- Photo and article by Raheena Abdurehim

The Clean Combustion Research Center is pleased to announce that Dr. Thibault Guiberti is appointed as Assistant Research Professor of Mechanical Engineering as of July 2021. 

Prof. Guiberti joined KAUST and CCRC in 2015 as a Postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Roberts. In 2017, he became a Research Scientist and in July 2021, he was appointed Assistant Research Professor in the Physical Science and Engineering division, affiliated with CCRC. Prof. Guiberti received a Ph.D. in Energy from Centrale-Supelec (now known as Paris-Saclay University), France, in 2015. He received the Habilitation to Direct Research from Toulouse III University, France, in 2020. His research interests include turbulent reactive flows and optical diagnostics. With his research, Prof. Guiberti hopes to contribute to the promotion of carbon-free fuels, such as hydrogen and ammonia, in practical combustion devices. He has published 40 journal publications, contributed to as many international conferences and workshops, and filed 3 patents. He has delivered 8 invited talks and seminars. Prof. Guiberti received multiple awards including the distinguished paper award in the diagnostics colloquium of the 38th International Symposium on Combustion in 2021 and the Ph.D. thesis award of the Francophone Association for laser diagnostics (AFVL) in 2016.

“I am excited to transition to this new role at CCRC, a lab that I have been very proud to belong to for the last 6 years and arguably the best combustion lab in the world. In my new capacity, I look forward to further pushing the boundaries of experimental combustion at extreme conditions (high pressure and high levels of turbulence) and contributing to the emergence of CCRC as a world-leading center for hydrogen and ammonia utilization research,” stated Prof. Guiberti.

“In practice, I plan:

• To maintain and develop relationships between CCRC and industrial partners on themes associated with ammonia and hydrogen combustion;
• To initiate an autonomous research portfolio on the control of combustion processes including, for example, flame sensors, active control, and flame instabilities;
• To continue fruitful relationships with CCRC Faculty and researchers including, for example, overseeing the operation of the High-Pressure Combustion Duct (HPCD) and developing advanced laser diagnostics.” he added.