Research Interest
- Process systems engineering
- Optimization theory and algorithms
- Energy systems modeling
- Multi-scale optimization
- Operations research
Education
- B.Tech., Chemical Engineering, IIT Bombay, 2013.
- Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 2019
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2019-2021
- Postdoctoral Research Associate, Princeton University, 2021-2022
Research Overview
Our research lies in the process systems engineering (PSE) field and at the interface of chemical engineering, applied mathematics, and data science. There are two intertwined aspects of the research carried out in our group. The first aspect includes developing and employing PSE techniques to discover advanced materials and pathways to produce electricity, fuels, and chemicals economically and sustainably. Second, we develop theory and algorithms to solve challenging application-driven optimization problems.
Current projects include:
• Multi-scale optimization of solar thermal energy systems
• Decarbonization of the Indian energy system
• Hyperparameter optimization of machine learning models
• Optimization theory and algorithms for large-scale nonconvex problems
Awards
- Distinguished Graduate Research Award,Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University 2018
- Finalist, CAST Directors' Student Presentation Award, AIChE 2018
- Process Systems Engineering Young Researcher Award, CAST, AIChE 2018
- Fellow, Academy of Future Faculty, Texas A&M University 2015
- Undergraduate Research Award, IIT Bombay 2012
Work Experience
- Assistant Professor, IIT Roorkee, 2022-2023.
Publications
- Ishan Bajaj, Xinyue Peng, Christos T Maravelias, Screening and property targeting of thermochemical energy storage materials in concentrated solar power using thermodynamics-based insights and mathematical optimization†, RSC Sustain, 2, 943-960 (2024).
- Lu Yu, Luna Liang, Ishan Bajaj, Kendhl Seabright, David J Keffer, Ilia N Ivanov, Hao Chen, Sheng Dai, Arthur J Ragauskas, Christos T Maravelias, David P Harper, Tailored mesoporous structures of lignin-derived nano-carbons for multiple applications, Carbon, 213, 118285 (2023).
- X. Peng*, I. Bajaj*, M. Yao, T. W. Root, C. T. Maravelias, Solid-gas thermochemical energy storage strategies for concentrating solar power: optimization and system analysis,Energy Conversion and Management, 245, 114636 (2021).
- H. Chang*, I. Bajaj*, A. H. Motagamwala, A. Somasundaram, G. W. Huber, C. T. Maravelias, J. A. Dumesic, Sustainable production of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural from glucose for process integration with high fructose corn syrup infrastructure, Green Chemistry, 23, 3277-3288 (2021).
- I. Bajaj, M. M. F. Hasan, Global dynamic optimization using edge-concave underestimator., Journal of Global Optimization, 77, 487-512 (2020).
- I. Bajaj, M. M. F. Hasan, Deterministic global derivative-free optimization of black-box problems with bounded Hessian., Optimization Letters, 14, 1011-1026 (2020).
- I. Bajaj, M. M. F. Hasan, UNIPOPT: Univariate projection-based optimization without derivatives, Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol 127, 71-87 (2019).
- I. Bajaj, S. S. Iyer, M. M. F. Hasan, A trust region-based two phase algorithm for constrained black-box optimization with infeasible initial point, Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol 116, 306-321 (2018).
