Current Members

Dr Mohamed Abdellah

Mohamed got his PhD degree in the synthesis and utilization of polymeric OSN membranes from The University of Melbourne in 2020. He worked as a research fellow at The University of Melbourne for one year before Joining KAUST as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Mohamed’s research interest focuses on the synthesis of bio-derived selective membranes and their applications in liquid and gas separation. ORCID profile.

Dr Rifan Hardian

Rifan photo

Rifan received his PhD in Materials Science from Aix-Marseille University, France, within the European Commission’s Marie Curie Actions under the supervision of Philip Llewellyn and Marie-Vanessa Coulet. He worked as an Early Stage Researcher at MADIREL Laboratory to investigate the interplay between texture, structure, and reactivity in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), particularly in the case of defective, amorphous, and metal-encapsulated MOFs. His research interest encompasses gas storage, separation, and heterogenous catalysis. Read more about Rifan at his Blog, LinkedIn and GoogleScholar profiles.

Publications:

Claudia Iluhi Oviedo Osornio

Claudia Iluhi Oviedo Osornio

Claudia earned her bachelor’s degree in Medicinal Chemistry at UAQ in Mexico, which provided her with a broad knowledge in chemistry, pharmacy, and biology. Throughout the degree, she was selected for an international placement in Spain and another one within Mexico’s top universities, UNAM in Mexico City. At UNAM, she completed her dissertation, which centered on complementing computational tools, statistics, and laboratory results to drastically reduce the time required for drug discovery. Nowadays, she is working towards her MS-PhD degree focused on the effect of deacetylation on cellulose acetate membranes for liquid separations. Expected MS graduation: 2022, PhD graduation: 2025. ORCiD profile, LinkedIn profile.

Aron Beke

Aron 2

Aron received his Chemical Engineering BSc degree from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, with a specialization in pharmaceutical chemistry and technology. By combining the pharmaceutical sciences with process engineering and machine learning, Aron worked on modeling continuous pharmaceutical technologies before joining the group as an MS/PhD student in 2021 to extend his work to membrane processes. Expected MS graduation: 2022, PhD graduation: 2025. ORCiD profile, LinkedIn profile.

Publications:

  1. S. Overmans, G. Ignacz, A.K. Beke, J. Xu, P. Saikaly, G. Szekely, K.J. Lauersen, Continuous extraction and concentration of secreted metabolites from engineered microbes using membrane technology, Green Chemistry, 2022, 5479 (selected for 2022 HOT Green Chemistry article; selected for front cover) Open_Access_logo small – IF: 11

Diana Gulyas Oldal

Diana

Diana received her BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and she joined the group as a visiting student in January 2020. She continued her work in the group as an MS student from August 2020. Diana defended her MS thesis, focused on electrospinning biodegradable polymers using green solvents, in April 2022. She was awarded the highly competitive KAUST Discovery Doctoral Fellowship and now continues her studies as a PhD student in our group. Expected PhD graduation: 2025. ORCiD profile, LinkedIn profile.

Publications:

  1. D.G. Oldal, F. Topuz, T. Holtzl, G. Szekely, Green Electrospinning of Biodegradable Cellulose Acetate 2 Nanofibrous Membranes with Tunable Porosity, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2023, 11, 994 – IF: 9.2
  2. F. Topuz, D.G. Oldal, G. Szekely, Valorization of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Plastic Wastes as Nanofibrous Membranes for Oil Removal: Sustainable Solution for Plastic Waste and Oil Pollution, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2022, 61, 9077 – IF: 4.3

Nawader Alqadhi

Nawader A

Nawader received her MS degree in Chemistry from Taibah University, Saudi Arabia. Nawader was a lecturer at Taibah University, after which she decided to pursue a PhD degree. She joined the group as a PhD student to investigate the solvent effect in the field of organic solvent nanofiltration. PhD graduation: 2024. ORCiD profile.

Publications:

  1. G. Ignacz, N. Alqadhi, G. Szekely, Explainable machine learning for unraveling solvent effects in polyimide organic solvent nanofiltration membranes, Advanced Membranes, 2023, 3, 100061

Joyce Cavalcante

Joyce Cavalcante

Joyce received her MS degree in Material Science and Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, in Brazil. She joined the group as a PhD student to investigate the fabrication and characterization of biopolymer-based membranes, and their separation performance in organic media. PhD graduation: 2023. LinkedIn profile.

Publications:

Martin Gede

Martin Gede

Martin 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 joined the group as a PhD student in 2020 to develop nanocomposite membranes and intrinsically microporous polymers for various separation challenges. PhD graduation: 2023. ORCiD profile.

Publications:

  1. J. Hu, R. Hardian, M. Gede, T. Holtzl, G. Szekely, Reversible crosslinking of polybenzimidazole-based organic solvent nanofiltration membranes using difunctional organic acids: Toward sustainable crosslinking approaches, Journal of Membrane Science, 2022, 648, 120383 – IF: 9.2

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. PhD graduation: 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 journal 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

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 focuses on exploring the potential of artificial intelligence for advancing membrane separations, and developing novel membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration. PhD graduation: 2023. LinkedIn profile.

Publications:

Gergo Ignacz

Gergo new

Gergo received his MRes from the University of Manchester in The Szekely Group, and his thesis focused on polymers of intrinsic microporosity in nanofiltration systems. After one year of working in the pharmaceutical industry, he joined the Group again, this time as a PhD student. Gergo is developing nature-inspired polymers and membranes for separations, in particular organic solvent nanofiltration. PhD graduation: 2023. LinkedIn and GoogleScholar profiles.

Publications:

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. Fadhilah develops TFC membranes for separations in non-polar organic solvents in collaboration with Professor Suzana Nunes. PhD graduation: 2023.

Publications: