Biography
Professor Nimir O. Elbashir is Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar. He joined HBKU as a Professor in August 2025. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Chemical Engineering Program at Texas A&M University at Qatar, where he has been a faculty member since 2008. From 2015 to 2025, he served as Director of the Gas and Fuels Research Center at Texas A&M University.
With extensive experience spanning academia and industry, Professor Elbashir has held research and technical positions with organizations including BASF R&D Catalysts and Engelhard, and has contributed to projects involving SABIC, Shell, TotalEnergies, ORYX GTL, SUDAPET and other industrial partners. His research focuses on the design and development of advanced reactors and catalysts for chemical and environmental applications, with particular emphasis on sustainable gas-to-liquid and gas-to-carbon conversion, fuel and chemical production, CO₂ utilization and decarbonization.
Professor Elbashir has developed international research collaboration models connecting academia and industry to accelerate the translation of scientific research into practical technologies. His research portfolio includes granted and filed patents, trade-secret technologies and hundreds of scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings and technical reports.
He was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in 2023 and became a member of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences (SNAS) in 2022. He currently serves as Secretary General of SNAS and Secretary of the AIChE Fellows Council, and has also been elected Vice Chair of the AIChE Energy & Petrochemical Division. His academic mentorship has extended to more than 100 graduate students and researchers, including PhD and Master's students and postdoctoral researchers.
His expertise in chemical engineering, sustainable fuels, catalysis, carbon management and academia–industry collaboration is particularly relevant to Liberia's priorities in energy development, industrial capacity, engineering education, decarbonization and the training of young scientists.