Saif Al Ghafri has a Ph.D. and MSc from Imperial College London and BEng from Nottingham University. Before that, he worked as a Process Engineer for Shell and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), designing, operating, and controlling different chemical processes. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked as a Research Associate at Imperial College London for two years before joining The University of Western Australia (UWA) as a Research Fellow in December 2015. He was subsequently promoted to Senior Research Fellow in June 2021, where his role comprises approximately 70% research, 20% teaching, and 10% administration. Throughout his positions at ICL and UWA, he has led and completed multiple industrially driven research projects in the areas of thermodynamics, cryogenics, fluid science, clean energy, CCUS, industrial refrigerants, and natural gas. Recently, he established a new research initiative at UWA and now leads a research team focusing on the emerging hydrogen economy and liquid hydrogen, which have advanced the fundamental understanding of cryogenic fluid properties and their application to energy production, transport, and storage, as well as the use of cryogenic fluids for space applications. His extensive research experiences clean energy and in cryogenic measurements have culminated in his association with the Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Centre (FEnEx CRC), as a Foundation Fellow since 2021.

Dr. Al Ghafri leads the “Propellant and Cryogenic Fluids” group within the recently established UWA International Space Center (ISC) and is a member of various advisory committees, including the "Access to Space" technical advisory group (TAG) of the Australian Space Agency. Dr. Al Ghafri is currently working on multiple clean-energy and hydrogen research projects funded by global industry partners such as Fortescue Future Industries, INPEX, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Woodside. Current research activities include hydrogen economy, liquid hydrogen, closed carbon cycles, techno-economic analysis for various hydrogen supply chains, and Boil-Off-Gas studies for LH2 storage and transportation. Dr. Al Ghafri maintained ongoing collaborations with top fluid science and hydrogen groups worldwide, including the cryogenic test laboratory at NASA, Eta Space, Ruhr-University Bochum, Imperial College, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA). His research excellence has been recognized through multiple awards, including the prestigious Imperial College “Dudley Newitt” and “Medal” Prizes for Experimental and Research Excellence in Clean Fossil Fuels, and “The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference” Award. He has been interviewed by the media, such as Western Independent, regarding matters of clean energy research and published a number of case studies.

• 2013 – 2015 Research Associate– Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London (ICL), UK
• 2007 – 2009 Process Engineer– Shell and Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), Muscat, Oman

• 2019 - present Advanced Thermodynamic and Mass Transfer Processes, undergraduate and postgraduate core unit in the Chemical Specialisation. (lecturer and coordinator)
• 2017 - 2019 Unit Operation and Unit Processes, Level 3 core unit in the Chemical Specialisation, undergraduate. (lecturer and coordinator)

Hydrogen Economy, Liquid Hydrogen, Thermophysical Properties, CCUS, Clean Energy, Fluid science, Cryogenics, Industrial Refrigernats