Meet Our Researchers

Hassan Hassanzadeh

Dr. Hassanzadeh is a professor in the Department of Chemical and  Petroleum Engineering. He holds a B.Sc. from the Petroleum University of Technology, formerly known as the Abadan Institute of Technology (AIT), an M.Sc. from the University of Tehran, and a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary. Dr. Hassanzadeh is the Principal Investigator and Director of the SHARP research consortium. Further information about Dr. Hassanzadeh research areas can be found in his Google Scholar. 

Email: hhassanz@ucalgary.ca

Phone: Office: 403.210.6645

View Dr. Hassanzadeh's faculty page

Mabkhot BinDahbag

Dr. BinDahbag is a Postdoctoral Fellow in SHARP research group. His research focuses on the experimental and modeling of the solvent-aided thermal processes. Dr. BinDahbag worked on reservoir simulation and experimental studies of  fluid phase equilibria of solvent/bituem systems, chemical enhanced oil recovery, ionic liquids, and improved bitumen recovery using urea solutions. He is specialized in core flooding, 2D and 3D physical model experiments, and reservoir simulation of advanced recovery processes of bitumen and heavy oils.  

Devjyoti (Dev) Nath

Dr. Nath joined in SHARP research group in March 2021. His current research focuses on the experimental and modeling of the solvent-aided thermal processes. Dr. Nath previously worked as a PDF at the University of Regina on a project entitled ‘A novel methodology for online amine solution analysis of the degradation caused by fly ash. Dr. Nath obtained his Ph.D. in Process Systems Engineering from the University of Regina. During his Ph.D., he studied the solubility of CO₂ in aqueous amine solutions using a stirred cell reactor. Dr. Nath also performed kinetic study for the absorption of CO₂ in amine-based solvent and estimated the heat of absorption of CO₂ with C80 flow calorimeter.

Hadi Bagherzadeh

Dr. Bagherzadeh joined the SHARP research group in May 2022. His current research focuses on experimental and modeling of phase equilibria of supercritical water/bitumen/salt systems, partial upgrading of bitumen, and solvent-aided thermal processes. Dr. Bagherzadeh previously worked as Research Engineer at Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), Tehran, Iran, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Calgary. Hadi obtained his Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. His past research includes asphaltene precipitation and deposition, PVT and fluid characterization, EOR and bitumen recovery.

Hadi Saboorian Jooybari

Hadi earned his PhD in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering with a specialization in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Calgary in May 2023. He obtained his BSc and MSc degrees in Petroleum Engineering both from Petroleum University of Technology (PUT), Iran. Before joining the University of Calgary, Hadi was a senior reservoir engineer in the Reservoir Studies Division of the Petroleum Engineering Department at National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC). He joined NISOC in 2007 as a reservoir engineer and during nearly a decade of his career in NISOC, he was involved in a wide range of reservoir engineering projects. As a postdoctoral fellow in the SHARP research group, he is currently working on analytical modelling and numerical simulation of degasification to develop practical methods for safe extraction of methane and natural sequestration of CO2 in deep gas-saturated water resources.

Shams Kalam

Dr. Kalam joined the SHARP research group in December 2023 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. Previously, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Khalifa University, UAE, focusing on the digitalization of CO₂ and H₂ geo-storage using machine learning. He holds a Ph.D. in Petroleum Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia, and completed an MS degree in Petroleum Engineering from KFUPM. Additionally, he earned a master’s degree in Energy and Environmental Economics and Management from Eni Corporate University, Italy. His B.E. is in Petroleum Engineering from NED University of Engineering & Technology, Pakistan. He also served as a lecturer at Dawood University of Engineering & Technology, Pakistan. Dr. Kalam's research interests include adsorption, chemical enhanced oil recovery, machine learning, CO₂ and H₂ geo-storage, unconventional resources, and reservoir simulation. He has published more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous conference papers.

Dennis Atta

Dennis got his BSc and MSc in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana, and Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia, respectively. His MSc thesis focused on the experimental evaluation of amino acids as chemical agents for enhanced oil recovery. Currently, Dennis is a PhD student at the University of Calgary. He joined the SHARP research group in July 2023 and his research is focused on evaluation of solvent-aided recovery processes using 3D physical model experiments and simulation.

Amr Mahgoub

Amr obtained his B.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from Fontys University of Applied Sciences in 2021, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Following that, he gained three years of experience in the Semiconductor sector with ASML, where he worked as a production/qualification engineer. Motivated to advance his academic journey, Amr made the decision to pursue a master's degree in chemical engineering at the University of Calgary. As of September 2023, Amr is a member of the SHARP research group. His current research is centered around experimental investigations involving solvent-aided thermal recovery and the liquid-liquid phase equilibrium of solvent-bitumen systems.

Kenneth Hamilton

Ken graduated with a BSc in Oil and Gas Engineering, with minor in Digital Engineering in 2024 from University of Calgary. He started his MSc in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary in August 2024. As a member of the SHARP research group, Ken is working on measurement and modelling of interfacial phenomena with practical applications across diverse fields such as in-situ bitumen recovery, food, pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology, carbon capture and sequestration.

Mohammad Javad Mohammadi

Mohammad Javad obtained his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the Persian Gulf University (PGU) of Bushehr, Iran in 2016. He joined the SHARP research group in Fall 2017 to pursue an M.Sc. degree in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. His research at SHARP is focused on experimental and modelling studies of solvent-aided thermal recovery of bitumen from oilsands.

Ammar Aldalawy

Ammar holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in Petroleum Engineering from Kirkuk (2009) and Baghdad (2013) Universities respectively in Iraq. He has eight years of oil field experience as a cementing field engineer and as a senior petrophysicist with local companies in Iraq. He served with the society of Petroleum Engineers as the Chairperson of SPE Erbil Section-North Iraq area (2018-2020). Ammar currently is a graduate student in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary and joined the SHARP research group in January 2021. Ammar’s current research in SHARP focuses on measurements of diffusion coefficients of gases in liquids.

Shakerullah Turkman

Shakerullah has received his BSc (2021) from UET Lahore, Petroleum & Gas Engineering Department. Shakerullah is currently an M.Sc. student in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary. As a member of the SHARP research group, Shakerullah is working on experimental and modelling studies of solvent-aided thermal in-situ recovery processes and their environmental impact. 

Shadi Kheirollahi

Shadi obtained her B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering in 2017. She started her graduate studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of Calgary in September 2019. Shadi joined the SHARP research group as an M.Sc. student in January 2020. She is currently working on molecular diffusion and dispersion coefficients measurement in porous media and diffusion coefficients measurement of binary liquid systems.

Egor Purlats

Egor earned his BSc in Petroleum Engineering from Tomsk Polytechnic University in 2021 and subsequently completed his MSc in the same field at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in 2023. His undergraduate studies focused on reservoir pressure maintenance, while his graduate work delved into the effectiveness of the CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) project. Presently, Egor is actively pursuing his PhD thesis within the SHARP research group, where he is investigating gas generation during bitumen aquathermolysis.

Binyu Wang

Binyu obtained his B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the China University of Petroleum, Beijing. He is currently enrolled as a doctoral student at the same institution. Binyu joined the SHARP research group as a visiting student in September 2024. His research primarily focuses on the displacement-imbibition coupling mechanisms between the matrix and complex networks in tight oil reservoirs.

Mahmood Abdi

Mahmood obtained his a BSc and MSc in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tehran (2012-2018). In his MSc, Mahmood worked on computational thermodynamics and phase behavior of gas-oil interface using cubic plus association (CPA) equation of state. At the SHARP research group, Mahmood is working towards his Ph.D. with a focus on experimental and computational thermodynamics of solvent/bitumen phase behaviour.

Mehdi Sadeghi

Mehdi received his B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the Petroleum University of Technology (PUT) and M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Calgary. Since then, he worked in the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) until 2021.
As a Ph.D. student, Mehdi is currently working on process modelling of methane and CO2 degasification from deep gas saturated waters.

Syed Sanaullah Shah Bukhari

Sanaullah earned his BSc degree in 2018 from UET Lahore's Department of Petroleum & Gas Engineering. In addition, he achieved the International General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety from NEBOSH (UK). With over a year of hands-on experience in oilfield operations (specifically subsurface production operations) and reservoir engineering, he gained valuable insight. This practical exposure enabled him to discern various career avenues and bolstered his determination to pursue an MSc in Petroleum Engineering. Presently, Sanaullah is an MSc candidate in petroleum engineering at the University of Calgary. Actively engaged as a member of the SHARP research group, he is involved in screening of various solvents for developing more efficient in-situ bitumen recovery processes.

Ahmed El-Shazly

Ahmed obtained his BSc in chemical engineering from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2010. He also holds an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from New Mexico Tech (2017). Ahmed has several years of work experience in the oil and gas industry. He worked for reputable oil companies such as Precision Drilling and Husky Energy. He started working with reservoir simulation softwares since 2007 while working with Husky Energy. He has over 16 years of experience in reservoir simulation and worked on conventional and unconventional reservoirs and various reservoir simulators. Ahmed joined SHARP research team in March 2024 to pursue his PhD in petroleum engineering at the University of Calgary. Ahmed’s research interests are petroleum fluids phase behaviour, fluid phase equilibria, and reservoir simulation with applications to solvent-aided thermal recovery of bitumen and heavy oil. 

Humberto Martínez

Humberto holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in petroleum engineering from Universidad Industrial de Santander. During his master's studies, he focused on designing and constructing a prototype at a laboratory scale to replicate enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions. He developed experimental protocols to examine the effects of flue gas addition to cyclic steam stimulation. With over two years of industry experience, he actively contributed to an In-situ Combustion pilot project in Colombia, monitoring and analyzing the combustion front movement via changes in physicochemical properties of production fluids. Humberto joined the SHARP research team in May 2024 to pursue his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering at the University of Calgary. Humberto's PhD research is on asphaltene deposition during solvent injection with applications to solvent-aided thermal recovery of bitumen and heavy oil.

Chen Luo

Chen obtained a B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering and an M.Sc. in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering from the College of Engineering and Technology at Changjiang University and Southwest Petroleum University, respectively. He is currently a Ph.D. student at China University of Petroleum (Beijing). In October 2024, Chen joined the SHARP research group as a visiting student. His research primarily focuses on the thermal recovery of heavy oil, including in-situ combustion and steam flooding. He is engaged in researching the development mechanism of hydraulic fracturing-assisted oil displacement composite viscosity reduction for deep, low-permeability heavy oil.