Elbashir appointed chair of petroleum engineering
Published Jun 26, 2018Dr. Nimir Elbashir has been appointed chair of the Petroleum Engineering Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar effective 1 July.
Elbashir succeeds Dr. Mike Bowman who led the program from August 2015 to November 2017 and Dr. Vijay Panchang who has held the position of interim program chair since then.
Elbashir is currently professor of chemical engineering with a joint appointment in the Petroleum Engineering Program. He joined the Texas A&M at Qatar faculty in 2008 as an assistant professor and was promoted to professor in 2016. In February 2015, he was appointed associate professor of petroleum engineering in addition to his position in chemical engineering, becoming the first Texas A&M at Qatar faculty member to hold a joint appointment in another program. This joint appointment has contributed to building more synergy among faculty members and promoted academic and research collaborations between the two programs.
Elbashir’s research interests are related to the design of advanced reactors, catalysts and conversion processes for natural gas, coal and CO2 to ultra-clean fuels and value-added chemicals. He is the director of the TEES Gas and Fuels Research Center where he leads multidisciplinary research projects involving chemical engineering and petroleum engineering faculty and staff, as well as other faculty from multiple departments and colleges at main campus. He also directs the ORYX GTL Gas-to-Liquid Excellence Program and Texas A&M at Qatar’s Fuel Characterization Lab, which supports major research activities in the advancements of synthetic fuels and chemicals obtained from natural gas in collaboration with industry and several world-leading academic institutions.
Elbashir earned his Ph.D. from Auburn University (USA), all in chemical engineering. Among his numerous awards are the Faculty Excellence Award and the Dean’s Leadership Award from Texas A&M at Qatar; the TEES Genesis Research Excellence Award; the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students College-level Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching; and the Qatar Foundation Best Energy and Environment team award.