The Department of Bioengineering would like to congratulate Dr. Irshad Ahmad on his promotion to the esteemed academic position of Full Professor, effective from the 31st of October 2023.

Professor Ahmad joined KFUPM in September of 2014, and has since made significant contributions in the fields of cellular metabolic engineering, microbial biotechnology, and nanobiotechnology.

Before joining KFUPM, Professor Ahmad held the position of Post-doctoral Fellow at the Chemical Resources Laboratory, Bio-Resources Division, at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. He was awarded his Ph.D. degree in Biological Sciences in 2011 from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), located in Daejeon, South Korea.

Professor Ahmad has dedicated his career to pioneering research in microalgae biotechnology, the biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by various microalgae strains, and microalgae process engineering for CO₂ fixation applications in fuels, chemicals, food, and nutraceuticals. He has published more than 50 papers and serves on the editorial boards of several international scientific journals. Furthermore, he acts as a peer reviewer for various journals, as well as national and international funds.