Vinay Prasad is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta, and is the Jaffer Professor in Process Systems and Control Engineering. His research encompasses all aspects of process systems engineering, including multiscale modeling, process estimation and monitoring, advanced control and optimization, with emphasis on the application of machine learning and data analytic methods. In particular, the analysis of complex systems based on machine learning, data mining, and graph/network-based approaches is of particular interest.

 

Significant recent contributions include the development of chemoinformatics methods for hypothesis generation and developing understanding in complex chemistries, which has been accomplished by coupling data-driven methods with both experimental investigations and quantum chemical calculations. Applications include biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals and the partial upgrading of bitumen. Other significant contributions include the development of interpretable surrogate models for the optimization of adsorption-based carbon capture systems, uncertainty quantification, surrogate modeling and optimization for SAGD reservoirs, and the development of soft sensors for mineral processing applications.