Our values

Impact

Our work is designed for scale. By applying solutions in operational contexts, we deliver measurable outcomes that contribute to decarbonization, sustainable fuel adoptions, and a circular carbon economy.

Innovation

Innovation is central to our mission. We focus on translating research into scalable solutions—bridging the gap between laboratory discovery and real-world implementation through rigorous experimentation and systems-level design.

Collaboration

At Team Roberts, we prioritize strategic collaborations with industrial partners and academic institutions to address complex challenges of decarbonization, sustainable fuels, and industrial emissions. By integrating cross-sector expertise, we can accelerate the development and deployment of scalable technologies with industrial applications.

About the Principal Investigator

 
Professor William Roberts

Professor William Roberts is a leading figure in energy and environmental research, known for his pioneering work in combustion science, multi-pollutant carbon capture, and sustainable fuels. With decades of experience in both academia and industry, he brings a unique perspective to the lab—bridging deep scientific inquiry with practical, scalable solutions. Under his leadership, Team Roberts has grown into a globally recognized hub for innovation, collaboration, and impact. Professor Roberts is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists and engineers, fostering a culture of curiosity, rigor, and purpose. His vision drives the team’s mission: to conduct transformative research that addresses real-world challenges and contributes to a more sustainable future.

 

 

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As a team we are guided by three core principles

Team Roberts is a multidisciplinary research group comprising over 35 researchers—including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and scientists—the team conducts both fundamental and applied research with a clear emphasis on scalability and industrial relevance.

 

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SCIENCE IN ACTION.

DRIVEN TO SOLVE.

MADE TO SCALE.

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Deoras Prabhudharwadkar, Ph.D.

Research Scientists

Senior Research Scientist

Current

Social Profile:

Biography

Dr. Deoras Prabhudharwadkar is a Senior Research Scientist and Technology Program Manager in Team Roberts at KAUST. Deoras joined KAUST after a decade of Industrial R&D experience in growing roles at General Electric Company (GE), starting from GE Global Research to GE Power.

At KAUST, Deoras has led a wide portfolio of technologies ranging from Cryogenic Carbon Capture (2020-2022) to Ultrasonically Enhanced Oxidative Desulfurization (2022-Present) with a focus on building and managing technical teams, building the IP strategy and prioritizing stakeholder management. He also leads the pilot demonstration engineering efforts with strong emphasis on modularity, scalability and safety.

Deoras holds PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and a Postdoctoral Fellowship from Purdue University (US) in Nuclear Engineering. He has more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, 3 strategic book chapters and more than 10 granted US patents (with more than 20 patents pending). At GE he also held two trade secrets. 

Deoras has been selected recently to a Scientific Advisory Group for the International Maritime Organization (IMO, a Unites Nations specialized agency) where he offers guidance on the life cycle assessment of various greenhouse gas reduction technologies for maritime industry. 

Research Interests

  • Carbon capture technologies, focusing on Cryogenic Carbon Capture in particular.
  • Advanced power cycles, such as Supercritical CO2 for waste heat recovery, Allam cycle.
  • Thermal storage system integration with renewable and traditional power sources.
  • Gas turbine heat transfer, focusing on the secondary flows (cooling, sealing, purging) systems.

Selected Publications

Book Chapters:

  • Prabhudharwadkar, D., Roberts, W., Dibble, R. and Baxter, L., Role of carbon capture in enabling a blue hydrogen economy. In The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia (pp. 529-543). Routledge, 2024.
  • Behar, O., Saxena, S., Prabhudharwadkar, D., Dally, B. and Roberts, W., Production, cracking, and use of green ammonia to support the hydrogen economy. In The Clean Hydrogen Economy and Saudi Arabia (pp. 674-691). Routledge, 2024.
  • M. Lopez de Bertodano and D. Prabhudharwadkar, CFD Two Fluid Model for Adiabatic and Boiling Bubbly Flows in Ducts, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Hyoung Woo Oh (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-7619-59-6, INTECH, 2010

Conference Proceedings:

  • Prabhudharwadkar, D., Roberts, W., Sreedharan, S., Alvi, A., AlAhmadi, K., Combining Supercritical-CO2 Driven Heat to Power Cycle with CCS for a Gas Turbine Plant (December 23, 2024). Proceedings of the 17th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-17) 20-24 October 2024.
  • Sarvothaman, V.P., Prabhudharwadkar D., Colleoni, E., Guida, P., and Roberts, W.L., Ghrami M., Dossary M., Sayd A., November 2024. Ultrasonically Enhanced Oxidative Desulfurization of Heavy Fuel Oil, The 12th International Conference and Exhibition on Chemistry in Industry, Dammam, Saudi Arabia (Won the best presenter award).
  • Canciani, C., Sarvothaman, V.P., Alkhayat, K., Pang, X., Raji, M., Dhanasekaran, M., Aodah, R., Alrabea, R., Guida, P., Prabhudharwadkar, D.M. and Roberts, W.L., 2024, November. Advanced Oxidation Based Treatment of Petroleum Industry Effluent. In Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (p. D011S035R001). SPE.
  • Colleoni, E., Guida, P., Prabhudharwadkar, D., Canciani, C. and Roberts, W., 2023, November. Ultrasonically Enhanced Chemical Processes. In 2023 AIChE Annual Meeting. AIChE.
  • A. Rai, D. Prabhudharwadkar, S. Murthy, A. Giametta, D. Johns, D., Effect of Air-Curtains on Labyrinth Seal Performance, Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2016: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition. Volume 5A: Heat Transfer. Seoul, South Korea. June 13–17, 2016
  • K. Saha, and D. Prabhudharwadkar, Performance Evaluation of a Modified Cross Section Grooved Channel as Turbulence Promoter in Internal Cooling Channel of a Gas Turbine Blade, Proceedings of the ASME 2015 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. Volume 8B: Heat Transfer and Thermal Engineering. Houston, Texas, USA. November 13–19, 2015

Patents (Granted):

  1. Prabhudharwadkar D., Roberts W.L., Dibble R., Waste Heat Recovery, US Patent 12467406B2
  2. Prabhudharwadkar, D., Roberts, W.L. and Wagstaff, C.B., King Abdullah University Of Science, 2024. Gas capture system. U.S. Patent Application 18/280,303.
  3. Faqihi, B.M., Prabhudharwadkar, D., Zia, J. and Ghaith, F., General Electric Technology GmbH, 2024. Exhaust duct for a gas turbine engine. U.S. Patent 12,065,969.
  4. Jupudi, M.M., Mathew, P., Alvarez, J.A.C., Faqihi, B.M., Prabhudharwadkar, D. and Kalaga, M.K., General Electric Co, 2023. System and method for mitigating particulate intrusion to an air intake system of a gas turbine system with intrusion protective coatings tailored to locale of operation. U.S. Patent 11,828,230.
  5. Prabhudharwadkar, D. and Gopinath, A., Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC, 2023. Impeller including one or more turbulators for a bioreactor system. U.S. Patent Application 18/115,241.
  6. Saha, K., Prabhudharwadkar, D. and Gopinath, A., General Electric Co, 2020. Labyrinth seal system and an associated method thereof. U.S. Patent 10,690,251.
  7.  Prabhudharwadkar, D. and Gopinath, A., Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LLC, 2023. Impeller including one or more turbulators, for a bioreactor system. U.S. Patent 11,629,322.
  8. Zia, J.H., Prabhudharwadkar, D., Homison, C.J. and Jupudi, M.M., General Electric Co, 2020. Turbocharger system for a rotary machine and method of assembling the same. U.S. Patent 10,815,874.
  9. Prabhudharwadkar, D., Zia, J.H. and Sammak, M., General Electric Co, 2021. Systems and methods for operating a turbocharged gas turbine engine. U.S. Patent 11,047,265. 
  10.  Jupudi, M.M., Kippel, B.A., Balumuri, A.K., Sammak, M., Zia, J.H. and Prabhudharwadkar, D., General Electric Co, 2021. Variable evaporative cooling system. U.S. Patent 10,961,909.
  11. Mathew, P., Nayak, M., Saha, K. and Prabhudharwadkar, D., General Electric Co, 2020. Filled abradable seal component and associated methods thereof. U.S. Patent 10,774,670.
  12. Prabhudharwadkar, D. and Johns, D.R., General Electric Co, 2018. Heat exchange system for a turbomachine and an associated method thereof. U.S. Patent Application 15/629,036.
Peer reviewed Journal Articles
1.        Sarvothaman, V.P., Kulkarni, S.R., Subburaj, J., Hariharan, S.L., Velisoju, V.K., Castaño, P., Guida, P., Prabhudharwadkar, D., and Roberts, W.L., (2024) Evaluating performance of vortex-diode based hydrodynamic cavitation device scale and pressure drop using coumarin dosimetry. Chemical Engineering Journal, 481, p.148593.
2.        Wagstaff, C., Al-Juaied, M., Prabhudharwadkar, D. and Roberts, W. (2024) Wetted-wire columns: a potential alternative to packed or spray columns. Reviews in Chemical Engineering, Vol. 40 (Issue 5), pp. 601-622.
3.        Vaidheeswaran, A., Prabhudharwadkar, D., Guilbert, P., Buchanan, J. R., and de Bertodano, M. L. "New Two-Fluid Model Near-Wall Averaging and Consistent Matching for Turbulent Bubbly Flows." ASME. J. Fluids Eng. January 2017; 139(1): 011302. 


Education

  • PhD., Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, 2008

Professional Profile

  • 2020-Present: Research Scientist, Clean Combustion Research Center, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  • 2017-2020: Senior Systems Engineer, GE Gas Power, Dubai, UAE
  • 2011-2017: Research & Lead Engineer, GE Global Research, Bangalore, India
  • 2008-2011: Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Nuclear Engineering, Purdue University, USA

Awards

  • 2025: Gold Medal at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions at Geneva, Switzerland.
  • 2024: Best Presentation Award at ChemIndix – Organized by Saudi Aramco in Dhahran.
  • 2019: Nominated for GE Gas Power’s Next Gen Talent Program
  • 2018: Winner of the GE Global Innovation Challenge - Future of Energy
  • 2018: Impact award by GE Gas Power, Middle East
  • 2015: Fastworks Award by GE Global Research, USA, for accelerated technology transfer into product
  • 2013: Rookie of the Year Award by Aero-Thermal Systems, GE Global Research, USA
  • 2012: "Clear Thinker" Award from GE Aviation, USA

KAUST Affiliations

  • Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC)

  • Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE)

Non-KAUST Affiliations

Member, GESAMP Working Group on the Life Cycle GHG Intensity of Marine Fuels - Advisory Group to International Maritime Organization (2025 June - Present)

Chief Technology Officer, Emerging Solutions Commercial Company, LLC. (2024 June - Present)

Chief Technology Officer, Pelican Technologies. (2025 June - Present)

Research Interests Keywords

Carbon capture Thermal Storage Advanced Power Cycles Multi-phase Flows Waste Heat Recovery