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Regular Faculty
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Associate Professor, Energy Science & Engineering
Professor Azevedo is passionate about solving problems that include environmental, technical, economic, and policy issues, where traditional engineering approaches play an important role but cannot provide a complete answer. In particular, she is interested in assessing how energy systems are likely to evolve, which requires comprehensive knowledge of the technologies that can address future energy needs and the decision-making process followed by various agents in the economy.
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Interdisciplinary Energy Systems (INES) Research Group
Assistant Professor, Energy Science & Engineering
Dr. Battiato's research and scholarly interests include the fundamental understanding of inherently multiscale and multiphysics energy systems (batteries, geological CO2 and H2 storage, membranes). The Multiscale Physics in Energy Group, which she leads, is focused on the entire lifecycle of multiscale models, from development (theory-driven; bottom-up) to deployment (application-driven; top-down). The group is specifically focused on improving the understanding of systems involving coupled (single and multiphase) flow and reactive transport processes in porous media, with applications spanning from geologic (e.g., rocks) to engineered porous media (e.g., batteries, membranes), and on advancing the algortithmic tools needed to address the multiscale challenge in energy systems through numerical and symbolic computing.
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Multiscale Physics in Energy Systems Group
Professor of Energy Science & Engineering
Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
Dr. Benson is the co-director of Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy and the director of the Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP). A Professor in the Department of Energy Science and Engineering in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, she studies technologies and pathways to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A ground water hydrologist and reservoir engineer, Benson has conducted research to address a range of issues related to energy and the environment. Her research interests include geologic storage of CO2 in deep underground formations, technologies and energy systems for a low-carbon future, and geotechnical instrumentation for subsurface characterization and monitoring.
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Benson Lab
Precourt Institute for Energy
Stanford Woods Institute
Stanford Center for Carbon Storage
Vice Provost for Graduate Education & Postdoctoral Affairs
Jagdeep & Singh Professor in the School of Engineering
Senior Fellow at Precourt and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science & Engineering, of Electrical Engineering and of Chemistry
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Bent Research Group
Associate Professor, Energy Science & Engineering
Dr. Brandt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University. His research focuses on reducing the greenhouse gas impacts of energy production and consumption, with a focus on fossil energy systems. Research interests include life cycle assessment of petroleum production and natural gas extraction. A particular interest is in unconventional fossil fuel resources such as oil sands, oil shale and hydraulically fractured oil and gas resources. He also researches computational optimization of emissions mitigation technologies, such as carbon dioxide capture systems. Dr. Brandt received his PhD from the Energy and Resources Group, UC Berkeley.
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Environmental Assessment and Optimization Group
William R. Kenan Jr. Professor
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology
Dr. Chu current energy research interests include novel approaches to lithium metal anode - iron phosphate and sulfur cathode batteries, lithium extraction from sea water, efficient conversion of silicates to carbonates for carbon capture, and high mobility doping of diamond for high-power high-voltage power transistors. A physicist by training, Chu moved from precision tests of fundamental theories in physics, laser cooling and trapping, atom interferometry and to biophysics, polymer physics, molecular biology and energy research. His current research also includes the synthesis improved molecular probes and inventing new biology methods and their applications in the study molecular dynamics and cell signaling in live cells, and the development of new imaging methods in medical ultrasound imaging.
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The Chu Group
Associate Professor of Material Science and Engineering
Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
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The Chueh Group
Director, Precourt Institute for Energy
Fortinet Founders Professor
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, of Photon Science
Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment and Professor, by courtesy, of Chemistry
Professor Cui's research interest lies in the interdisciplinary field of nanoscience, energy and environment. He launched the research field of nanoscience for batteries. Current research directions include: 1) reinventing better batteries for electric transportation and stationary energy storage; 2) electrocatalysis for renewable fuels; 3) CO2 capture (point source and direct air capture) and conversion; 4) cooling and warming textile; 5) building materials for energy efficiency; 6) environmental nanotechnology for cleaning up water, soil and air; 7) two-dimensional materials; 8) new characterization tools such as cryogenic electron microscopy for materials science.
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StorageX Initiative
Otto N. Miller Professor in Earth Sciences, Energy Science & Engineering
Louis Durlofsky co-directs the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage and the Stanford Smart Fields Consortium research programs. His work mainly entails numerical modeling, history matching/data assimilation, and optimizing subsurface flow processes, including those involving coupled flow and geomechanics. A focus of his group’s effort is the extension and application of computational methodologies developed for oil/gas production to geological carbon storage (and eventually hydrogen storage) operations. Optimization and history matching for these problems require large numbers of flow simulations, and this has motivated an extensive effort on the development of deep learning/machine learning surrogate models. These models are based on a range of methods including recurrent R-U-nets, graph neural networks, deep reinforcement learning, and data-space inversion.
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Stanford Center for Carbon Storage
Smart Fields Consortium
Thomas Davies Barrow Professor in the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences
Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
Prof. Horne's research focuses on the matching of models to various classes of reservoir responses. These "inverse problems" seek the values of unknown reservoir parameters by inference rather than direct measurement, often with the use of machine learning approaches. Typical problems are: tracer analysis of fractures, computer-aided well test analysis, production schedule optimization, and data analytics of long-term production records. In addition to this general class of problem, Prof. Horne has a specific interest in geothermal reservoir engineering, and the multiphase flow of fluids through porous materials and fractures. Research groups in which he is active include: Stanford Geothermal Program, SUETRI-D, SUPRI-Tides and Smartfields.
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Stanford Geothermal Program
Stanford University Energy Transition Research Institute - D
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, of Photon Science
Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
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Jaramimllo Research Group
Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor of Petroleum Engineering
Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy
Prof. Kovscek and his research team study recovery of unconventional hydrocarbon resources in combination with methods for mitigating carbon emissions from fossil fuels including geological sequestration of greenhouse gases. They use advanced imaging and microscopy techniques to examine coupled transport, chemical, and physical processes in porous media from the nanometer to the meter scale with the aim of applying mechanistic understanding to reduce negative impacts. Physical observations, obtained mainly from laboratory and field measurements, are interwoven with theory. Prof. Kovscek leads the Center for Mechanistic Control of Unconventional Formations (CMC-UF), directs the Enhanced Recovery affiliates program (SUPRI-A), and codirects the Center for Carbon Storage (SCCS).
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Stanford University Energy Transition Research Institute - A
Center for Mechanistic Control of Unconventional Formations
Dean, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Jay Precourt Professor
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Photon Science
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Hoover Institution
Dr. Majumdar’s scientific interests and expertise spans, on one hand, fundamental science of transport and transformations of energy, mass and charge at the nanoscale, and on the other hand, large scale industrial and commercial energy systems. His research in the past has involved the science and engineering of nanoscale materials and devices, especially in the areas of energy conversion, transport and storage as well as biomolecular analysis. His current research focuses on redox reactions and systems that are fundamental to a sustainable energy future, multidimensional nanoscale imaging and microscopy, and an effort to leverage modern AI techniques to develop and deliver energy and climate solutions.
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Magic Lab
Vice Provost and Dean of Research
Marvin Chodrow Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and of Physics
Professor (Research) of Energy Science & Engineering and, by courtesy, of Geological Sciences and Geophysics
The focus of Dr. Mukerji’s multi-disciplinary research, with students and colleagues, has been on integrating rock physics, spatial data science and wave propagation physics, and their broad applications in subsurface characterization, stochastic geomodeling, subsurface uncertainty quantification, and time-lapse seismic monitoring. He uses theoretical, computational, and machine learning methods, to discover and understand fundamental relations between geophysical data and subsurface systems and processes, to quantify uncertainty in subsurface geological models, and to address value of information for decision making under uncertainty. He co-directs the Stanford Center for Earth Resources Forecasting (SCERF), the Stanford Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics (SRB) and Stanford Basin and Petroleum System Modeling (BPSM) research groups.
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Stanford Center for Earth Resources Forecasting
Stanford Rocks and Geomaterials Project
Basin Processes and Subsurface Modeling
Assistant Professor, Energy Science & Engineering
Dr. Onori's research and interests include Modeling, control and optimization of dynamic systems; Model-based control in advanced propulsion systems; Energy management control and optimization in HEVs and PHEVs; Energy storage systems- Li-ion and PbA batteries, Supercapacitors; Battery aging modeling, state of health estimation and life prediction for control; and Damage degradation modeling in interconnected systems.
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Stanford Energy Control Lab
Professor, Energy Science & Engineering
Prof. Tartakovsky's research interests include data-driven modeling and simulations, multi-scale and multi-physics modeling, parameter estimation and data assimilation, uncertainty quantification, and probabilistic risk assessment. Application areas range from groundwater management and geothermal energy to electrochemical energy storage and biomedical engineering.
Department Chair, Professor, Energy Science & Engineering
Hamdi works on modeling and simulation of fluid flow, transport, and fluid-structure interactions in natural and artificial porous media. Ongoing research activities include: (1) simulation of unstable fluid flow in heterogeneous porous media, (2) multiscale algorithms for coupled mechanics and fluid flow in subsurface formations, (3) stochastic methods for the quantification of the uncertainty associated with predictions of fluid-structure dynamics in heterogeneous porous media, and (4) simulation-based design of the next-generation of Lithium-ion batteries.
The application areas include reservoir simulation, subsurface CO2 sequestration, subsurface storage and retrieval of hydrogen, and multiscale simulation of Lithium-ion batteries.
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Stanford University Energy Transition Research Institute - B
Professor (Research) of Management Science and Engineering
Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute of Energy
Energy-environmental sytems analysis and integrated assessment of energy, climate, water, land, and food systems at the state, national and international scales. Research focus is on realsitic technology assessments, model diagnostics, and uncertainty methods development. Overall goal is to accelerate the use of systems analysis tools to provide the best available information and insights to government and private-sector decision makers.
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Senior Fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy and Professor, by courtesy, of Materials Science and Engineering
Dr. Zheng is a joint Professor in both the Department of Energy Science and Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her research group is passionate about the design, synthesis, and testing of novel materials for energy and propulsion applications. Her research involves fundamental studies of thermodynamics, materials, and chemistry. Current research falls into three general directions. First, we develop ultrafast and scalable flame-based methods to synthesize novel materials, especially metal oxides. Second, we study electrocatalysts and devices to split water into H2, O2, and H2O2. Finally, we are developing new metal/polymer composites as high-energy-density fuels for propulsion applications. She co-directs the Stanford Hydrogen Initiative.
Active Emeritus Faculty
Otto N. Miller Professor in the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, Professor Emeritus
The overall goal of Dr. Aziz's research is the development of robust and reliable models for predicting performance of hydrocarbon reservoirs (including shale oil and gas) and CO2 sequestration operations. Over the years he has been involved with the development of four different industrial consortia dealing with different aspects of this problem. The first was on reservoir simulation (SUPRI-B), the second on data integration (SCRF), the third on advanced wells (SUPRI-HW), and the most recent one on Smart Fields (SFC). Underlying his research is the desire to understand mechanisms involved during the flow of complex mixtures in porous rocks and in pipes, and efficient modeling of these processes on computers. While he is no longer directly involved with SCERF and we have merged SUPRI-HW with other programs, he co-directs the other two consortia. All are highly successful and have led to a number of developments and innovations that have found important applications in industry.
Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor in Petroleum Engineering, Professor Emeritus
Dr. Orr and his students work to understand the physical mechanisms that control flow of multiphase, multicomponent fluids in the subsurface, using a combination of experiments and theory. The theory part includes numerical simulation of flow in heterogeneous porous rocks and coal beds, often using streamline approaches, and it also involves solving by analytical methods the differential equations that describe the interactions of complex phase equilibrium and flow (porous rocks containing more than one flowing phase can sometimes act like a chromatograph, separating components as they flow). The experiments are used to test how well the models describe reality. Applications of this work range from enhanced oil and gas recovery to geologic storage of carbon dioxide (to reduce greenhouse gas emissions) to the transport of contaminants in aquifers.
Affiliated Faculty
This is not a comprehensive list of ESE faculty. Additional faculty listings are available here.