The EMS Energy Institute welcomes the following new members who have joined the Institute since our last publication.
Karlin Andersen
Communications Specialist
EMS Energy Institute
As the communications specialist for the EMS Energy Institute, Andersen writes articles highlighting research conducted at the institute, assists with communications for meetings and conferences, and edits communications for the department. She also supports the University Coalition for Fossil Energy Research (UCFER) by editing reports, meeting documents and the UCFER newsletter. Andersen earned her B.A. from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and is currently working toward a master’s degree in media studies in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
Sekhar Bhattacharyya
Associate Professor
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Bhattacharyya brings twenty-three years of experience in mining and energy industries to his position as an associate professor in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering (EME). He joined EME in August of 2017, after previously teaching at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and working as a senior mining engineer in Utah. His research expertise includes mine design, mine ventilation, geostatistics, and mine safety and health.
Ashley Comly
Staff Assistant
EMS Energy Institute
Comly is a financial assistant in the EMS Energy Institute. Her duties include ordering the delivery and pickup of all gas cylinders; scheduling conference rooms, calls, meetings, and arranging catered meals for events; processing group meal reports; distributing visitor parking permits; placing orders for general office supplies as well as research equipment and supply orders; assisting with booking fleet reservations and travel. She also serves as the direct assistant for institute director, Chunshan Song, which includes managing his calendar and scheduling meetings; welcoming guests; making hotel and flight reservations; delivering and sending mail; managing and renewing memberships; and other tasks as needed.
Arash Dahi Taleghani
Associate Professor
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Taleghani is a associate professor of petroleum engineering in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. He earned a M.S. in civil engineering from the Sharif University of Technology and his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining Penn State he was a tenured faculty member at Louisiana State University and has ten years of combined experience in applied engineering, research, and consulting. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and has four patent applications in the fields of drilling and completion.
Hamid Emami-Meybodi
Assistant Professor
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Emami-Meybodi is an assistant professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering. His research expertise is in analytical and numerical modeling of fluid flow and transport phenomena in porous media with applications to storage of carbon dioxide in geological formations, unconventional gas reservoirs, and enhanced oil recovery. He has conducted research on solutal and thermal natural convection, rate transient analysis, hydraulic fracturing, water and polymer flooding, formation steam heating, and solvent injection in heavy oil reservoirs.
Khaled Enab
Postdoctoral Scholar
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Enab earned his master's degree and doctoral degree in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Penn State in 2012 and 2018, respectively. He is currently a postdoctoral scholar researching the applications of machine learning in the petroleum engineering field, unconventional reservoirs, and enhanced oil recovery.
Christy English
Staff Assistant
EMS Energy Institute
English is the financial coordinator for the EMS Energy Institute. Her duties include the review and approval of financial forms, budget monitoring and expenditure review, compliance with various grant requirements and restrictions, and various other tasks to assist the administrative support coordinator. Christy joined the EMS Energy Institute in July 2017.
Mohammad Ghamari
Postdoctoral Scholar
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Ghamari is a postdoctoral fellow in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering with a focus on computer science. He joined the EMS Energy Institute in 2018.
William Groves
Associate Professor
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Groves, associate professor of industrial health and safety in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, has been with the University since 2000. His research focuses on health and safety measures related to exposure to organic vapors and the health effects of exposure. He previously held positions with Aetna Life and Casualty, Newport News Shipbuilding, and the Dow Chemical Company. He earned his Ph.D. in industrial health from the University of Michigan. Groves joined the EMS Energy Institute in 2018.
Amin Mehrabian
Assistant Professor
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Mehrabian, associate professor in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, earned his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma. He previously worked as a principal engineer for Halliburton Energy Services in Houston, Texas and holds a U.S. patent application on managed pressure drilling. Mehrabian joined the EMS Energy Institute in 2017 to research the mechanics and physics of porous media with applications in wellbore, shale, and reservoir geomechanics of drilling and completions operations.
Xiaolong Ouyang
Postdoctoral Scholar
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Ouyang began his postdoctoral research at Penn State in 2018 with a focus on multiphase flow in porous media, heat transfer, and geothermal energy.
Cheng Peng
Postdoctoral Scholar
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Peng is completing postdoctoral research in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. He joined the EMS Energy Institute in 2018.
Antoine Piedfert
Postdoctoral Scholar
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Piedfert started as a postdoctoral scholar in the EMS Energy Institute and the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering in 2018 to further his research in petroleum and natural gas engineering.
Mohammad Rezaee
Assistant Professor
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Rezaee is an assistant professor of mining engineering in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering. Prior to joining Penn State, he served as a postdoctoral research associate in Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s Mining and Minerals Engineering Department. He brings combined industry and research experience with his background as a mining engineer consultant and a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. His research interests including sustainable mining, mineral processing, and waste management. Rezaee is an active member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration and the Society of Mining Professors.
Parisa Shokouhi
Associate Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Shokouhi is an associate professor of engineering science and mechanics. Her main research interests include stress wave propagation in fractured media, nondestructive evaluation (linear and nonlinear ultrasonic testing), structural health monitoring (acoustic emission), machine learning and data analytics, and seismic metamaterials. She received her doctoral degree in civil engineering from Rutgers University.
Xiang Zhao
Research Staff
EMS Energy Institute
Zhao received his Ph.D. in 1996 in engineering mechanics from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. From 1999 to 2004, he conducted research on nearfield acoustical holography for noise source identification at Wayne State University. From 2004 to 2006, he conducted research on photoacoustic tomography for material characterization with laser-induced ultrasound at the Penn State. After that, he worked at Guidedwave Inc. At the EMS Energy Institute, he currently is working on a gas volume audit with special interest in acoustic well stimulation and reservoir simulation.
Tieyuan Zhu
Assistant Professor
Geosciences
Zhu has been an assistant professor of geophysics in the Department of Geosicnces since 2016. He earned a B.S. from China University of Geosciences in 2005, a M.S. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008, and a Ph.D. in geophysics from Stanford University in 2014. His main research interests are in seismic attenuation, true-amplitude seismic imaging and inversion, time-reversal theory, and carbon dioxide monitoring. He was a Jackson Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow from 2014 to 2016 at the University of Texas at Austin.