Principal Investigator

David Simakov received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology working on the design of catalytic membrane reformers for integrated fuel cell systems. After spending two years in industry on research and developing of a new generation of fuel cells based on anion-exchange membranes, he moved back to academia.

He first participated in the joint Technion-Princeton University project working on reaction-diffusion modeling of the biological pattern formation and then moved to Harvard University where he studied the nonlinear phenomena in catalytic oscillatory chemical systems.

Prior to joining the University of Waterloo as an Assistant Professor, Dr. Simakov conducted his postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he worked on thermo-catalysis and reactor design for solar thermal reforming. His main research expertise is heterogeneous catalysis and reactor design applied to thermocatalytic conversions. Currently, Dr. Simakov works on thermocatalytic conversion of CO2 into renewable synthetic fuels.

After completing my Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2009, I embarked on an academic journey at Persian Gulf University (PGU), where I have been actively involved in teaching and research ever since. During my doctoral studies, I had the privilege of collaborating with Professor Yan Zi-Feng’s research group at China University of Petroleum for approximately one year, focusing on the analysis of SAPO-34 composition as a catalyst for MTO conversion. My research endeavors have predominantly revolved around the utilization of Ordered Mesoporous Materials (OMM) as catalyst supports to augment chemical reactions of environmental significance. These include Direct Reforming of Methane (DRM), CO₂ conversion through Catalytic Photosynthesis, Biodiesel Production, among others. Ordered Mesoporous silica or alumina, fascinating materials synthesized through the micellization of surfactant species in aqueous solutions, possess ordered pore structures whose sizes can be tailored to specific applications.

Yasaman Ghaffari obtained her PhD in Civil and Environmental Construction Engineering from the University of Science and Technology in 2023. Her doctoral research primarily centered on the design and development of highly porous nanomaterials for environmental applications. Yasaman recived a Gold medal and the best researcher award from the University of Science and Technology in February 2023.

Currently, Yasaman focuses on development of emerging nanomaterials for thermocatalytic conversion of CO₂ into renewable energy.

Yue started her PhD with Prof. Simakov in 2020 after she got her Master’s degree in the same group in 2019.

Yue was pursuing her MASc. in chemical engineering co-supervised by David Simakov and Luis Ricardez-Sandoval. Her research focused on catalysts investigation for CO₂ methanation.

Zixuan did her undergraduate in Chemical Engineering at Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. After that, she joined Prof. Simakov’s group in September 2023. Her research focused on CO₂ conversion by direct thermocatalytic hydrogenation to light hydrocarbons.

In 2022, Wenxuan graduated from Liaoning University of Petroleum and Chemical Technology with an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and Technology. He enrolled at the University of Waterloo with the aim of obtaining his MASc in chemical engineering under the co-supervision of Prof. David Simakov and Prof. Aiping Yu. He is interested in CO2 Methanation, Renewable Fuels, etc.

Anik graduated with Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Engineering in 2022 from IPS Academy, IES. With interest in Green Energy and Economics of Carbon to fuel process He is enrolled in MASc in Chemical Engineering at University of Waterloo, Canada under the supervision of Prof. David Simakov. He has prior experience in Research & Development, Oil & Gas, Fertilizers and Advanced Testing Laboratories while studying in undergrad. He joined the University of Waterloo to gain in-depth and varied knowledge in Chemical Engineering and grow into a research scholar with good work experience.

Hanson joined David’s group as a volunteer during his fourth year of undergraduate study. He works on transformations of CO₂ and relative catalyst synthesis. Hanson is pursuing his BSc in Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo.

Lorena is currently a high school student with an interest in math and chemistry. She became a part of Dr. Simakov’s group during the university cooperative education program offered by her school.

Edris Madadian obtained his PhD degree in Bioresource Engineering from McGill University in 2017 with an emphasis on optimization of advanced biofuels production using thermochemical conversion pathways. In 2018, Edris was awarded the Isaak Wilton Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science at Dalhousie University where he worked on the novel concept of in-situ landfills reclamation for combined heat and power generation. Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, Edris started a postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Soon thereafter, he was awarded the prestigious AMTD Waterloo Global Talent Postdoctoral Fellowship by the University of Waterloo. His main research expertise is on process design, optimization, and intensification of innovative technologies for resource recovery to produce value-added products.

Kishore did his undergraduate in Chemical Engineering at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He joined the University of Waterloo to pursue his MASc in chemical engineering co-supervised by Prof. David Simakov and Prof Aiping Yu. Kishore’s research will focus on catalyst development for CO2 methanation.

Guanjie started his PhD with Prof. Simakov in 2019 after he got his Master’s degree in the same group in 2019.

The aim of Guanjie’s MASc project is to synthesize novel nano-structure catalysts for thermo-catalytic conversion of CO2.

Currently, Guanjie focuses primarily on the thermocatalytic conversion of CO2 into renewable synthetic fuels and development of emerging catalytic nano-materials. With this, he also works on reaction-diffusion modeling of the biological pattern formation.

Yichen started his PhD with Prof. Simakov in 2018 after he got his Master’s degree in the same group in 2017.

Yichen focused on RWGS and methanation catalyst development and characterization during his Master’s study. He worked on methanation reactor design and operation study during his PhD’s study. He is familiar with various instruments in the group lab and has experience in many characterization techniques like XRD, TGA, BET, FTIR spectroscopy, TPO and TPR.

Anastasiia joined University of Waterloo in September 2019. During her MASc, her research focused on the development of catalyst used for RWGS.

Randy joined David’s group as a coop student for the 2021 Spring Term. His work focused on both the development and characterization of catalysts used for CO2 hydrogenation. Currently, Randy is pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Materials and Nanoscience.

Muhammad joined the University of Waterloo in January 2017 in pursuit of a Ph.D. in chemical engineering. His research focused on Ceria based catalysts for the selective conversion of CO2 to CO which will later be coupled with synthetic fuels conversion.

Prior to joining the University of Waterloo Muhammad was working as Assistant professor at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), KSK Campus, Lahore, Pakistan. He joined UET in 2010 as lecturer and was involved in undergraduate teaching. Muhammad got his MASc. degree in chemical engineering from the same institute.

His Masters research was focused on biomass densification (green fuels) studies.

Prabhjot did her undergraduate in Chemical Engineering from University Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology (UICET), Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. She then pursued a M.Eng degree in Chemical Engineering at University of Waterloo and graduated from the program in 2019.

Prabhjot joined David’s group as a volunteer during her M.Eng study. She worked on Ceria-based catalyst for selective conversion of CO2 to CO.

Robert originally from Toronto, ON, attended Queen’s university for his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering. While in school, Robert earned some valuble industrial experience taking a 16 month internship in Calgary, AB, working in the oil & gas industry. After finishing his degree, Robert worked for 6 months in the polymer industry before deciding to return to school.

During his MASc, his research focused on reactor and system design for converting CO2 into value added chemicals and fuels.

Originally from Alberta, Sogol completed her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the University of Calgary. During her studies, she gained research experience as an undergraduate researcher with the Energy and Environment Research Group. Pursuing a year-long internship at Suncor Energy, she earned industry experience in Alberta’s oil and gas sector.

Sogol joined David’s research group in September 2017 in pursuit of a MASc. in chemical engineering.

During her MASc, her research focused on system design, process simulation and feasibility analysis for a synthetic natural gas production facility.

Nichthima joined David’s group as a visiting student from King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok. She worked on the development of catalyst used for dry reforming.

Xiaomeng joined David’s group as a volunteer during her undergraduate study. She worked on the development of bimetallic catalyst synthesized by reverse microemulsion method. Xiaomeng is moving on to continue her Master of Applied Science at University of Waterloo.

Mary was doing the internship in David’s group during her high school study. She worked on the development of bimetallic catalyst.

Mary is moving on to continue her Bachelor of Applied Science.

Alex joined the group as a coop student. Her research focused on the Kinetic Parameter Estimation. Alex is moving on to continue her Master of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering, specializing in Computational Fluid Dynamics, particularly investigating turbulent reacting flows.

Faisal received his BSc degree in Chemical Engineering in 2015 from Anna University. He then pursued a MASc degree in Chemical Engineering at University of Waterloo and graduated from the program in 2017.

During his MASc, his research focused on developing transition metal carbides for the RWGS reaction and Sabatier reaction.

Duo received his BASc degree in Chemical Engineering in 2014 from Northeast Petroleum University. He then pursued a MASc degree in Chemical Engineering at University of Waterloo and graduated from the program in 2016.

During his MASc, his research focused on simulation-based design and analysis of a Sabatier reactor for conversion of CO2 into renewable natural gas. The problems of temperature control and catalyst deactivation in the packed bed reactor were resolved, and a high CH4 yield and CO2 conversion was achieved.