Faculty
Dr. Ali Elkamel, PhD, PEng
Acting Chair & Professor
Building # 2 (Bu Hasa), 2211
Tel: +971-2-607 5114
Email: chego@pi.ac.ae
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Ali Elkamel is a professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.S. in Mathematics from Colorado School of Mines, an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University – West Lafayette, Indiana. His specific research interests are in computer-aided modeling, optimization, and simulation with applications to energy production planning, pollution prevention, and product design. In essence, the underpinning focus of his research efforts has been on promoting sustainable development via the application of systems engineering and mathematical optimization techniques. He is also interested in incorporating the systems approach in engineering education. Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, he served at Purdue University, P&G, Kuwait University, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has been funded for numerous research projects from government and industry. His research output includes over 130 journal articles, 70 proceedings, over 200 conference presentations, and 20 book chapters. He is also a co-author of four books. Two recent books were published by Wiley and entitled “Planning of Refinery and Petrochemical Operations” and “Environmentally Conscious Fossil Energy Production”. Dr. Elkamel graduated 16 PhD students and more than 35 Master students.
Honors and awards:
- Served as Session Chair, Session Organizer, and Member of Program Committee of many scientific conferences.
- Design for the Environment Champion Status Award for work conducted with Virox Technologies Inc. on designing green product disinfectants (this is the highest level of recognition offered under the Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative, SDSI), 2010.
- Outstanding Performance Award for outstanding achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service, University of Waterloo, 2008.
- Mondialogo Engineering Award, 2007.
- Distinguished Performance Award for outstanding contribution in teaching, scholarship and service, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, 2006.
- CFI Canada Foundation for Innovation Award, 2004.
- Faculty Advisor to several students who won best poster or best presentation awards at National and International conferences.
- Elected to serve on the IASTED Technical Committee on Modeling and Simulation (for the term 2005-2008).
- Distinguished Young Researcher Award, College of Engineering, Kuwait University, June 1999.
- Best Teacher Award, College of Engineering, Kuwait University, June 1999.
- Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.
- Omega Rho Operations Research Honor Society.
- Alpha Pi Mu (Industrial Engineering Honor Society).
- Dean's list of distinguished students, Colorado School of Mines.
- College graduation with distinction (High Scholastic Honors).
- Recipient of the outstanding graduating senior in Mathematics Award, Colorado School of Mines.
Professional Service:
- Associate Editor, American Journal of Environmental Sciences, Science Publications, 2007 – Present.
- Member of the Editorial Board, International Journal of Process Systems Engineering, Inderscience Publishers, 2008 - Present.
- Member of the Editorial Board, Engineering Optimization, Taylor & Francis, 2008 - Present.
- Member of the Editorial Board, Int. J. Oil, Gas, and Coal Technology, Inderscience Publishers, 2007 – Present.
- Member of the Editorial Board, The Open Environmental Engineering Journal, Betham Science Publishers Ltd., 2007 – Present.
- Member of the Editorial Board, International Journal of Operations Research and Information Systems (IJORIS), An Official Publication of the Information Resources Management Association, 2008 – Present.
- Member of the Editorial Board, The Open Fuels & Energy Science Journal, Betham Science Publishers Ltd., 2008 – Present.
Research Interests:
Process Systems Engineering; Process Analysis and Improvement; Planning and Scheduling of Process Operations; Supply Chain Management; Product and Process Design; Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization; Waste Utilization and Management; Planning for Energy Production (Oil, Gas, and Biomass Energy); Robust Optimization; Soft Computing; Combinatorial Optimization.
Selected Publications:
“A Robust Optimization Approach for Planning the Transition to Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, in press, (2011).
“Robust Distributed Predictive Control: A Review and recent Developments”, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, in press, (2011).
“Combining Design of Experiments Techniques, Connectionist Models, and Optimization for the Efficient Design of New Product Formulations”, Chemical Product and Process Modeling, Volume 5, Issue 1, Article 11, pages 1-18, (2010).
“Dynamic Modeling and Optimization of a Batch Reactor for Limonene Epoxidation”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 49 (18), pages 8369 – 8378, (2010).
“Strategic Planning of Integrated Multirefinery Networks: A Robust Optimization Approach Based on the Degree of Conservatism”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 49, pages 9970 – 9977, (2010).
“Robusr Planning of Multisite Refinery Networks: Optimization under Uncertainty” Computers and Chemical Engineering, 34, pages 985 – 995, (2010).
“A Multi-Period Optimization Model for Energy Planning with CO2 Emission Consideration”, Journal of Environmental Management, 91, pages 1063-1070, (2010).
“Control Vector Optimization and Genetic Algorithms for Mixed-Integer Dynamic Optimization in the Synthesis of Rice Drying Processes”, invited paper, Journal of the Franklin Institute (special issue on Modeling, Simulation, and Applied Optimization), 33 pages, in press, (2010).
“ Generalized Disjunctive Programming for Synthesis of Rice Drying Processes”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 49, pages 2312-2325, (2010).
“Optimal implementation of CO2 capture technology in power and hydrogen production for oil sands operations”, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol. 88, pages 881 – 888, (2010).
“Petroleum Refinery Operational Planning using Robust Optimization”, Engineering Optimization, Vol. 42, No. 12, pages 1119 – 1131, (2010).
”A Systematic Statistical based Approach for Product Design: Application to Disinfectant Formulations”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 49, pages 204-209, (2010).
“A Bayesian Experimental Design Approach for Assessing New Product Performance: An Application to Disinfectant Formulation.”, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Volume 88, Issue 1, pages 88-94, (2010).
“Selection of Control Structure for Distributed Model Predictive Control in the Presence of Model Errors”, Journal of Process Control, 20, pages 270-284, (2010).
“Optimal Transition to Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles in Ontario-Canada Considering the Electricity Grid Limitations,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, special issue on “Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles”, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 690-701, (2010).
“Sustainability indicators for decision-making and optimisation in the process industry: The case of the petrochemical industry”, Chemical Engineering Science, Volume 65, Issue 4, pages 1452-1461, (2010).
“Air quality and environmental impacts of alternative vehicle technologies in Ontario, Canada”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 35, pages 5145 - 5153, (2010).
“Modeling of Activated Sludge Floc Characteristics”, American Journal of Environmental Sciences, 5 (1), pages: 69-79, (2009).
"Optimization of Energy usage for Fleet-Wide Power Generating System Under Carbon Mitigation Options", AIChE J, Vol. 5, No. 2, pages 3168-3190, (2009).
"Long term electricity demand forecasting for power system planning using economic, demographic, and climatic variables", European Journal of Industrial Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 3, pages 277-304, (2009).
"Computer Facilitated Generalized Coordinate Transformations of Partial Differential Equations with Engineering Applications", Computer Applications in Engineering Education, pages 1-15, (2009).
“Effect of Choline and Acetate Substrates on Bifurcation and Chaotic Behavior of Acetylcholine Neurocycle and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases”, Chemical Engineering Science, 64, pages 2096-2112, (2009).
"An Environmentally Conscious Robust Optimization Approach for Planning Power Generating Systems", International Journal of Global Warming, Vol. 1, Nos. 1/2/3, pages 307-335, (2009).
“Non-linear Feedback Modeling and Bifurcation of the Acetylcholine Neurocycle and its Relation to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases”, Chemical Engineering Science, 64, pages 69-90, (2009).
“Superstructure for the Optimal Synthesis of Process Flowsheets with Applications to Hybrid Membrane Systems”, Engineering Optimization, Vol. 41, No. 4, pages 327-350, (2009).
“Multisite Refinery and Petrochemical Network Design: Optimal Integration and Coordination”, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research,48, pages 814-826, (2009).
"An Order-Specific Algorithm for the Determination of Representative Demand Curves", Computers and Chemical Engineering, 32, pages 1373-1380, (2008).
"Global Optimization of Reverse Osmosis Networks for Wastewater Treatment and Minimization", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 47, pages 3060 - 3070, (2008).
"An Energy Optimization Model with CO2 Emissions Constraints for the Canadian Oil Sands Industry", Energy and Fuel, 22, pages 2660-2670, (2008).
"Defined Medium Design and Optimization for Recombinant Human Interleukin-3 Production by Streptomyces Lividans", Biotechnology and Bioengineerin, Vol. 99, No. 1, pages 214 - 222, 2008. Article selected to be on the Spotlight feature of the Journal.
"Multisite Facility Network Integration Design and Coordination: An Application to the Refining Industry" Computers and Chemical Engineering, 32, pages 2189-2202, (2008).
"Robust Optimization for Petrochemical Network Design under Uncertainty", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 47, pages 3912-3919, (2008).
"An Optimization Approach for Integrating Planning and CO2 Emission Reduction in the Petroleum Refining Industry", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Vol. 47, pages 760-776, (2008).
"Optimal Design of Reverse-Osmosis Networks for Wastewater Treatment" 44 pages, Chemical Engineering & Processing, 47, pages 2163-2174, (2008).
"Two-Stage Stochastic Programming with Fixed Recourse via Scenario Planning with Financial and Operational Risk Management for Petroleum Refinery Planning under Uncertainty", Chemical Engineering and Processing, Vol. 47, pages 1744-1764, (2008).
