(2ck) Guiding the Design of Energy Systems with Techno-Economic Assessment and Safety, Risk, and Reliability Analysis

Ensuring the economic viability, safety, and reliability of energy systems is a top priority across different energy industry sectors. As the energy industry transitions towards a more sustainable future by integrating renewables and alternatives across the supply chain, there is a need for a rigorous evaluation of safety and economic viability. My research seeks to develop innovative approaches to systematically identify and address techno-economic, sustainability, and risk/reliability challenges for both renewables and fossil-based energy systems. The application areas of my research are hydrogen infrastructure, chemical production plants, gas processing facilities, natural gas pipelines.

The focus of my work is on the development of methodologies to address the nexus of energy systems risk/reliability and economics, especially for emerging alternative energy sources such as hydrogen. My research approach emphasizes rigorous identification of system failure scenarios, development of probabilistic models to quantify these scenarios, and modeling their potential consequences. I examine how these failures may impact the economic viability of these energy systems and use them for risk-informed design decision-making and techno-economic assessment. Overall, my work informs engineering design, public policy and regulations, and investment decisions.

Teaching Interests

The opportunity to teach and learn from students is one of the main motivations for me to pursue a career in academia. I firmly believe that enabling students to grasp concepts and overcome challenges positively enriches their lives and increases their self-efficacy. My goal will be to encourage students' independent thinking and analytical reasoning on grand challenges, such as the energy transition, to augment their problem-solving skills through a learner-centered teaching approach. This will be based on engaging students in inquiry-based learning practices and independent or team research projects.

I am prepared to teach core courses on chemical processing technologies, process design and economics, and renewable energy resources. I am also prepared to teach engineering courses that incorporate energy systems analysis and policy decision-making to prepare students to solve problems that lie at the interface of science, technology, and society. For example, I would like to teach a course about the safety and risk assessment of emerging energy systems such as hydrogen technologies. This course will teach students to apply principles such as hazards identification, consequence assessment, and identification of mitigation and prevention measures for those hazards. Students will also learn how these principles guide the development of policies and regulations to protect system operators and the surrounding communities.