Alumni Highlight: Ahmad Al-Douri

Ahmad Al-Douri, PhD ’21, MS’16

Can you briefly describe your professional background and current role? I am an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering at the University of Oklahoma, having started there in August 2024. Before joining OU SCBME, I was a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Risk and Reliability, working under the supervision of Prof. Katrina Groth, at the University of Maryland from 2021-2024. Prior to that, I obtained my Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Texas A&M University working under the supervision of Prof. Mahmoud El-Halwagi. I am also proud to be a quadruple Aggie having gotten all my degrees at TAMU.

What inspired you to pursue chemical engineering? I was always curious about the energy industry in general. This is what drew me to pursue chemical engineering and I developed an interest especially in crude oil refining and natural gas processing systems. I was especially fascinated by the importance of products obtained from these processes in our daily life. Overall, I saw that this field is meant to improve the daily lives of everyone around the globe.

What were some key experiences during your time at Texas A&M? I was fortunate to have the flexibility to work on two projects during my Ph.D. that cemented my interest in process design and safety. Being able to interact with the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center and benefit from the tremendous resources and connections it has was a unique opportunity as there are only a few similar centers nation-wide. I was also fortunate to co-lead an industry-sponsored under Prof. El-Halwagi's supervision which further developed my personal and professional skills of leadership and critical thinking in research.

What is your current work and research focus? Broadly, my work focuses on: (1) developing multi-criteria decision making frameworks to evaluating process design alternatives, and (2) system safety, risk, and reliability analysis of complex engineering systems. In terms of applications, I work on hydrogen technologies (e.g. fueling stations, electrolysis systems), petrochemical plants, and nuclear power plants.

What advice do you have for current graduate students? I would encourage current students to seize the unique opportunity you have at Texas A&M University. It has a tremendous amount of resources to help you conduct high-quality research and will propel you to a successful career. Also, always be curious and make sure you stay up-to-date on the latest scientific articles in your area. Broadly also, I encourage students to stay in touch with the wider chemical engineering discipline by following publications such as Chemical Engineering Progress among others.

Is there any message you'd like to share with the ChE community? I am happy to be part of a professional community that works everyday to improve the quality of life of people around the world. Based on that, I encourage all of us to keep in mind that we should conduct our work in an ethical manner always and with the knowledge that we will ultimately benefit society in general.