AME Faculty Profiles

We have amazing professors here at AME who love teaching and working with our students. This week, get to know these seven outstanding faculty members. 

Dr. Chung-Hao Lee

Dr. Lee’s research interests include Cardiovascular Biomechanics and Multiscale Computational Modeling. He teaches Solid Mechanics, Numerical Methods, Solid Mechanics Lab, and Biomechanics, and his favorite class in college was Finite Element Methods. In Dr. Lee’s free time, he enjoys watching TV and sports! Dr. Lee’s favorite thing about OU is working with students from various disciplines and his advice to students is to pay attention to the details and read instructions carefully.

Dr. Zahed Siddique

Dr. Siddique’s research interests include Engineering Education, Oil and Gas Component Characterization, Neuro-Responses to Creativity, and Product and Process Design. He teaches Principles of Design and Design Practicum. In college, he enjoyed programming courses. In Dr. Siddique’s free time, he likes to watch movies. His favorite thing about OU is working with students on projects involving design, manufacturing, and testing. Dr. Siddique recommends that students collaborate and cooperate with integrity.

 

Dr. Farrokh Mistree

Dr. Mistree is interested in defining the emerging frontier for the “intelligent” decision-based realization of complex (cyber-physical-social) systems when the computational models are incomplete and inaccurate. Applications: Healthcare, Rural Development (people living in extreme poverty), Education. He teaches Preparing for a Life in Academia, Designing for Open Innovation, Principles of Engineering Design, and Design Practicum (Capstone). In college, his favorite course was Architecture and Town Planning of Ancient Rome. His passion is to engage in activities that provide an opportunity for highly motivated and talented people (around the world) to learn how to define and achieve their dreams. Dr. Mistree’s favorite thing about OU is the flexibility proffered in the graduate curriculum.

His is advice to graduate students is that it doesn’t matter what topic you study; the details are going to be out of date pretty soon. What matters is what you learn by reflecting on what you do in your thesis/dissertation. Find a mentor who is keen to invest in educating (not just training) you. His advice to undergraduate students is that graduate education is typically free in the US for students who wish to pursue a graduate degree. Take at least one course that exposes you to research and then think deeply about pursuing a graduate degree. Plan on developing non-technical competencies for careers post-graduation. Dr. Mistree says, “Talk to me about graduate education.”

Dr. Chris Dalton

Dr. Dalton’s research interests are in STEM Outreach and he teaches Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, IC Engines Lab, Capstone, Design of Thermal/Fluid Systems, Solid Mechanics, and Freshman Engineering Experience. In college, his favorite class was Physics 1. He had an excellent professor that made the class very interactive and engaging. He uses structures from that class in his classes to this day. In his free time, he is a big sports fan. He follows the Sooners, the OKC Thunder, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Atlanta Braves. He also enjoys going to the movies. As an alumnus of OU, his favorite thing about OU is getting to share past experiences with students and see how their experiences are similar and different from his. Dr. Dalton’s advice to students is to find activities to get involved in outside the classroom, like student organizations or research. Employers want to see a well-rounded student, not just an academically strong one.

Dr. Feng C. Lai

 

Dr. Feng C. Lai

Dr. Lai’s research interests include Heat Transfer, Enhanced Heat Transfer Using Electrical Field, Electrohydrodynamics, and Heat Transfer in Porous Media. He teaches Principles of Heat Transfer, Design of Thermal and Fluid Systems, Heat Transfer, and Thermodynamics, and his favorite course in college was Thermodynamics. In his free time, Dr. Lai enjoys traveling, watching movies, and listening to classical music. His favorite thing about OU is its good balance between academic and athletic programs. Dr. Lai’s advice for students is to balance their work and play.

 

 

Dr. David P. Miller

Dr. Miller’s research interests are Assistive technology, robot planning, robotics for STEM Education, localization, and planetary surface exploration. He teaches Programming, space science, and robotics, and his favorite course in college was Works of Mark Twain. In Dr. Miller’s free time, he enjoys reading and saltwater aquariums. His favorite thing about OU is Opera and his advice to students is to talk to users.

 

 

Dr. Pejman Kazempoor

Dr. Kazempoor’s research interests are Carbon Capture and Utilization, Sustainable Energy, Environmental Management, Energy Storage, and Electrochemical Energy Systems (Fuel Cells). He teaches Fluid Mechanics; Modeling and Simulation of Energy Systems. His favorite course from college was Advanced Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics. In his free time, he enjoys playing music. Dr. Kazempoor’s favorite thing about OU is its Diversity and Inclusion. His advice to students is that success is a process.

Dr. Kazempoor Receives $1.8 M+ Grant for Natural Gas Project

 

In January, Dr. Pejman Kazempoor received a grant to start work on his natural gas project titled, “Low-Cost Retrofit Kit for Integral Reciprocating Compressors (IRCs) to Reduce Emissions and Enhance Efficiency.” This new retrofit technology—consisting of a combustion optimizer integrated sensors, and a cloud-connected control system—will significantly reduce emissions (i.e., methane and volatile organic compounds), improve operating efficiency, and reduce operating costs for existing IRCs used in production, gathering, transmission, and processing sections of the natural gas industry. This project received a DOE Funding of $1,488,391 plus $394,751 of Non-DOE Funding; and will be done over the course of 3 years.

Dr. Pejman Kazempoor, Dr. Hamid Shabgard, and Dr. Ramkumar Parthasarathy are the three professors involved in the project from the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Sridhar Radhakrishnan, a professor from the School of Computer Science, is also involved in the project. Industry partners include WAGO Automation and Mid-Continent Rental.

According to Kazempoor and his research team, they, “expect to decrease emissions significantly from the production sector of the oil and gas industry.” The production sector accounts for 72% of the total methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry (EPA, 2017).

Dr. Kazempoor will be collaborating with Dr. Radhakrishnan and WAGO automation to create a cloud-connected remote monitoring tool. Since the parameters to reduce emissions constitute true evidence of the IRC’s healthy operation, the cloud-connected feature facilitates remote monitoring of the IRC for preventative and predictive maintenance as an additional benefit to operators.

Dr. Kazempoor will be working on the project in his Energy Sustainability Center here at OU. He said, “The oil and natural gas industry has a direct economic impact on the state of Oklahoma. It’s a great opportunity to help our state and nation by solving the oil and natural gas industry problems, in this case, emissions.” Dr. Kazempoor said an aspect of this project he really enjoys is that they’re using advanced techniques, such as artificial intelligence, to modernize and enhance the safety and efficiency of the Nation’s natural gas infrastructure.

Three graduate students, who will use parts of the project work in their doctoral dissertations/master’s theses, will assist the principal investigators. “They are helping us to modernize what we have now in the field to the current standards. For example, a modern car has many sophisticated technologies. IRCs have been utilized in the oil and gas industry for 130 years, so they ‘re trying to integrate new technology into those old engines to make them more efficient.”

One graduate student will work on the Computational Fluid Dynamics, another on sensors, and the third graduate student will work on monitoring tools. Two undergraduate students will assist graduate students. Additionally, a technician will be hired to work on the retrofit kit manufacture and installation in the field.

 

Meet Dr. Kazempoor, an Assistant Professor new to the University of Oklahoma

Dr. Pejman Kazempoor started working at OU as an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the beginning of this semester. Dr. Kazempoor’s research interests include driving sustainable performance in the Oil and Gas industry; process modeling, simulation, and optimization; natural gas transmission and processing; energy storage, fuel cells, and batteries; advanced sensor technologies; data analytics and machine learning.

Dr. Kazempoor believes that OU is a well-respected and comprehensive global university that has incredible diversity on campus. He also said that OU stands out as a leader in many sciences, engineering, and medical fields. It has been providing students with a world-class education for over 100 years. He said OU is also the leading arts and cultural center in the state of Oklahoma.

He’s looking forward to developing innovative and multi-disciplinary research projects related to the oil and gas industry. He is broadly interested in sustainable energy for the O&G industry with the main objectives to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

Dr. Kazempoor is from the city of Isfahan located in central Iran. The city is renowned for its outstanding Islamic and Iranian architecture. The city was once one of the largest and most important cities in Central Asia. French poet Renier visited Isfahan for the first time; and called it “half of the World.”¹

Dr. Kazempoor enjoys fine arts especially Western and Native-American paintings and bronze sculptures. He was a marathon runner when he was younger, but now he enjoys more hiking, fishing, camping and spending time with his family and friends. Dr. Kazempoor also plays two traditional music instruments –Tar and Setar.

¹http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Isfahan_Half_of_the_World.htm