World-Class Recognition: UKZN Chemical Engineering Expert Named Honorary Editor for International Journal
Professor Amir H Mohammadi of Chemical Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has been appointed an Honorary Academic Editor for the Wiley journal Geofluids, becoming the only representative from South Africa and joining 63 academic editors from institutions in 12 countries in a role that will contribute to the strategic direction and credibility of the respected journal.
Mohammadi, who is also Chairman of the KwaZulu-Natal branch of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE), focuses his research on energy and the environment, thermodynamics, gas hydrates, and petroleum engineering. His appointment as Honorary Academic Editor reflects his international authority in geofluid research and aligns with his status as a highly prolific, globally ranked scientist.
A leader in chemical engineering, Mohammadi has served on several scientific and organising committees for international conferences, on editorial boards and as an editor and reviewer for international journals. He has featured in the top 0.01% of researchers globally according to ISI Thomson Reuters, and in 2022, Stanford University recognised him among the top 2% of the world’s scientists. At UKZN he has been recognised as one of the top 30 published researchers for 13 years and received a Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s Research Award from the College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science. He has also received the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Prize, the Égide, and the French Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches.
Mohammadi has delivered keynote lectures on topics such as the energy transition to green hydrogen and has supervised numerous postgraduate students from all over the world who have gone on to occupy academic and professional leadership roles. He has facilitated agreements with various international institutions, is actively involved in global academic engagement and has hosted visiting researchers and postgraduate students on academic exchange programmes.
Originally from Iran, where he completed his BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Tehran, Mohammadi’s MPhil, PhD and Doctor of Science (Habilitation) studies focused on petroleum and chemical engineering at Heriot-Watt University in the United Kingdom and the University of Paris 13 in France. He undertook postdoctoral research at the École des Mines de Paris and served on the academic staff at MINES ParisTech in France for seven years before joining the academic staff at UKZN, where he was appointed an honorary staff member for three years. Mohammadi worked as a process engineer at two crude oil refineries in Iran.
With over 650 peer-reviewed articles to his name, Mohammadi is internationally recognised in his field.
Mohammadi is a member of various professional associations, including the Institution of Chemical Engineers in the United Kingdom, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in the United States, the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, the Iranian Association of Chemical Engineering, the Iranian Gas Engineering Association, and the SAIChE. He has been a visiting scholar at several universities and institutions in Europe and America and held a three-year honorary appointment at the Durban University of Technology and a one-year adjunct appointment at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
He holds an honorary position at INTI International University in Malaysia, a two-year adjunct appointment at Khazar University in Azerbaijan, and an extraordinary professor position at North-West University.
Words: Christine Cuénod
Photograph: Supplied
