People
Principal Investigator
Professor Rory Monaghan
Rory Monaghan is the Professor in Energy Systems Engineering at the University of Galway. He is the Lead Principal Investigator in the Energy Research Centre in the University of Galway Ryan Institute, and a Funded Investigator in MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine. Rory leads the Energy Systems Integration Group, which conducts research on modelling and optimising sustainable and renewable energy value chains, including green hydrogen, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and bioenergy, for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors. He was awarded a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Galway in 2002, and Masters and PhD degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2005 and 2010, respectively.
Research Fellows
Dr Ahmad Rafiee
Ahmad Rafiee is a Research Fellow at the University of Galway. He completed his M.Sc. in Energy Systems Engineering at Sharif University of Technology, Tehran. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Department of Chemical Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Ahmad’s PhD thesis was on “Optimal design issues of a gas-to-liquids process”. Ahmad joined Cardiff University (UK) as a postdoctoral researcher in 2017. He was working on optimisation of the Brazilian gas and electricity networks. Ahmad started working as postdoctoral research fellow at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2019. The main research areas were CO2 utilization in chemical processes, modelling and optimization of chemical processes, renewable integration in chemical production, and techno-economic analysis. Ahmad was involved in several industrial projects on simulation of natural gas processing plants, and optimization of methanol production process from natural gas (with capacity of 1.6 million tonne/year). The energy efficiency and methanol production rate were maximized. In addition, Ahmad started working at DANA CLUSTER PTY LTD (Australia) as a principal consultant. He has been working on modelling and optimization of energy systems and biogas upgrading. Ahmad was working as a senior researcher on modelling and optimization of power-to-methanol process at South Ural State University, Russia. Ahmad has published more than 30 journal papers.
PhD Researchers
Arjun Bopaiah
Arjun Bopaiah is a PhD student at the University of Galway. He is currently working on the SFI MaREI funded HyLIGHT project titled “New economic opportunities from Hydrogen production”. Previously, he graduated from Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e) and Oxford Brookes University with a Professional doctorate of Engineering and Master of Science degree respectively. During his time at TU/e, he had the opportunity to work with Valeo, Siemens and TotalEnergies Gas Mobility in the domain of ADAS and refuelling station infrastructure. At present, he explores the potential for Ireland to develop new hydrogen-based industries and export markets. His research interest includes system design, modelling and energy systems.
Fabio Bozzolo Lueckel
Fabio Bozzolo is PhD student in mechanical engineering at the University of Galway. He is a biochemical engineer from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile who graduated with honors in 2020 and was awarded by the National school of engineers of Chile as the best graduate of his promotion. In 2019 he did an internship in the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology and later another one in the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, where finished his thesis about gaseous fermentation of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Nowadays, besides the fermentation area, Fabio is working on hydrogen supply chains and hydrogen-related strategies integration in electricity systems with highly renewables penetration for the energy transition.
E-mail: f.bozzolo2@nuigalway.ie
Fatemeh Dadashidooki
I got my BSc in Aerospace Engineering at Tehran Polytechnic and for my MSc, I studied Renewable Energy Engineering and Management at École Polytechnique (Paris). I also have a diploma in Innovation, Management, and Entrepreneurship of ESADE Business school (Catalunya). I have worked with the Innovation and Sustainability team at ENGIE Global Markets in Paris before starting my PhD here at the University of Galway and at the moment, I am working on Electro-fuels and Hydrogen Enriched Biofuels within the HyLIGHT Project.
Haresh Jayasankar
Haresh is a Mechanical Engineer from Sri Lanka. He got his Bachelors Degree from the University of Ruhuna, where he was honored with the Gold medal for best performance in Mechanical Engineering. He also served at the Prime Minister’s Office of Sri Lanka for policy development specially for areas under Engineering and Entrepreneurship. He is pursuing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Galway under the supervision of Dr. Rory Monaghan. His work focuses on developing Techno-economic model for Carbon dioxide Capture and Transport in Ireland.
Thuso Booth Mogorosi
Thuso Booth Mogorosi is an energy expert with both research background and industrial experience. I hold a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of South Wales. My experience acquired during and after my studies focuses on extensive renewable energy, decarbonization policies, energy efficiency, Renewable energy project development, Energy storage, energy project budget and costing, Off-grid power solutions, energy project management and energy management systems. I am currently pursuing my PhD in Energy Systems Engineering at the University of Galway. My research explores the challenges and opportunities for transitioning gas turbines fleet in Ireland to hydrogen in combined-cycle, open cycle, combined heat and power, and onsite power generation hence assessing the role played by hydrogen in decarbonising the gas turbine electricity generation.
Mostafa Rezaeimozafar
Mostafa is a PhD student in Electrical Engineering at the University of Galway. His work focuses on the techno-economic modelling and optimization of energy storage systems in smart grids, especially small/medium-size storage technologies for behind-the-meter applications. His research is funded by the STEPS project.
Before starting his PhD in January 2021, Mostafa completed his MSc in 2016 at Islamic Azad University, Iran. He has published 6 refereed journal and conference papers. He is the recipient of the best presentation award from “2021 IEEE Conference on Smart Energy Grid Engineering”, the top 10 most cited papers for three years up to 2020 in “Sustainable Cities and Society”.
Researchers
Caoimhe Boyce
Caoimhe Boyce is a Research Assistant at the University of Galway. She is currently working with the ERIN Group on the HyLIGHT project. She is focusing on the development of a suitability map for the Isle of Ireland, with an aim to identify areas with potentially high demand for green hydrogen production. Previously she has completed an internship under the supervision of Dr. Rory Monaghan, examining the impact of hydrogen policies across Europe. She was awarded a Bachelors Degree and Masters Degree in Energy Systems Engineering, from the University of Galway in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Tadgh Cummins
Tadgh is a master's student researching in the area of green hydrogen and the decarbonisation of public transport as part of an EU funded project called GenComm. Prior to his current position Tadgh studied Energy Systems Engineering in the University of Galway and graduated with an honours BE degree in 2021.