Alumni Members

Dr. Jiahui Hu

Jiahui Hu

Jiahui received her MS degree from the University of Manchester under the supervision of Dr Thomas Rodgers. Jiahui’s PhD research focused on exploring the potential of artificial intelligence for advancing membrane separations, and developing novel membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration. She graduated with a PhD from KAUST in 2023. LinkedIn profile.

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Dr. Gergo Ignacz

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Gergo received his MRes from the University of Manchester in 2018 and his PhD from KAUST in 2023, both at The Szekely Group. Inbetween, he worked one year in the pharmaceutical industry. Gergo has been active in the fields of nature-inspired polymers and machine learning for membrane separations, in particular organic solvent nanofiltration. Gergo is currently a postdoc in our group at KAUST since 2023. LinkedIn and GoogleScholar profiles.

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Dr. Cong Yang

Cong Yang 1

Cong received her MS degree from the University of Manchester. Cong’s PhD research focuses on developing green, solvent-resistant thin film composite membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration. Cong graduated with a PhD from KAUST in 2023.

Publications:

  1. C. Yang, G. Szekely, Ultrathin 12-nm-thick solvent-resistant composite membranes from biosourced dialdehyde starch and priamine building blocks, Advanced Membranes, 2022, 2, 100041 (selected for front cover)
  2. C. Yang, F. Topuz, S.-H. Park, G. Szekely, Biobased thin-film composite membranes comprising priamine–genipin selective layer on nanofibrous biodegradable polylactic acid support for oil and solvent-resistant nanofiltration, Green Chemistry, 2022, 24, 5291 Open_Access_logo small – IF: 11
  3. S.-H. Park, C. Yang, N. Ayaril, G. Szekely, Solvent-resistant Thin Film Composite Membranes from Biomass-derived Building Blocks: Chitosan and 2,5-Furandicarboxaldehyde, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2022, 10, 998 (selected for journal cover) Open_Access_logo small – IF: 9.2
  4. G. Ignacz, C. Yang, G. Szekely, Diversity matters: Widening the chemical space in organic solvent nanofiltration, Journal of Membrane Science, 2022, 641, 119929 Open_Access_logo small – IF: 9.2

 

Dr. Fadhilah Alduraiei

Fadhilah A

Fadhilah received her MS degree from KAUST under Prof Peng Wang. Her project focused on superwettable membranes for highly efficient separation of oil in water emulsions. She worked on multiple environmental sustainability projects, which looks into treating industrial waste. During her PhD in the group, Fadhilah developed TFC membranes for separations in non-polar organic solvents in collaboration with Professor Suzana Nunes. Fadhilah graduated with a PhD from KAUST in 2023.

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Dr. Sushil Kumar

sushil

Sushil received his PhD in Inorganic chemistry from the University of Delhi, India. He worked as a SERB-Young Scientist at CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune (India), and a postdoctoral fellow at KAUST investigating the synthesis and applications of covalent organic frameworks. His research interest encompasses designing and synthesizing novel porous polymers for different industrial applications. He was a postdoc in the group from 2020 for 2.5 years.

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Dr. Robert McNair

Robert McNair

Rob explores membrane capacitive deionisation techniques to remove undesirable ions from water. The ultimate aim of the project will strive to achieve clean, drinkable water. As part of the Graphene NOWNANO CDT, Rob develops graphene-based membranes and other 2D materials as a means of deionisation and desalination in collaboration with Professor Robert Dryfe from the School of Chemistry at The University of Manchester. Rob graduated with a PhD from Manchester in 2021.

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Dr. Abdulaziz Alammar

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Abdulaziz investigates the formation and mitigation of tight water/oil emulsions in the petrochemical industry. In particular, he is developing new materials and processes with sustainability in mind. Abdulaziz graduated with a PhD from Manchester in 2021 and returned to Saudi Aramco. LinkedIn profile.

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Dr Mahmoud Abdulhamid

Abdulhamid_Original

Mahmoud joined the group in 2019 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in KAUST after finishing his PhD in Chemical Science under the supervision of Prof. Ingo Pinnau at AMPMC-KAUST. He worked on designing and synthesizing novel porous polymers for different industrial applications including gas separation and organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). His research focuses on developing newly fashioned polymers prepared from contorted structures and study their transport performance. Google Scholar profile. Having spent almost 3 years in the group, he accepted a new role as a research faculty at KFUPM.

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Dr Levente Cseri

LC

Levente worked on advanced materials and ion-exchange membranes for various seprations, in particular electrodialysis to tackle the 21st century’s engineering grand challenge of clean water. His research is carried out in close collaboration with Professor Peter Budd from The University of Manchester, and Professor Linda Zou from Masdar Institute. Levente graduated with a PhD from Manchester in 2021 and started working at Femtonics. LinkedIn and GoogleScholar profiles.

Publications:

  • L. Cseri, M. Razali, G. Szekely, Organic Solvents in Sustainable Synthesis and Engineering in the book entitled Green Chemistry published by Elsevier, 2017

 

Dr Hai Anh Le Phuong

HALP

Hai Anh explored innovative membrane-based approaches for separations utilising green chemistry and engineering. Her project is carried out in a close collaboration with Dr Christopher Blanford from the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology. Hai Anh graduated with a PhD from Manchester in 2021 and started working at RichterGedeon. LinkedIn profile.

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Dr Fuat Topuz

Fuat

Fuat joined the group as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2019-2021) at KAUST. He obtained his PhD from RWTH Aachen after which he was a postdoc UNAM-National Nanotechnology Research Center of Turkey. Fuat focuses on the engineering of functional nanomaterials for environmental applications and separations in organic media. Follow his website for more detailed information. Google Scholar profile.

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Dr Sang-Hee Park

Sang-Hee Park photo 1

Sang-Hee joined the group as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2019-2020) in KAUST moving from the Sustainable & Environmental Materials Laboratory at Korea University. He worked on thin film composite (TFC) membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN). His research focused on exploring the structure-performance-property correlation via fine-turning the membrane structures and their intrinsic properties. Currently he is an assistant professor at Korea University. GoogleScholar profile.

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Zsolt Fulop

Zsolt Fulop

Zsolt received his BEng and MEng degrees in Chemical Engineering from Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and he was a visiting student in the group during the summer of 2019. He worked on the development of OSN membranes using renewable resources. ORCiD profile.

Publication:

  1. S.-H. Park, A. Alammar, Z. Fulop, B. Pulido, S. Nunes, G. Szekely, Hydrophobic thin film composite nanofiltration membranes derived solely from sustainable sources, Green Chemistry, 2021, 23, 1175. (selected for front cover) Open_Access_logo small – IF: 11

Virag Voros

Virag Voros

Virag spent her Erasmus scholarship in the group at Manchester in 2018 and visited KAUST in 2019. His research focused on modelling of hybrid processes for nanofiltration-enabled waste utilization. LinkedIn profile.

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Dr Fan Fei

Fan Fei

Fan developed graphene-based membranes for molecular level separations in organic media. He was mainly based in the School of Materials, and he investigated new techniques to characterise graphene oxide membranes. His project was carried out in close cooperation with Dr Christopher Blanford from the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology. Fan graduated with a PhD from Manchester in 2019. LinkedIn and GoogleScholar profiles.

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Gergo Ignacz

GI

Gergo developed robust polymers and polymer blends for organic solvent nanofiltration. He focused on polymers of intrinsic microporosity and polybenzimidazole. He graduated with an MRes from Manchester in 2018. LinkedIn and GoogleScholar profiles.

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Jiaru Bai

Jiaru Bai

Jiaru worked on the fabrication of defect-free mixed matrix membranes using metal organic frameworks. His project focused on UiO-66 and Basolite F300, their functionalisation, and preparation of solvent-resistant nanofiltration membranes. He graduated with a BEng from Manchester in 2018. LinkedIn profile.

 

Dr Christos Didaskalou

Christos

Christos worked in the group toward his PhD between 2014 and 2017. His research focused on the development of sustainable separation processes using advanced materials. Christos developed membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration and imprinted polymers for scavenging natural products. He graduated with a PhD from Manchester in 2017.

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Mayamin Razali

MR

Mayamin worked in the group in Manchester between 2015 and 2017. Her research focused on sustainable wastewater treatment for the membrane manufacturing industry, long-term stability of molecularly imprinted polymers and revealing the effect of solvent treatment on membrane separation. LinkedIn profile.

Publications:

  • L. Cseri, M. Razali, G. Szekely, Organic Solvents in Sustainable Synthesis and Engineering in the book entitled Green Chemistry published by Elsevier, 2017

 

Dr Tamas Fodi

FodiT

Tamas spent his Campus Mundi PhD secondment in the group in Manchester in 2017. His research focused on heterogeneous catalysis in flow reactors with integrated membrane-based separation. LinkedIn profile.

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