Background:

Brahim Benyahia graduated with an MEng ("Diplôme d'Ingénieur") in Chemical Engineering from the National Polytechnic School, Algeria. He completed a PhD in Chemical Engineering, at the ENSIC (Engineering School of Chemical Industries) France, in December 2009, then moved for a postdoc associate position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) USA, where he focused for 2.5 years on the development of the first end-to-end integrated continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing platform (a $65 M Novartis-MIT project). In 2013, Brahim joined Loughborough University as a lecturer in Chemical Engineering, was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2017 and made Professor in 2023.

Key Awards:

• Co-recipient of the Council for Chemical Research (CCR) Collaboration Award 2014.
• Contribution Award, MIT, USA (2012).
• Teaching Award of Chemical Engineering (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018).

Outline of main research interests:

• Continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing and Quality-by-Design.
• Plant wide modelling, optimisation and control.
• Precision crystallisation and crystal size and morphology control.
• Global, dynamic and multiobjective optimisation.
• Sensitivity, uncertainty and estimability analysis.
• Model Predictive Control (MPC).
• Artificial intelligence.
• Multistep, integrated and intensified technologies e.g. MicroFactory.
• Sustainable production systems (Life Cycle Assessment and Green Engineering).

Grants and contracts:

• Novel, cost-effective, stand-alone integrated portable microfluidic platform for self-optimised plug-and-play screening and production. EPSRC IAA. 2019-2020.
• ARTICULAR: ARtificial inTelligence for Integrated ICT-enabled pharmaceUticaL mAnufactuRing. EPSRC EP/R032858/1. 2018-2022.
• Future Continuous Manufacturing and Advanced Crystallisation (CMAC) Research Hub. EPSRC EP/P006965/1. 2017-2023.
• Development of a novel stand-alone integrated portable microfluidic platform based on rapid prototyping. HEFCE /Enterprise Projects Group (EPG). 2019.
• Linking synthesis to crystallisation - counter current liquid - liquid extraction. Industrial project (Pfizer, Novartis, Roche, AZ, Ely Lilly). 2018.
• Scale up of bioreactors for the production of pharmaceuticals and food: Towards Quality-by-Design. British Council Newton Researcher Links. 2016.
• Multiobjective Model Predictive control of integrated processes. EPSRC – DTC Training grant. 2014-2018.

Current teaching responsibilities:

Undergraduate

• Chemical Process Control - CGC022 / CGC047
• Process Safety and Design - CGB001
• Process Balances and Process Economics - CGA007
• Process Design Project - CGC038 and CGC001 (BEng)
• Team and Individual Process Design Project - CGD046 / CGD045 (MEng)

Postgraduate

• Advanced Process Design and Optimisation CGP006
• MSc project - CGP056
• Clean Chemical Energy and Sustainability - CGD070 / CGP070
• Plant- Wide Control (CDT PhD course)

Current administrative responsibilities:

• MSc Programme Director
• MSc Admissions Tutor 
• PGT Year Tutor 

Fysikopoulos, D., Benyahia, B., Borsos, A., Nagy, Z.K., Rielly, C.D. (2019) A framework for model reliability and estimability analysis of crystallization processes with multi-impurity multi-dimensional population balance models. Computers and Chemical Engineering, 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2018.09.007

Bandulasena, M.V., Vladisavljević, G.T., Benyahia, B. (2019) Versatile reconfigurable glass capillary microfluidic devices with Lego® inspired blocks for drop generation and micromixing. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2019.01.119

Onyemelukwe, I.I., Benyahia, B., Reis, N.M., Nagy, Z.K., Rielly, C.D. (2018) The heat transfer characteristics of a mesoscale continuous oscillatory flow crystalliser with smooth periodic constrictions. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2018.03.015

Fayemiwo, K.A., Vladisavljević, G.T., Nabavi, S.A., Benyahia, B., Hanak, D.P., Loponov, K.N., Manović, V. (2018) Nitrogen-rich hyper-crosslinked polymers for low-pressure CO2 capture. Chemical Engineering Journal, 334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2017.11.106

Lakerveld, R., Benyahia, B., Heider, P.L., Zhang, H., Wolfe, A., Testa, C.J., Ogden, S., Hersey, D.R., Mascia, S., Evans, J.M.B., Braatz, R.D., Barton, P.I. (2015) The Application of an Automated Control Strategy for an Integrated Continuous Pharmaceutical Pilot Plant. Organic Process Research and Development, 19(9). https://doi.org/10.1021/op500104d

Heider, P.L., Born, S.C., Basak, S., Benyahia, B., Lakerveld, R., Zhang, H., Hogan, R., Buchbinder, L., Wolfe, A., Mascia, S., Evans, J.M.B., Jamison, T.F., Jensen, K.F. (2014) Development of a multi-step synthesis and workup sequence for an integrated, continuous manufacturing process of a pharmaceutical. Organic Process Research and Development, 18(3). https://doi.org/10.1021/op400294z

Paulen, R., Benyahia, B., Latifi, M.A., Fikar, M. (2014) Analysis of optimal operation of a fed-batch emulsion copolymerization reactor used for production of particles with core-shell morphology. Computers and Chemical Engineering, 66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2014.02.021

External Collaborators: 

• University of Strathclyde
• Perceptive Engineering, AZ, Pfizer, Ely Lilly, Takeda, Novartis
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
• School of Art Glasgow
• Laboratory of Reactions and Process Engineering, ENSIC, CNRS, France
• Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Mexico
• University of São Paulo, Brasil
• Technical University of Denmark
• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

External roles and appointments: 

Editorial activity

• Associate editor, Frontiers in Chemical Engineering (2020 - date)
• Editorial Board Member, MDPI Crystals (2020 - date)
• Editorial Board Member, Open Journal of Optimization (2017 - date)
• Editorial Board Member, Process Engineering Journal (2013 - date)

Reviewer for International Funding Programmes

• EPSRC and BBSRC
• Science Investment Round of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, New Zealand.
• National Research, Development and Innovation (NRDI), Hungary.
• National Centre of Science and Technology Evaluation, JSC, Kazakhstan. 

Other external roles

• Regular reviewer for more than 20 leading journals including Computers and Chemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Science, Journal of Process Control, Small, Journal of Cleaner Production, Macromolecular Reaction Engineering, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Crystal Growth & Design, Chemical Engineering and Processing:  Process Intensification, Control Engineering Practice.
• External PhD examiner for several students.   

Selected invited seminars and keynote lectures

• From Big Data to Advanced Plant-Wide Control. Takeda showcase seminar, 30th Arpil-1st May 2019.
• A comparative life cycle assessment approach of 5 alternative technologies for converting municipal solid waste (MSW) into chemicals and electricity in the UK. 6th international congress on Green Process Engineering. June 2018, Toulouse, France.
• Pharmaceutical manufacturing from high fidelity mathematical models to robust process control. CMAC open day, 25th & 26th October 2018. Glasgow, UK.
• Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: from Quality-by-Design to Green-by-Design. A plenary in the 6th International Conference on Biology, Chemistry and Agronomy, September 2017, Guadalajara, Mexico.
• Quality-by-design for bioreactors: opportunities and limitations. International Workshop on Scale up of bioreactors for the production of pharmaceuticals and food: Towards Quality by Design, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, 19 September 2016.
• Model Reliability of multi-dimensional Population Balance Models for Crystallization.  PSE research day, Imperial College UK, 12th July 2016. 
• Modelling and Multiobjective optimization of an emulsion copolymerisation process with experimental validation. Seminar on Process Automation, ENSIACET, Toulouse, France, 3rd June 2016.
• Continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing: towards a more flexible and viable industry. LRGP-CNRS, Nancy, France, 25th September 2014.
• Plant-Wide Control System - Implementation and Integration. MIT, July 2012, Boston, USA.

Organising / scientific committee of international conferences

• The 2nd International Online Conference on Crystals. 10-20 November 2020, Online.
• The 2nd International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research. 04-05 September 2019, Dubai, UAE.
• The 7th World Conference on Pharmaceutical Science and Drug Manufacturing. March 2020, Dubai, UAE. 
• World Congress on Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemistry, 17-19 June 2020 - London, UK.
• International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research, 28-30 June 2018, Dubai, UAE.
• International Conference on material science and nanotechnology “How Nanotechnology changed the Face of Material Science”, 24-26 June 2018, France.
• International Summit on Healthcare, Pharmacy and Industrial revolution, AEM Pharma 2018, 5-6 December 2018, San Francisco, USA.
• Workshop on Scale up of bioreactors for the production of pharmaceuticals and food: Towards Quality-by-Design. 19 – 23 September 2016, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.