The Integrated Multiscale Porous Media Research (IMPRES) Group, established and led by Professor Dr. Vahid Niasar in 2014, is dedicated to delivering innovative engineering solutions for a wide range of porous media topics. Our expertise spans subsurface hydrology, reservoir engineering, renewable energy, fuel cells, and batteries.
At the IMPRES Group, our team of researchers is at the forefront of developing cutting-edge computational and experimental techniques. We aim to investigate various aspects such as multiphase flow, reactive transport, solid-fluid and fluid-fluid interfaces, as well as non-classical theories of porous materials. By addressing these fundamental problems in science and engineering, we contribute to advancing knowledge in the field.
Our mission is twofold. Firstly, we strive to deepen our understanding of fundamental porous media processes. By exploring these processes at pore level, we gain valuable insights into their intricate mechanisms. Secondly, we are committed to improving numerical upscaling methods for multi-scale coupled problems. This enables us to bridge the gap between microscopic and macroscopic scales, facilitating more accurate and efficient modeling of complex systems. Our diverse research portfolio encompasses a wide range of topics, including:

• Optical and X-ray imaging of porous materials,
• Pore-scale modelling using GPU-accelerated pore-network modelling, Lattice-Boltzmann, and Volume-of-Fluid methods,
• Darcy-scale, reservoir scale modelling and simulations,
• Physics of porous media, flow and reactive transport in porous media.

• Subsurface energy engineering,
• Geological CO₂ and hydrogen storage,
• Reservoir engineering and enhanced oil recovery,
• Electrochemical energy engineering, e.g., fuel cells and flow batteries,
• Soil physics and contaminant hydrogeology.

Prof Dr Vahid Niasar

I am a professor of subsurface engineering and porous media physics at the department of Chemical Engineering. I joined the University of Manchester in 2014, after few years of experience in upstream research at Shell Global Solutions in the Netherlands. My research interests and expertise cover diverse topics of multi-phase flow and reactive transport in porous media, hydrogeology and subsurface energy engineering (including geothermal energy, CO₂ and hydrogen storage, enhanced oil recovery), flow and transport modelling in electrochemical systems such as PEM fuel cells and redox flow batteries, flow and transport in manufactured porous media such as membranes, filters and catalysts. A summary of my career:

• Since 2024, Head of Research, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester, UK.
• Since 2023, President-Elect, International Society of Porous Media (InterPore)
• Since 2022, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester, UK.
• Since 2021, Deputy Head of Research, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, UK.
• Since 2021, Director of Subsurface Energy Engineering MSc Programme, University of Manchester, UK.
• 2020- 2022, Reader, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester, UK.
• 2018- 2020, Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester, UK.
• 2014- 2018, Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester, UK.
• 2011- 2014, Research Reservoir Engineer, Shell, The Netherlands.