Zahra Mohammadi Professional Summary May 2, 2014

Business address: The University of Texas at Austin Bureau of Economic Geology University Station, Box X Austin, Texas 78713-8924 (512) 471-2907 E-mail address: [email protected]

Academic Background

B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran, June 2003 M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Kansas, Lawrence, July 2008 Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Kansas, Lawrence, April 2011

Areas of Expertise

A. Enhanced oil recovery through wettability alteration and designing and synthesizing novel nanoparticles as scale inhibitors. B. Designing and optimizing biomimetic functional polymers as metal chelators. C. Designing magnetic nanoparticles as MRI contrast probes.

Professional Work Experience

A. Present Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin (June 2011 - Present).

Carbonate area.

B. Researcher, University of Kansas, Lawrenceburg, Kansas (September 2006 - November 2011).

Polymer design, polymerization reactions, ligand grafting, and conjugation reactions; particle engineering, colloidal stability, particle interactions/adsorption/transport phenomena; bulk and water-in-oil microemulsion polymerization; designing and synthesizing cross-linked polymeric hydrogels and colloids; synthesizing and characterizing magnetic nanoparticles as MRI contrast agents; developing methods to enhance the magnetization of magnetic nanoparticles; designing and fabricating biomimetic polymers capable of interaction with actives; applying advanced equations and theory to polymer/ligand binding and kinetics.

C. Process Engineer, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran (November 2004 - April 2005).

D. Intern, Iranian Offshore Oil Company, Tehran, Iran (June 2003 - August 2003).

Met daily with over 10 engineers of various ages and backgrounds; effectively communicated different concepts from basic to advanced designing.

Publications Patent

Mohammadi, Z., and Berkland, C., Polyamine-Dihydroxybenzoic Acid Conjugate Hydrogels as Iron Chelators: Patent Number 109521,

Articles

Peer Reviewed Mohammadi, Z., Xie, S.-X., Peltier, E., Veisi, M., and Berkland, C., 2011, Enhancing the selectivity of an iron binding hydrogel: European Polymer Journal, v. 47, p. 1485‒1488. Mohammadi, Z., Gloub, A., Xie, S., and Berkland, C., 2011, Siderophore-mimetic hydrogel for iron chelation therapy: Journal of Applied Polymer Science, v. 121, no. 3, p. 1384‒1392. Mohammadi, Z., Wang, X., and Berkland, C., 2010, Magnetic polyvinylamine nanoparticles by In-situ Precipitation Reaction: Journal of Polymer Science, v. 48, p. 991–996. Mohammadi, Z., Cole, A., and Berkland, C., 2009, In situ synthesis of iron oxide within polyvinylamine nanoparticle reactor: Journal of Physics and Chemistry, v. 113, no. 18, p. 7652–7658.

Non-Peer-Reviewed Gehrke, S., Mohammadi, Z., et al., 2011, Poly(N-vinyl formamide) hydrogels as an alternative to polyacrylamide, in AICHE Annual Meeting, Minneapolis. Mohammadi, Z., Berkland, C., and others, 2009, Improving the mechanical performance of hydrogels by controlling the nanostructure, in AICHE Annual Meeting, Nashville.

Languages Spoken

English Farsi Turkish