Zohra Halim
Zohra Halim is a fourth year PhD student working with Dr. M. Sam Mannan at the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center. Her research focuses on developing a model for assessing cumulative risk arising from impaired barriers in offshore platforms. The model will allow merging of the effects of technical, operational, human and organizational deviations within a facility to understand their dynamic holistic effect on risk. Through the use of Dynamic Bayesian Network, information from near misses and incident investigations along with recorded data (such as maintenance and inspection records, audits) particular to the facility will be brought together to update generic equipment failure probabilities to provide a more plant specific risk perspective that also reflects the condition of the safety management system of the organization.
A keen supporter of promoting process safety among industry and society, Zohra has actively been involved in multiple process safety related projects alongside her research work. Such projects include developing a PSM implementation plan for an international industrial corporation, analyzing BSEE incident investigation databases to determine leading causes behind incidents in offshore oil and gas facilities, reviewing BSEE’s existing offshore training programs, developing process safety course materials for an international university and working in collaboration with IChemE to develop a roadmap for process safety for the 21st century and a process safety masterclass curriculum for fresh graduates. She also works as a team member with the Ocean Energy Safety Institute (OESI) and volunteers frequently in their forums and workshops. Zohra won the Lamiya Zahin Memorial Safety Scholarship in 2016 and held first positions at the Annual MKOPSC Poster Competition in 2016 and 2017. She was elected Media Chair of the Chemical Engineering Graduate Students’ Association (ChEGSA) during 2015-2016.
Before coming to Texas A&M University, Zohra completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), all through achieving university merit award and Dean’s award. During her undergraduate study she designed and fabricated a laboratory scale apparatus for studying pool boiling phenomena of various liquid mixtures and also completed an internship at an ammonia and urea facility. Her masters thesis undertook an experimental investigation involving design, construction and operation of a pilot evaporation unit to concentrate dilute caustic soda solution from wastewater of textile mills in Bangladesh using waste heat from gas engine generators.
Zohra possesses eight years of experience in junior chemical engineering faculty positions at BUET. During this time, she received a $20,000 fund from the Ministry of Environment, Government of Bangladesh through the Climate Change Study Cell (CCSC) at BUET for a project for integrated assessment of technological, environmental and economic aspects of algae-based biodiesel generation in Bangladesh. The project aimed at fabricating a pilot unit using locally available resources and engineering practices to make available to farmers a cheap means for generating biodiesel by growing algae in their own backyard. She has provided editorial assistance to several Bangladeshi scientific journals, organized multiple professional programs and represented Bangladesh in an international ministerial meeting to discuss empowerment through technical and economic collaboration.
She is a proud mother of two kids, a passionate traveler and a big fan of DIYs.
Further details are provided at www.linkedin.com/in/syedazohrahalim.