Dr. Muhammad Fahad Arshad
Experimental & Computational Catalysis Researcher · Specializing in heterogeneous catalysis, DFT, MD, and AI/ML for hydrogen production and CO₂ valorisation.
“Bridging experimental characterisation and high-performance computation to advance hydrogen production and CO₂ valorisation.”
A researcher at the boundary of simulation and the flask.
Dr. M. Fahad Arshad
PhD · Engineering Thermophysics
I am an experimental and computational catalysis researcher — bridging hands-on heterogeneous experimentation with high-performance molecular modeling (DFT, molecular dynamics, and AI/ML) to design low-carbon hydrogen production and CO₂ utilization pathways.
Over eight years of research across Pakistan, China, and Morocco, I have designed reactor innovations, mentored multinational research groups, and built data-driven workflows that accelerate catalyst discovery from initial electronic structure concepts to pilot-scale autoclave validations.
Most recently, at UM6P Morocco, I drove autonomous catalyst screening protocols, utilizing machine learning algorithms and language model tooling to reduce experimental screening timelines by approximately 40%.
Eight years across three continents.
From mechanical manufacturing drawings in Lahore to high-performance supercomputing clusters in Beijing and Ben Guerir.
Postdoctoral Researcher · Chemical & Biochemical Sciences
University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P)
- Steered multi-institutional hydrogen production and CO₂ valorisation programmes from concept to pilot scale.
- Automated DFT, MD, and micro-kinetic HPC pipelines for catalyst stability and reaction-pathway studies.
- ML + LLM tooling reducing experimental screening time by ~40%.
- Built OpenContextFramework — an agentic AI for literature mining and hypothesis generation.
- High-pressure autoclave experiments with biomass feedstocks; zeolite catalyst synthesis & characterisation.
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
- Mentored a cohort of 5+ international researchers; instituted protocols that raised catalytic-test repeatability by 25%.
- Co-led CO oxidation and methane activation campaigns — three peer-reviewed papers and two invited talks.
- Managed instrumentation sharing across CAS institutes, doubling collaborative project inflow.
Intern Engineer
Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Centre (PITAC)
- Supported CAD/CAM workflows and produced fabrication drawings for bespoke tooling projects.
- Documented test procedures, contributing to design refinements for thermal systems.
Foundations in thermophysics& thermodynamics.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
New Technology Lab · Beijing, China
Thesis: Investigation on catalysis and surface thermochemistry of La-based transition metal oxide catalysts.
University of Engineering & Technology
Lahore, Pakistan
Specialisation in fluid dynamics with industry-sponsored capstone projects covering thermodynamics, heat transfer, and energy systems.
A constellation of capabilities.
Hover nodes to reveal specific tools and models. Use group legends to toggle focus on specific expertise subnets.
Tools I've shipped for my own research.
Open-source utilities and frameworks engineered across Python, Rust, and agentic AI models to streamline scientific workflows.
Autoclave Calculator
PythonPressure-parameter calculator for high-pressure autoclave experiments — keeps biomass and catalytic runs within safe operating envelopes.
oa_corpus
PythonScientific publication downloader and corpus builder — turns OpenAlex queries into mineable text bodies for large-scale literature analysis.
scrysrust
RustRust-based molecular-modelling toolkit. Fast DFT pre/post-processing, leveraging Rust's zero-cost abstractions for crystallographic workloads.
OpenContextFramework
AI AgentAgentic AI framework for scientific workflows — automated catalyst screening, literature-informed hypothesis generation, and tool use across DFT pipelines.
11 peer-reviewed papers, first-author on 4.
Academic publications fetched directly via OpenAlex + Crossref APIs, sorted and filterable dynamically below.
Thermodynamic properties calculations of Cu-based species
Yousuf M · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Tian Z-Y
International Journal of Chemical Kinetics
Insights into catalytic oxidation mechanism of CO over Cu catalyst: Experimental and modeling study
El Kasmi A · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Waqas M · Monguen C K F · Azar F-Z · Wu L-N · Tian Z-Y
Materials Research Bulletin
Insights into the Role of Carbonates and Hydroxides in La-Co Oxides for CO Catalytic Conversion
Muhammad Fahad Arshad · El Kasmi A · Fonzeu Monguen C K · Daniel S · Waqas M · Tian Z-Y
ES Energy & Environment
Structure sensitivity of propane partial oxidation over chromium-manganese binary oxides
Fonzeu Monguen C K · El Kasmi A · Daniel S · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Tian Z Y
Proceedings of the Combustion Institute
Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane into Propene over Chromium Oxides
Fonzeu Monguen C K · el Kasmi A · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Kouotou P M · Daniel S · Tian Z Y
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Oxidative Dehydrogenation of Propane to Olefins Promoted by Zr Modified ZSM-5
Daniel S · Monguen C K F · El Kasmi A · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Tian Z Y
Catalysis Letters
Insight into one-step synthesis of active amorphous La-Co thin films for catalytic oxidation of CO
Muhammad Fahad Arshad · El Kasmi A · Waqas M · Tian Z-Y
Applications in Energy and Combustion Science
Ab Initio Calculation of Surface Thermochemistry for Popular Solid Transition Metal-Based Species
Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Wu L N · El Kasmi A · Qin W · Tian Z Y
ACS Omega
CO2 effect on catalytic abatement of VOC emissions over Cu-Co binary oxide films
el Kasmi A · Waqas M · Wu L N · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Tian Z Y
Materials Research Bulletin
Mechanistic study of the CO oxidation reaction on the CuO (111) surface during chemical looping combustion
Wu L N · Tian Z Y · Kasmi A el · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Qin W
Proceedings of the Combustion Institute
Catalytic combustion of CO over Cu-doped iron oxides: CO2 effects on activity
Waqas M · El Kasmi A · Wu L N · Muhammad Fahad Arshad · Qin W · Tian Z Y
Fuel
Awards, conferences, and academic contributions.
Awards & Fellowships
Outstanding International Student
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · Beijing
CAS–TWAS Fellowship
The World Academy of Sciences
Belt & Road Fellowship
UCAS · Beijing
Conferences & Lectures
European Combustion Meeting · Oral Talk
“Ab Initio Calculation of Surface Thermochemistry for Popular Solid Transition-Metal Species”
Lecturer · Process Engineering
UM6P Morocco · Reactor design, process optimisation, chemical-process safety.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · Postgraduate tutorials & lab supervisor.
Let's collaborate.
Open to postdoctoral positions, Senior R&D scientist roles, and project consultancies in green energy, catalysis, and ML.
Connection Node
Interested in postdoctoral research collaborations, computational modeling projects, or academic consults? Send a message and let's build the future of green science together.