Global Research Partnership Investigators
2007 Winner Profiles
Dr. Ahmed F. Ghoniem
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
View Dr. Ahmed F. Ghoniem's presentation at the GRP Symposium
Dr. Ahmed F. Ghoniem, KAUST Investigator, is Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. Dr. Ghoniem plays a leadership role in many energy-related activities, initiatives, and programs at MIT. He has been involved for many years at the national and international levels in research on high-performance computing and simulations for engineering applications.
KAUST Investigator Award: KAUST Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Center
The current energy infrastructure relies on fossil fuels for more than 85% of its primary sources, with transportation being almost exclusively dependent on oil. Worldwide energy consumption is growing rapidly, driven mostly by developing economies and leading to an alarming rise in prices. Moreover, concerns over carbon dioxide (CO2) accumulation in the atmosphere are reaching an alarming level. CO2 emission regulations could pose significant constraints on fossil fuel utilization, raising the cost of energy and adding significant engineering complexities to our infrastructure. This “Energy Challenge” should be addressed through focused, intensive and interdisciplinary research and development effort that targets substantial improvement in conversion and utilization efficiencies, capture and storage of CO2, and accelerated deployment of carbon-free sources.
Our research is making significant contributions to the analysis, design, and innovation related to future clean and efficient energy conversion systems for transportation, electricity generation, and fuel production. We focus on systems that enable low-penalty approaches for the capture of CO2 in power and fuel production. This effort falls at the intersection of several disciplines, including mechanical and chemical science and engineering; intelligent control of complex processes and systems; simulation and computational science, and systems’ integration and optimization. We collaborate with a broad range of industries, including automotive, aerospace, utility and energy to ensure fast and effective implementation of results.
The KAUST Advanced Energy Conversion Systems Center will focus on innovations in tools and methodologies for the analysis, design, and optimization of clean and efficient energy systems. Our effort will concentrate on high performance multiscale, multiphysics simulations, optical diagnostics of conversion processes operating under extreme conditions, and active control technologies enabled by distributed sensing and actuation. We will work on developing novel simulation algorithms; validation and verification; examining underlying physical mechanisms and formulating model reduction approaches; developing control, design and optimization tools; and proposing solutions for low-carbon intensity energy systems for transportation and electricity generation. KAUST’s support will be used to thoroughly modernize and transform the diagnostics and computational infrastructure of the laboratory and enable a substantial expansion in the scope of processes and systems we can investigate.
About the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology – a coeducational, privately endowed research university – is dedicated to advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. The Institute has more than 900 faculty and 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It is organized into five Schools – Architecture and Urban Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Sloan School of Management; and Science.
MIT's commitment to innovation has led to a host of scientific breakthroughs and technological advances. Achievements of the Institute's faculty and graduates have included the first chemical synthesis of penicillin and vitamin A, the development of inertial guidance systems, modern technologies for artificial limbs, and the magnetic core memory that made possible the development of digital computers. Seventy-two alumni, faculty, researchers and staff have won Nobel Prizes. Current areas of research and education include neuroscience and the study of the brain and mind, bioengineering, cancer, energy, the environment and sustainable development, information sciences and technology, new media, financial technology, and entrepreneurship.