Dr. Faheem Hassan Akhtar is equipped with a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Punjab. He received his Ph.D. degree (2019) in Chemical Engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). During his stay at the Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, KAUST, he developed membranes for energy-efficient separation of gases and vapors. Dr. Faheem’s work particularly caught international attention, and various companies invited him to present his findings in the US. He worked closely with the industrial partners, including Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) CA, USA, Daimler AG, BMW, and Kraton at Houston. Dr. Faheem joined Water Desalination and Reuse Center (2019) as a Post-Doctorate Fellow.
Dr. Faheem’s research interests evolve around membrane technology and engineering. He is particularly interested in the applications of ultra-thin membranes and in the physics of penetrant induced transport of gases and vapors of polymer layers. He has pioneered membranes for water vapor removal and atmospheric water harvesting.
Before joining LUMS in 2021, Dr. Faheem has served in industry and as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at King Abdulaziz University. Dr. Faheem is the recipient of the KAUST Ph.D. fellowship Award and was nominated for the Patrick Maeres Award in the field of Membrane Science at Euromembrane Conference in Denmark, 2021.
Dr. Faheem leads the Laboratory of Advanced Membranes and Separations (LAMS) at LUMS. His group is engaged in developing high-performance membranes and adsorbents for applications in industrially important and energy-intensive separations, such as carbon capture, industrial wastewater treatment, nanofiltration, drinking water production, sensing applications, and atmospheric water harvesting. His research has been highlighted in Nature Middle East, Nature Reviews Chemistry, KAUST Discovery, and the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Quarterly magazines. Dr. Faheem’s research has been published in some top journals of the field, such as Advanced Energy Materials, Angewandte Chemie, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Membrane Science, Desalination, Water Research, and Macromolecules. He is also co-inventor of 6 patents that are provisionally granted. Dr. Faheem is on the editorial board of Journals including Membranes and is a fellow of the North American Membrane Society (NAMS), European Membrane Society (EMS), Membrane Society of Australia (MSA), and the Secretary of the Pakistan Membrane Society (PMS).