Our Team

Faculty

Dr. Robert J. Braun

Dr. Robert Braun is a University Distinguished Professor at Colorado School of Mines and leads the Advanced Energy Systems group.  He received a PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2002. From 2002 to 2007, Dr. Braun was at United Technologies Fuel Cell and Research Center divisions where he last served as project leader for UTC’s mobile solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) power system development program. Dr. Braun has a multidisciplinary background in mechanical and chemical engineering, and his research focuses on energy systems modeling and analysis, techno-economic optimization, and numerical simulation of transport phenomena occurring within fuel cell and alternative energy systems. His industry experience encompasses development of low-NOx burners, CO2-based refrigeration, and fuel cell technologies (incl. PEMFC, PAFC, MCFC, SOFC, and PCFC). Dr. Braun’s current research activities focus on hybrid fuel cell/engine systems, renewable energy pathways to synthetic fuel production, grid-scale energy storage, novel protonic ceramics, supercritical CO2 power cycles, and dispatch optimization of concentrating solar power plants. He is a Link Energy Foundation Fellow, a member of ASME, ECS, and ASHRAE, has over 50 journal publications, and holds 6 U.S. patents.

Research

Dr. Omid Babaie Rizvandi

Dr. Omid Babaie Rizvandi is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He received his Ph.D. in Mechatronics Engineering from Sabanci University in 2019. After his Ph.D., he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Energy Conversion and Storage of the Technical University of Denmark from 2019 to 2023. Dr. Rizvandi’s research interests include the numerical modeling of fuel cells and electrolysis technologies. During his Ph.D., he developed a pseudo-3D model for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) to investigate their performance and lifetime under dead-ended anode and anode bleeding operation modes. In his postdoc, he worked on multiscale modeling of solid oxide cell (SOC) stacks using a homogenization approach. He has also been working on modeling the degradation of SOC stacks operating under fuel cell and electrolysis modes, reversible operation of SOC, high-pressure operation of SOEC, and ammonia-fueled operation of SOFC. Dr. Rizvandi is a passionate researcher who is committed to advancing the development of fuel cell and electrolysis technologies.

PhD Students

Akhil Ashar
Akhil Ashar

Project: Hybrid SOFC Turbogenerator for Aircraft

Benjamin Ivie
Benjamin Ivie
Gus Floerchinger
Gus Floerchinger

Project: High-Efficiency, Low-Cost & Robust Hybrid SOFC/IC Engine Power Generator

Jeffrey Gifford
Jeffrey Gifford

Project: Modeling of low-cost thermal energy storage system for long duration electricity storage

Javad Hosseinpour
Javad Hosseinpour

Project: Design and Simulation of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) for Reversible Solid Oxide Cell (ReSOC) System

Nooruddin Abdel Rahman
Nooruddin Abdel Rahman

Project: High-Temperature Solid Oxide Electrochemical Systems for Hydrogen & Syngas Production

Aadarsh Parashar
Aadarsh Parashar

Project: Versatile Reversible Solid Oxide Cell System for Hydrogen and Electricity Production

Amogh Thatte
Amogh Thatte

Project: Intermediate-Temperature Water Splitting Using Protonic Ceramic Electrolysis Cells

Graduate Students

Alessandro Saccardi
Alessandro Saccardi
James Frazar
James Frazar

Project: High-Efficiency, Low-Cost & Robust Hybrid SOFC/IC Engine Power Generator

Brandon Price
Brandon Price

Project: Modeling of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Configured Prime Movers for Cost Optimization of Hybrid Renewable-CHP Systems

Rachel Thomas
Rachel Thomas

Project: Marine shipping greenhouse gas reduction potentials resultant from alternative fuel and prime mover configurations

Past Visiting Scientists and Scholars

Dr. Søren Jensen
CEO, SynElectro, ApS
Research Faculty, University of Aalborg, Denmark

Dr. Mayur Mundhwa
Postdoctoral Scholar

Alumni

Christopher Hampel, MS (2020)
Thesis:
Modeling & Simulation of Hybrid Renewable Energy-CHP Systems for Distributed Generation Applications
Employment Upon Graduation: Carbon America, Arvada, CO

Kyle Ferguson, MS (2020)
Thesis:
Multi-Scale Modeling of Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cell Stacks and Systems
Employment Upon Graduation:
Bright Energy Storage Technologies, Arvada, CO

David Wahlstrom, MS (2020)
Thesis: Design and Simulation of Hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems for Distributed Scale Power Generation
Employment Upon Graduation:
Solar Turbines, San Diego, CA

Evan Reznicek, PhD (2019)
Dissertation: Design and Simulation Of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Recompression Brayton Cycles With Regenerators
Employment Upon Graduation:
NREL (Hydrogen and Infrastructure)

William Hamilton, PhD (2019)
Dissertation: Dispatch optimization of concentrating solar power with utility‑scale photovoltaics
Employment Upon Graduation:
NREL (Thermal Systems)

Alexis Dubois, PhD (2018)
Dissertation: The Design of Protonic Ceramic Fuel Cell Systems: From Cells to Systems
Employment Upon Graduation:
HyET Hydrogen USA LLC

Mike Wagner, PhD (2017)
Dissertation: Design and Optimization of a Novel High-efficiency Solar Flux Receiver Using a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycle
Employment Upon Graduation: National Renewable Energy Lab

Gladys Anyenya, PhD (2017)
Dissertation: Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells For Unconventional Oil And Gas Production
Employment Upon Graduation: Energy Systems Engineer, Doosan Fuel Cells America, Inc., S. Windsor, CT.

Abhishek Parikh, MS (2016)
Dissertation:  Design and Analysis of a New Linear Fresnel Receiver Assembly
Employment Upon Graduation: Energy Engineer, NextEra Energy, West Palm Beach, FL.

Kevin Albrecht, PhD (2016)
Dissertation: Multiscale Modeling and Experimental Interpretation of Perovskite Oxide Materials in Thermochemical Energy Storage and Conversion for Application in Concentrating Solar Power
Employment Upon Graduation: Post-doctoral Fellow, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

Chris Wendel, PhD (2015)
Dissertation: Design And Analysis Of Reversible Solid Oxide Cell Systems For Electrical Energy Storage (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: Energy Systems Performance Analyst, Abengoa Solar, Lakewood, CO

Anna Trendewicz, PhD (2015)
Dissertation: Development Of a Circulating Fluidized Bed Reactor Model For the Fast Pyrolysis Of Biomass For Process Simulation (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: Analyst, McKinsey & Company, Wroclaw, Poland

Tyler Ketchem, MS (2015)
Thesis: Experimental and Numerical Analysis Of Heat Transfer In A Particle-Based Concentrated Solar Power Receiver (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: System Analyst, Bright Energy Storage Technologies, Arvada, CO

Pejman Kazempoor, Postdoctoral Fellow (2014)
Focus: Modeling and simulation of advanced energy systems and electrochemical devices
Subsequent Employment Lead Energy Systems and Process Engineer, GE Global Research, Oklahoma City, OK

Kris Pruitt, PhD (2012)
Dissertation: A Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Program for the Optimal Design and Dispatch of Fuel Cell-Based Distributed Generation Systems (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: Assistant Professor, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO

Andrew Schmidt, MS (2012)
Thesis: Dynamic Modeling of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems for Commercial Building Applications (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: Associate Test Engineer, McHale Performance, Inc. (Power plant performance testing), Arvada, CO

William Becker, MS (2011)
Thesis: Performance and Economic Assessment of Renewable and Alternative Fuel Production Pathways (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: Mechanical engineer, Versa Power systems (fuel cell manufacturer), Littleton, CO

Luke Hanzon, MS (2011)
Thesis: Technoeconomic Analysis of the Co-Production of Hydrogen and Power in Thermochemical-Based Biorefineries (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: Engineer (Challenger), BP Amoco, Anchorage, Alaska

Kyle Kattke, MS (2010)
Thesis: The Development of Novel, High-Fidelity Modeling Tools For Thermal Management of Planar and Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Systems (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: R&D engineer, Abengoa Solar, Lakewood, CO

Jered Dean, MS (2009)
Thesis: Leveling Intermittent Renewable Energy Production Through Biomass Gasification-Based Hybrid Systems (View PDF)
Employment Upon Graduation: Project Manager, Syncroness, Inc., Westminster, CO

Past Visiting International Students

Martina Costa, MS (2016)
University of Origin:  Politecnico di Torino
Thesis: Carbon Capture Implementation in Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell Power Plants

Arrigo Monte, MS (2015)
University of Origin: Politecnico di Torino
Thesis: Energy Dense Storage Using Intermediate Temperature Reversible Solid Oxide Cell Systems

Domenico Lattanzio, MS (2014)
University of Origin: Politecnico di Torino
Thesis: Evaluation of Methods for Power Generation from Gasified Wastewater Sludge Using ASPEN Plus

Wojciech Skowronski, MS (2011)
University of Origin: Icelandic School for Renewable Energy Science
Thesis: Simulation of SOFC-Based Micro-Combined Heat and Power Systems in Residential Applications

Raido Huberg, MS (2009)
University of Origin: Icelandic School for Renewable Energy Science
Thesis: Modeling of IGFC System: CO2 Removal from the Gas Streams Using Membrane Reactors

Jakub Kupecki, MS (2009)
University of Origin: Icelandic School for Renewable Energy Science
Thesis: Steady State Modeling of a MW-scale IG-SOFC Hybrid Power System

Lasse Clausen, PhD (2008-9)
University of Origin: Danish Technical University (DTU)
Dissertation: Design of Novel DME/Methanol Synthesis Plants Based On Gasification of Biomass

Christian Bang-Moeller, PhD (2008-9)
University of Origin: Danish Technical University (DTU)
Dissertation: Simulation and Integration of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Advanced Biomass Gasification Plants