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Dr. Kamil Khan

Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering

Expertise:  
Deterministic global optimization, batch and semi-batch systems, sensitivity analysis and optimization for discrete/continuous systems
Areas of Specialization:  
Research Clusters:  
Email:
Office:
JHE 202
Phone:
+1 905.525.9140 x 26821

Overview

Research Interests

My research aims to develop efficient, reliable, and automatable methods for simulation, sensitivity analysis, and optimization of chemical process systems that present numerical difficulties. This work lies at the intersection of process systems engineering, algorithm development, and applied mathematics. Areas of particular interest include:

•   nonsmooth optimization, to handle discrete switching in process systems due to changes in phase, flow regime, or operating mode,

•   deterministic global optimization, for nonconvex optimization problems arising in process safety, thermodynamics, design, and control, and

•   dynamic optimization of batch and semi-batch systems, and for use in process control.

My approach involves adapting, developing, and applying tools such as:

•   automatic differentiation, for efficient sensitivity analysis,

•   adjoint sensitivity analysis, to reduce the computation required for dynamic optimization,

•   convex underestimator generation, to provide useful bounding information for global optimization, and

•   nonsmooth analysis, to model switching systems.

Publications

View more Publications

Biography

Education

  • B.S.E. Chemical Engineering, Princeton University (2009)
  • M.S. Chemical Engineering Practice, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2012)
  • Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2015)
  • Director’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory (2015-2016)

Achievements

Related Courses

Code Title Instructor Outline Info
CHEM ENG 704 Graduate Current Topics in Chemical Engineering  
Dr. Kamil Khan Dr. Kamil Khan
CHEM ENG 4E03/6E03 Graduate Digital Computer Process Control  
Dr. Kamil Khan Dr. Kamil Khan