Bahman Shabani

Professor Bahman Shabani is research and teaching active academic in the School of Engineering.

Professor Bahman Shabani has an extensive experience in tertiary level teaching and conducting applied and fundamental industrial and academic research since 1999. He is currently the leader of the multidisciplinary Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Laboratory (SHEL) research group at RMIT University. He has devoted nearly two decades of his academic journey to the realm of renewable hydrogen systems and energy storage. Prof. Shabani was the chief investigator of numerous funded projects on fuel cell systems totaling almost $9 M. He provides expert inputs to national energy initiatives, serving as a subject matter expert for the Hydrogen Technologies in Standard Australian Committees and holds a key role as a member of the Australian Hydrogen Research Network (AHRN) Strategy Group. Prof. Shabani serves on the editorial board of major international journals such as the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and Scientific Reports (Nature).


Career History:

RMIT University, School of Engineering (2006-now): Jan. 2022-Now, Professor | July 2020-Now, Leader, Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Laboratory (SHEL), Research Group | March 2019- Dec. 2020, Discipline leader, Mechanical Engineering | Jan 2019- Dec 2021, Associate professor | Jan 2013-Dec 2018, Program Manager for Master of Engineering (Sustainable Energy) | Jan 2015-Dec 2018, Senior lecturer | April 2012- Dec. 2014, Lecturer | July 2006 – March 2012 Casual Lecturer/Course Coordinator | Jan 2011-March 2012, Research Associate | July 2006-Dec 2010, PhD candidate.

Major Industry Experience (1999-2005): Dec. 2003 - Aug. 2005, SAIPA Automobile Company, Tehran, Iran (Quality Control Engineer /Engine Expert - Citroen/Xantia and KIA Production Lines) | Oct. 1999- Dec. 2003, Automotive Industries Research and Innovation Centre (AIRIC): SAIPA’s R&D Centre (Spark Ignition (SI) Internal Combustion (IC) Engine and engine cooling system expert).

Leaderships:

• Leader, Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Laboratory (SHEL), Research Group (2020-now)
• Discipline leader, Mechanical Engineering, RMIT School of Engineering (2019-2020)
• Program manager, RMIT Master of Engineering (Sustainable Energy) Program (2013-2018)
• Deputy program director, Master of Engineering (Sustainable Energy) Program (2012-2013)


Academic Engagements:

Editorial Boards: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy | Nature, Scientific Report | Energies, MDPI | Frontiers in Chemical Engineering | Journal of Sci (MDPI) | Cambridge Scholars Publishing | Australian Journal of Mechanical Engineering, Special Issue on Sustainable and Renewable Energy (Guest Editor) | Topic Editor-in-Chief, Hydrogen Energy Technologies- 1st Vol. / 2nd Vol., Energies, Sci, Hydrogen (mdpi).

Scientific /Organising Committees: The Australian Hydrogen Research Network (AHRN) Strategy Group | Fuel cell working group for developing Australian Hydrogen Standards, Standard Australia ME093 | 1st Australian Hydrogen Research Conference (2023) | 11th Australasian Heat and Mass Transfer Conference (July 2018) | 2nd International Conference of Energy and Power (Sydney, Australia 2018) | 11th Australasian Heat and Mass Transfer Conference (July 2018) | Australian Journal of Mechanical Engineering, special Issue on Sustainable and Renewable Energy (2017) | International Conference on Energy and Power, Melbourne, Australia (Dec 2016) | 1st International Conference of Energy and Power (Melbourne, Australia 2016)

Chairing International Conferences: FISITA World Automotive Congress, Beijing, China (2012) | World Hydrogen Technology Convention (WHTC), Sydney, Australian (2105) | World Hydrogen Energy Conference (WHEC), Zaragoza, Spain (2016)

Invited Speaker: Advisian and Engineers Australia (EA) to deliver a speech (2021) | Ingolstadt University (Germany) International Lecture Series on Electric Mobility, ‘Hydrogen Mobility’ (Dec. 2020 and Dec. 2021) | 3rd International Symposium on Frontier of Applied Physics invited by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) (2017)




Achievements:

• Top 2% scientists globally in the field of ‘Energy’ based on citation impact: Stanford's list of top scientists (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
• Australia-Singapore Delegation on hydrogen research partnerships award – CSIRO & Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water (2023)
• International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Editorial Board Award (2021)
• Executive Dean’s Research Excellence Award (RMIT, School of Engineering) (2021)
• The 1st Australian Institute of Energy (AIE) National Award/Prize for the best postgraduate energy research; Adelaide, Australia (2010)
• The 1st AIE Victorian Award/Prize for the best postgraduate renewable energy research; Melbourne, Australia (2010)


Major Innovations:

• A solar-hydrogen combined water and power solution for standalone applications in freshwater scarce areas
• Carbon foam to enhance the electrical conductivity of slurry electrodes in proton flow reactors (part of a registered patent: WO2021258157A1 (2021)
• Nanofluids as coolants in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
• Solar-hydrogen solar thermal combined heat and power systems for 100% heat and power supply to standalone applications
• The application of metal foams as flow field in PEM fuel cells
• Passive thermal coupling of PEM fuel cells and metal hydride hydrogen storage systems
• A fuel cell-based auxiliary power unit (APU) system for armed vehicles
• Porous material with graded porosity as a unitised flow field for PEM fuel cell
• Thermally enhanced PCM as a self-contained thermal management system for metal hydride hydrogen storage systems
• Segmented flow field for PEM fuel cells with large active areas
• Thermally enhanced phase change materials using metal foams as thermal storage for solar thermal systems
• Enhanced PCM energy storage embedded evacuated tube solar thermal collectors