Marzieh Riahinezhad (PhD, Chemical Engineering, September 2015) received the international and extremely prestigious “Best Dissertation of the Year ADIPEC Award” in excellence in energy (November 2015). Marzieh’s PhD thesis was selected by an international scientific panel of 26 judges in the oil and gas industry as one of the top three best dissertations of 2015 in energy, worldwide.
The ADIPEC Awards run in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), which is one of the largest meeting points for oil & gas professionals in the world. The ADIPEC awards go to individuals and research projects that have displayed excellence in the oil & gas industry. Among eight categories, the Best Dissertation of the Year Award is for PhD students in energy-related disciplines that show innovation in their research and consider enhancement, expansion or dissemination of sustainable energy technologies.
From a record number of 501 entries, Marzieh’s thesis was selected in the top three finalists. Marzieh’s PhD thesis, entitled ‘Clarifying Multi-Component Polymerization Kinetics for Tailoring Properties of Acrylamide/Acrylic Acid Copolymers for Enhanced Oil Recovery’, under the supervision of Professors Alex Penlidis and Neil McManus, showed how to go full circle from polymerization kinetics (fundamental science) to the final desirable application properties (applied engineering phase). In her PhD dissertation, and in collaboration with Professor Laura Romero-Zeron of the University of New Brunswick, she designed tailor-made water-soluble polymers with specific desirable properties for increasing the efficiency of oil recovery.
Marzieh has received several awards during her PhD studies, including the Institute for Polymer Research (IPR) award for academic excellence in Polymer Science and Engineering (Jan 2015), and the Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) award for excellence in teaching performance (March 2015). She has published more than 10 papers in refereed journals and 2 book chapters in the Polymer Science and Engineering area.