Professor of Process Systems Engineering, Director of Postgraduate studies
Biography
Professor Eric Fraga joined UCL in 1996, bringing with him an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellowship and was promoted to Principal Research Fellow in 1998. He was appointed to a permanent position as Senior Lecturer in 2001 and subsequently promoted to Reader in 2001 and Professor in 2004. Prior to this, he was a Senior Research Fellow in the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Mathematics & Statistics at the University of Edinburgh from 1989 to 1996 and a lecturer in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia 1988-1989. In 2012-2013, he held the Santos Chair of Energy & Resources at UCL Australia where he was also the Academic Director.
Teaching Summary
Professor Fraga teaches two modules at the undergraduate level: CENG0002, Introduction to Chemical Engineering, which teaches the students the fundamentals of process analysis including mass & energy balances and properties of single and multiple phase mixtures; CENG0013, Process Design Principles, which introduces students the basics of design, including the use of computer modelling to evaluate potential alternative designs.
Research Summary
Professor Fraga's research lies at the interfaces between industrial engineering, mathematics and computer science. His research broadly falls into two categories: the development of new computational methodologies for computational systems engineering and the design and implementation of computer interfaces for aiding engineers in the use of advanced computational tools in design. In the course of his research, Professor Fraga has developed the Jacaranda system for automated design and process optimisation and the Strawberry and Fresa nature-inspired evolutionary optimisation methods. These tools are being used for research into a number of application areas including power generation in nuclear fusion, reprocessing for the nuclear fission fuel cycle, water management, and biomass process design. Professor Fraga has strong links with South America in biomass processing.
Education
1988
Computer Science, University of Waterloo, Canada
1983
MSc Computer Science, University of Alberta, Canada
1980
BSc Applied Mathematics, University of Alberta, Canada
Publications
- M Pineda, D Tsaoulidis, P I O Filho, T Tsukahara, P Angeli, & E S Fraga (2021), "Design optimization of microfluidic-based solvent extraction systems for radionuclides detection", Nuclear Engineering and Design 383 doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2021.111432.
- Pedro I O Filho, Claire J Carmalt, Panagiota Angeli, & Eric S Fraga (2020), "Mathematical modelling for the design and scale-up of a large industrial aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition process under uncertainty", Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 59:1249--1260, doi:10.1021/acs.iecr.9b05869.
- D Bascone, P Angeli, & E S Fraga (2019), "A modelling approach for the comparison between intensified extraction in small channels and conventional solvent extraction technologies", Chemical Engineering Science 203:201--211, doi:10.1016/j.ces.2019.03.074.
- A Adam, D Brett & E S Fraga (2018), "A modelling study for the integration of a PEMFC micro-CHP in domestic building services design", Applied Energy 225:85--97, doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.03.066.
- O O Amusat, P R Shearing & E S Fraga (2018), "Optimal design of hybrid energy systems incorporating stochastic renewable resources fluctuations", Journal of Energy Storage 15:379--399, doi:10.1016/j.est.2017.12.003.