News

• Our new annual review paper! Check it out:  Advanced Modeling and Optimization Strategies for Process Synthesis
• Our new research paper! Check it out:  A hierarchical multi-parametric programming approach for dynamic risk-based model predictive quality control
• Our new collaborative paper (cover feature)! Check it out:   Process safety 4.0: Artificial intelligence or intelligence augmentation for safer process operation?
• Our new collaborative paper (feature paper)! Check it out:  A Review on Lithium-Ion Battery Modeling from Mechanism-Based and Data-Driven Perspectives
  

• Warmest congratulations to Theo for winning 1st place in AIChE undergraduate poster Computing and Process Control Section II, and 2nd place for overall CAST undergraduate awards! He is also the recipient of WVU NASA Scholar!
• Our group participated in 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting, with the following posters and presentations:
• Malencia, T., Dantas, B., Braniff, A., Lima, F. V., Tian, Y. A Process Operability Approach for Safety-Critical Chemical and Energy Production.
• Akintola, A., Tian, Y. Development of a Machine Learning-Driven Surrogate Model for Steam Methane Reforming-Kinetics Towards Sustainable Hydrogen Production.
  
• Wang, W., Wang, Y., Tian, Y., Wu, Z. Explicit Machine Learning-Based Model Predictive Control of Nonlinear Processes.
  
• Masud, M., Araia, A., Wang, Y., Hu, J., Tian, Y. Process Synthesis Optimization for Microwave-Assisted Ammonia Production with Data-Driven Modeling.
  
• Masud, M., Wadunambu, T., Piash, K. P. S., Sanyal, O., Tian, Y. Using Data-Driven Modeling and Systems Optimization for Advancing Sustainable Nutrient Recovery Technologies from Concentrated Wastewater Sources. 
  
• Dantas, B., Akundi, S. S., Liu, Y., Niknezhad, S., Braniff, A., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N., Tian, Y., Lima, F. V. An Operability-Based Approach for Integrated Process Design, Operations, and Risk Management. 
  
• Braniff, A., Dantas, B., Akundi, S. S., Liu, Y., Niknezhad, S., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N., Tian, Y. Dynamic Risk-Based Batch Reactor Quality Control through Hierarchical Multi-Parametric Optimization.
  
• Tian, Y., Pistikopoulos, E. N., Khan, F., Niknezhad, S., Liu, Y., Akundi, S. S., Dantas, B., Braniff, A. RETRO: A Real-Time Risk-Based Optimization Framework for Safe and Smart Operations. 
  
• Braniff, A., Clevenger, L., Dantas, B., Akundi, S. S., Liu, Y., Niknezhad, S., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N., Tian, Y. Uncertainty-Informed Dynamic Risk Control of Safety-Critical Reaction Processes with Bayesian State Estimation. 
  
• Braniff, A., Miller, D., Dantas, B., Akundi, S. S., Liu, Y., Niknezhad, S., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N., Tian, Y. Risk-Based Quality Control for the Safe and Efficient Biotechnological Batch Production of Lactic Acid. 
  
• Liu, Y., Akundi, S. S., Braniff, A., Dantas, B., Tian, Y., Niknezhad, S., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N. Real-Time Monitoring and Control of Lab-Scale Hydrogen Energy Systems: An Experimental and Modeling Approach. 
  
• Liu, Y., Akundi, S. S., Braniff, A., Dantas, B., Tian, Y., Niknezhad, S., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N. Modeling Challenges in the Analysis of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis System. 
  
• Akundi, S. S., Liu, Y., Braniff, A., Dantas, B., Niknezhad, S., Tian, Y., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N. Integration of Dynamic Risk and Control for Enhanced Safety and Operational Efficiency. 
  
• Dr. Tian delivered an invited PSE seminar on September 27 at University of Minnesota, entitled "Toward Safe and Sustainable Process Systems via Risk-based Design, Intensification, and Control".
  
• Warmest congratulations to Masud for winning third place at the I&EC Graduate Student Award Symposium during the ACS 2024 Fall Meeting, with the following presentation:
  
• Masud, M., Araia, A., Wang, Y., Hu, J., Tian, Y. "Design Optimization of Microwave-Assisted Ammonia Production Processes: An Integrated Machine Learning and Superstructure-Based Approach".
  
• Warmest congratulations to Beatriz being selected for the Dianne Dubetz Anderson Fellowship by Statler College!
  
• Check out our collaborative work selected as the cover feature by AIChE Journal and CEP (July 2024)! "Process safety 4.0: Artificial intelligence or intelligence augmentation for safer process operation?"
• Our group participated in 2024 Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium on the July 25, with the following presentation and poster:
• Miller, D., Braniff, A., Tian, Y. "Improved Fidelity Modeling of Pharmaceutical Bioprocesses for Advanced Control Applications".
• Our group participated in FOCAPD 2024 Conference on the July 14 - 18, with the following presentation and posters:
• Keynote: Tian, Y. "Synthesis Strategies for Computer-Aided Modular Process Intensification"
• Masud, M., Araia, A., Wang, Y., Hu, J., Tian, Y. Machine Learning-Aided Process Design for Microwave-Assisted Ammonia Production.
  
• Tian, Y., Akintola, A., Jiang, Y., Wang, D., Bao, J., Zamarripa, M. A., Paul, B., Chen, Y., Gao, P., Noring, A., Iyengar, A., Liu, A., Marina, O., Koeppel, B., Xu, Z. Reinforcement Learning-Driven Process Design: A Hydrodealkylation Example.
  
• Ball, M., Sanyal, O., Tian, Y. Integration of Process Design and Intensification Learning Via Combined Junior Course Project.
  
• Our group participated in  2024 American Control Conference on the July 8 - 12, with the following presentation and poster:
• Braniff, A. & Tian, Y. "Dynamic Risk-Based Model Predictive Quality Control with Online Model Updating".
• Akundi, S. S., Liu, Y., Braniff, A., Dantas, B., Niknezhad, S. S., Tian, Y., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Integrating Dynamic Risk Assessment with Model Predictive Control for Enhanced Safety and Operational Efficiency".
  
• Our group participated in the ESCAPE34-PSE24 Conference held in Florence, Italy on the 2 ^nd-6 ^th of June with the following poster:
• Sahithi Srijana Akundi, Yuanxing Liu, Austin Braniff, Beatriz Dantas, Shayan S. Niknezhad, Yuhe Tian, Faisal Khan, Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos. A Real-Time Risk-Based Optimization Frameworkfor Safe and Smart Operations.
  
• Congratulations to Masud being awarded the  Graduate Student Travel Grant from  Northern West Virginia Section of the American Chemical Society!
• Dr. Tian delivered an invited seminar on April 19 ^th for  Ezra's Round Table/Systems Seminar at Cornell University, entitled " Systematic Process Design, Intensification, and Innovation of Chemical and Energy Systems". 
• Warmest congratulations to Austin being awarded the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellow!
• Our group participated in Statler Research Week Open House on the 5 th of April, with the following posters:
• Masud, M., & Tian, Y. Design Optimization of Microwave-Assisted Ammonia Production Processes: An Integrated Machine Learning and Superstructure-Based Approach.
• Braniff, A., Dantas, B., Akundi, S. S., Liu, Y., Niknezhad, S. S., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N. & Tian, Y. Smart and Safe Manufacturing via Risk-Aware Control and Data-Driven Uncertainty Analysis.
  
• Our group gave a guest lecture at CHE102 Intro to Chemical Engineering on March 21st, with the following presentation:
• Tian, Y., Braniff, A., & Masud, M. Motivating Tutorials on MATLAB and Machine Learning.
  
• Dr. Tian received the inaugural FOCAPD Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation!
• Warmest congratulations to our senior team - Owen Gerdes, Brian Lauerman, Hunter Hardway, Joshua Swecker - for winning the "Best Steady State Simulation" prize in AVEVA Academic Competition 2023 for North America!
• Thisali participated in WV  Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol on February 22 ^nd with a poster presentation, entitled "Model-based analyses of fertilizer nutrient recoveries from wastewater".
• Dr. Tian delivered an invited seminar on January 30 ^th in the  Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, entitled " Toward Systematic Process Design, Intensification, and Innovation".
• Check out our featured research project on WVUTODAY! " WVU close to commercializing microwave technology that can cool down industry’s energy usage "
• Check out our featured news on WVUTODAY!  "WVU researcher trains next-gen AI for chemicals industry to take a quantum leap forward "
• [NEW MEMBER] We  warmly welcome Ms. Beatriz Dantas to our research group!

• [NEW MEMBER] We  warmly welcome Ms. Thisali Wadunambu Arachchige Dona and Mr. Larry Clevenger to our research group!
• Our group presented at the  AIChE Annual Meeting 2023 held in Orlando, FL on the 5 th to 10 th of November, with the following talks:
• Masud, M. & Tian, Y. "Machine Learning-Aided Process Design and Intensification using Sparse Experimental Data: An Ammonia Production Example".
  
• Braniff, A., Masud, M. & Tian, Y. "Fault-Prognostic Explicit Model Predictive Control with Physics-Data Driven Monitoring".
• Braniff, A. & Tian, Y. "Multi-Time-Scale Model Predictive Quality Control via Multi-Parametric Programming".
• Tian, Y., Zamarripa, M. A. & Paul, B. "Systematic Process Design via Reinforcement Learning: An Hydrodealkylation Example".
• Ali, M., Kenefake, D., Tian, Y. & Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Optimal Operation of Intensified Fluidized Bed Membrane Reactor for Oxidative Coupling of Methane".
• We are one of the winners for Statler College All Voices as ONE conference poster competition!
• Akintola, A., Masud, M., Braniff, A., Jiang, Y., & Tian, Y. "Diversity in Research Towards a Common Goal: An Instance of the Innovation-Driven Sustainable Systems Research Group".
  
• [NEW MEMBER]  We warmly welcome Mr. Yazhou Jiang to our research group!
• Masud is spotlighted for RAPID Intern Program - Check it out! 
• Intern presentation: Machine Learning Aided Process Design for Microwave Assisted Ammonia Production 
• Our group participated in 33rd ESCAPE Conference held in Athens, Greece on the 18th to 21st of June, with the following poster:
• Tian, Y., Akintola, A., & Akoh, B. "A Process Design, Intensification, and Modularization Approach for Membrane-Assisted Reaction Systems".
  
• Our group participated in  ISCRE 27 - International Symposium on Chemical Reaction Engineering held in Quebec City, Canada on the 11 ^th to 14 ^th of June, with the following presentation:
• Vedant, S., Ali, M., Pabba, N., Kenefake, D., Pistikopoulos, E. N., & Tian, Y. "SYNOPSIS – A Software Prototype for Computer-Aided Process Intensification".
  
• Our group participated in 2023 American Control Conference on the May 31 - June 2, with the following poster:
• Braniff, A., Masud, M., & Tian, Y. "Fault-Prognostic Model Predictive Control with Physics-Data Driven Monitoring".
• Warmest congratulations to Tyler and Austin on graduating their B.Sc. programs!
  
• Congratulations to Austin being selected as WVU Provost Fellow!
• Benjamin successfully defended his M.Sc. degree –  Warmest congratulations!
• Our group participated in 2023 ASEE North Central Section Conference on the 24-25 th of March, with the following poster:
• Ball, M. R., Sanyal, O., & Tian, Y. "Combined ChemE junior level course project: Green methanol synthesis" .
  
• Our group participated in Statler Research Week Open House on the 26 th of March, with the following posters:
• Masud, M., & Tian, Y. Machine Learning in Limited Data Regime – A Literature Survey & Motivating Chemical Example

• Akoh, B., Akintola, A., & Tian, Y. "Machine Learning-Assisted Chemical Process Design".

• Dr. Tian delivered an invited virtual talk on March 3 ^rd at the  first "Seminar on Process Intensification Applied to the Oil and Energy Industry" held at the Mexican Petroleum Institute.
• Dr. Tian delivered an invited key lecture  on January 17  ^th at  Second Symposium of Process Intensification Challenges and Opportunities: Towards Sustainable Chemical Processes in the XXI Century , entitled "Synthesis and Operability Strategies for Computer-Aided Modular Process Intensification".
• Our group presented at the FOCAPO/CPC 2023 conference held in San Antonio, TX on the 8 ^th to 12 ^th of January, with the following presentation:
• Ali, M., Cai, X., Khan, F., & Tian, Y. "Dynamic Risk-based Design and Explicit Model Predictive Control via Multi-Parametric Programming".
  
• [NEW MEMBER]  We warmly welcome Mr. Md Masud to our research group!

• Our group participated in Statler College Artificial Intelligence Research Forum on the 6 ^th of December, with the following poster:
• Akoh, B., Akintola, A., & Tian, Y. "Machine Learning-Assisted Chemical Process Design".
• Our group presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting 2022 held in Phoenix, AZ on the 13 ^th to 18 ^th of November, with the following talks:
• Tian, Y., & Akintola, A. "Modular Process Intensification Synthesis of Membrane-Based Reactive Separation Systems Towards Sustainable Hydrogen Production".
• Tian, Y., & Akoh, B. "An Operational Optimization Approach for Supply Network Decarbonization for Energy-Chemical Co-Production".
• Ali, M., Cai, X., Khan, F., Pistikopoulos, E. N., & Tian, Y. "A Systematic Safety-Oriented Process Design and Explicit Model Predictive Control Optimization Approach".
• Ali, M., Tian, Y., De, S., van Bavel, A. P., Demirhan, C. D., & Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Dynamic Modeling and Explicit/Multi-Parametric Model Predictive Control Optimization of an Intensified Fluidized Bed Membrane Reactor for Oxidative Coupling of Methane".
• Benjamin participated as one of the student organizers for the first student-led conference at WVU Statler College: All Voices as One. Check it out!
• Our group participated in the RAPID workshop on Synthesis and Operability Strategies for Computer-Aided Process Intensification hosted at the Houston DOW Center on September 14-15, 2022.
• [NEW MEMBER] We warmly welcome Mr. Austin Braniff and Mr. Tyler Dennis to our research group!
• Dr. Tian delivered an invited keynote on August 19 ^th at BioCON 4.0 Online Conference 2022, entitled "Fault-Prognostic Predictive Control via Multi-Parametric Optimization".
  
• We congratulate Ayooluwa for passing the PhD qualifying exam!
• Our group presented at the Advanced Manufacturing and Processing Conference 2022 held in Bethesda, MD on the 1 ^st to 3 ^rd of June, with the following invited talks:
• Tian, Y., & Akintola, A. "Modular Process Intensification Synthesis of Membrane-Based Reactive Separation Systems for Sustainable Hydrogen Production".
• Zitney, S., Bhattacharyya, D., Lima, F., & Tian, Y. "Science-Informed Virtual Digital Twin for an Integrated Energy System with Carbon Capture: Research, Training, and Education".
• Dr. Tian delivered a virtual invited talk on May 20 ^th at the joint group seminar of Dr. Antonio del Rio Chanona (Imperial College London) and Dr. Dongda Zhang (University of Manchester), entitled "Synthesis and Operability Strategies for Computer-Aided Modular Process Intensification".
• Our group participated in the AIChE Spring Meeting 2022 held in San Antonio, TX on the 10 ^th to 14 ^th of April, with the following presentations:
• Ali, M., Tian, Y., De, S., van Bavel, A. P., Demirhan, C. D., & Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Model-Based Design and Intensification of a Catalytic Fluidized Bed Membrane Reactor for Oxidative Coupling of Methane".
• Cai, X., Ali, M., Su-Feher, D., Pistikopoulos, E. N. & Tian, Y. "Systematic Incorporation of Safety Assessment in Process Design, Intensification, and Control".
• Ayooluwa presented at the Statler Research Open House on April 12 ^th, with the following poster:

• Akintola, A. & Tian, Y. "Computer Aided Process Intensification for Hydrogen Production".

• Our group participated in the ACS Spring Meeting 2022 held in San Diego, TX on the 10 ^th to 14 ^th of April, with the following presentation:
• Ali, M., Tian, Y., De, S., van Bavel, A. P., Demirhan, C. D., & Pistikopoulos, E. N. "Process Modeling, Design, and Intensification of Oxidative Coupling of Methane Process".

2021