Net Zero Engineering Fundamentals

WASM: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering

Dr. Vishnu Pareek, currently the Dean of Engineering at Curtin University, brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his role. As the John Curtin Distinguished Professor since 2020, he has established himself as a respected academic leader. With a tenure that includes serving as Professor and Head of the Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, as well as other key positions within the university from 2002 onwards, Dr. Pareek has played an integral part in shaping Net Zero Engineering at Curtin University.

Professor Vishnu Pareek

Dr Eric Lilford (Assoc. Prof., FAusIMM) is an engineer (BSc and MSc) and a minerals and energy economist (PhD). He heads the Minerals and Energy Economics discipline and its Masters programme at Curtin University. Beyond his seven years in academia incorporating numerous research publications, he has extensive international experience in senior management roles in the mining and energy industries, including as MD and CEO of listed and non-listed companies. His +30 years resources industry experience includes mining production, investment banking, business development as well as academia across the resources, energy and advanced technology sectors. He is on the panel of experts for the IMF, provides training programmes to governments and industry practitioners alike in the minerals and energy economics sectors and continues to strategically guide resources companies as a non-executive or consultant on or for a number of Boards.

Dr Richard Alorro is a Senior Lecturer of Metallurgical Engineering at the Kalgoorlie Campus of the Western Australian School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering. He teaches Pyrometallurgy and Process Engineering units both in undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His research areas include leaching and separation technologies, urban mining and resources reprocessing, processing of technology metals (rare earth elements and rare metals), waste treatment and environmental remediation.

Dr Anderson has significant experience in academia and the global hard-rock mining industry, having worked in hard-rock mining on four continents. Dr Anderson is currently a Senior Lecturer in Mineral and Energy Economics at the Western Australia School of Mines. As a mineral and resource economist, Dr, Anderson investigates the fundamental economic drivers of a global mining industry characterised by dynamic uncertainty, regional imbalances, and a rapidly changing landscape, especially as it relates to the transition energy transition and a low-carbon future.

Dr Arash Arami-Niya is a lecturer in the WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering. He was awarded his PhD in 2017 at the School of Chemical Engineering, the University of Queensland. Then he joined Professor Eric May (Future Energy Exports CRC CEO) team at the Department of Chemical Engineering, at the University of Western Australia as a postdoctoral research fellow. Following three years working at UWA, he was appointed to a full-time Lecturer position (Teaching and Research) in March 2020 at Curtin University. Arash's research expertise is in the area of Gas Processing including adsorption, gas separation, and thermophysics.

Associate Professor Waqar Asad is a research and teaching academic with over 26 years of experience in Australia, North America, and Asia. He joined Curtin Kalgoorlie campus in 2012 and has served in various leadership roles. Dr Asad values industry engagement and he is leading projects sponsored by industry as well as state and federal government programs. His research focuses on the development and implementation of mathematical models for deterministic and stochastic optimization of complex mineral supply/value chains. Specifically, he has contributions in stochastic models for pit design, cut-off grade policy, production scale, and production scheduling for open-pit mining operations. In addition, he has contributed models that address sustainability through responsible handling of active wastes and energy savings.

Dr Barakos has significant experience not only in the academia but also in the mining industry, having worked as a consulting engineer in mining operations in Greece for several years. To keep pace with the evolution in the mining industry and its transition to the digital era, his recent research interest is also focusing on the automation and digitalisation of mining operations, as well as the digitilisation of the technical, economic and environmental evaluation of mining projects; how to introduce the IoT in mining operations, digitilisation of the mining project evaluation process and commodity market analyses using big data.

Associate Professor Tejas Bhatelia is chemical engineer with research experience in modelling and simulations of multiphase processes. His research focuses on providing scientific basis for optimisation of novel technologies applied to producing synthetic fuel via gas to liquid processing. Tejas had two years of postdoctoral experience working in Texas A&M university in Qatar. Before joining Texas A&M University at Qatar, he worked as a research associate at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. His PhD work focused on investigating novel reactors for multiphase processes using Computational Fluid Dynamics. His areas of interest include chemical reaction engineering, kinetic modelling, CFD modelling, catalysis and reactor engineering applied to GTL technologies and process safety.

Dr. Ping Chang is a Lecturer in Mining Engineering at the WA School of Mines, Curtin University in Australia. He specializes in developing and optimizing technologies for mining-induced particle control, including the characterization and mitigation of various types of dust such as coal dust, diesel particulate matter, open-pit haul road dust, and mine tailing dust. In addition, Dr. Chang's research interests also include mine ventilation, computational fluid dynamics, mine electrification, and mine health and safety.

Associate Professor Laurence Dyer leads the Metallurgical Engineering program from Curtin University’s historic Kalgoorlie campus in the heart of Western Australia’s Goldfields. Having spent more than 15 years in education and industry-based research in the field he has a passion for developing solutions that both improve business and sustainability outcomes. Laurence and his team’s primary drive is to continue to produce high quality graduates to service the industry and his research is currently focussed on development of new metal extraction processes, water treatment and the treatment of low grade material and industrial waste streams.

Jonah holds her Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Metallurgy from Tohoku University, Japan. Currently, she serves as a Lecturer of Metallurgical Engineering at the WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering of Curtin University's Kalgoorlie Campus. Her research focuses on developing fundamental and sustainable solutions for the future of metals and minerals industry. This includes exploring green ironmaking methods using lime and hydrogen, investigating the thermodynamics of clean steelmaking technologies, designing surface modification techniques to enhance anti-oxidation properties in refractory metals, and recovering valuable metals from secondary resources like steelmaking slag and electric arc furnace dust.

Associate Professor Masood Mostofi, a dedicated academic at WA School of Mines at Curtin University, brings practical insights and expertise to the field of drilling engineering. With a commitment to academic excellence, he imparts valuable knowledge through courses such as Drilling Engineering Fundamentals and Advanced Drilling Engineering. Additionally, as an accomplished researcher, Associate Professor Mostofi explores critical areas, including bit/rock interaction of diamond bits, drilling optimization, cutting transportation and depth discrimination, drilling fluid dynamics, and borehole stability. As an Associate Professor, Mostofi significantly contributes to the academic environment, bridging the gap between theory and practical applications in drilling engineering.

Dr Yun Yu is currently a Senior Lecturer and the Postgraduate Coordinator in the Discipline of Chemical Engineering at Curtin University, Australia. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Curtin University in 2010, and won the prestigious ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) in 2012. In 2016, he was appointed as the Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering at Curtin University. His research interests mainly focus on advanced bioenergy and biofuels production from thermochemical conversion of biomass and organic waste. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal papers in the field of energy and fuels, with >4500 citations and an H-index of 40 (Google Scholar). He is the Associate Editor of Energy & Fuels (IF: 5.3, ACS) and the Editorial Board Member of Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis (IF: 6.0, Elsevier), Processes (IF: 3.5, MDPI), Frontiers in Energy Research (IF: 3.4, Frontier) and Advances in Polymer Technology (IF: 3.1, Wiley).

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