Fundings & Projects

Successful Funding Agencies/Institutes

Research Grants (£)

Total applied: 6.3 million

Awarded: 538K

In review: 3.1 million

Successful Grants

Principal Investigator in “Solar2Water – A Decentralized Water Solution” (GBP 50,000). Funded by Northern Accelerator, PoC grant (Aug 2022 – March 2023)
Principal Investigator in “AI Applications in Desalination Industry for Future Sustainability” (GBP 35,000). Fellowship at University of Alberta Canada, funded by International Desalination Association (Oct 2022 – Dec 2022)
Principal Investigator in “Self Cooling and Self Cleaning PV Panel Design and Testing” (GBP 50,000). Funded by Northumbria University, PoC grant (July 2022 – Dec 2022)
Principal Investigator in “Advance Cycle for Data Centre and Space Thermal Management” (GBP 50,000). Funded by Northern Accelerator, PoC grant (March 2022 – March 2023)
Principal Investigator in “Sustainable Energy Storage Material for Heating Network Decarbonization (M4D)” (GBP 20,000). Funded by Royal Society (Jan 2022 – Jan 2023)
Principal Investigator in “SAFECONOMY- Solar to Alternative Fuel Economy Research Consortia and Capacity Building Platform” (GBP 80,000). Funded by British Council (April 2022 – March 2023)
Principal Investigator in “Solar Mobile Atmospheric Water Generator” (GBP 50,000). Funded by Northumbria University, PoC grant (Sep 2021 – Sep 2022)
Principal Investigator in “Research Development Fund (RDF) for Advance Thermal Management System Evaluation” (GBP 85,000). Funded by Northumbria University (Jan 2020 – Sep 2023)
Co-Investigator in “EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU) (GBP 110,000). Funded by EPSRC (Jan 2022 – Dec 2025)
Principal Investigator in “Assessment of Non-Conventional Air-Conditioning System Implementation in Malaysia to Achieve UN-SDG13” (GBP 3500). Funded by UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (July 2020 – Jan 2021)
Principal Investigator in “Solar Energy Storage for Heating: A Rooftop Unit for Single Household” (GBP 4146). Funded by the EPSRC North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM) (July 2020 – Jan 2021)

Key Team Member Role

I have contributed as a lead researcher to the following grants awarded to Prof. Kim Choon Ng at KAUST from 2014-2019

KAUST Cooling Initiative ($3.7 million grant…I am engaged as a remote consultant in KAUST Cooling Initiative project since 2019-now)
KAUST CRG5 - US$400,000 (for desalination…….I helped PhD student in designing DCSEC desalination pilot)
KAUST CRG7 - US$400,000 (for energy storage & desalination……I helped posdoc in designing solar thermal energy storage system and integration with desalination pilot)

Spin off for Research Commercialization

Member of MEDAD Technologies Pte Ltd (Reg: 201111303W in Singapore)
This Spin-off company was formed in 2013 based on my Ph.D. research. We received first commercial contract in 2015 and the plant was commissioned successfully in 2017 in Saudi Arabia. The project had a great impact on the community in terms of jobs, economy, social development, culture, health by supplying clean water, and the environment by reducing emissions due to solar operation.
Member of KCOOL (planned to file soon with Prof. Kim Choon Ng in Saudi Arabia)
This spin-off will help to commercialize the innovative cooling cycle developed during KAUST cooling initiative. A full-scale innovative cooling cycle pilot will be tested by Dec 2022 and KCOOL will lead its commercialization in GCC and another part of the world. Considering over a $100 billion market, the proposed technology has great potential as a sustainable cooling production.

Projects

Solar2Water Project at Northumbria University UK

IP has been filed and company is under registration to commercialize this decentralized water solution
Potential customers: refugee camps, army camps, remote areas without water and grid, disaster areas, emergency relief
Companies/NGOs in contact: UNICEF, Northern Accelerator,

DC4AC: Data Center and Battery Thermal Management Project at Northumbria University UK

IP has been filed and pilot is under testing
Potential customers: data centers, battery manufacturers
Companies/NGOs in contact: Northern Accelerator for batteries thermal management

Solar Driven Hybrid Desalination Pilot in KAUST Saudi Arabia:

Produce 10,000 liters water per day from red sea intake using solar energy.

Innovative air-conditioning Pilot in KAUST Saudi Arabia:

Produce 10Rton cooling using non-conventional processes (refrigerant neutral).

Innovative Desalination Pilot in National University of Singapore:

National Research Foundation Singapore Proof of Concept project, produce 30,000 liters water per day.

MEDAD: A Sustainable Water Treatment Solution (successfully commercialized in 2017 through MEDAD Technologies Pvt Ltd.)

Impact: solar driven solution, low emission, and cost-effective solution for future sustainability

Pilot Projects Summary:

Northumbria University (2019 – Now)
A decentralized water solution (£50K PoC grant, Northern Accelerator pilot development) + £50K Northumbria University matching funds.
Data center/batteries thermal management (£50K PoC grant, Northern Accelerator pilot development).
3-Composite material for thermal energy storage (£20K Royal society project)
4-SAFECONOMY project for solar to alternative fuels (£80K British Council project)
5-Composite solid desiccant for dehumidification.
6-Membrane distillation coating for performance improvement (project with Brunel university).
7-Solar driven hybrid water treatment cycle.
8-Solar thermal energy storage batteries for desalination.
9-An advance technique for adsorbent coating to improve heat and mass transfer.
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia (2014-2019)
1- Innovative cooling cycle (KAUST Cooling Initiative project)
2-Multi Effect Desalination (MED) + Adsorption Cycle (AD) Hybrid Pilot
3-Tri-hybrid MEDAD+MD cycle.
4-Tri-hybrid NF+MEDAD cycle
5-Microbubble Enhanced Flashed Evaporation Desalination
6-Pressure Swing Adsorption Desalination Pilot (An Innovative Cycle)
@National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore (2010-2014)
1-Multi Effect Desalination (MED) + Adsorption Cycle (AD) Hybrid Pilot
Commercial Projects
Adsorption Desalination of 100 m3/day (2017) Solar Village, KACST, Riyadh Saudi Arabia.