About me

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rice University, working in the Energy Systems Lab under the supervision of Prof. Laura Schaefer. My research takes an interdisciplinary approach, blending computational modeling, thermal science, systems modeling, optimization, and artificial intelligence to design and optimize novel low-cost energy technologies. Applications of my work range from advancing commercial-scale power generation to improving energy efficiency in legacy industries and emerging sectors such as data centers. Currently, I am in the final phase of my Ph.D. and am actively seeking roles in the energy, thermal, climate, and AI domains.

My research interests include:

• Energy Systems
• Waste Heat Recovery
• Thermal Engineering
• AI for Energy/Sustainability
• Optimization

If you'd like to collaborate, feel free to get in touch. I’m always excited about problems that require interdisciplinary approaches.

Background

I grew up in Pakistan and completed a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences (BUITEMS). I then pursued graduate study at Florida State University (FSU) as a Fulbright scholar, working in the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) with Prof. Juan Ordóñez. During my Fulbright, I interned at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), supervised by Dr. Alexander Zolan. After earning my M.S. and before starting my Ph.D. at Rice University, I joined BUITEMS as a faculty member and taught undergraduate courses in mechanical engineering.