Thermal Heat Storage
Research Team
Bahaa Abbas is a Technology Transfer Fellow in the Thermochemical Research group and Materials Engineering at SPECIFIC. He received his first degree in General Chemistry from the University of Baghdad and went on to obtain a master’s degree in Material science from Coventry University in 2010.
Bahaa joined Functional Material Research group in 2013 at Coventry University where he worked as a Research Associate for the electronics manufacturing industry. In 2015 he became Business Development Manager for Environmental products at Al-Ghalowa Europe GmbH. Bahaa has also worked on preparation and applications of nanoparticles and subsequently in the Sonochemistry Centre at Coventry University. Bahaa joined Swansea University in 2016 to obtain a PhD in material Engineering. He has published four papers, PhD completion while working for SPECIFIC.
Sahand Hosouli is a Technology Transfer Fellow in the Thermochemical Research group at SPECIFIC. He began his academic career in the field of material engineering at Sahand University of Technology and then received his master's degree from IUST in 2015.
Sahand was a visiting professor at SUT and PNU for two years and then he was awarded a full scholarship to study renewable energy technologies at University of Florence (Italy). He received his PhD degree in 2020 with a focus on the development of small size solar parabolic trough collectors. Sahand studied the development of compact thermal storage as a visiting researcher at the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology (Loughborough University).
After completing his studies, he joined MG Sustainable as a project manager and senior researcher. He was involved in the RES4Live project, under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and was a project manager of PowerUp MyHouse project.
Sahand joined SPECIFIC in 2021 and his work focuses on the development of novel materials suitable for heat storage applications with a particular focus on industrial waste streams.
James’ background is in electronics and 3D printing, specialising in the application of microcontrollers for control and data logging systems, and FDM (fused deposition modelling) 3D printing.
James’ work with the Thermochemical Storage Team as a Support Technician involves the design, setup and maintenance of lab test equipment utilizing various sensors and electronics, as well as 3D printed components. He also supports other members of staff where required, be it with electronics, 3D printing, IT issues or more general technical issues.
Sara has a background in chemical engineering, obtaining both her BEng and MSc by Research from Swansea University. Her Masters research focused on catalyst manufacture to reduce NOx emissions from automobiles.
Sara then brought her interest in sustainable solutions to SPECIFIC with the Thermochemical Storage Team as a Technology Transfer Fellow in Heat Systems. Sara’s work focuses on upscaling systems utilising thermochemical storage materials to heat a variety of building applications. She is involved in both the design, testing, and optimization of these systems. The performance of materials at this larger scale influences the development of not only materials, but the control systems and operational parameters required to meet the building requirements. In addition to her research, Sara is also involved in teaching first year students with the College of Engineering, and is part of the organising committee for Soapbox Science Swansea.