Dr. Sai Sankar Ganesan is a leading researcher specializing in fluid flow modeling and simulation, with a focus on advancing technologies of high business value in ocular drug delivery, carbon capture, and oil & gas systems. Currently at Alcon, he has pioneered the development of eye implant pharmaco-kinetic simulation infrastructure, providing groundbreaking insights into drug distribution within ocular tissues across animal models. His cornerstone project work is critical in improving the efficacy and longevity of ocular therapies, with potential applications to human eye treatments.
In addition to his work in healthcare, Dr. Ganesan has made significant contributions to carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology and green hydrogen production. At the Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) at UCLA, he developed fluid flow models and designs for novel electrolyzers, scaling them from lab prototypes to industrial-scale implementations. His patented electrolyzer designs, tested at pilot plants in Los Angeles and Singapore, have laid the foundation for one of the largest ocean-based CDR facilities in collaboration with Boeing, projected to remove 110,000 tons of CO2 annually. This innovation was recognized as one of Time magazine's Top Inventions of 2023.
Dr. Ganesan’s expertise also spans the oil & gas industry, where he worked as a Simulation Scientist at National Oilwell Varco (NOV). His work focused on developing fluid dynamic solutions for a variety of applications, including gas compressors, mixing tanks, and desalters, as well as implementing Generalized Reduced Order Models (GROMs) for predictive maintenance of Blender pumps. These contributions significantly improved the operational efficiency of oil rigs and contributed to the industry's efforts in reducing carbon emissions.
During his doctoral studies, Dr. Ganesan played a crucial role in bio-reactor optimization for methane fermentation as part of US Department of Energy's REMOTE program, in collaboration with LanzaTech. His innovative fluid flow models and process intensification using internals helped enhance the efficiency of methane fermentation processes, bridging experimental and computational approaches to enable the scale-up of bioreactors. This work is instrumental in reducing methane emissions and supporting the global push for renewable energy.
Dr. Ganesan’s work bridges experimental and computational approaches, driving innovation across industries from pharmaceuticals to energy. He has been recognized with the prestigious Alcon Excellence Award, and his contributions are poised to significantly impact global healthcare, energy sustainability, and climate technology.
Professional Skills
Research Experience
- Innovative Bioreactor Design: Development of a novel microbubble reactor as part of a 3-year ARPA-E REMOTE project. Achieved a 5x increase in gas mass transfer rates, reducing reactor size and improving energy efficiency, with potential to disrupt industries in the chemical and biofuels domains.
- Industry Collaboration for Scalable Solutions: Multi-scale modeling approach to advance pilot and commercial-scale experiments in partnership with LanzaTech Inc., contributing to the fast-tracking of technology with significant implications for transportation energy.
- Synthesis and optimization of electrospun Nylon 6, PEEK and TEFLON fibers.
- Filtration properties on colloidal solutions and Potential application as an Air Filter.
- Synthesis by wet process technology (Nitrate Citrate gel combustion method) and characterization of magnetic nanoparticles.
- Synthesis, structural and magnetic properties of BaFe12O19, SrFe12O19.
Work Experience- Pioneered Ocular Drug Simulation: Led the creation of a simulation infrastructure to model drug distribution and elimination in ocular tissues, enabling precise predictions of drug uptake and action duration. This innovation enhanced treatment accuracy for ocular implants and laid the groundwork for human applications.
- Breakthrough in Ocular Drug Delivery: Adapted a legacy model to handle high partition coefficient drugs, solving critical challenges in drug concentration discontinuities across tissue boundaries. Resulted in accurate time-dependent drug behavior insights and improved implant design for long-term drug delivery (6 months to 2 years).
- Recognized for Industry Impact: Awarded the "Alcon Excellence Award" for outstanding contributions. Intravitreal implants projected to revolutionize ocular drug therapy, with a market potential exceeding \$1 billion by 2035, positioning Alcon as a leader in eye care innovation.
- Innovative Electrolyzer Design: Developed and patented next-generation electrolyzers for carbon dioxide removal and green hydrogen production, reducing CO2 removal costs to under $100/ton, meeting the 2030 industry target.
- Global Impact & Industry Leadership: Played a key role in scaling lab models to industrial-scale applications, leading to the construction of a $20M ocean-based CO2 removal facility in Singapore in partnership with Boeing. The facility will remove 3,650 tons of CO2 annually and produce 100 tons of green hydrogen.
- Recognition & Market Potential: Co-developed technology recognized as one of Time Magazine’s Top Inventions of 2023. Projected to generate significant revenue through carbon credits and green hydrogen production, advancing international climate change efforts.
- Advanced Fluid Dynamics for Product Innovation: Led the development of fluid dynamic models for key products including flash gas compressor scrubbers, blowers, oil-water desalters, and wind turbine blades. Optimized designs enhanced system efficiency and operational reliability, driving innovation across multiple product lines.
- Digital Twin & Predictive Maintenance: Pioneered the development of a digital twin for Blender pumps, integrating physics-based modeling with AI-driven predictive maintenance. Increased pump reliability and enhanced real-time decision-making for field engineers, improving safety and operational performance.
- Wind Turbine & Solar Tracker Design Optimization: Collaborated with CPP Wind Inc. to optimize single-axis solar tracker designs using CFD-LES simulations and wind tunnel testing, enhancing performance in renewable energy projects and contributing to NOV’s expansion into the clean energy sector.
- Modelled batch scale-up formulation - predicted excipient influence on property variation for different batches up to 90% accuracy.
- Blending datasets, dashboards to monitor capacity of packaging lines.
- Intensification in milling & granulation processes, working in clean room environment.
Education
- Novel design promoting reverse re-circulation in gas-liquid systems with application in bubble columns, loop reactor, reservoir, vertical wells(slug control).
- Immersed Boundary Methodology implementation for moving fractal internals/blades in Gas-liquid system.
- 2D-Image analysis on bubble swarm dynamics for holdup measurement, implementing deep learning tool sets (Mask-RCNN algorithm(Python 3, TensorFlow and Keras)).
- Experimental and computational analysis on bubble column internals. Designed hybrid fractal internals/spargers and quantified their performance to minimize liquid re-circulation, maintain homogeneity, heat transfer capabilities at higher gas flow rates.
Judge of The Works of Others
Presentations/Talks
Membership
Certifications
Patents
FH Reference No.: UCH-37560 (32246-37560)
Internal Reference No.: [UCLA 2023-207-1] US
Prizes and Awards
Secured 4th place in this highly competitive global challenge organized by the SPE, which involved over 127,000 members across 145 countries.
Teaching Experience
CHE 2171 by Dr. Adam Melvin
Consulting Experience
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