My name is Ali, I am enrolled in the SEED program and I am a former student of IMT Atlantique.
Who are you and what is your background?
I am Ali Raza, and I hail from a small city of Pakistan. I define myself as a person who has a huge passion for research, and strong determination to achieve something big in life. In my academic career of 20 years, I have seen both failures and successes which has made me grow and transformed me into a person who I am today. In 2015, I joined Pakistan’s leading public engineering institute, University of Engineering and Technology, (UET) Lahore for B.Sc in Chemical Engineering, and graduated with honors degree. In 2022, I completed my master’s degree in Energy and Environmental Engineering from IMT Atlantique, France with the funding of highly prestigious Campus France scholarship. My little success journey of coming from an underprivileged area to making big in academia at international level speaks volume of my perseverance and dedication that has strengthened me over the years.
What is your PhD research/ topic about?
My PhD research is in collaboration with SEGULA Technologies. The aim of my project is to develop an innovative gas purification system using gas-liquid transfer at high pressure for CH₄/CO₂ separation in biogas. We are interested in developing a robust and low-cost small-scale system, which is easy to use, and requires a reasonable number of inputs. This technology will be used on a local scale by farmers, mainly breeders and growers, who can generate their own energy from the local biogas produced by the degradation of their inputs (mainly slurry and manure). The technology is first developed for carbon dioxide separation, with applications further extending to other compounds. In line with this research project, I will explore and implement process intensification techniques to improve overall performance, reduce energy consumption, and minimize operational costs.
What are the big challenges to be tackled and possible future impacts?
The biggest challenge I see is the process optimization of different parameters at one time in order to have the efficient separation, and scaling-up of setup from laboratory scale to farm level with maintaining the maximum efficiency. Apart from this, economic viability is another obstacle in the way of affordability of technology for the farms. With my research, I am confident that we will be paving the new ways for making the farms self-sufficient and energy independent by removing their reliance on fossil fuels. In this way, we aim to curb the greenhouse gas emissions and provide the clean energy thus protecting the planet and making the environment more sustainable. Another massive impact of my research will be the integration with circular economy since we are converting the waste into power with eradicating the need for new materials for production of energy. Moreover, my research contributes to the energy and environmental transitions in a direct way by capturing the greenhouse gases and converting them into useful energy for farms and plays an instrumental role in accomplishing the global climate goals. Apart from that, we are also playing a part in making industrial transition by advancing small-scale industrial biogas purification methods that can be deployed in various agricultural sectors.
What is the configuration of your PhD research?
My PhD project is co-supervised by Dr. Line Poinel, who is Regional R&D Manager at SEGULA Technologies, thus integrating both academic and industrial perspectives. The research configuration includes a 9-month stay at GEPEA Lab for academic work, followed by a 9-month industrial stay at SEGULA Technologies for practical applications. Additionally, there is a planned 3-month international mobility period outside France, fostering global research collaboration. This setup ensures a balanced exposure to both theoretical and applied aspects of my work.
After a few weeks embarked as PhD fellow at IMT Atlantique, what is your first feeling about the programme and your institution?
Having spent one year during master’s studies at IMT Atlantique and then coming back for PhD has been exciting so far. The campus feels like home, and I find PhD program quite interesting. I have acquired some new expertise in these few months and the learning curve has been great. Moreover, I have been experiencing high-quality research work in the laboratory where I am around talented and capable people from whom I get to learn a lot. This inspires me a lot and pushes me to work as hard as they do to achieve excellence and do extraordinary work in their respective fields.
