Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian OBE is the Head of the Energy Innovation Centre, leads the University of Sheffield’s Energy2050 initiative, holds a chair in Energy Engineering and is the General Secretary of International Flame Research Foundation (IFRF).

He has completed numerous major research projects on clean energy technology, receiving substantial grants from the EPSRC, EU, and NATO. During his career at the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds, Professor Pourkashanian has successfully managed over 100 research contracts and grants, with a total value of in excess of £73 million –with active research grants for 2019 in excess of £19M and relating to clean energy projects.

His research is in the field of future clean and sustainable energy technology with a focus on multi-scale energy processes, zero carbon fuels, and computational and CFD modelling. He and his students have authored over 492 publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings and have co-authored a several books on solid fuels and biomass combustion. Professor Pourkashanian has graduated over 87 Ph.D. candidates and supervised over 40 postdoctoral scholars and research associates. He is currently supervising 28 PhD graduate students and 13 research associates/fellows, as well as being Chair of International CCS Test Centre Network, a member of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund: Industrial Decarbonisation Advisory Group responsible for the Hydrogen theme, a Fellow of the Energy Institute and a Chartered Engineer.

At the Energy Innovation Centre Professor Pourkashanian provides expert academic, strategic and operational leadership to the project and its team members. Bringing his significant academic expertise and experience as project lead, Professor Pourkashanian directly contributes to all ongoing activity, including procurement of equipment, building design, research activity, business development and the long-term strategy and innovation directives.

In 2023, Professor Pourkashanian received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Net Zero Research and Innovation.