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Experimental & Computational Catalysis Researcher · DFT · MD · AI/ML · Open to New Roles

“Bridging experimental characterisation and high-performance computation to advance hydrogen production and CO₂ valorisation.”

Citations
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Countries
PK · CN · MA
Dr. Muhammad Fahad Arshad
DFT · MD · ML
H₂ · CO₂ · zeolites
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01 · About

A researcher at the boundary of simulation and the flask.

Dr. Muhammad Fahad Arshad
PhD · Engineering Thermophysics
📍 Lahore, Pakistan
📞 +92-321-4881565
✉️ m.fahad1448@gmail.com
🌐 muhammad1438.github.io
GitHub LinkedIn Scholar ORCID ResearchGate

I'm an experimental and computational catalysis researcher — bridging hands-on heterogeneous experimentation with high-performance modelling (DFT, molecular dynamics, and AI/ML) to design low-carbon hydrogen and CO2 utilisation pathways. Over eight years across Pakistan, China, and Morocco, I've shipped reactor innovations, mentored multinational teams, and built data-driven workflows that accelerate catalyst discovery from concept to pilot scale.

Built agentic AI tooling for autonomous catalyst screening at UM6P (Jan 2025 – May 2026), focusing on zeolite-based biomass valorisation, high-pressure autoclave experiments, and DFT/MD-driven catalyst discovery workflows. Currently open to new research positions and collaborations.

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02 · Experience

Eight years across three continents.

From CAD drawings in Lahore to HPC-driven catalyst discovery in Ben Guerir — a timeline of work in computational and experimental catalysis.

2025 → May 2026 📍 Ben Guerir, Morocco
Postdoctoral Researcher · Chemical & Biochemical Sciences
University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P)
  • Steering 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.
2023 → 2024 📍 Beijing, China
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • 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.
2016 → 2017 📍 Lahore, Pakistan
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.
03 · Education

Foundations in thermophysics & fluid dynamics.

PhD · Engineering Thermophysics
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.
DFT Micro-kinetics Reactor design +35% quantum efficiency 8+ publications
Aug 2017 → Aug 2023
BSc · Mechanical Engineering (Fluid Dynamics)
University of Engineering & Technology
Lahore, Pakistan
Specialisation in fluid dynamics with industry-sponsored capstone projects covering thermodynamics, heat transfer, and energy systems.
Thermodynamics Heat transfer CAD/CAM CFD Experimental validation
Aug 2012 → Aug 2016
04 · Skills

A constellation of capabilities.

Hover any node to expand. Toggle categories below to focus the graph.

05 · Software

Tools I've shipped for my own research.

Open-source utilities built across Python, Rust, and emerging agentic-AI stacks.

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Engineering safety · Python
Autoclave Pressure Calculator

Pressure-parameter calculator for high-pressure autoclave experiments — keeps biomass and catalytic runs within safe operating envelopes.

📚
Scientific corpus · Python
oa_corpus

Scientific publication downloader and corpus builder — turns OpenAlex queries into mineable text bodies for large-scale literature analysis.

⚙️
Molecular modelling · Rust
scrysrust

Rust-based molecular-modelling toolkit. Fast DFT pre/post-processing, leveraging Rust's zero-cost abstractions for crystallographic workloads.

🤖
Agentic AI · LLM
OpenContextFramework

Agentic AI framework for scientific workflows — automated catalyst screening, literature-informed hypothesis generation, and tool use across DFT pipelines.

06 · Publications

11 peer-reviewed papers, first-author on 4.

178
Citations
7
h-index
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i10-index
first author · scroll →
View on Google Scholar → ORCID profile →
07 · Awards · Talks · Teaching

Recognised work, delivered talks, taught students.

★ Awards & Honors

2022

Outstanding International Student

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · Beijing
2020–24

CAS–TWAS Fellowship

The World Academy of Sciences
2017–20

Belt & Road Fellowship

UCAS · Beijing
2016

Top Crisis Manager

University of Engineering & Technology · Lahore

▦ Conferences & Talks

2021

European Combustion Meeting · Oral

Ab Initio Calculation of Surface Thermochemistry for Popular Solid Transition-Metal Species
2020

Chinese Combustion Symposium · Oral

One-Step Synthesis of Active Amorphous La–Co Thin Films for CO Oxidation · Tianjin, China

✎ Teaching

2025–26

Lecturer · Process Engineering

UM6P · Reactor design, process optimisation, chemical-process safety.
2020–21

Graduate Teaching Assistant

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences · postgraduate teaching, examinations, lab supervision.
08 · Contact

Let's collaborate.

Open to postdoc and senior research roles in computational catalysis, hydrogen, and AI for science. Happy to discuss consulting, code, or coffee.

Reach out
📍 Lahore, Pakistan 📞 +92-321-4881565 ✉️ m.fahad1448@gmail.com
View CV Download PDF Email Me Google Scholar
github · muhammad1438 linkedin · mfahadarshad orcid · 0000-0003-1828-9458