Meet the Team
Based in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at The University of Sheffield, the Cordiner research team is a friendly group of Postdoctoral Research Associates, PhD researchers, MEng/MSc researchers. and undergraduate researchers (e.g. SURE researchers). Read about each of our team members below!
Professor Joan Cordiner FREng, FRSE, FIChemE, CEng
Group leader
Joan is Head of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at The University of Sheffield where she also leads the Cordiner Research Group. Joan's research interests include: the modelling of complex processes, selection and design of processes; scale-up, resilience and sustainability built into design practices; manufacturing optimisation and process safety.
I joined the department in 2020 as a Professor of engineering and external engagement before taking on the Head of Department role for the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in 2021. Prior to that, I had a distinguished career at Syngenta which spanned several global and senior management positions. My career has given me a wealth of experience in leadership, Active Ingredient process design, complex process modelling, physical property prediction, Formulation Engineering, Process Safety leadership, Global Business Risk management and building relationships between academia and industry.
In our group we look to drive continual improvement in both process efficiency and process safety by employing cutting edge modelling technologies to gain an in-depth understanding of the physical processes and properties at play in the real world.
As Industry evolves, our approach to tackling engineering problems must evolve too. New and innovative solutions are required to counter the multitude of new problems arising as a result of the digital era. Problems being tackled by this group include:
Physical property prediction
Machine Learning-based predictive maintenance.
Process resilience models for early-stage design.
Scale-up robustness and sustainability.
Automated Hazop.
Modelling and mRNA production
Scale up of novel processes for energy storage
Hydrogen Safety modelling for new and emerging processes
We're passionate about driving real change and strive to stay on the cutting edge by working on the interface between academia and industry.
External to the university, I am a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, IChemE, AIChE, and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. I am a Chartered Engineer and enjoy serving the profession in a range of different committees and panels including the Royal Academy Policy committee, the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC), the Audit and Risk committee, previously the membership and several grant and award committees. Previously, I have taken on advisory positions including: the Chairman of CAPEC Advisory Group (DTU Denmark), Chairman of FSSG IChemE, Directors of Britest, SIS, WBT and Industry Representative for the UK Distillation and Absorption ECHMA.
Dr Seyed Mojtaba Hoseyni
Research Associate
Mojtaba completed his PhD degree in Energy Engineering in 2021 at the Laboratory of Signal Analysis and Risk Analysis (LASAR), Politecnico di Milano. Since then, he has taken a role as a Research Associate in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, supervised by Professor Joan Cordiner.
Mojtaba’s research focuses is on resilience assessment, process safety, risk assessment of net-zero applications including hydrogen, predictive maintenance, and decision-making under uncertainty. With a strong foundation in Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety (RAMS) engineering, his work at the University of Sheffield is dedicated to developing research-driven safety enhancements and tools for risk-informed decision-making, aimed at enhancing the safety in design, operation, and management of engineering systems.
Read some of Dr. Hoseyni’s work here.
Or contact him through LinkedIn.
Dr Royce Copley
Research Associate
Royce earned a Mathematics degree with First Class honours from the University of Derby in 2017. Following this, he undertook a PhD at the University of Sheffield in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research centred on the application of ultrasound pulses to monitor the states of lithium-ion batteries during charge cycling, as well as during non-standard operations like thermal abuse tests. A significant part of this research involved modelling sound waves as they travelled through multiple layers and analysing the resulting reflections.
After obtaining his PhD in 2022, Royce joined the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield as a Research Associate. His current work revolves around an mRNA manufacturing research project, specifically in the development of an online dashboard for real-time process monitoring and control. Additionally, Royce has crafted offline tools to facilitate improved analysis and development procedures.
Read some of Royce's work here.
Or contact him through LinkedIn.
Dr Ehsan Nourafkan
Research Associate
I am a research associate in CBE at the University of Sheffield. Prior to this I was a researcher at the Queen Mary University of London, University of Leeds and University of Lincoln. My research covers a wide spectrum of activities, from research on nanotechnology and colloid science to development and implementation of Quality by Digital Design (QbDD) to biotherapeutic production processes. Currently, I am working on development and adaptation of QbDD principles to continuous mRNA vaccine platform manufacturing. This includes development and optimization of the deterministic model for both IVT reaction and downstream purification process. The career path that I have followed has given me the opportunity to interact with colleagues at different levels of expertise. I wish to exploit my skills for new challenges and achieve better engineering goals.
Read some of my research output here:
Ehsan Nourafkan - Google Scholar
Louis Allen
PhD Researcher (Sept 2021 - June 2025)
2nd Supervisor - Prof Haiping Lu Department of Computer Science, The University of Sheffield
Louis completed his Masters degree in Chemical Engineering in 2021 at the University of Sheffield, completing with First Class honours and was awarded the British Coke Research Association Prize. He has since started a role as a PhD researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, supervised by Professor Joan Cordiner.
Louis' research focuses on the application of data-driven modelling in manufacturing environments, with a particular interest in ahead-of-time prediction using machine learning. Applications of this type of work include physical property prediction and predictive maintenance. With a background in big data visualisation and web-based analytics (see here), a key factor of Louis' work is the integration of novel predictive methodologies with existing manufacturing infrastructure to provide real and tangible benefits across a breadth of industries.
Read some of Louis' work here.
Or contact him through LinkedIn or email (lallen6@sheffield.ac.uk)
Sheikh Mahdi Ahmed
PhD Researcher (Sept 2022 - March 2026)
2nd Supervisor - Prof Solomon Brown
Mahdi graduated with a First Class honours degree (MEng) in Chemical Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 2022. With the Cordiner research group, he is now pursuing further studies as a PhD researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
As part of Mahdi's project, he is looking to produce a modelling framework to assist companies in selecting sufficient energy systems in a way that reflects energy demand over time, and its varying conditions, particularly in light of the UK's net-zero commitments and global requirements for rapid change during the next decade.
Contact Mahdi through LinkedIn.
Victoria Rebekah Shields Passed with Corrections.
PhD Researcher (Feb 2019 - Nov 2022) Co- Supervised with Dr Mark Ogden Victoria completed her Bachelors degree in Chemistry in 2018 at the University of Central Lancashire, completing with First Class honours. She has since started a role as a PhD researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, supervised by Dr Mark D. Ogden and Professor Joan Cordiner.
Victoria's research focuses on the recovery of precious metals from catalytic waste. Applications of this type of work include solid state analysis, ionic liquid synthesis and solid-liquid extraction. With a background in solvent extraction (see here), a key factor of Victoria's work is the novel precious metal recovery methodologies with existing ionic liquids to provide real and sustainable benefits across a breadth of waste recovery industries.
Read some of Victoria's work here.
Or contact her through LinkedIn.
Ana Jiménez Franco
PhD Research Submitted March 2023 co supervised by Prof Ipsita Roy and previously with Dr J Zhou
Lawson T. Glasby
PhD Researcher (Sept 2020 - March 2024) Co supervised with Dr Peyman Z. Moghadan (UCL). Industry Supervisor - Dr Jason C. Cole (CCDC)
Lawson completed his BSc (Hons) in Physics and Astrophysics with First Class honours at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle in 2019, followed by an MSc (Eng) in Environmental and Energy Engineering with Distinction at the University of Sheffield in 2020. He then joined the Centre for Computational Materials Discovery headed by Dr Peyman Z. Moghadam at the University of Sheffield in 2020 for a PhD in conjunction with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre.
Lawson's research is centred around metal-organic frameworks, novel materials in the field of gas adsorption, sensing, and separation alongside catalysis, drug-delivery, and quantum applications.
Rama Oktavian
PhD Researcher (March 2020 - March 2024) Co Supervised with Dr Peyman Z. Moghadam (UCL)
Rama completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering with cumlaude honours at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya, Indonesia in 2009. He then continued and obtained his MSc (Eng) in Chemical Engineering at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST) in 2012. He joined the Centre for Computational Materials Discovery headed by Dr Peyman Z. Moghadam at the University of Sheffield in 2020 for a PhD funded by Indonesia Endowment Fund (LPDP) scholarship.
Rama's research focus is centered on high throughput screening method by employing molecular simulation of large database of Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for gas adsorption and separation process.
Contact Rama through Linkedin
Hengxin Wu
PhD Researcher (September 2022 )
2nd Supervisor - Dr Rachel Smith
Joseph Middleton
PhD Researcher (February 2023 )
2nd Supervisor - Dr Zoltan Kis and Prof Sol Brown
Joseph finished his integrated masters degree in General Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2022, before starting his PhD in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Sheffield.
Mark Jixin Qu
PhD Researcher (Sept 2021 - Nov 2025)
Primary Supervisor - Dr Zoltan Kis
Mark finished his master’s degree in Manufacturing in 2020 at the University of Manchester and spent a year in Industry. In September 2021, he started his PhD in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield, supervised by Dr Zoltán Kis and Professor Joan Cordiner.
Mark’s research focuses on the optimisation and innovation of mRNA vaccine production process contributing to both experimental and computer-aided modelling tasks. He is a part of the multidisciplinary team founded by Wellcome Leap R3 project and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Mark is very keen to contribute to the mRNA vaccine project and sees this as a rare opportunity of a lifetime to touch everyone in the planet with this research.
Read some of Mark's work here.
Or contact him through LinkedIn.
Luc DeWulf
PhD Researcher (Sept 2021 - June 2025) 1st Supervisor - Professor Agba D Salman 2nd Supervisor - Professor James Litster
Luc completed his Masters degree in Chemical Engineering in 2020 at the University of Sheffield and his Masters by Research in Physics in 2021 at the University of Edinburgh. He then returned to his previous department in Sheffield for a PhD co-supervised by Professor Joan Cordiner.
Luc’s research focuses on food packaging and specifically the development of edible packaging as alternative to conventional plastic and metal wrappings. With a background in particles and granular matter, a key application of his research is compacted powdered consumer foods, for which edible coatings can be present a paradigm shift in sustainability on the path to a zero waste society.
Or contact him through LinkedIn or email (ldewulf1@sheffield.ac.uk)
Dr Rosie Paws
Prof Joan Cordiner's puppy- training in gluten sniffing and student therapy.
Alumni
2023/24 MEng Research Team
Henry Hughes - MEng Researcher - Syngenta project on Predicting the Stability of Agrochemical Formulations Using Machine Learning
Chloe Davies - MEng Researcher - Development of a Framework to Dene
Process Health
Thomas Deering - MEng Researcher - Risk assessment of Hight Impact Low Probability weather events on process facilities using Conditional Value at Risk
Byron Dodd - MEng Researcher - Constructing causal graphs of industrial processes through automatic application of expert knowledge
Charis Wang - MEng Researcher- Modelling the Interconnected Risks for Enhancing Resilience to NaTech Events Amidst Climate Change Challenges
Toby Miles - MEng Researcher - A Novel Decision-Making Framework for Use in a NaTech Context
2022/23 MEng Research Team
Joshua Aldred - MEng Researcher
Martha Scattergood - MEng Researcher - Developing a framework for linking HAZOP and LOPA maintenance requirements to provide optimal maintenance scheduling
James Burnham- MEng Researcher - Machine learning and structural activity relationship modelling of emulsion concentrate formulations with Joan Cordiner and Syngenta
Erin Lees- MEng Researcher
Nadima Nawaz - MEng Researcher - a techno-economic analysis on the decarbonisation of energy systems for industrial plants to achieve the UK’s net-zero target
Jacob Ludlam - MEng Researcher - Developing Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Framework for the Process Industry
2022/23 MSc Research Team
Shabib Al Hattali- MSc Researcher - Constructing Optimum Performance Influencing Factors (PIFs) for critical tasks
Nasir W. Al-Khaldi - MSc Researcher - A study of the safety issues associated with the production and storage of green hydrogen: Green hydrogen production facility in NEOM, KSA
Mohamed Amer - MSc Researcher - Quantitative Risk Assessment of pure hydrogen and Hydrogen/Natural Gas blending in gas transmission pipelines
Mohamed Bashandy - MSC Researcher - Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) study for Blue Hydrogen Production Unit
Jonathan Charles - MSC Researcher - Preliminary Qualitative Risk Assessment using Hazard Identification (HAZID) for Large-Scale Hydrogen Storage in Salt Caverns
Ahmed Eldeeb- MSc Researcher - Layers of Protection Analysis (LOPA) for Green Hydrogen Electrolysis Process
Ahmed Ismail- MSc Researcher - How to build a robust Alarm Management System? A practical guidance based on actual implementation of engineering and operational best practises.
Sakshi Jain - MSC Researcher - Process Safety Issues with Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Process: Hydrometallurgy
Mohamed Osman Mesbah- MSc Researcher - Mitigating Risks in End-user Hydrogen Applications: A Design Review and Risk Assessment Approach
Qays Muhammad- MSc Researcher - Human factors in resilience assessment
2021/22 MEng and MSc Research Team
Freya Vesey - MEng Researcher - Development of a Predictive Resilience Model for Analysis of Process Systems at the Early Design Stage
Sheikh Mahdi Ahmed - MEng Researcher- Machine Learning Techniques for Predictive Maintenance of Industrial Systems
Ian Newall - MSc Researcher - A Comparison of Process Alarm Management in a UK Top-Tier COMAH Facility Against Relevant Good Practice
Ian Yeowart - MSc Researcher - Best practices in PSM for lower hazard industries
William Chaffin - MSc Researcher- Comparing Fusion Tritium Extraction Systems
Xinqi (Amber) Li - MSc Researcher - Process Safety of Recycling Lithium Batteries
Summer 2022 Research Team
Sheikh Mahdi Ahmed- Graduate Researcher- Modelling mRNA TFF
Lewis Ufton - SURF researcher - Modelling mRNA IVT
Andrew Muumbo - SURF/ Summer Safety researcher - Lab Safety improvement team (5S, Lab Standard Work, Chemical Inventory, Standardised documentation new google system) and Automated HAZOP auditing.
Class of 2022 graduates from MEng and MSc research Team with other group members.
2020/21 MEng Research Team
Hannah Mohsen (2020/21) -MEng researcher - Minimising the skills gap left between retiring operators and their replacements to ensure operator safety.
Laura Grinley (2020/21)- MEng researcher - Analysis of successes and failures of fatigue management policies: A case study for a UK-based chemical company.
Niall Theo Shinnick (2020/21)- MEng researcher - A Framework to Improve Process Resilience to Power Outages Caused by Extreme Weather Events
Michael Sugden (2020/21)- MEng researcher - Development of an interactive training tool to reduce the impact of the knowledge gap between retiring operators and their replacements
Faye Donnan (2020/21)- MEng researcher
Harry Hitchman (2020/21)- MEng researcher -Expert System: A Semi-Quantitative Approach to HAZOP Automation
Summer 2021 Research Team
Kesler Isoko SURE researcher - Towards Automated HAZOP
2019/20 MEng and MSc Research Team
Colin Robinson (2019/20)- MSc researcher - Development of a Study Tool that Provides Guidance in Various Aspects of a HAZOP Study.
Summer 2020 Research Team
Matthew Pay SURE researcher - Automated Cleaning Optimisation.
Aoife Campbell SURF researcher - Sustainability in the curriculum and Professional Ethics
Class of 2021 graduates from MEng research team with Prof. Cordiner.