chemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London
|
Research Interests
Advances in the understanding and modelling of the behaviour of matter have opened the way for the development of systematic methodologies for the computer-aided design of materials, products and devices, integrating decisions at the molecular scale with decisions at the bulk scale. My research group focuses on the development of fundamental modelling and optimisation tools and applications to specific problems of relevance to today's industry. These include the selection of optimal processing materials such as solvents, the design of high-performance products such as polymers or crystals, and the design of devices such as solid-oxide fuel cells or electrolysers.
Given the impact of molecular-level information on the overall system, we refer to this class of problem as Molecular Systems Engineering: the molecular structure or the structure of the material and their interactions with the end-user/process/device are crucial in determining performance and hence in identifying best designs. The design methodologies we are developing are based on an integrated approach that requires i) predictive relationships that relate the structure of the material to its properties, ii) reliable models of the product/process/device that connect the material properties to overall system performance, iii) optimisation tools to identify the best design based on such models.
The main application areas currently addressed with this work are the pharmaceutical/agrochemical and fine chemicals industries (design of solvents for organic reactions, crystal structure prediction), and energy systems engineering (the design of solvents and processes for CO2 capture, oil and gas production and fuel cells).
The research carried out involves interdisciplinary work under the auspices of the Molecular Systems Engineering programme at Imperial (involving Amparo Galindo, George Jackson, Erich Muller, Costas Pantelides, Stratos Pistikopoulos) and in collaboration with a number of groups, including those of Paul Taylor at Warwick University, Eric Perpete at FUNDP, Namur, and Donna Blackmond, Alan Armstrong and Nigel Brandon at Imperial.
Links
