Reza Abhari is Professor of Energy Technologies and Director of the Laboratory for Energy Conversion (LEC) at ETH Zurich, a position he has held since 1999. He earned his BA/MA in Engineering Science from Oxford University and a PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1991. After senior research roles in the aerospace industry, he joined Ohio State University in 1995 with a joint appointment in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, before moving to ETH Zurich.

Prof. Abhari’s research develops breakthrough technologies with societal impact, spanning turbomachinery, gas turbines, wind energy, power generation, aerospace, advanced diagnostics, and semiconductor manufacturing. His group combines analytical, computational, and experimental methods, with a focus on both technical advances and their economic implications.

He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and is a frequent keynote speaker at international conferences. His awards include the ASME R. Tom Sawyer Award for contributions to gas turbine science and technology. In 2010, he was Christensen Fellow at St Catherine’s College, Oxford University.

Prof. Abhari is Co-Founder and former Chair of the Global Power and Propulsion Society (GPPS), a Fellow of ASME, and a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW). He also serves on numerous international research committees and advises multinational corporations on strategic and technical challenges in energy and propulsion.

Thursday, September 4th
08:45 – 10:15 | Ballroom III

Moderator: Prof. Seung Jin Song (Seoul National University, Korea)

Panelists: Prof. Reza Abhari (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), Dr. Jinzhang Feng (Aero Engine Corporation of China), Prof. Lixi Huang (The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong) 

Title: Engineering the Engineers of the Future